The Rise of the Every-Hero
Why are weak & unimportant characters becoming sci-fi/fantasy stars? Competence.
Evil rules the galaxy… while dark hordes mass to bathe the land in chaos.
And the protagonists we follow from episode to episode can do nothing about it.
Their purpose is much more mundane.
From the Mandalorian protecting a single alien baby to the Goblin Slayer’s refusal of the call in favor of goblin slaying, a new fan favorite has appeared.
Vanquisher of minor evils, conqueror on a human scale. Part everyman, part superhero. Hither comes a new breed: the Every-Hero.
Physically Weaker Than Your Average Hero
Lacking the big-league stats of your classic hero, they’d be lucky to star in a minor folk tale, never mind a major epic. They know they can’t save everyone. So they do what they can to help their local villages and towns, fighting galactic loan sharks, and common goons. They stay in the small events lane like the rest of us.
Morally Stronger Than Your Typical Anti-Hero
Nor are they anything like the small potatoes ad execs, meth cookers, and Jersey mob bosses that made 2000s television so binge-able. Like us, they’ve seen anti-heroes follow their traumatic childhoods and difficult circumstances into abject cynicism and self-destruction enough times to want to try something new.
Using past mistakes as fuel to do the right thing, they commit to keeping what befell them from happening to others in their area. Every-Heroes dedicate themselves to following the way.
Overcoming Impossible Odds (For Them)
Because Every-Heroes don’t know space wizardry or have divine lineage, they work on being as competent as they can in their realms of expertise. These are shows about people who are really good at the relatively minor heroism they do, and therein lies the key to our fascination with them.
You don’t have to re-kill hordes of the undead or overthrow interplanetary totalitarian dictatorships to be enthrallingly watchable. New ways to skin a Mudhorn or slay a goblin pack are enough when such obstacles are above your paygrade.
Ruthlessly Competent
Every-Heroes get to exhibit a stoic resolve that their counterparts cannot. Inhumanly powerful heroes and morally reprehensible anti-heroes are mostly relatable because they exhibit human doubts and emotions. They fret over big decisions, crumble under pressure, lose control, and cry when things don’t go their way. All to seem “just like you and me”.
Every-heroes don’t have that luxury.
The only way an Every-Hero can convincingly overcome what a hero would plow through without blinking or an anti-hero would crush with skullduggery is by an almost foolishly calm faith in their process. Training, preparation, and practice, aka grit, are what frequently win the day for Every-Heroes, which is why they are usually also consummate professionals.
Relatably Compassionate
It may be hard to root for someone who isn’t engaged in the most important conflict of their era. On the other hand, it’s totally understandable. The Every-Hero isn’t fighting for an incomprehensible statistic, but the memory of lost relatives or the teammates by their side. After all the real-world havoc wrought by idealistic zealots and cynical demagogues, most of us would rather have someone defending what’s tangible by our side than rioters looting and shooting in our names.
Every-Heroes aren’t as impressive or cool as their predecessors, but they’re useful.
The major crises confronting us today are equally as beyond our control as the battles that take place in galaxies far, far away. This may explain why attention is now shifting to Every-Heroes. When you don’t have the powers to save the world yet still care too much to be cynical, all you can afford to be is useful.
Far from feeling defeated, we’re coming to recognize that being useful is infinitely better than being nothing.
Hopefully, we won’t just watch Every-Heroes in action, but strive to be them ourselves.
And give the Every-Heroes of our speck of the universe the love they deserve.
Warning: Known for its controversial brutality and dark subject matter, Goblin Slayer really isn’t for everyone. I’m using it here as one end of a spectrum of media in which the new Every-Hero archetype seems to have arisen. Hope you enjoyed the read and let me know of any other sightings of this new type in the field!
Thoughtful as always.
"The only way an Every-Hero can convincingly overcome what a hero would plow through without blinking or an anti-hero would crush with skullduggery is by an almost foolishly calm faith in their process. Training, preparation, and practice, aka grit, are what frequently win the day for Every-Heroes, which is why they are usually also consummate professionals."
Guess that's why we practice!