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Heroism is important to all forms of human fiction

Countless classic texts like Greek myths and the like contend with feats of heroism, The Odyssey created the very idea of a standardized hero’s journey and many of the oldest texts that we have to date show off similar character arcs that contend in some way with the idea of heroism.

That being said I want you to think about some of the best examples of heroism to you? What comes to mind, classic heroes like Heracles, or a more modern example in, say, Ash Williams from Evil Dead? How about a more complicated view of heroism in a character like God of War’s Kratos, more specifically from the Norse saga, where the question of whether he’s a hero isn’t so cut and dry?

What connects all of these examples is that they include some aspect of heroism, and anyone could see that much, but when you take a look at each of them there are clear differences in how their heroism manifests itself with each example. Now indulge me a little further, are some of these examples more heroic than others, is that possible at all, does it even matter?

In a previous article I questioned the characteristics of a hero through the dragon ball character Gohan, and honesty I believe I was too harsh in that post, and so I wanted to take another look at the idea of heroism from another angle and appreciate what it can offer a story through the different ways that heroism manifests itself.

I believe that the examples I’ve gathered show some of the best examples of different kinds of heroism represented in modern fiction, are these the end all be all best examples of what a hero can be, or the best written examples of their archetype? No certainly not, but these stuck out to me as some important examples in the modern zeitgeist that highlighted some different ways that being a hero can manifest itself.

Also, as a quick disclaimer, since we’ve talked about Spider-Man and what makes him such a great hero previously on the blog, I won’t belabor the point by repeating myself, but you can assume I also think he also fits alongside the following examples as one of the best written heroes in modern fiction.

The Vulnerable Hero

Hailing from the universally super powered world of My Hero Academia, Izuku Midoriya, aka “Deku” captured the hearts of countless anime fans upon the release of season 1, and alongside it’s second episode he showed the world what kind of hero he is.

In the world of My Hero Academia, approximately 80% of the population has some sort of “Quirk” or effectively a random superpower that they develop as a child, as you can imagine in a society like this, that 20% can feel incredibly left out, especially as children, having to see the amazing things their peers can do. Our main character Izuku Midoriya grew up fantasizing about becoming a professional hero, a natural profession that arose as a result of this super powered society. Growing up he idolized the number 1 ranked hero, All Might. As the number 1 hero, and one who carefully molded his public image to create a symbol of peace, All Might acts as the glue that holds hero society together, having a clearly defined top hero with unshakable morals and can right any wrong he comes across is what other heroes, professional or prospective, strive to be, so it’s really no surprise that he’s Midoriya’s favorite.

Though one thing stands in Midoriya’s way of becoming a professional hero, he resides in the 20% of society born without a quirk, finding this out as a child utterly devastated him, he dreamed of becoming a hero all his life and to watch it all crumble before him was too much for his young self. Without powers there’s simply no hope of him becoming a pro hero, it’s never been done before.

Throughout his childhood, Midoriya was bullied by his classmates for being quirkless, mainly by the kid who would go on to become his rival and friend later in life, Katsuki Bakugou. Being bullied for having no quirk is probably super common in this world, and as you can imagine, bullying in a world where 80% of people manifest superpowers by the age of 4 is far harsher than in our world, especially when the bully in question can blow up his sweat on command and is completely psychotic.

When the story picks up in episode 1, Midoriya and his classmates are about to graduate from Junior High, and Midoriya still has his sights set on becoming a pro hero, despite having no powers, which normally would rule him out from consideration, despite that fact being clear from the start, he’s still determined to follow his dreams.

Though his life flashes before his eyes when on the way home from school he’s attacked by a superpowered villain, who’s powers effectively make him a giant sludge monster. Miraculously, All Might shows up and defeats the villain, saving Midoriya in a single attack. Upon waking up after the incident, he sees that All Might remained by his side to confirm that he was okay following the attack, once he confirms that Midoriya is okay, he jumps off to the next crime scene. Midoriya, the little psycho that he is, has an important question to ask All Might, and most likely won’t ever get the chance to meet him face to face again, so as All Might jumps off of the roof, Midoriya grabs ahold of his leg to follow him through the air, very nearly dying just to get the chance to speak to All Might. Upon landing he asks All Might if he can still be a hero even though he has no quirk, if anyone would be able to lift his spirits back up and reaffirm his dream of becoming a quirkless pro hero, it would be the symbol of peace himself. Though unfortunately for Midoriya, All Might tells him the truth, in this world, someone with no powers simply can’t be a hero, it’s just not possible.

After this quick conversation, All Might falls out of his muscly powered up form, and what’s left behind is a skinny, fatally injured man. He confides in Midoriya that he was deathly injured by a villain he fought years prior, shattering Midoriya’s lifelong view of the symbol of peace even further after his refusal to feed into the young boy’s delusions.

Coincidentally at this moment, Bakugou is attacked by the same sludge villain from earlier, who escaped All Might’s captivity during his and Midoriya’s conversation, the two of them chase the villain down, seeing other pro heroes trying and failing to defeat him and save Bakugou. All Might, having fallen out of his powered-up state and with no energy left to reignite it, is in no position to help.

Midoriya sees this scene playing out and the following moment fully captures the type of heroism that Midoriya portrays, despite having no powers, despite being told that he can never be a pro hero, and despite the victim ruthlessly bullying him throughout his entire childhood, without thought Midoriya jumps into action. His body moves before he can consider the implications of his action, and he runs in to try and save Bakugou.

Of course, as several pro heroes couldn’t defeat the villain, his efforts are to no avail, but his bravery and sheer force of will to run into certain danger in the name of saving others inspires All Might to gather his strength once more and power up back to his musclebound form and put an end to the villain, saving the day.

Midoriya did not save Bakugou on his own, the villain had powers and he doesn’t, he didn’t even have so much as a weapon to fight him off with so realistically he was never going to beat him on his own, and I love the fact that he didn’t. While he has the heart of a hero, in a world like this you simply NEED powers to compete as a pro hero, but Midoriya may have just stumbled upon his way into hero society.

All Might reveals to Midoriya that he has a way to transfer his quirk over to another and upon seeing the display of heroism that Midoriya showed by running in to save Bakugou, All Might knew in that moment Midoriya was the right choice to succeed him as the next user of his quirk, One for All.

Important to note that the hero name he chooses for himself is Deku, this word was used by Bakugou when bullying him as they were growing up, the insult translating roughly to good for nothing or describing a useless person. But when he chooses Deku to be his name, it is derived from the word Dekiru, which means you can do it, going to show the relentless optimism that permeates his brand of heroism, Deku will push through whatever obstacle he may face in the name of justice.

Another moment similar to this crops up at the end of the manga during the final fight of the series, Deku’s show down against Tomura Shiguraki. By this point in the fight, Shiguraki had gained the quirk All for One, the polar opposite of Deku’s One for All, allowing him to absorb and redistribute quirks between individuals. Deku has fully awakened One for All, allowing him to access all the different superpowers hidden within in, and letting him converse with the lingering consciousness of the users associated with each one. Deku, as a true hero, doesn’t want to kill Shiguraki, even though he realistically could. He intends to reach Shiguraki and try to convince him to do better. His plan to do this? Allow Shiguraki to take the different quirks from One for All, so that the consciousness of the users associated with them can break down his defenses, allowing for Deku to reach him with one last outstretched hand.

Poetically, during this encounter, in allowing his quirks to be transferred over to Shiguraki, he is progressively left with less and less abilities to push him through to that last attack, to the point where, when it’s time for his final rush to deliver the last blow and fully transfer One for All, all that he has left is a fraction of the strength that One for All granted him, and the tenacity that led him to try and save Bakugou all the way back in episode 2. And just like that moment, Deku’s powers aren’t what make him a hero, it’s his natural drive to do what’s right, to help the helpless no matter what, so he leaps into action without powers and without thinking, just like before. Deku manages to reach Shiguraki, and while it may have been too late for the villain, Deku successfully transferred all of his quirks over to him, overloading and destroying his body, ultimately saving the world.

It’s fitting that Deku’s final push includes an unwavering determination to give up his powers in order to save the world. They were never what made him special, it’s what tipped off All Might that Deku was worthy of the powers in the first place that made him special. His willingness to throw himself into danger to save another, the heroic drive that he just can’t be quelled, he is a hero because no matter the cost, powers or not he will try his best to save anyone who needs saving, and that’s what makes Deku a hero, not the powers he was granted, but the heart that earned them.

Other examples of this vulnerable hero archetype that I would like to include are Samwise Gamgee from the Lord of the Rings. Samwise Gamgee is one of the purest examples of bravery in the modern media landscape. He isn’t particularly skilled with a blade, isn’t very strong, nor is he even in shape. But when it comes down to it he is willing to do what nobody else can and saves the day despite his physical mediocracy. Another example, this time on the more realistic note, I would consider Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird a vulnerable hero. If you’re not familiar, he is an attorney charged with defending Tom Robinson a black man who, given the facts presented in the case, is clearly falsely accused of committing a horrible crime. Atticus Finch, despite being able to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Tom could not have committed the crime he was accused of, could not stop him from being convicted, and eventually killed while trying to escape prison. Atticus Finch is an example of a failed Vulnerable Hero, the dark side that can come with this archetype, he showed clear heroic traits, and similarly to these other examples, he was powerless to do anything about it, but unlike them, his determination to do what’s right didn’t end up being enough, and he failed.

The Benevolent Hero

From a galaxy far, far away, Luke Skywalker grew up as a moister farmer on the outer rim, in the crime ridden desert planet Tatooine. Growing up Luke would always yearn for more, staring out into the skyline and wondering what he could make of himself if given the chance, well one day the opportunity he was looking for would find him instead.

After acquiring a droid trusted with a message from one Princess Leia, Luke Skywalker’s journey to greatness began. Throughout the entirety of Episode 4, Luke acts like a spoiled winy kid, which might make for a relatively unlikeable main character, especially given that this was audiences first exposure to him at the time, but what it ultimately does is lay a solid groundwork of flaws to have Luke work through over the course of the films. He treats this first outing like a fun adventure, not seeming to realize the reality of the war that he’s found himself in the middle of, and no moment makes this more evident than the death of Obi-Wan Kenobi. As I said before, up to now, Luke, while having some sense of agency through this movie, ultimately still acts like a child though most of it, motivated by a want to save a princess and not much else. But right before they leave the death star, he is made to watch as his mentor dies right before him, and he’s powerless to do anything about it, this moment give him a sense of urgency, purpose, and responsibility, and for the rest of the film there is a fire lit under him. This is the origin of his sense of justice and heroism, which will be expanded upon in future films as he grows throughout the runtime and untold battles in between.

At the beginning of Episode 5 Luke Skywalker is shown to have gotten far more experience under his belt then where we left him, it’s clear that while it hasn’t been very long since the previous movie, he’s had to step up to the plate and take the war seriously. The opening scene makes it clear that he can use the force to some kind of consistency and has seen a few battles to bolster his previously lackluster combat experience. This isn’t to say that Luke has somehow shed all his flaws between films though, it’s made clear that he still has a lot to work through when he’s easily captured and almost killed by the Wampa early on, the beginning of this movie shows a character still in the early stages of his journey towards becoming a Jedi, and the hero that we know him as today, which is still a lot of progress since the previous film, as when it began he wasn’t ready to even begin this journey. What the beginning of this movie tells the audience, and Luke himself, is that he needs a master to guide him, becoming a Jedi on his own isn’t really working out. Luckily for Luke, one of the greatest Jedi Masters to ever live still resides in the Dagoba system, and he seeks him out to pick up his Jedi training, after his sessions with Obi Wan were cut short. He arrives on Dagoba and is quickly faced with how much he still has to learn, throughout Empire Strikes Back Luke struggles with getting a grip on his powers and accepting how far he still has to go before he can call himself a Jedi Knight, which eventually culminates in him leaving Dagoba to confront Darth Vader well before he’s ready. While he manages to survive this encounter, it’s not without a few battle scars, his hand was lost and he now has to come to grips with the fact that Darth Vader is in fact, Anakin Skywalker, Luke’s father. After all of this Luke gains a determination to work harder, and after the events of Empire Strikes Back, he commits himself to finishing his Jedi training and putting an end to the empire.

Where we pick back up with Luke at the beginning of Episode 6, Return of the Jedi, he has completed his transformation into a Jedi Knight, and save for one final test, he’s finally gained the defining traits required to full embody the Benevolent Hero. During his final confrontation with Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine Luke is resolute in his belief that his father can still be convinced to turn back to the light side of the force. During the ensuing conflict, Vader taunts him about his sister, threatening to turn her to the dark side, given that Luke won’t budge. In response Luke lashes out against his father, almost giving in to the dark side to defeat his enemy, but he’s able to right himself on the path he intends to follow, and in the face of his mortal enemy, who cut off his hand, threatened his sister, and killed countless innocent jedi and citizens alike, he decides to throw down his weapon and leave himself defenseless, trusting in the good still left within his father. And he’s right to do so. His actions got through to Vader, and upon seeing the Emperor torturing his boy, the humanity within him awoke once again, and Vader returns to the light side of the force, finishing the fight generations in the making.

Luke Skywalker was made to endure a lot during his time in the rebellion, he was ripped away from his parental figures, saw the death of both remaining Jedi Masters, lost his hand, and had the fate of the galaxy and future of the Jedi thrust upon him at an unfairly young age. But despite all of this, the light that burned within him was brighter than the darkness that tried to overtake him, and while he momentarily faltered along the way, he never once turned to the dark side.

This is one of the most famous kind of heroism so I’ll provide a lot of examples but not expand a whole lot of since you get the idea. These heroes represent the best of humanity, with pure hearts that inspire others both in and out of their respective fictional universe, something about these heroes’ sense of right and wrong is just infections. Some famous examples include Superman, Tanjiro Kamado, and pay attention because I’m being incredibly specific here, the original broadcast’s English dub interpretation of Son Goku.

The Reluctant Hero

From District 12, this young hunter found herself at the 74^th annual reaping, where two children from the age of 12 and 18, one male and one female, are chosen at random to fight to death in an elaborate arena, as reminder and repentance of the revolution that the then 13 districts launched against the capital. Katniss decided to enter her name more times into the pool in exchange for earning her family more food to get by, District 12 is a mining village, and being the farthest removed from the glory of the capital, the residents are dirt poor so many of the children of reaping age have no choice but to use this method to keep their families fed. Coincidentally it is not Katniss’s name that’s chosen, but that of her younger sister Prim, only 12 years old, on her first entry in the reaping. Immediately and without a second thought, Katniss volunteers herself as tribute, overriding the decision for her sister to be put in the ring. This is the first glimmer of defiance against the capital in Katniss, she denies them the satisfaction of her younger sister’s death by offering herself instead, and alongside Peeta Malark, she is shipped off to the games.

In the leadup to the Hunger Games, during an interview with Ceasar Flickerman, Peeta announces to the world his love for Katniss, giving them an angle to play to the audience. These are games after all, and what sponsors really care about is a story, putting this out there increased their chances of being sent supplies in the arena, greatly increasing their chance of survival. Once in the arena Katniss initially goes it alone but eventually teams up with a young girl named Rue. Though the arena is brutal, and those within it are like animals, Rue doesn’t last long. Katniss is made to hold her in her final moments, her death a grim reminder of how brutal the capital can be, especially in holding these games in the first place. The games continue, and by the end only Katniss and Peeta are left alive. In their first full on act of rebellion against the Capital and using the favor they’d gained with the capital citizens using their love story as an advantage, they decide to eat poisonous berries at the same moment to deny them a victor. Though they’re stopped at the last minute and allowed to live as the first ever games with two winners. Katniss and Peta successfully showed the people of Panem that the Capital is not infallible, and in fact, spitting in the face of the Capital’s right to rule is so easy that two teenagers in love had leverage over the ruling class of the land. Maybe, many citizens might have thought, things don’t have to be this way.

Every 25 years a Quarter Quell is held, where special rules are put in place to symbolically represent aspects of the war, for the 25^th Hunger Games “as a reminder to the rebels that their children were dying because of their choice to initiate violence, every district was made to hold an election and vote on the tributes that who would represent it.” For the 50^th hunger games “as a reminder that two rebels died for each Capitol citizen, every district was required to send twice as many tributes” and finally, for the 75^th Hunger Games, one year after Katniss and Peeta’s win, “as a reminder to the rebels that even the strongest among them cannot overcome the power of the Capitol, the male and female tributes will be reaped from their existing pool of victors” and so, Katniss and Peeta were once again forced into the arena only a year after their first games, but this time they aren’t going in unprepared like before. The other tributes that Katniss and Peeta allied with before the games, including Peeta himself, had come up with a plan to get them all out of the arena, and into safety back with the thought to be destroyed district 13.

See this whole time there has been the sparks of a rebellion slowly catching fire as a result of Katniss’ actions in her first Hunger Games, and further stoked by the tributes of the 75^th Hunger Games openly revolting against the Capital in the leadup to the Quarter Quell, have put the citizens in the right mindset to join the rebellion that District 13 has been planning all these years since their initial defeat, and now, with Katniss, the rebellion has the figurehead to make it work.

Katniss, once retrieved from the Quarter Quell is set to be the talking head of the rebellion, she records propaganda to help the rebellion recruit more citizens to their cause, but this isn’t enough for her, she needs to get out in the field, and eventually, she convinces them to let her join the fight out on the front lines. Putting her life in danger out of a sense of responsibility, she can’t sit idly by on the sidelines and watch as people die for her cause in her name, without putting her money where her mouth is and fighting alongside them. In the end the rebellion is able to overthrow the capital and replace them as the ruling body of Panem. Though they’re not quite safe from the tyranny that they fought against, as in beginning stages of the transition of power President Coin suggests that they hold a symbolic hunger games with children of the capital, Katniss, understanding that if nothing is done the country will fall under the same order they spent their lives fighting, decided that Coin can’t be allowed to rule, she’ll just become another Snow, so during President Snow’s execution, she instead aims her arrow at Coin, killing the would be tyrant, and securing the future of Panem.

The reason that I put Katniss in this category of heroism is that she never have chosen any of this, she volunteered as tribute for her sister sure, but that was basically beside herself, and she never agreed to any of what followed. But what’s important at the end of the day isn’t whether she chose to become the Mockingjay, but the fact that once all that responsibility was put on her shoulders, she rose to the occasion, and not only helped win the war but made the right decision and set the country on the right track for rehabilitation afterwards.

Other examples of this reluctant heroism who will rise to the occasion despite their willingness to, not because of it, include Vin from Mistborne, Han Solo, Avatar Aang, and Son Gohan during Cell Saga.

A Hero’s Journey

All of these different kinds of heroism represent different journeys towards or relationships with power, but at the end of the day a hero is a hero. Every one of these has influenced people in the real world to do better, and ultimately that’s what it’s all about. Whether you’re a fan of the endless optimism of the Benevolent hero, how the Reluctant hero will manage to rise to the occasion, or the Vulnerable Hero’s determination to do the right thing no matter what, they’re all important aspects of the human experience of heroism, and these examples deserve a spot among the greats.