Hero
Parent categories: character - fiction
Heroes in fiction: Maciste - Saint George fighting the dragon
Related: adventure - damsel in distress - epic poetry - mock-heroic - mythology - tale - rebel
Opposite: Byronic hero - anti-hero - villains
Cover of Superman #14
Tian'anmen Square, Bejing, China, 5 June 1989: "The Unknown Rebel" single-handedly halts the progress of a column of advancing tanks for over half an hour.
Maciste all'inferno (1962) - Riccardo Freda
image sourced here.
Definition
In many myths and folk tales, a hero is a man or woman (the latter often called a heroine), traditionally the protagonist of a story, legend or saga, commonly possessed of abilities or character far greater than that of a typical person, which enable him or her to perform some truly extraordinary, beneficial deed (a "heroic deed") for which he or she is famous. These powers are sometimes not only of the body but also of the mind. Heroes are typically opposed by villains. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hero [May 2005]
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