The Hero - Television Tropes & Idioms

I'm Luke Skywalker, and I'm here to rescue you.

"If you were ever trapped in a burning building, you would turn to Jake and ask, 'What do we do?' And he would have an answer, too."
— Tobias, Animorphs book 3

Price Lir: Then what is magic for? What use is wizardry if it cannot save a unicorn?
Shmendrik: That's what heroes are for.
— Peter S Beagle, The Last Unicorn

The Leader. The Captain. The protagonist. The Knight. That shining star that holds the whole mess together. In a team lineup they will be front and center.

This guy is a hero, pure and simple. He's almost always right, is a friend to all his bandmates, and morally superior. He has a well-rounded skill set. He's not as strong as The Big Guy, or as smart as The Smart Guy, or as sensitive and socially adept as The Chick, but he's close. He can personally accomplish a variety of goals, but his real superpower is getting the whole diverse set of personalities under his command to focus and pull together. He'll always know who to ask for help, and when — and usually how.

Other powers and skills common to the hero include:

In many games or settings, he'll be The Mario; a well-balanced fighter with decent power and speed, and sometimes some ability at magic.
Most of the time, he'll use a sword or sword-like weapon as his weapon of choice, even in science-fiction settings where that wouldn't make sense.
In a fight, he will ALWAYS win. And even if he loses, bet your life on it he will win the inevitable rematch.
He will wear either Red or Blue (sometimes both), and if he's got a theme or powers expect them to be fire based. Lightning and light are also common elemental themes for the hero.

Almost invariably, The Chick is in love with him (unless she's his sister and not always), as are any other members who happen to be women or gay.

If the Hero has too much of the "positive" qualities listed above, he may degenerate into a Marty Stu. If he's too generic, then he's a Standardized Leader. They are sometimes the Only Sane Man trying to keep the team together. If this is the case fans might consider him to be dull compared to more entertaining members of the team.

The Hero and The Lancer usually have a special chemistry within the Band, either a Ryu And Ken relationship or Red Oni Blue Oni. They are often rivals with a strong mutual respect for each other, and are sometimes even Heterosexual Life Partners.

The primary romantic plot in the band will be between The Hero and The Chick, with The Lancer rounding out a triangle. For a female Lancer who doesn't double as The Chick, they will likely be an Unlucky Childhood Friend. (Bonus points if The Lancer is bi-sexual and is interested in both of them!) The Hero might also be a Chaste Hero or a Celibate Hero as an additional complication to romantic subplots.

Usually, this role will not be filled by a woman unless all the other roles are already women (as is often the case in anime). If so, there might not be a Chick in the group (although there might be The One Guy or the Non Action Guy), and the prize for "most feminine" will go to The Hero or The Smart Guy.

Although The Hero is usually the leader of his band, this is not always the case. If he isn't, this is usually justified by him being the youngest, most inexperienced, and/or newest member of the team. Thus, his more senior teammates may quite reasonably see him as the Tag Along Kid or the Sixth Ranger, even if he's clearly the central protagonist to the audience. He may even be something of The Chick if he's a Mouthy Kid or The Fool. Don't worry — in time, he will reveal his great potential, eventually swaying friend and foe alike to his cause. Even if he needs significant growing up to reach that point.

And if there's a character Cooler than the Hero, that character is generally Too Cool To Live.

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Examples

Anime & Manga

The arguable Trope Codifier (if not the outright Trope Maker), is Eagle Ken of Science Ninja Team Gatchaman.
Hyouma Aoi of Combattler V.
Kenichi Gou of Voltes V.
Akira Kogane of Go Lion.
America in Axis Powers Hetalia. Or at least he thinks so.
Monkey D. Luffy of One Piece fits this perfectly. Despite being an Idiot Hero, he is the captain and leader of the Strawhat Pirates, and is always the one to take on the big bad in the end of every big story arc.
The Hero and title character of Naruto has never been the leader of any team he's been on yet, except in spirit. The genin of Team 7 are instead led by their teacher, Kakashi. When left to their own devices off the job, they tend to split up. When left alone on the job, it's less about who leads and more about whoever comes up with the best plan. When he's later part of a five-man retrieval team, Shikamaru is the leader. But Naruto will probably get there one day.
Kamina from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann fits this to a T.
- But then he dies in an interesting subversion and Simon takes up the mantle.
Nike from Mahoujin Guru Guru.
Interesting variation in Gantz. Originally the Gantz team's nominated leader was Masaru Katou who seemed to be The Hero while the actual main character, his Jerk Ass old friend Kei Kurono, seemed to be The Lancer, despite Kurono being notably the more powerful fighter. But after the entire team, except for Kei, gets wiped out in a mission, and Kurono undergoes some serious character development, he becomes The Hero for the new team. And then he resurrects Katou. And dies. And Katou resurrects him.
Rosette Christopher in Chrono Crusade. Somewhat subverted in that she's a very flawed individual and a girl, but (particularly in the manga) she's front-and-center in the team and the one that holds most of the group together. Her love interest isn't The Chick, but her lancer, Chrono (who's less of an Unlucky Childhood Friend and more of a Starcrossed Lover).
Tenma from Monster.
Ichigo Kurosaki of Bleach.
Last but not least, Kenshiro from ''Fist of the North Star. His nickname is "The End-of-Century Savior".

Films

Literature

Video Games

Tidus from Final Fantasy X is clearly the main character to the player, but he's a late-comer to the other characters, who already composed a complete Five Man Band before he showed up.
- This is also an example of what can happen when The Hero and The Captain are not represented by the same character, or rather, when there is no Captain at all.
Sora from Kingdom Hearts was The Hero but not the leader of his original Three Amigos Power Trio. That position went to The Lancer, Riku, who was older, bigger, stronger, and more adventurous. It was Riku's idea to build a raft and leave their home behind to visit other worlds. If Riku hadn't been a little too eager to seek his destiny, he might have become the de facto leader of a full Five Man Band, with Sora and Kairi functioning as the team's heart and conscience. Sora might lead with his heart and by example, but Riku would have led with his head and from the front. Even after Sora formed a new Power Trio with Donald and Goofy, Donald was initially more the leader due to his drive and seniority.
Kazuya Mishima was The Hero of the first Tekken, and his looks and background somewhat supports it. However he proves otherwise in the second series and forward.
Master Chief Petty Officer John 117 of the SPARTAN IIs. Not the strongest, fastest, smartest of the Spartans, or the best at anything at all, except in leading the others and always getting the job done. That's why he was made the leader of the rest.
- Although Cortana says he has one thing the rest didn't: LUCK.
Laharl subverts this trope. Adell plays it straight. Mao subverts it.
Sonic is the team's de facto leader.
Mario, of course. He names the franchise, is the main playable character, is The Mario, etc., etc.
Link from The Legend of Zelda is literally an incarnation of this trope. In most of the core Canon, Link is specifically titled "Hero" of something: of Hyrule in the original and A Link To The Past, of Time in Ocarina Of Time, of Winds in Wind Waker, and Chosen Hero of the Gods in Twilight Princess (Hero of Light is Fanon only for TP; it was actually used in an earlier Japan-only installment).
Although there's the possibility of it being too obvious to be worth listing here, the majority of the main characters in every Dragon Quest game serve as the Hero, to the point that in Dragon Quest VIII the hero's default name is Hero. Nearly all of them have balanced abilities and use (or have the option of using) swords, and many of them have lightning and/or fire in their selection of attack magic. One of the only exceptions is the Hero from Dragon Quest II, who learns no magic at all and serves as the physical fighter of the party.
- Another DQ Hero-Subversion, in V the hero plays the role as more the party's priest, and his son is the legendary hero.
In Final Fantasy XII, Ashe, while not the protagonist, is probably the most standard hero in the series.