Fictional Heroes

I'm sure every one of us has that special hero from the land of imagination. Be it from a cartoon, a book, a movie, or a comic, there is always a favourite. Especially when you're just a kid. I think every one can remember their first hero, hence the phrase 'childhood hero'. A lot of people have Batman, Superman, Spider-Man, etc, as their first heroes. My childhood hero was Zorro. There was a live action show that ran in the early 90's that I watched every time it was on, with out fail. There is just something about a costumed man jumping in to save the day- in my case, a black-clad masked man on a black stallion doing fancy writing with a rapier.

I watched that show religiously. And if I remember right, this was the first I've ever had a crush on. And the fact that he had a horse made him all the better in my books at the time. Because being a four year old girl at the time, horses were the greatest thing ever to me. And pretty much every other little girl.

And like with every other hero, there was a bad guy and damsel in distress.

For every hero, there is always a villain, and always a damsel in distress. Stereotypical, and quite cliche, but let's face it; it makes for a good story. For kids, every thing has to have a happy ending, preferably with as little bloody violence as possible. As you get older, those kinds of stories become too boring, so you move on to others , gradually getting darker. Sure, there are happy endings for darker stories, but they a few. Increase the violence as you get older, and almost suddenly, you just can't read a story with out thinking how much some good ol' fashioned bloodshed would make it more interesting.

Yet, despite the stories getting darker, your love and devotion for the hero remains the same. You always want him to save the day, you always want him to get the girl.

Sure, you may gain new favourite heroes over time, but you'll always remember your first. They just pretty coagulate in to a single group of all time favourite heroes. Mine grew in to Captain Planet, Tuxedo Mask, Son Goku, Sherlock Holmes, Harry Potter, Artemis Fowl (though, really he's more of an Anti-hero), etc. I'm sure you have a ton of heroes too. Even though you and I have never met, are totally different people, we have one thing in common; we both have heroes. Be they real life heroes, or the fictional kind, one thing always stands true; everybody needs a hero.