All month, I have been counting down the top 11 video game heroes. But a question remains: What makes someone a hero?
A hero isn't just someone who fights off evil monsters. He or she isn't just someone who wields a bad ass sword, or spear, or boomerang, or anything like that. It takes much more to be a hero than that.
A hero is someone who does something extraordinary for the greater good. A hero is someone who, for example, stands up for the poor, stops a robbery, etc. A hero is someone who puts his/her safety, and sometimes their life, on the line for others.
Not everyone is a hero, but a hero can come from anyone. A hero doesn't always have to do something extraordinary, like put out a fire, or stop a robbery. Sometimes, a hero is someone who does something that to the world may seem small and insignificant, but to one individual, could mean the entire world to them. A hero can be someone who helps someone go through depression. A hero can be someone who inadvertently stops a suicide with a smile and a kind word. A hero can be someone who brightens up someone else's day, someone who inspires a child to choose a path in life, or someone who checks on his neighbors when the power goes out.
We live in an era of cynicism. Every day seems to get darker, while the past just seems brighter to us. Especially if you live in a country like mine, where the news are 75% about murders, and 15% about corruption. In times like these, it is very easy to forget that heroes are real, that not only did they exist once upon a time, but that they are still around us, for even at our darkest hour, mankind is never at a shortage of heroes.
I made this list of 11 heroes to remind not just you, the reader, that video games have exemplary characters, but to remind everyone of the traits that make someone a hero. Courage, because the bravest things you do are the things you do when you're afraid. Compassion, because your neighbor's sorrow is also your own. Duty, because what needs to be done has to be done. Altruism, because the needs of the many outweigh the needs of one. Each of the heroes I have enumerated in the past month have, in one way or another, demonstrated all four of these characteristics.
It appears to me that, in this day and age of egoism, cowardice, apathy, and irresponsibility, the traits of a hero have become forgotten. I see these days people that are comfortable centering their worlds around themselves, excluding others from their being. Why? People don't care anymore, it seems.
We need to beware all four of these traits, because they are the direct opposite of the traits of a hero. Egoism is the opposite of Altruism. Egoism is "me first, everyone else fuck off". Apathy is the opposite of Compassion, because it's "your pain is not my problem." Irresponsibility is the opposite of duty, because it is the disregard for what needs to be done. And lastly, the cowardly are ruled by their fear, while the courageous face it.
Why do we need heroes in fiction? Because we need to remember that it is possible to be heroes. Because we can't allow ourselves to become so cynical that we accept vices, not just our own, but all of society's as well, as natural and normal. Because we need a higher standard, we need to hold ourselves up to higher ideals. Because we shouldn't have to accept egoism, cowardice, irresponsibility, and apathy, as all there is to humanity, to ourselves. We can be better than that. It's in us.
Anyway, I had promised five honorable mentions for video game heroes. I'm sorry I can't explain what earns them this title, but future blogs will be dedicated to analyzing their characters:
Alex Noah, "Lunar, Silver Star Story Complete"
King Graham, "King's Quest"
Ark, "Terranigma"
Pokemon Trainer, "Pokemon Red, Blue, Yellow, FireRed, LeafGreen"
Odessa Silverberg, "Suikoden"
A hero isn't just someone who fights off evil monsters. He or she isn't just someone who wields a bad ass sword, or spear, or boomerang, or anything like that. It takes much more to be a hero than that.
A hero is someone who does something extraordinary for the greater good. A hero is someone who, for example, stands up for the poor, stops a robbery, etc. A hero is someone who puts his/her safety, and sometimes their life, on the line for others.
Not everyone is a hero, but a hero can come from anyone. A hero doesn't always have to do something extraordinary, like put out a fire, or stop a robbery. Sometimes, a hero is someone who does something that to the world may seem small and insignificant, but to one individual, could mean the entire world to them. A hero can be someone who helps someone go through depression. A hero can be someone who inadvertently stops a suicide with a smile and a kind word. A hero can be someone who brightens up someone else's day, someone who inspires a child to choose a path in life, or someone who checks on his neighbors when the power goes out.
We live in an era of cynicism. Every day seems to get darker, while the past just seems brighter to us. Especially if you live in a country like mine, where the news are 75% about murders, and 15% about corruption. In times like these, it is very easy to forget that heroes are real, that not only did they exist once upon a time, but that they are still around us, for even at our darkest hour, mankind is never at a shortage of heroes.
I made this list of 11 heroes to remind not just you, the reader, that video games have exemplary characters, but to remind everyone of the traits that make someone a hero. Courage, because the bravest things you do are the things you do when you're afraid. Compassion, because your neighbor's sorrow is also your own. Duty, because what needs to be done has to be done. Altruism, because the needs of the many outweigh the needs of one. Each of the heroes I have enumerated in the past month have, in one way or another, demonstrated all four of these characteristics.
It appears to me that, in this day and age of egoism, cowardice, apathy, and irresponsibility, the traits of a hero have become forgotten. I see these days people that are comfortable centering their worlds around themselves, excluding others from their being. Why? People don't care anymore, it seems.
We need to beware all four of these traits, because they are the direct opposite of the traits of a hero. Egoism is the opposite of Altruism. Egoism is "me first, everyone else fuck off". Apathy is the opposite of Compassion, because it's "your pain is not my problem." Irresponsibility is the opposite of duty, because it is the disregard for what needs to be done. And lastly, the cowardly are ruled by their fear, while the courageous face it.
Why do we need heroes in fiction? Because we need to remember that it is possible to be heroes. Because we can't allow ourselves to become so cynical that we accept vices, not just our own, but all of society's as well, as natural and normal. Because we need a higher standard, we need to hold ourselves up to higher ideals. Because we shouldn't have to accept egoism, cowardice, irresponsibility, and apathy, as all there is to humanity, to ourselves. We can be better than that. It's in us.
Anyway, I had promised five honorable mentions for video game heroes. I'm sorry I can't explain what earns them this title, but future blogs will be dedicated to analyzing their characters:
Alex Noah, "Lunar, Silver Star Story Complete"
King Graham, "King's Quest"
Ark, "Terranigma"
Pokemon Trainer, "Pokemon Red, Blue, Yellow, FireRed, LeafGreen"
Odessa Silverberg, "Suikoden"
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