: I agree with mbakeranelecta, but what I want to say is too long for a comment so let me write it as it's own answer. Personally, I've never understood the concept of "a hero that the reader

@Heady158

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I agree with mbakeranelecta, but what I want to say is too long for a comment so let me write it as it's own answer.

Personally, I've never understood the concept of "a hero that the reader can identify with". I guess there are readers out there who want such stories. I never did. I remember when I was a kid, there was a TV show that was advertised all the time as being "about kids like you". And every time I heard that advertisement, I thought to myself, "I don't want to watch TV shows about kids like me. What, a show about somebody going to school and doing homework and delivering newspapers? I want to watch TV shows about spies and astronauts and adventurers, people doing things that are exciting."

Likewise, I often hear critics say, "This was a great story because it's so realistic. It's about ordinary people leading ordinary lives." Well I don't want to read a story about someone going to work in an office and mowing the lawn and paying bills.

I like to read stories about people dramatically different from me. Maybe someone whose life is exciting, like space travelers visiting strange planets or an archaeologist fighting Nazis. Or maybe someone who simply has a life much different from mine, like someone who lives in a faraway time and/or place.

To me, what makes a story interesting is often precisely that the hero is different from me.

I've read "inspirational" stories where the point very clearly is that the hero is a better person than the reader, and that the reader should try to imitate him. I generally find such stories boring. I'm sure there are some that do it well, but I think it's hard to pull off.

I rarely find myself saying about the hero of a book or movie, either, "Yes! That person is just like me!", or "Yes! I'm going to work to make myself more like him!" I'm much more likely to say, "Wow, what an interesting character!" Which may be good or bad.

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