History That Never Was

Home of Dawn Vogel: Writer, Historian, Geek

What Makes a Hero?

Cover art for Heroes of NecessityIs a hero defined by their actions or by their powers? I’m inclined to think it’s the former, because there are a lot of “super heroes” who don’t actually have superpowers. Batman, Hawkeye, and many others just have training and skill, rather than powers that come from some weird source.

By that token, even the heroes with weird powers can still be some of the best heroes, assuming that their actions are worthy of the title. So if you’ve got the ability to run quickly, amplify and diminish sound, determine the eventual cause of death at a glance (and maybe prevent it from going that way), or enter a digital landscape to help a computer program, you might still be a hero.

Those are the sorts of powers that the characters in my collection, Heroes of Necessity, have. But I think after you read these stories, you’ll agree that heroes are defined by their actions, whether they’ve got powers to help them in those actions or not!

 


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