Heroes Don’t have to be Perfect
I was watching the trailer for Will Smith’s summer movie Hancock. He seems to be a very troubled and
confused super hero right? Is this new? No. Batman is troubled on a deep level, and Spiderman’s alter ego Peter Parker is awkward socially. Even Iron Man has issues. My favorite all-time literary character and anti-hero Sydney Carton
So what can you do to make the hero of your story multi-faceted and truly heroic? Give them a problem for starters. In Meet John Trow by Thomas Dyja, father and Civil War re-enactor Steven Armour found himself in a personal crisis that he had to overcome. Dyja could have created a character who was self-assured but then how could he have shown Steven’s character development in the face of crisis?
The key to creating a troubled hero is obstacles. Not just those presented by their arch enemy, or a horrifying predicament, but internal obstacles. A true hero rises to conquer their demons in order to perform a selfless act. Look at your heroes. Are they perfect? List some of their character flaws. Nobody is perfect and a true hero may be the least perfect of all.
Posted with input from Robert Griffin
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Comments
The world is full of ironies isn’t it. All one has to do is look around to see them. The truth can often be much stranger than fiction don’t you agree?
Heh, it’s amazing how many of the great men/women of history were alcoholics, drug addicts, and criminals by today’s standards.
But, yes, heroes are interesting not because of the great things they do but because of the great obstacles they overcome to do them.
Or, to quote Firefly, “t’s my estimation that every man ever got a statue made of him was one kind of sumbitch or another.”
Sometimes the struggles and obstacles can take on an ironic twist. For example the school teacher who is voted teacher of the year, fighting for her students success while at home her own son is failing school. While she can control an entire classroom of children, she can’t control her own son and must have him arrested for being violent at home. Now that would have some ironies in that story. Gosh it sounds so familiar too. Wonder why?