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What Defines a Hero?

Thursday, August 6, 2026 11:43

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What is a hero? As a romance author, I think about heroes a lot because each romance novel calls for a hero.

In this post, I’m talking about the male hero, not the female “she-ro” who can be as heroic as any man.

Is a Hero the man in the picture to the left? He’s got looks and muscles. Does that make him a hero?

People claim rock stars, actors, singers, and other celebrities as heroes. Many adopt professional athletes as heroes as if extreme success in a manly sport plus likeable personality makes the man a hero.

MY OPINION

No. Popularity, personality, and skill in a demanding field can make a man admirable. Perhaps he is a potential hero, but it takes more than a pretty face, good body, and charm to be a hero—in a romance novel or in real life.

REAL HEROES GIVE

A real hero gives unselfishly to help others…often, to protect those in harm’s way.

Most people don’t think about the heroes in their own family, but I think you should look no farther than your own father, grandfather, brothers, etc. to find heroes.

Does your dad work hard at a thankless job to give his children a better life? Far better to idolize a man like that than some hip hop artist or bad boy football star.

Real heroes give. They sacrifice—often for strangers. Sometimes that sacrifice is the ultimate one that claims the hero’s life. Want to find real heroes? Visit a fire station or a police station. These men (women too, but I’m discussing only men in today’s post) put their lives on the line every day of their lives to save others.

Doctors and nurses who volunteer for Doctors Without Borders are real heroes. Many members of the medical profession volunteer in free clinics and in countries where villagers never see a doctor.

My doctor does this. Dentists do the same, providing care for the poorest of people who have little access to quality care. My dentist also does this.

Volunteers who who work in poor villages and countries to bring people the basic necessities that we take for granted like clean water—they’re heroes.

Every year people volunteer to dig wells in places where the nearest water source might be a creek or a river miles away.

Soldiers who protect and serve that we might have life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are heroes. National cemeteries are full of these heroes who have given their lives in every war and conflict.

REAL HEROES: INSPIRATION FOR FICTIONAL HEROES

If you read romance, you know how popular the military and law enforcement heroes are.

Why are they so appealing to readers? Because they are unselfish and protective of others. In several books, I’ve created heroes with those backgrounds.

Is a romance novel hero vastly different from a real life hero?

Maybe the romance hero is a little better looking and has six-pack abs rather than love handles, but the qualities of protectiveness and unselfishness exist in both the romance novel hero and the real life hero.

TAKEAWAY TRUTH

Romance heroes, like romance novel heroes, are not perfect, but they possess the same undeniably admirable characteristics of real life heroes—they protect and serve. That’s my opinion. What do you think?

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Joan Reeves aka SlingWords: The Word Slinging Adventures of Joan Reeves

Source: https://slingwords.blogspot.com/2026/08/what-defines-hero.html

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