• Welcome to the Fantasy Writing Forums. Register Now to join us!

blog Mythic Guide to Heroes & Villains — Courageous and Skilled Heroes

Black Dragon

Staff
Administrator
Black Dragon submitted a new blog post:

Mythic Guide to Heroes & Villains — Courageous and Skilled Heroes
by Antonio del Drago

Courage-of-Aragorn-475x393.jpg


This is Part 3 of the Mythic Guide to Heroes & Villains.

Characteristics of a Hero

The characteristics that you give your character are entirely up to you. The hero archetype does have some characteristics that are synonymous with the role, however. While you are not required to use all of them (or any of them, for that matter) you should at least familiarize yourself with them. They have, after all, created a formula for heroes that has lasted for thousands of years in the world of fiction.

Courageous

In the world of fiction, bravery is (almost always) a defining characteristic of a hero. Note that this does not mean that your character needs to be fearless. If your character is absolutely sure of himself and feels no doubt about his journey or fear of the villain, your hero can come across as too self-assured and even arrogant. A complete lack of fear is not even possible in nature. Fear is a self-preservation instinct that is inside of us all, and it is there to serve a purpose.

True courage means that the character has rightfully acknowledged the risks of the journey ahead of him. He progresses forward not from a casual dismissal of these risks, but through a determination to do what is right in spite of them.

As far as your hero is aware, there is a...
Continue reading the Original Blog Post.
 

Black Dragon

Staff
Administrator
These blog entries are excellent, Black Dragon. They will definitely help me as I am currently in the process of world-building. Well done!

Thanks Azeroth! I have eight more articles planned for this series. When it's finished, people will be able to read the Mythic Guide to Heroes & Villains in its entirety here.
 

Rodrigo

Acolyte
I always find easy for me creating good villains. i often have excellent ideas for villains but when it comes to heroes I get stuck on one of the points you mentioned (end up creating too skilled and powerful hero). Trying to work myself on hero development from fresh and seem his skills growing with the story.
 

Black Dragon

Staff
Administrator
Excellent. Do you have any fictional works?

I spent several years writing a fantasy epic. I completed a solid draft, but now it needs a lot of editing. The problem is finding time to give it the attention that it requires. Hopefully it will see the light of day sooner rather than later.
 
Top