The Hero



Not to be confused with the Protagonist, the more general main character of a franchise.

The good boy of the story. The one who's out to get the bad boy and defeat him once and for all or something like that. The Hero is likely a weakling born in a poor country, city, town, village, or other settlement with little to nothing special about them (unless they are the Chosen One). One day, the Call To Action beckons them to step forward and they're off on their adventure that will eventually end with them meeting up with the Villain. Like how a non-adventurous story centers around the Main, an adventurous story follows the Hero and their victories, defeats, successes, and hardships they experience on their travels as they grow into a better individual over the course of the story. As they double as a Protagonist, the Hero may be the one their franchise is named after.

In the event of the Hero being the "only hope" for a place (like a kingdom or the entire world), the difference between this sort of Hero and a Chosen One is if the character was said to be a savior by a legend (meaning an Old Story or foretelling) or other destiny-related entity outside of their control, then they are a Hero. If else, they are a Downplayed Chosen One provided that they also don't possess any special abilities before the Call To Action which would then make them a Basic Chosen One.

There are many kinds of Heroes that can star in a story. What can be called the most overplayed of them is the Goodie Hero who helps people for the simple pleasure of being helpful and seeing people smile. This type of Hero turns rewards down when offered them and may refrain from using violence to get the job done. Another kind is the Arrow Hero, one who's straightforward and doesn't mess around on the job. They won't tolerate the foolishness of others and will operate on their own if provoked. A less sincere Hero is one who only does what's right by the people to reap the rewards they'll be showered with after helping the weak residents of some village somewhere. This So-Called Hero is a rarely-seen Flawed Neutral Good version of the Nutshell Hero. A similarly crooked take on the typical Hero build is the Machiavelli Hero. As their role name suggests, they have a colder approach to problem-solving such as commanding their friends into high-danger situations while they take a more risk-free route. These Heroes are more prone to lying, cheating, stealing, and even violence and murder. A leading protagonist with such novel methods can keep the audience engaged for several times longer than the run-of-the-mill Hero.

Before the Hero sets out on their journey, they must start somewhere, and that somewhere is usually their home. They may live with an Evil Family who harasses them to the point of them wanting to Nope Away From Home. Of course, with any Evil Family, they will pester the soon-to-be Hero to no end, from sunup to sundown, and for no apparent reason. After the Hero Nopes Away From Home, they may unintentionally begin their adventure by meeting someone or something that whisks them off on what they will soon find to be their adventure.

Since the Hero isn't God, they're teamed up with their ally, the Mentor (maybe), the Guide, the Antihero, the Villain (if the Villain part two or something worse shows up and gives them no choice but to collaborate with their enemy), their client, and the Temp Aid. The Hero may also be appointed as the leader of their team, but if they aren't, then they're supposed to act as one in the case of the team not having an official leader. If the Hero needs to be sent out on an adventure, dangers are bound to show up. That's why they have powers to help them beat said dangers. But these powers can't be stronger than the Villain's or else that's being OP. Although the Hero's own abilities cannot be any stronger than their foe's or foes', their allies' can be. Such allies are the Hero's Ally (rarely), Mentor, and Temp Aid. In the fantasy genre, these abilities are commonly called spells. They can be found in tomes, wands, little trinkets, and other magical things. The Hero may either start out with or obtain early on their journey an "I'm The Hero" Sign, such as a Power Medallion, Pure Heart, or Superb Emblem, that they (must) have with them at all times. If they're the Chosen One, they often have this "I'm The Hero" Sign implemented on their body in the form of a symbol, gem, or piece of metal.

So we can tell who our main protagonist is, the Hero can have some Unique Trait that sets them apart from everyone else, let it be that it impacts them positively, negatively, or hardly if at all. An example of this Unique Trait is somebody who is "flawed", meaning that they function differently from every other individual in the society. This so-called flaw is granted to give them a harder time in life, but as the Call To Action sounds the alarm, the Hero may have to put their Unique Trait to work and use it to Save The Day. At first, the Trait will be very unwieldy, but over time, the Hero harnesses its true power to see the good in it and use it to their advantage. The Trait may also be transformed into the Unique Ability after the Hero has truly mastered it and Saves The Day. At this point, those who originally shamed the Hero praise them for their Unique Trait and apologize for treating them wrongly before. A Hero who has a Unique Trait that must be reformed into a Unique Ability to be totally positive is not to be confused with a Chosen One who has a Unique Ability that is positive from the moment the audience is introduced to it. Although others may demonize the Chosen One for owning their Unique Ability, it could be that they're just wrong and are only seeing the downsides of the Ability.

Like the Main, the Hero is rarely ever also the Fan Favorite. That honor mainly belongs to someone they're related to, like the Hero's Ally or even maybe the Villain who gets all the love from the audience.

The Hero's Mirrors
Nutshell: The main protagonist of the story and the one who we are expected to cheer for.

Enhanced: The main protagonist who almost never messes up on their adventures. Shift: The Ace.

Cruel: The main protagonist who has other qualities that typical Heroes do not have, making them considerably closer to being evil. Shift: The Antihero.

Inverse: The Villain.

Atypical: Almost anything to describe a typical Hero but reversed (i.e they start off rich or are immediately better than everyone else). Because the Hero is already advantaged, they must be knocked down a few levels to make things interesting. For example, their city is destroyed, their parents are killed, they're warped off to another realm, making riches inaccessible, or the Villain Ruins Everything by causing any of the aforementioned troubles.

Up: After the Hero has won the Big Fight with the Villain or completed some other amazing feat, the Innocent recognize their greatness and hail them as a Super Hero.

Down: If the Hero is hurt greatly on their journey or gets in a Career-Ending Fight, they quit being the Hero and become the Quitter. Shift: Downer Retirement.

Back: As they're young, the Hero is being taught by the Mentor before truly becoming the Hero. Shift: The Pupil.

Forth: The Hero who came to be what they are now thanks to a previous Hero. They may receive the earlier Hero's gear with which the first Hero used to travel. Shift: New Generation.

Wrong: The main protagonist who barely gets their job done because of many reasons. Shift: The So-Called Hero, Useless Hero, The Hero Can't Hero.

UnRec
The Hero is the Protagonist of an adventurous franchise, much like how the Main is the lead in a familiar franchise. The story puts the focus on them and trails their adventures, decisions, downfalls, and successes. Before you set off to ideating the foundations of their personality and motivation, you must first acknowledge the age-old templates for the role and avoid them with great deliberation. There are too many stories in existence that tell the tale of a goodie-two-shoes loser who dopes around the place on some stupid mission to take the equally as snooze-worthy Villain down forever. This prehistoric mold is the exact description of even more than 8.3 million Heroes. You must task yourself with achieving three goals: relatability, motive, and, most important of all, nuance. The viewers want to watch a Hero they can connect with on a personal level, somebody who carries the strengths, flaws, and mindset that they do. The average person shows cowardice in the face of great danger instead of charging into it despite their emotions. They can be greedy if rewarded heavily, not bothering to turn it down. They're more prone to convince somebody else to perform a task out of laziness or fear than to accept the responsibility. If the Hero does the same, the viewers won't be the ones complaining about their Character Flaws. The Call To Action may be the notification to the Hero that their business is needed, but they must have a personalized reason to respond. The most uninspiring Heroes choose to head out because It's Their Job. Your Hero has to be willing to put their life on the line out of interest pertaining to their own interests. They aren't going to care if a princess was kidnapped by the Villain if that princess isn't even a leader of their nation. The Hero might be more willing if a large cash reward was waiting for them at the end of the journey. Whatever it is that the Hero holds dear, make that their End Goal or motive behind the real End Goal.

UnStats
Strength ●●●●●○○○○○

Skill ●●●●○○○○○○

Intelligence ●●●●○○○○○○

Influence ●●●●●●○○○○

Reputation ●●●●●●●○○○

Repeat ●●●●○

UnStat Avg. 4.96 (B)

''The Hero is the lead of an adventurous story. Therefore, if their stats are too high, the protagonist will make the story they're in no fun to follow. The Hero's Strength has 5 score since they are neither incredibly strong nor pathetically weak, but they aren't entirely average as many Heroes spend a sizable portion of the story with 3-score Strength before their training begins. The Hero's main means of fighting outside of a fantasy setting are weapon proficiency and general wits since they likely can't summon hordes of people to defend them, so their Skill and Influence are rated low. Unfortunately for the Hero, even though there are many Mirrors their role could potentially play, there is a large amount of Heroes who would prefer to go down the Nutshell route and be the optimistic, helpful traveler who wants the pleasure in helping people instead of their goods and goes on an adventure to face and defeat the Villain, which is what causes the Hero's Repeat to be higher than what it could have been. The UnStat Average of the Hero is 4.76, putting the role on mid-B tier. If there weren't so many generic Heroes throughout fiction, the role's Repeat would be graded much more in the Hero's favor.''