UNUSUAL QUALITIES
The hero has some unusual qualities that separates her
from the average person. In Greek mythology, a hero
was often of divine origin, being the progeny of a
deity.
ACTING FOR THE GREATER GOOD
A hero could be defined as a person who acts in a way
that benefits the greater good of her society.
INTERACTING WITH MYTHOLOGY
A hero interacts not only with society, but with
mythology as well. (Though the line between myth and
society is far from clear-cut.) There is a
mythological significance to her actions. I am not
just talking about going on heroquests. A myth is a
symbolic story. Myth has meaning. (I.e. Achilles is
not just a guy who died because he was wounded in the
foot. The myth of Achilles tells us that everyone has
their weak spots, among other things.)
EMBODIMENT OF CHANGE
In Glorantha it is not enough to just participate in a
minor heroquest or two to become a hero. The actions
of a hero has social, political and mythological
impact. In the wake of the hero follows change. And
this is really what the Hero Wars are all about, I
believe.
"The world is ending. What will YOU do about it?"
An individual's answer to that question, tells us weather she is a potential hero or not.
ACTION
A nonsensical definition of a hero would be that she
is someone who has done something heroic. This is a
circular definition, of course, but the keywords here
are 'has done'. Nobody is a hero because she has
Walktapus Cooking 16w5. But someone _using_ her
Walktapus Cooking to save her people from certain
doom, could be. A hero is defined by action, not by
potential.
So how does all this answer questions like "was Sartar a superhero"?
It doesn't. In fact the entire idea of a hero/superhero distinction seems very superficial to me. Herodom (herohood? ... nah) shouldn't be measured in terms of game statistics ("Wow! Now I'm a third level fighter. That means that I am a ... eh ... let me see ... swashbuckler!").
In order to rank the heroes of Glorantha, you would have to use measurements that makes the answer uninteresting, at best.
So, discussions weather Hulk can beat Superman or not, really doesn't turn me on. What the stories about Hulk and Superman tells us about our society, about good and evil, and, basically, about ourselves? Oooh! You make me hot!
/Peter Nordstrand
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