What’s Your Heroes Type?
Will Vs. Jack
Again this is part of the workshop I did on creating the ultimate hero. Last week, I blogged about emotions and how to develop them in your hero. Loved all the comments and if you requested the workshop hand-out and didn’t receive it let me know. I’m still figuring WordPress out.
Heroes come in all different packages. There is the sweet hero, the rough hero, the bad boy hero, and the clueless hero. The type of hero will be determined a lot by the heroine you have and the setting of the romance.
The personality type you select for hero is key. It will determine his behavior throughout your story. There are several ‘personality’ test available free on line that you can run your guy though but the key factor is develop a hero that is only ONE personality type. Multi-personalities don’t really work so well. I’m sure we’ve all read a book were all you sat there and thought ‘what the heck is this guy doing. He’d never do that.’ You can’t start out with a make your teeth ache sweet hero and then have him turn into a bad bay hero on page 63. Now heroes do grow (hopefully) and a circumstance may call them to act differently. But his personality will stay the same.
Think of Clark Kent. The only people who didn’t know he was Superman were Lois and Jimmy. We needed to see hints in Clark that would allow us to believe the change that happened once he stepped into the phone booth. The key here ~ Clark changed physically not his personality. So if you have a superman hiding in a Clark Kent character in the beginning of the book, make sure the reader is properly prepared before you unleash Superman.
Hero types: (There are 8 basic types. Here are two examples)
Peter Pan ~ this type of hero seems ideal in the beginning but it’s really hard to keep him in that role. Peter Pan heroes are selfish, unmotivated unless they reap the direct rewards, and fail to grow up. An excellent example is Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean. Jack isn’t the hero, and think about it – how could he be? Elizabeth is much better off with Will. Yes, we all love Jack but he’s not the guy to make the long haul with.
Is your hero frustrating you because he just won’t step up to the plate? Maybe you have cast the wrong guy. These guys however do make wonderful romantic interest for short stories that don’t promise the reader a happily ever after ending.
If you want a dark hero, that’s great but then develop him to his fullest potential.
The Dark hero ~ this hero is filled with angst and passion. He drifts through life with a wounded heart. Where some writers lose the dark hero is not developing his virtues, they focus on the flaws. A dark hero is devoted, intense, and idealistic. He guards his heart because he knows it’s his greatest weakness. His flaws are brooding, unforgiving, and pessimistic. If you think about it a dark hero without the positive fully developed is Charlie Brown…and do you really want your hero to be like a short round cartoon character?
A dark hero can be charismatic and charming if his virtues are developed and when he pledges his heart to the heroine the reader will have shivers because they know it is forever.
When developing your hero do you focus as much on the negative as the positive? Do keep him in one personality type or is does he suffer from multi-personalities?
Spend some time with your hero and figure out one special personality tick just for him. This will make him more real to your reader.
What is your favorite hero personality and why?
