Xellious Noon
Veteran Roleplayer
Posts : 25050
Age : 36
Location : Poland, being anti-average and spreading a high IQ aura around me
Permanent Name : Bookman
Custom Title : Mr. Peace = Oh Lord, lend me patience to stand the randomness....
Activity Points : 138798
 |  Subject: Define 'Hero'  Thu Jan 23, 2014 8:14 pm | |
| Inspired by a recent chat I wanted to post a topic that probably fits the Debate Forum best, except it only matters to members that create original characters, so roleplayers (and also writers and artists). In this topic I wanted to discuss, well, [u]heroes[u]. What makes characters heroes, what kind of heroes there are, why do people make (or become) heroes, what they think about heroes and themselves as heroes? How are they different or similar to other heroes and to people in general? You can think of the answers with some abstract, ideal hero in mind, or use some famous hero (fictional or not) as an example, or analyze them using your own heroes. There are many different heroes but most possess some qualities in common that might help with the definition of a hero. Speaking for myself... I needed a long time to find the words for what I felt was defining about the hero, and why certain characters of mine were heroes. The working definition I settled on is "A hero fights to protect."Or, if you read between the lines, then "A hero (is someone who) fights (in order) to protect (innocents/the defenseless/weaker people AND/OR peace/justice/ideals/etc.)." is the result. It's not perfect but this definition captures what I believe is essential about heroes. You're not exactly born a hero (like you can be born a human or a rabbit etc.), your actions make you one. And when you think about 'what would a hero do?', the first two things that come to mind are protecting innocents and fighting evil, two activities that are closely connected, two sides of one coin. Now, as a roleplayer specifically, that's an OOC definition I use, so by this standard I have... two, three, at most four heroes among my (recent) characters. I used to have many more but then I discovered diversity in characterization. >.> E - Spoiler:
There's E (N-Verse) who is clearly inspired by Rockman (X especially, hence the one-letter name) and fights to protect the innocents if trouble arises, or protect his client's interest if he's currently hired for a job. He has some mercenary qualities to him but he would recoil from evil deeds and spontaneously help people in danger during something like a natural disaster without anyone telling him to do that. While still inexperienced and somewhat naive, E is a good guy at heart. He thinks of himself as a hero and acts the way he believes a hero should act. He's probably the 'whitest' hero I have, the one showing the fewest signs of corruption on a good vs evil greyscale.
Leo - Spoiler:
Next there's Leo (O-Verse), who leads a pretty carefree lifestyle and picks fights when he feels like it, but chooses to use his powers to fight evil rather than spread chaos and destruction. Leo has his pride and honor, but also loves fun and the thrill of battle, picking his fights smartly, since weaker enemies pose no challenge and stronger entities are sometimes better left alone. Leo doesn't consider himself a hero or think in terms of heroes much, partially because in his home world, he's royalty and it's expected of his social class to be capable fighters but show discipline with their power and not just crush weaker beings. His motivation is unusual in that it's primarily focused on stopping the aggressor (pick on someone your own size) instead of caring specifically about protecting the victims, sometimes not even asking 'which side is good/evil' at all, just making an opponent of a powerful enemy he sees. Once the threat is eliminated, Leo normally doesn't stay to help people recover (rebuild their homes, calm down, find lost family etc.), that's not his thing, although he sometimes makes an exception if he feels personally involved. This radical amorality makes Leo the most flexible of my heroes, someone I can throw into a variety of adventures without needing to first judge if there's a good guys group he can join, he can work in a team and still work on his own, against the blackest of villains and against more grey, ambiguous opponents.
Page - Spoiler:
Then comes Page (O-Verse), a character whom I didn't RP much with but who I've been developing a lot, and the only heroine among my cast. In her own opinion, a (super)hero is a career choice, one like the teacher, doctor or (especially) police officer. When Page was young and first discovered her powers, she used them for mischief, then selfish gain, getting into trouble that Book rescued her from. Since then, she tried her best to use her abilities responsibly, for the greater good and for the sake of others instead of her own, gaining a purpose in life and a sense of identity. She treats her duties very seriously and has a strict code of conduct, fighting for peace, for justice, and in order to protect innocent people, punishing criminals with zeal and conviction in her cause, a firm belief her judgment is fair and her actions are good. She started as a simple character but has been evolving after meeting Book and his friends, setting new goals for herself and striving to fulfill them. She remains the most traditional of my heroes, mostly white but with some grey areas - when Page is off-duty and taking it easy she's not such a harsh judge of others and can forgive them their faults, especially mischief, making social interaction with her more pleasant than if she couldn't tolerate the many grey characters out there.
Book - Spoiler:
Finally, there's Book (O-Verse), my first and oldest character that I'm most invested in. He's a complicated case, he went through a lot of changes although his core personality stayed mostly intact over the years. Out of all four, Book is the most likely to speak of 'heroes', he claims he is a hero and calls his many allies heroes, he often thinks they are heroes even if they themselves deny it, but still meet his own definition. His standard is vague and completely subjective ("a hero is someone who has a heroic heart") but in practice that's a paraphrase of my working definition ("a hero fights to protect"). Book himself fights to protect innocents, but especially people he personally cares about, and high ideals like justice and world peace. He's the only one of my heroes that goes to great lengths to improve himself and be a model hero, an example to others, following no set of laws but his own 'moral compass' as he calls it, believing compassion and mercy are ultimately more important than justice. Ironically, for someone who speaks so much about heroes, love and justice, Book is the most corrupt hero in my group. Why's that? Let's just say the road to hell is paved with good intentions and combined with Book's stubbornness he sometimes remains blind to how his attempts to protect the peace are actually hurting the people he's supposed to help.
I don't think the RPs I've showed him in managed to show that side of Book too much, but he's not the model boy scout like Superman. It's another matter that with the lack of RPs I've been developing his background and history in isolation for awhile, but it's better than freezing his personality completely, I guess. I'd want to go into more detail about Book and the others, answer the remaining questions since there's still a couple, but... Ehhh this post is long enough as it is. XD That's enough from me. What about you folks? | |
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