What makes a good hero?

What makes a good hero?
What attributes would you give to call someone truly heroic?

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I would start with a strong, passionate, unshakable sense of right and wrong for a normal hero, if they didnt care or were unsure how would it make sense for them to run around doing heroics?

That would be an excellent start for a villain. It's the ones who are incapable of self-doubt you have to watch out for.
I think empathy is the real motivation of a hero.

Interesting that that trait would be applicable to both heroes and villains. An unmoving sense of right and wrong can be seen as a value or a flaw depending

A hero takes it on the chin and keeps going. Wolverine, Rocky, basically any character ever written by Frank Miller. A hero hangs in there when it all seems hopeless and useless to continue. A hero goes their own way and doesn't care about tradition, popular opinion or how many stand with him. A hero does the right thing even if it's for the wrong reason, respects the weak and stands up to the strong.

heroes that do corrupt and shrewd things for the greater good are more badass than the boring stereotype moralfag

So a hero is like a wall to you? The unmovable object standing in the way of villains or injustice. Or am I misunderstanding?

How so?

Let me put it to you like this. Who would keep fighting until the last drop of blood, the hero motivated by his strong sense of ethics or duty, the anti-hero driven by rage and hate and revenge, or the hero trying to stop someone from being hurt?
The greatest feats of the greatest heroes, the ones where they exceeded their theoretical limits, or went out in a blaze of glory, are always the ones where they are desperate to save others. Empathy, not morality, makes heroes.

One who would selflessly sacrifice their life in order to save others, no matter how insignificant those others might be. Think of someone who would, without thought, jump in front of a bullet to save an old lady, even if she is a plain old lady, while the hero is a strong alpha who could easily save the planet. Or maybe one where a hero doesn't have his mask on, but he still saves someone who is in danger even if it means that people will learn his secret identity(inb4 Man of Steel doesn't save his father). I love the scene in Raimi's Spirderman 2, where Spiderman instead of fighting Doc Ock, he instead goes and tries to stop the speeding train, even if, we the audience, can see that it's hurting him and that he could die trying to save those random people. In the end he manages to save them, but he is exhausted and could easily get killed by Doc Ock now.

I know this is going to sound incredibly cliche, but a hero in my mind is usually the guy who does the right thing.

Now bear with me here. A hero doesn't need to inspire hope wherever they walk. A hero doesn't need to strike fear into the hearts of villains. They just simply need to step up to the plate when no one else will, to help their fellow man instead of looking on as a bystander. It takes a certain level of determination, compassion, courageousness and self-sacrifice in order to do what they do whether it be risking their lives to save a hostage or giving comfort in an emotional time of need.

A hero doesn't ask "Should I lend a hand?" They ask "How can I lend a hand?" That small difference is what ultimately defines a hero at the end of the day imo.

A hero that is willing to sacrifice anything to save others.

Including their morals.

I want edgelords to leave.

Beautiful.

If Batman had killed the Joker people would stop being killed by the joker…..

The usual problem I see is that should be a stopping point. A "it time to stop," and let someone else take the mantle, but it doesn't, it always goes beyond until their reflection mirrors of those he used to fight. That should be his second or third highest sacrifice he would have to make.

They try to help
-Even with the small things, just because they can take on Galactus doesn't mean they won't stop for a little girl getting lost in the crowd
2: Even if they're completely unlikely to change the outcome, knowing just that someone should try to do something
Mumen Rider is the best hero I know of

Mumen Rider falls into the martyr category, deviating from a true hero. It's cool if done right but he's not a hero in my book. Call it inspiring if you will but he's useless in the scheme of things. If he wanted to help, maybe he should have done the things he could. Leave Genos to try and stall the guy while he evacuates the humans.
Come to think about it, the whole reason Genos lost that fight was because nobody was helping people evacuate and he had to sacrifice his metallic hide for a girl.

Without him distracting, Saitama wouldn't have made it in time. And by the time he shows up, trying to fight Sea King is literally the only thing he can do.
It's consistently shown that most of the heroes in OPM are pretty shitty people.

What? It's not that they're shitty people. It's that the threats are too much for them. Are you well? Do you have brain damage?

I think Genos would have distracted the sea king some more honestly. Sure, he was a pile of scrap at that point but that wouldn't have stopped him.
Heroes are stuck with the idea that heroism is defined by the ability to 'punch evil in the face'. To try and make an analogy (it might come off wrong), imagine a standard jrpg party. Is each member's usefulness only shown by how much damage they can do? The healers, although their job is much less flashy than say, the fighters or the mages, are equally useful.
What I'm getting at is that Mumen Rider has a way with words and can inspire people. His role shouldn't have been fighting or stalling but evacuating everyone with leadership.
But then again my analogy was shit and I'm overthinking a parody anime.

I'm pretty sure Mumen is shown earlier in the series doing small stuff like the helping people out and carrying bags for old ladies. He does what he can where ever he can.
"The Crawler" from MHA might be your style though. When the series starts he literally only uses his power for returning lost items and stuff. He says he "does what's within his power" until he gets thrown into some real shit, and starts being an actual superhero despite having a pretty shitty power.

In the mango, quite a bit of the heroes are shown to be opportunistic jobbers. Tiger tank top and black tank top for example

Here we go, typical projection and deflection…

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2 examples out of numerous other heroes who still do their jobs.

I'm saying the exact opposite you retard. Heroes don't have to beat the bad guys to be heroes. Heroes must protect the civilians the best way they can, even if that means they DON'T take active participation in a fight.

"What?What makes a man, Mr. Lebowski? Is it being prepared to do the right thing? Whatever the cost? Isn’t that that makes a man?"

Righteously well said user. Couldn't put it better myself.

That depends which definition of hero/heroic you want to use. The classical definition of a hero is a person capable of superhuman feats, which they use to defeat threats and overcome obstacles that no normal person could ever hope to, which earns them fame and glory. The more modern definition of a hero is someone who possesses a degree of empathy for others that is magnitudes above what is considered normal, and sacrifices their own safety and happiness for that of those around them. The Disney movie Hercules does a decent job of showing the difference between these two definitions of 'hero'.

youtube.com/watch?v=Mq5Ofb7b4Hs

And then there are superheroes, such as Superman, who are a combination of both definitions, and usually champion various virtues depending on the individual character.

Why are you namefagging?

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I actually have a similar question. Which is a worse villain: One whose motivations and goals are inconsistent or one whose motivations and goals are arguably more heroic than the supposed hero?

An inconsistent villain is a terribly written villain. A villain that almost makes you side with them is a complex villain. Which makes them the better pick.

Real-life monsters are usually self-contradictory and mentally ill. For fictional characters, if your motivations and goals are noble then resorting to inhuman acts to accomplish them is still inconsistent.

The best villains are always hypocrites.

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You just described Batman.

While he's a decent enough Hero, Superman is an overall better hero, strictly because he refuses to believe every person is shitty. Hell, he is even willing to give Lex Luthor the benefit of doubt.

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superman kills general zod

It's either he killed him or he killed the group of people that Zod was trying to kill.

Zod was a shitty person, whereas those people were likely not.

Batman doesn't believe every person is shitty.

A fool that thinks he can makes a difference.

What presses Spider-Man's hero button? Others in danger.

What pushes Batman's button? Others in danger.

Would Superman have literally fought Doomsday until his heart stopped from exhaustion if he hadn't been in the middle of Metropolis, trying to save the city?
The heroes' greatest feats, on a personal level, regardless of their actual power level, are always in the defence of others.

Yeah,it would, Countless human beings go through this every single day. Doubt doesn't automatically stop you from doing something. Without doubt we couldn't actually make discussions and therefore wouldn't have free will. We would essentially just be robots following our programming without a thought.

get out you fucking faggot

Best answer in the thread.

If you're going based on the comics, main verse Zod is alive and kicking.

gayest thread on all of Holla Forums

idiot

You are aware that the Gold, Silver, and Bronze age universes are all dead or a different universe now, right?

Current continuity Zod is alive and well.

you're argument is presently that superman "refuses to believe every person is shitty," omitting the fact that superman sentenced 3 people to death and served the execution himself because zod is alive in the current continuity .

I should have stated that Superman trusts almost immediately, until that person betrays that trust.

you shouldnt have brought a normal fag brain to an autism match

Found the aspiring villain.

If given the choice between doing the wrong thing to benefit themselves, or the right thing to great harm to themselves, a hero chooses the latter. Of course there's cost-benefit analysis involved and all, but in general a hero is willing to do right even if it kills them.
Heroes must also have virtues. They don't have to all be the same (Batman's virtue is Justice, Superman's virtue is hope, yadda yadda) but they need to hold some good above all others and strive for that good.

Important to note that a hero is not always a good man. The Punisher is a hero, but he's not a good man. He does bad things, but he is willing to risk his life to do what is right, and he holds his virtue (retribution) above all others as he strives to make the world better, even when he knows he can't.

To kinda compliment your statement, I'll paraphrase a certain playwright and comedian that was once questioned about this:
"A hero is not he who feels no fear and is invincible. A person like that cannot feel fear. A hero is someone who, despite being defficient, faces the problem. A hero is he who can die and lose. A man with no fear cannot be a hero"

or is invincible*

i fucking love the expressions on this, whos the artist?

Norm Breyfogle. Great artist, one of the really underrated ones IMO. He can't find work now.
According to him, he's blacklisted. He said there was a change in management at DC, and after he had about ten proposals shot down, he realised he wasn't wanted.

And to think, he actually stops to consider it.

here's your (you) and your obligatory edgy reaction image. Make good use of them, as you probably won't get another in this thread.