I wonder what our individual concept of a “hero” says about us? I mean, If you ask some one to create a hero... not one that has, like a Mother Teresa or a Audie Murphy, existed, but one created from their imagination, would any two peoples “hero’s” be alike?
I guess for the exercise I’d put the stipulation that the hero must exist in a “Fantasy” setting, not historical, not Science Fiction and does not live in the Modern world. No other restrictions, they need not be human, even bipedal or have a spine.
My hero... I believe... would be human, a man who shows the miles of travels and the hardship of his adventures in the weariness of his eyes. He would have just returned from a crusade or campaign that few others had, one that tested his beliefs to the core of his being. Even in the hardest of circumstances he would have comported himself to his simple Moral code when abandoning it would have been the easiest path. My hero would have conquered great hardships to return to his simple life, A farm or mill, where he would try to forget about his past, locking away his weapons in a attic like he trys to lock away the memories in the darkest recesses of his mind.
He would be a swordsman of unparalleled ability, but his style would be simple no waisted motions, the method of a man who has learned his art from the battles he has fought and not from teachers who have not.
The hero would not be knowledgeable in refine learning, but a genius in the now useless skills learned by years living on the edge of the razor, perhaps even mocked for not knowing the latest fashions or song.
He would go on his quest reluctantly, but it is through the completion of his quest that he would redeem some portion of his soul that was all but lost before... his reward would not be treasure, not be magic... but inner peace and when offered power he would refuse.
There are so many types of heroes in the history of the planet, I imagine some go in and out of vogue as the years pass and sensibilities change. Why do some people like one type and others another?
Now this is just off the cuff, perhaps all this sort of thing says about a person is that they have a over active imagination or perhaps it says something about the person they wish they could be, I certainly don’t know I am just wondering out loud but take a moment and think, what type of Hero would you Create and why?
