The Make Up of a Hero
The
Make Up
of
a
Hero
We are all to some degree heroes of our own story. To be specific to this blogpost a hero of a story within novels is more the person to aim at. Both versions go through an extensive amount of growth, but only one has the potential to wield magic.
A hero starts within a state of normal, possessing little to nothing special about them. There are exceptions depending on how the writer wants that character's beginning to be presented to a reader. But for certain a hero should be represented initially within their everyday life. Its from this point changes and curiosities arise, forming the foundation stones of change. A death of someone close may occur, or an invasion from an ancient evil. Anything is a possibility as long as its exciting and a challenge to the character.
Challenge is very important, and to me, a hero is proactive and not passive when placed in a situation. A hero may be reluctant at first to face what's ahead. Many of us in the real world feel the same, but eventually our problems will come pounding on the door. How any challenge is faced is relied upon by the heroes skills. Sometimes skills are gained over time, which is an excellent way to go through change. Luke Skywalker went to train with Yoda, eventually facing Darth Vader in a dark cave. He gained something on more an inner level and was challenged when facing the real Darth Vader. Luke was also proactive.
A passive hero is still challenged and goes through change but life just kind of happens to them. A perfect example is from the mind of the controversial author, J.K Rowling. Harry Potter is heroic to many degrees, but most of his survival is based on luck. He makes decisions but relies heavily on others to insure those choices work out. I'll admit though his story was written for a far younger age group. And for an adult like myself who is used to more challenged and proactive protagonists this paragraph might be setting expectations too high.
Anyway, what a hero is made up of is change which helps shape decision and thoughts. A hero must go through oceans of thought to achieve goals. Without goals there is no point to thought, and change becomes near impossible. An example of a hero having a goal is my currently being queried story's main character, Yatzil. At first all is doom and gloom for her until a challenge is set before her thanks to a murder. It becomes her goal before being sent away to prove to her brother who the murder is. This all however leads to poor decisions and a need for change to redeem herself.
To conclude this post with final thoughts, a hero in fiction really is all in how you the writer wishes him or her or they to be. You can have the hero be proactive or passive. Challenges can be shied away from at first or faced head on. What is most important is growth and how you show it.