Couple Heroes

Thank you to those who have done hero posts! Great job. :-)

So, I have loads of heroes...just like most of you, but I'm going to just randomly pick a couple. First, I have to agree with Polka Dot! Both of those guys are awesome and true heroes! And with Miss Rose, at least on the Mr Knightly and Tuvia Bielski. (I haven't seen "Wolverine" and I'm not planning too. :-) And with Esmeralda on Sir Gawain (not into "Spider Man" and have never seen any Star Wars).

Thanks for your guys post! Now the rest of you post too!

A lot of my heroes are historical and book heroes. Currently, Samuel Keaton is on the top five list. :-) But I don't think very many of you have read those books, so I'll try to do some heroes that are more generally known. ;-) Also Quinn! And a million Dickens characters!

So, to begin with....

Mr. Thorton is an amazing hero! He is a real, hard working middle class man. I really, really like the way they portray him as working man with lots of problems he has to juggle. He really thinks and he really has compassion for people.

He changes over the movie and risks a lot to help people.

He is also a dutiful and loving son and good brother, even to difficult ladies...

He sacrifices for and is kind to Margret even when it would be very easy to be mean and bitter. Even when he has no hope, he does the right thing and the things she would have wanted.
He is cool.

Tuvia Bielski (Defiance) is also a extremely neat hero. Mostly I enjoy this character because you see the way he changes and improves. You see his high and low points and he seems real and never tries to cover up his mistakes or puff up his accomplishments.
He is a great leader and a loyal brother.

Really like this hero.

Doug Carlin (Deja Vu) is very self-sacrificing even to people he doesn't know. He risks his life for others. He is a good leader and honest, strait forward person. He is compassionate and gentle.

Along with my other hero associations with Denzel Washington (Don Pedro and Coach Boone) I think Carlin is on the top right now. :-)

Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg is also a true hero! He risks everything to do what he believes is right for his country and future generations. He knows this will probably end up in death, but he does the right thing. And he carries himself nobly through it all.

(Probably as much as Stauffenberg, I love his assistant! He is SO amazing!)

S0...what I see is that I tend to like heroes that work hard, are loyal, compassionate, get their hands dirty, and make mistakes.

Mr. Thorton misjudges people and can be rude and bitter...but he's trying to improve and do what is good. He is capable of great compassion, but it takes hard work.

Tuvia Bielski has a bad relationship with his wife (even though he obviously still cares) and doesn't always get along with his brothers (big fistfights, etc...) and he isn't always able to lead as he should. He struggles with a lot of issues, but he eventually is trying to do what is right...And he his helping a lot of ungrateful people.

Doug Carlin has no family at all and has a bad argument with his partner, and what looks like his only acquaintance, right before his partner dies...which is pretty much Carlin's fault. He is often a little to blunt with people, but he sincerely wants to help them. He ends up risking his life to be able to go back in time, and then risk his life again single handedly trying to save the girl and a

ferry full of people.

Stauffenberg has to make some horrible decisions, especially with a wife and kids to leave behind if they fail. He obviously hasn't made all the right choices up to this point, but he's trying to be truly loyal to Germany and to his family. (Who would want their boys growing up in Hitler's Germany?) Stauffenberg and Tuvia are especially cool because he really existed.

Some more people that shouldn't go unmentioned are...Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Hans von Dohnayi, Julius, Elliot Spencer, Deacon, Guido, Sir Percy, Horatio Hornblower, William Bush, and on and on... (Side note...normally if they die, they are on my heroes list. :-)
Who has read Tale of Two Cities and loved Lucie or Darney more then Sydney or Miss Pross? It is the people who might not be perfect, but make that hard, life altering decision that they knew is right even though they have know idea where it might lead.

So relating, I believe is important. Inner struggle is always very endearing. Humility and self-sacrifice, compassion and suffering, etc... I think another very key factor is if the character is loyal friend. I noticed this the other day when we were watching "Rudy". Rudy's friend, Pete, isn't a major character in the movie but he fits all my hero requirments. And the key reason he is so lovable is that he is a very loyal friend! (This is the same with Lightwood in "Our Mutual Friend", Sam in "LOTR", Geery and Julius in "Remember the Titans", Bush and Kennedy in "Horatio Hornblower" etc...)

Another thing I find particularly necessary is determination. Never quiting. Even when it gets hard. All heroes really have to do this at some point...and the more extreme, the more endearing.

So when creating characters, what are all the factors that can make them truly heroic? I like to think about the qualities when I want to make a guy for a story. What can he do to make him real, but still be amazing?

Thanks for reading!
Lv,
Miss Pickwickian