Hero Stereotypes

In literature, which translates to TV and movies as well, most heroes are stereotypes of some sort. The noble or gallant hero who searches out wrongs to right them, the romantic hero who searches for their true love, the tragic hero who succeeds despite every tragedy ever conceived of happening to him/her, the peasant hero who half the time is a noble hidden from enemies shortly after birth by being raised by a poor family, the reluctant hero who is dragged kicking and screaming into doing great deeds and often showing more courage than people who are supposed to be courageous. etc.

Heroes and villains are clearly defined in children's literature and not so clearly defined in adult literature. But you can still tell a hero from a villain because of the stereotypes. Once in a rare while, an author creates characters that you're not sure if they are the heroes or the villains because sometimes they are the one and sometimes the other.

But most stereotypes don't leave you with that problem. If a character is a hero at the start of the book then he/she will be a hero throughout the book. A villain might start out disguising their nastiness but they will rarely be depicted as a hero first and their villain natures will quickly be shown.

In some ways, it makes stories predictable. By the time I've met all the main characters in a story I know which roles they are playing and can figure out who will triumph in the end. It then becomes the journey which will hold me or not.

Stereotypical heroes can be predictable but, being human, I do have my favorites. A well-written character will be forgiven whatever stereotype they are based on and when I encounter an author who is able to keep me guessing on whether a character is a hero or a villain then I'm in seventh heaven.

Part of the stereotyping seems to be naming the hero. Certain names seem to be considered appropriate for certain roles. Take, for example, the reluctant hero. For some reason, a good third or more of the reluctant heroes I've read or seen in movies and TV shows are named Sam - Samuel, Samson, Sammem, Samwise, Samwell, Samantha, Trissam, etc. There just seems to be something about the name that says "reluctant hero".

Reluctant heroes also seem to be the ones who think they are more cowardly, less intelligent, weaker, and/or have some disability to overcome - being overweight, being lame, being nearsighted, illiterate, etc. Often they have a case of hero worship for another main character and compare themselves unfavorably to their hero. Sometimes their hero will encourage them to be braver or overcome their disability, if possible like illiteracy. Sometimes they will need to rescue their hero although not very often.  Most times they will stumble into something where they are the only ones who can make it out to warn their heroes or save people dear to the heroes.

In case you haven't figured it out yet, the reluctant hero is my favorite. Probably because this is usually an average person who manages to rise above their fears and show that they have as much or more courage than the people everyone looks up to. They are also usually the people supporting the main hero and offering the encouragement needed for the main hero to continue on his/her quest. Reluctant heroes can be the main characters but they are usually the sidekicks who become main characters.

Because, you know, that's how stereotypes work.