What Makes a Hero

Where do we draw the line which separates a normal human being from a hero? Unlike what the movies will tell you, one really doesn't need to be in possession of superhuman powers a la comic book superheroes to be a hero. You don't need to fall from another planet, nor do you need to get bitten by rare icky spiders. Superpowers only embellish the idea, but there is always one inside of us. Well, inside most of us. A true hero is someone who possesses the qualities of one as opposed to the physical attributes of one. He can be a small, portly black man who addresses an assembly about him having a dream for civil rights for the African-American community. He can be the guy who gets cancer, has a testicle removed and yet wins the most prestigious cycling event in the world seven times - consecutively. They are there, amongst us, all we need to do is spot them.

What Makes a Person a Hero?

Selflessness
A hero always puts others before himself. He cares little about his own personal travails which he might have to go through and makes himself available when he is needed. Selflessness is one of the prime qualities which distinguishes him from the rest of us. Whether it is a burning building, or the gun of a criminal, a hero always tries to save the people in danger, all at great personal risk.

Conscience
A hero knows what's right and what's wrong. He or she is able to distinguish between what is correct and what is wrong - something which requires a strong conscience. Often things of moral correctness are neither black nor white and very often tread on some very gray territory. In such a situation, a hero knows who to side with and what is the correct thing to do.

Courage
Picking up from that point about conscience, upholding the morally right option often needs courage. Sometimes a hero needs to jump off the bandwagon, to uphold what is right and here that he must not falter. And to not falter, he needs courage and mental strength.

Intelligence
Apart from his bizarrely expansive family wealth, Batman had little to fall back on apart from his sound intelligence. Tackling the evil forces is often a mental battle and one of the characteristics of a hero is to be have the bottle to fight it. A lot of fights are won with a presence of mind and a sense of good timing. Intelligence often negates the need for brute force and hence is one of the very important answers to the question.

Initiative
So while several of us may be in possession of the above very admirable character traits, very few of us would come forward to display them. A slightly off track quality perhaps, but initiative goes some way in making a good hero. Because say, a man has courage, intelligence, conscience and selflessness, but whiles it away sitting on the couch, is he a hero? Not quite. A hero will ensure that he makes the best of his gifts and with his leadership skills tries to help people with them. They say a man who comes forward in adversity is a true hero, as opposed to someone who simply jumps on the bandwagon.

It is in fact a summation of a few qualities. A hero who stands up for what is right and fights tooth and nail to achieve it. A hero does not lie down in face of injustice. He stands up and achieves the greater good, irrespective of adversities.