Huynh 1

Peggy Huynh

Mx. Samek

Language Arts 8

18 November 2022

The Keys to a Hero

The word “hero” has many different definitions and examples, the ones that appear in

media typically are extremely powerful physically, have little to no flaws, and always defeat the

villain to save the day. But in reality, people don’t have to be that way to be considered a hero.

The keys to a hero are protecting others, overcoming obstacles and or fears they shall face, and

fighting for what they believe is right.

First, a hero must protect others. For instance, Dallas/Dally Winston from the book The

Outsiders is a Greaser and is in a gang with his friends. When his friends Ponyboy and Johnny

were in trouble and trying to run away, Dally helped them. For instance, when Dally died,

Ponyboy took the time to think about how heroic he was “Dally giving us his gun, although it

could mean jail for him; Dally risking his life for us, trying to keep Johnny out of trouble"

(Hinton 154). Dally risked going to jail just so that his friends would be safe from trouble which

is heroic. When his friends were in trouble, he stepped in and helped them with the situation

even though he knew it would be troublesome and risky. He could have ditched them and

decided not to help them out at all but instead, he refused to betray Ponyboy and Johnny. He

helped them without a moment’s hesitation when they asked for help. Even though he knew that

giving Ponyboy and Johnny the gun would put him at risk of going to jail, he still gave them it

just so they could be safer and have some self-defense. Additionally, Rayne Liebert from the

webtoon Homesick fits the function protect but isn’t considered a hero. She woke up with no
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memories/recollection of the apocalypse. Immediately after, she teamed up with a person named

Samael. Rayne soon found out she was half infected. After meeting a mysterious person, Rayne

and Samael blacken out to awaken to a gang that tells them to either join them or face the

consequences. They noticed that Samael’s cousin Kenny was there. Rayne blurted out that if she

stays, they will let Samael go. Then, Rayne and Samael get escorted into separate rooms by a

person named Gressil. Soon after that, Gressil discovered Rayne is half-infected; He brought her

down to the basement to then wire her mouth shut. He also cut her just because he claimed he

was bored. Suddenly, Kenny entered the room and started fighting Gressil. Seeing Gressil

distracted, Rayne knocked the gun out of Gressil’s hands. Rayne then proceeded to point the gun

at Gressil’s chest telling him, “‘I suddenly realized what you remind me of. Cockroaches.

Disgusting people like you are cockroaches. And you know what happens to roaches? We kill

them… until there's no more left. And no in the world will give a damn when you're dead’” (Ms.

Freaky). Then she shot him which caused his death. That may have protected her friends and

would be considered heroic, but while doing so, she murdered a person in return. Although the

setting of the story was an apocalypse and the fact that Gressil was a sadistic and in general a

terrible person, it is still no excuse for murder. In many ways, murdering a murderer is becoming

a murderer. Intentionally killing others isn’t something a hero should be doing. With the gun in

her procession and having the overall advance, Rayne could have easily manipulated the

situation to where Gressil leaves them alone instead of killing him. Heroes must protect others

while not intentionally killing others to do so.

Secondly, a hero must overcome the obstacles and or the fears they face. For example,

Daniel Park from the webtoon Lookism was raised by a single mom and lived in poverty. On top

of that, he got bullied at school by Logan Lee because of his appearance. Daniel soon transferred
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schools and found out that he has two bodies that of which he can switch back and forth by going

to sleep. His new body is "handsome" and thin. After a long time, Logan appeared at Daniel's

school as a new student. When they met face to face again, Daniel was still terrified even in his

new body. After a couple of days/weeks, he found out that Logan threatened his friend Zoe into

dating him. Furious, Daniel mustered up the courage and goes to confront Logan in his original

body. When he approached Logan, Daniel challenged him that if he uses his right hand, he will

release Zoe. Logan then started beating up Daniel, but Daniel kept getting back up. Soon enough,

he started to lose hope but thought to himself, "'My physique, strength, skills… they're all

embarrassing. I know I'm ugly! I know I'm fat! I know I'm poor! That's why I thought I deserved

no better!! But… But those…!! Can't justify their bullying!! It wasn't me who was wrong!!'"

(Pak). He then successfully lands some hook punches and a knee kick on Logan, which enraged

Logan causing him to use his right hand. This shows Daniel overcoming his fears which is very

heroic. Before encountering Logan, Daniel wasn’t confident about his original body at all. When

Daniel met Logan face to face again at school, he was still petrified even though he knows that

Logan doesn’t recognize him in his new body. But when his friend was in trouble, he gathered

the bravery to face Logan in his original body. Although Logan kept violently beating Daniel up,

he kept getting back on his feet even more determined. After multiple years of enduring the pain

and self-loathing, Daniel finally realized he wasn’t in the wrong. It takes a lot of guts to face

one’s fears, especially one that has been feared for years. Overcoming his trauma meant saving

his friend and meant that he learned to rely on his original body more. Meanwhile, not all people

who demonstrate this function are heroes. In comparison, Jiho from the webtoon Lookism was a

student in the fashion department at J High school. He was super insecure and thought he needed

to be "cool" to be likeable by others. But he saw himself as hopeless, "I'm weak. Weak and
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Useless. I can't do anything like this. I… can't do it. All I can do… is watch from behind. I can't

even solve my own problems. I'm such… an idiot. I can't do it!!". In the course of time, Jiho

wanted revenge so he pushed two people out a window sending him to Juvenile jail. When he

went to his jail cell, he met Darius Hong. Darius made Jiho's life miserable, he beat him up often

and did other terrible actions to him just because he was the newbie. One day, Jiho couldn't take

it any longer so he challenged to fight Darius. Darius kept beating Jiho to the ground yet, he still

got back up. Eventually, Jiho fought back but dirtily. He bit Darius' nose, spat his teeth into

Darius' eye, and grabbed Darius' bandage to try to choke him, "Darius… saw the eyes that meant

to kill him," (Pak). Before, Jiho was super insecure about himself and kept thinking that he was

weak/useless and thinking that he can’t do anything in his ability to solve his struggles. But with

time, he finally relied on himself instead of depending on appearance. When he got sent to

Juvenile jail and met Darius, he was immediately intimated. As Jiho got bullied, he slowly

started to lose more faith in himself. But one day he reached his breaking point and challenged

Darius to a fight. Even though he got viciously beaten up, he got back on his feet and continued

to fight back. But, although Jiho fights back against his bully just like Daniel Park, it still doesn’t

make him a hero. This is so because he fought back dirty and with the intention of murder. After

Jiho attempted to choke Darius to death, he also did so without any remorse and heartlessly. A

hero shouldn’t have the intention of murder and do remorseless actions to others. Instead, a hero

must overcome their fears without trying to kill another person.

Lastly, a hero must fight for what they believe is right. Ponyboy from the book The

Outsiders is a Greaser and is in a gang with his friends and brothers. One day, Ponyboy was with

his friends Johnny and Dally. As they headed back to the abandoned church, they noticed the

church was on fire. Curious, Ponyboy ran to find out what happened. The people there told them
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that there were children still inside the church. Ponyboy, filled with guilt because he thought he

started the fire with a cigarette, dashed inside the church while Johnny came along. While

Ponyboy was saving the children, he was told by Dally, "'For Pete's sake, get outa there! That

roof's gonna cave in any minute. Forget those blasted kids!' I didn't pay any attention, although

pieces of the old roof were crashing down too close for comfort," (Hinton 93). This shows that

Ponyboy trying his best to do what he believes is right which is saving the children from the fire.

Although his friend Dally was trying to convince him to just ditch the children, Ponyboy ignored

him. He could have listened to Dally and left the rest of the children to fend for

themselves/straight up leave them there to die in the fire, but he decided to do what he knew was

right and save them. Although it was very tough and frustrating to do, his preservation and

determination kept him pushing toward his goal. Meanwhile, John Doe from the webtoon

unOrdinary kept fighting toward his goal but, he is still not a hero. John is known as a cripple

which is a person with no powers. In his world, abilities are categized into four tiers by their

power (low, mid, elite, and high). At the school he went to, Wellston, John got bullied because

he claimed to be a cripple. Later on in the story, it is revealed that he hid powers that are high

tier. After his only friend’s suspension, John started tearing apart Wellston's hierarchy while

wearing a mask and going by the name Joker. With his new identity, he took over the school as

the King because he violently beat up the previous king, queen, and other innocent people even

though they couldn't fight back anymore, "Joker, the new king of Wellston. No more Royals. No

more hierarchy," (Han). John wanted to stop the violence going on and he believed that the

hierarchy of the school was unfair and needed to be justified after experiencing it first-hand.

With his new identity as Joker, his goal was to curb the violence across Wellston. As he

struggled on, he kept working hard toward his goal until he achieved it. John may have fought
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for what he thought was right but, the way he did it wasn’t heroic at all. Although the previous

king and queen of Wellston may have been terrible, it’s no excuse to beat them to the point they

can’t fight back anymore. Additionally, the fact that John also beats up innocent people is

inhumanly terrible. Heroes should be merciful rather than unmerciful. Their option to resort to

violence should be their last rather than one of their first. Heroes also shouldn’t abuse their

power when they have it in their possession. Rather, heroes must fight for what they believe is

right while not relying on violence.

Thus, a hero must protect others, overcome the vicious obstacles and or fears they shall

face, and fight for what they believe is right. Dally protected his friends, Daniel Park overcame

the fears and trauma that he faced for a long time, and Ponyboy fought for what he believed is

right to protect those in need. It is honestly really important for others to the true definition of the

word “hero”. In the real world, when a lot of people immediately think of the word “hero”, they

think of a person with little to no flaws with superhuman powers used to slay the villain. But in

reality, true heroes are those who go against vicious obstacles. A person can learn important and

valuable lessons from each mistake and sign of struggle. Anyone can become a hero by trial and

error.
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Work Cited Page

Hinton, S. E. (2021). The outsiders. Viking.

Freaky, M. (2021). Homesick. Naver WEBTOON.

https://www.webtoons.com/en/thriller/homesick/list?title_no=2759&page=1

Tae-Joon, . (2014). Lookism. Naver WEBTOON.

https://www.webtoons.com/en/drama/lookism/list?title_no=1049&page=1

Han, C. (2016). UnOrdinary. Naver WEBTOON.

https://www.webtoons.com/en/super-hero/unordinary/list?title_no=679&page=1