What's Your Type of Fictional Hero?

[Jetfire]

Superman...Buffy Summers...Jack Shepard.

 

[RookieBatman]

What about Sam Beckett? He has a "Boy Scout" mentality, but yet has a complexity to him. Don't get me wrong, I like pissed off Heroes like Lt. Riggs and Captian Sisko, B.A.and Hulk, but you can't be pissed all the time. That's why I like Picard; he gets pissed a lot, but he has a nice balance of pissed and calm.I like it most when you have two heroes. Superman/ Batman, Kirk/Spock, The Dude/Walter.

Yeah, I'm also a big fan of Sam Beckett/Quantum Leap. I think a lot of his complexity can be directly credited to Bakula's great performance.

Any one in particular really stick out at you? Like maybe you thought as you watched it, "Now that's the type of hero I like to see!"

Optimus Prime.

No ambiguity; just total and absolute good. Incorruptible and always honest.

Haven't gotten into Transformers much, but that second part is definitely the type of character I appreciate too.

How about this question; does anybody watch a show that you think is kinda silly or dull, but you keep watching anyway, because of how much you appreciate the main character. I think "Hawaii Five-0" (the old one, of course) is a pretty basic, not too exciting cop show, but Jack Lord's McGarrett is just such a great hero, I can't stop watching it anyway. Highlander is another good example, for me.

 

[stj]

Generally, the "heroes" who are written to be kick ass or flawed are dreary. The natural born winner who condescends to, for once, do something nice, doesn't impress me much. The smell that comes off the screen, big or small, is that somebody thinks Hero=Winner. I wish it were true but it isn't. Most wish fulfilment works off this and is unsatisfying for that reason.

As for the supposedly flawed heroes, it is usually puzzling as to why they're suddenly playing the hero. I guess the classic example is the Han who shot first. That guy is not going to come back to save Luke or Leia. Maybe these characters are on screen so assholes have someone to identify with, but usually they aren't believable or pleasant. It is the rare Star Wars that manages to be so fresh in other aspects that one's willingness to suspend disbelief reaches new heights of gullibility.

Some of my favorites are Luke, not Han. Sam and Frodo, not Aragorn. Jake Sully. Morpheus. In current TV, Hank on Breaking Bad, Nick Stokes on CSI, Michael Westin on Burn Notice when he isn't doing ignorant spy crap but helping clients, Dexter when he's trying to be a good family man but not when he's doing the stupid vigilante crap (which has reached unbelievable levels of stupid,) Brenda Johnson when she's trying to get past being a nearly pathological liar and be a decent person in daily life but not when she's doing her Closer thing.

 

[RookieBatman]

Some of my favorites are Luke, not Han. Sam and Frodo, not Aragorn.

Interesting. This is the second time that someone's said "Frodo, not Aragorn." I agree with much of what you said, but are you saying that Aragorn would fit into that same category as Han? I wouldn't really think so. Aragorn always seemed like a true hero to me, not selfish or arrogant. Sure, he may have been the "moody loner" type, but he was still someone who was very concerned with the well-being of the people around him.

 

[Goliath]

I guess the closest thing I have to a favourite fictional hero is Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe.

I like antiheroes too. I'm a big fan of Richard Stark's Parker novels, for example.

 

[stj]

Interesting. This is the second time that someone's said "Frodo, not Aragorn." I agree with much of what you said, but are you saying that Aragorn would fit into that same category as Han? I wouldn't really think so. Aragorn always seemed like a true hero to me, not selfish or arrogant. Sure, he may have been the "moody loner" type, but he was still someone who was very concerned with the well-being of the people around him.

The unattractive thing about Aragorn is not (for once) his personality but the whole notion of his superior blood, the monarchy shtick. The return of the king didn't resonate. His finest moment was kneeling to Frodo.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Tony Stark (Iron Man), a flawed person capable of doing great things. An apparent egoist, but in reality a heart (what's left of it) of Gold. Noble, but with with a sense of irony and humor.

Yeah, I love him. But once again, I also love his opposite, the Luke Skywalker/Peter Petrelli type sap.

There's no pattern, except that the actors who play them are cute. Even that's not a pattern. Most actors have to be passably attractive and my definition of "cute" is pretty indiscriminate.

I think it comes down to whether they are a good character.

 

[RookieBatman]

Interesting. This is the second time that someone's said "Frodo, not Aragorn." I agree with much of what you said, but are you saying that Aragorn would fit into that same category as Han? I wouldn't really think so. Aragorn always seemed like a true hero to me, not selfish or arrogant. Sure, he may have been the "moody loner" type, but he was still someone who was very concerned with the well-being of the people around him.

The unattractive thing about Aragorn is not (for once) his personality but the whole notion of his superior blood, the monarchy shtick. The return of the king didn't resonate. His finest moment was kneeling to Frodo.

Interesting. I can't argue that, because it's simply a matter of taste, but I've never felt that way.
EDIT: Well, I guess I can argue it just a little. The idea of the monarchical lineage doesn't necessarily mean the person's blood is superior, just that they're an heir of whoever rose to power in the first place (which would make that original monarch superior). But when someone says "You're the heir, therefore you must lead the whole country," what you do with that grave responsibility is what makes you a hero or not. So, yeah, I agree that Aragorn's not a hero just because he has royal blood, but in the sense of the "great responsibility" that he applies to his "great power," I'd say he acquits himself very heroically.
But yeah, Frodo's absolutely heroic, too. And there's certainly something to be said for him being that heroic without great power.