The light that shines through the darkness, the bane of evil, the hero of the story. Protagonists can be as cookie-cutter as you want or so complex you can’t understand them and must interpret their motives. They’re in video games, movies, books, and even songs at some points. No matter where you look in media there will always be a protagonist to go against the villain. No one protagonist can truly ever be the same, they can have giant similarities to the point they seem to be the same, however, what defines a protagonist is the setting they are placed in and their personality. Think of your hero as a ball of clay: Ready to be sculpted and modeled by what you choose but the main question is how you model a hero.

Part 1: The Beacon of Honor
What makes a hero? Is it their powers or the genre they are placed in? Many people would naturally be drawn to the power part of a character, after all, it is the coolest part because of the wide variety of abilities to create. However, taking this approach is acceptable but it’s much better to consider their personality. Before you add the detail to a clay model you have first to build the skeleton and the base; How might the hero act, their morals, and what makes them unique without their powers? It’s also good to consider the drawbacks of a hero, no one is ever perfect and all people have their flaws. Heroes shouldn’t be this shining example of perfect morals and are righteous naturally, they need flaws and they should make mistakes to give them depth and relatability.

Think about why they’re the hero, what specific aspect made them so special they’re the character the story has a focal point over. A hero needs a good balance of positives and negatives. Maybe they have a strong moral compass and can tell right from wrong but they’re so overconfident that it messes them up in situations where they get insulted. Typically a hero would have contrasting personalities with the villain to make a foil between the two but this doesn’t have to be the case for everything. However, once you’ve considered who your hero is we now have to define a section that cannot be skipped when considering a hero: Their power or unique ability.

Part 2: The Power Within
All heroes have their unique capabilities or powers, that is simply a matter of fact. Even heroes who are mundane with no special abilities are still powerful in their unique way. When creating a protagonist for a story you’ll have to consider what power does for that character and how it will affect their importance and interactions. If someone’s power is to go fast by means that makes sense in the story then how would it affect their personality? Theming an ability based around the hero is an easy step-around and works, however, it depends on if you already know the power or if you need to decide.

Playing within a world with rules on powers and abilities works surprisingly well. Take for example the book Mistborn, the world in Mistborn has a single power system that characters use and play around in without breaking the rules. Doing this can seriously help deciding what you want to give your hero. However, there is also the possibility that the hero has no powers or unique abilities and that’s also completely fine! The hero in that story might have a really good personality or a silver tongue to aid them or they just might be a regular person, whatever suits your world works.

Part 3: The Finisher
You’ve seen it and done it all, by now you’ve (hopefully) decided on what you want to do for your hero or you’ve learned neat tidbits on how to create a hero. Even if you don’t intend to write or create heroes or villains it’s good to know what makes them and understand how they initially tick. I am not an expert writer like Brandon Sanderson or any other famous author or world builder, so take all you learned here with a grain of salt. If you want to learn more about the previously mentioned villains, click this link here and read about a similar article based on villains this time.