HTI2 Seminar 1 - The Mind of a Hero: The light & dark side of Heroes

What defines a hero? Is it a character that serves & protects? Is it a character that fights crime & injustice? Must he/she have superpowers? Do all heroes necessarily have to be good?

Well, in my opinion, a hero is someone that steps up & takes action in the face of a dangerous situation. He/she is willing to risk their own life to save others. Examples of everyday heroes include; Police officers, firemen.

Let’s move on to superheroes instead. In most superhero stories, such as Spiderman & Batman, the main protagonist starts off as an ordinary person. An instance/incident causes the protagonist to step up, or in another case, fail to accomplish something. E.g. Spiderman – Lets a burglar escape. Moments later, the burglar kills Spiderman’s uncle for his car.

The grief of the failure/realisation causes the protagonist to “want to be better”. Hence the development of powers /gadgets begins, along with costumes & hero names. Now with a new purpose & identity, the hero fights back, fighting crime & saving citizens. Then with every hero, comes a villain to stand against him/her. Facing off against this threat will pit the hero to make hard/painful decisions that affect either the public’s opinion of him/her, or engage in deep & personal feelings.

So what are the light & dark sides of a hero? The light side shows the strengths of the hero. He/she fights crime, saves many lives & even aids other law enforcements. The dark side however, portrays the hero’s bad/alter ego & weakness. Although a hero fights crime, the real reason for doing so is to get revenge against someone, in which case the hero’s intentions do not match with their acts. When a villain threatens to kill or destroy something/someone precious to the hero, anger/hatred is portrayed from the hero(dark side).

For a hero to be interesting, he/she must always have light & dark sides within their character. These ‘sides’ play an important role in telling the story of the hero.