What Makes A Perfect Hero?

Short answer: his imperfections.

But which imperfection? Which flaws make us love a hero most? And which redeeming qualities
make our hearts go pitter-pat? 

Is it the dark brooding hero who finally learns to love? Or is it the bad boy with an engaging sense of humor? The aloof arrogant fellow with a secretly sensitive heart? The wounded beast who risks everything for the woman he loves?

Undoubtedly, the answer is different for each of us.

We could talk about hero archetypes. But I prefer not to use archetypes in my writing. There’s nothing wrong with them and in the end I suppose we could squish most characters into one archetype or another. But for me it spoils the fun of developing a character. Just as I don’t categorize my real live friends I don’t want to pigeonhole my characters. I enjoy the surprise of unraveling a character’s psyche as I write the story. So just for today let’s ignore archetypes and talk about what specific characteristics makes us fall in love with a hero.

Let’s analyze a couple of the fictional heroes we love...

Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice, outwardly he appeared haughty and aloof when underneath he was overly sensitive and somewhat shy and uncomfortable socially. After thinking Mr. Darcy was an arrogant man who thought himself too good for Elizabeth Bennett it was lovely to discover this truth. And his willingness to do good for her without recompense was made us all fall in love. Austen masterfully revealed Mr. Darcy’s true character thus one of fictions most beloved heroes was born.

Twilight’s Edward. Say what you will about Twilight, the author created one of the most popular heroes in modern fiction. Edward fan clubs sprang up all across our fair continent from New York to Sacramento. Why? What was it about Edward that made women and girl’s fall in love. Why would an aging librarian, when asked about the appeal of Twilight, respond with, "Well, I’d leave my husband for Edward." Because Edward was a man willing to sacrifice everything for the woman he loved. He was superman strong and often rescued the heroine. He also should a super human amount of sexual restraint. Edward watched over Bella and played the devoted protector.

One of my favorite examples of the cocky wounded hero is Jace in The City of Bones. I loved his sense of humor and the way he was so sure of himself, despite being so terribly wounded.

Okay, now it’s your turn. Take our poll and tell us what your favorite hero characteristics are. And if I didn’t include your favorite characteristic tell us all about it in the comments section.

Select as many characteristics as you want:

Quizzes by Quibblo.com

Kathleen Baldwin is an award winning author of several Regency romances published by Kensington and she and her friend Andrea Sisco, an actress and mystery author, recently launched a middle-grade/YA contemporary fantasy romance, Diary Of A Teenage Fairy Godmother.