How to Write a Story! Defining a Hero!

What is a hero? What makes a character a hero? In the writing of a story a hero must have some or all of these traits.

First a hero must be strong. Now when I say strong I mean in spirit. There is more to strength then just have big muscles. He must also have the strength to carry on no matter what the odds. He have a strong spirit that pushes him forward long after his physical strength has let him down. For example take a look at Jack Bauer from the series 24. So much is pushed on his plate in 24 hours that a normal person would be so exhausted that they would drop over. Jack, however, is beyond that. He pushes himself using his inner strength. Reaching deep inside himself a place where so few of us need to go. Defending what he finds to be wrong and doing what is right and just.

Second a hero must be smart. Now when I say smart I mean in knowledge of what he must do. Smart comes from within not only in the knowledge that you obtain but also in the knowledge that you already poses inside yourself. For example if we look at a character like Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan from the Show Bones. We see a woman who is smart, beautiful, and a black belt. Which means she could beat down a killer pretty easy. She does not do that however. What she does is use her inner strength. Her brains with the help of her team to discover within the remains of the victim to find out what happen. Then to retrace the crime from the end back to the begin to catch the killer.

Third a hero must be self-sacrifice. He must be willing to die for what he believes in. He will sacrifice everything that he has to save the innocent from the evil that threatens them with harm. Take Jake Hoyt from the movie Training Day. In the movie he is dragged through the ringer by a man he thought was he was there to learn from. In the end he goes into the heart of the toughs neighborhood in L.A. to find the man and bring him to justice once a for all. Yes he could have died leaving his wife and child without a husband and father. He had to do what is right no matter what the sacrifice to himself.