Hero Mythology

A Hero is a unique character of every story. He/she would be the one with special powers that he/she would use to make a difference in the story. Such heroes are fantasised characters of the author and audience that would most probably never exist in the real world.

What makes a Hero interesting is his/her external and internal status. He/she could be helping those in need, but because he/she wants to be loved. Heroes whose internal status conflicts with his external status makes him/her unique by adding a much more human character. He/she would be believable if he/she was not perfect.

The archetypical Hero’s journey begins with the Hero being an ordinary being until a change of events. The Hero would first refuse his calling for internal conflicts, but would later submit, and enter the climatic situation. It ends when the Hero completes his/her task with a chance of a dramatic price to pay, such as resurrection or sacrifice.

The Hero from the Greek legend of Perseus is an example of the archetypical hero. A sudden incident forces him to take up his sword and stand as a hero to save a damsel in distress. But his internal conflict is to take revenge on the gods who had taken his foster family from him.

A popular adventure of the archetypical Hero is from Star Wars. Luke’s aunt and uncle are killed by the Empire which spark his personal intention of revenge. He learns of his task at hand and proceeds willingly to “save the world”. His strays from his personal intentions of revenge when he learns that the villain he was aiming to kill turned out to be his father. The plot twist led to the tragic death of Luke’s father.

The Hero sets the basis of the story, but has begun to bore the audience to the point that smart authors may choose to appoint the main character of the story as the antagonist instead of the protagonist. This brings the Hero’s journey to a whole new realm.

We can see how the Hero can change his/her character. To construct a believable Hero, the Hero must have a human personality whereby changes occur and he/she is anything but perfect.