Your favorite "non-super" heroes

[Christopher Lee]

I have to go with Roland the Gunslinger!

 

[cruggero]

I just began reading the Dark Tower series. While Roland is a strong character, there's something stale about him. He's not so dynamic as I think someone would be, who has gone through what he has. He seems blase, I've noticed. But he does talk as though he's having a mental breakdown, losing his sanity; such as in The Little Sisters of Elvira.

 

[Wish]

Garth Ennis' Punisher springs to mind for me.

 

[Alex The G and T]

Pardon me if I derail this thread back to a more literal interpretation of the title of this thread...

My favorite non-super hero is the guy who shows up on page 2 or 3 of the local newspaper, every now and then.

The interviewer gushes, "You're such a hero!"

The hero says, " Pure dumb luck, I was in the right place at the right time. I saw what needed to be done, and I did it. Same as anybody else would."

Plain and simple.

The antithesis, of course is the hero who blames and credits the whole incident on God.

 

[dask]

Sgt. Rock
Sgt. Fury
Gunner & Sarge
The Haunted Tank
Johnny Cloud
Jim Gordon
Alfred Pennyworth
Perry White

 

[Dave]

Has no one seen An Idiot Abroad 2 and Karl Pilkington's ******** Man?

Beware that these clips do make frequent use of the S word!

This is where Karl has the idea first:

http://www.unofficialgervais.com/20...ton-wants-to-be-********-man-superhero-video/

And this is the further development of the idea by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant to great hilarity:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0a6FgTEHE4

 

[Pyan]

Waldo Butters, Assistant Medical Examiner, from Jim Butcher's Dresden Files.

If the definition of a hero is "one who overcomes fear to do what's right", this guy qualifies in spades...

 

[subtletylost]

I would have to say first Batman then Gibbs and his team from NCIS. Actuall all the CSI peoples great serieses (CSI, CSI: NY, CSI: MIAMI, NCIS. Heck even Bones and Criminal Minds.)

THe third pick for me would have to be Dr. Brennan from Bones because she proves that all it takes to be a hero is to know what to do and how to do it. You don't need to be sociable, just smart.

 

[rand00]

Bigby from Fables.

 

[Steve Jordan]

Reuben Flagg (from Howard Chaykin's American Flagg! series).

Here was a guy who was forced out of a cushy job by technology, deported to Earth from Mars because of an unpopular family, and dropped into a job as Ranger of an insane, thoroughly corrupt Chicago... but when he realized he was in a position to improve things, he took charge and Did The Job, because he loved his country. He worked both sides of the law as needed, but always to make America (and his region) better.

And oh, yeah, he got a lot of tail.

 

[glutton]

Conan although you could say he's more of an anti-hero... by Crom!

 

[kshRox]

This pertains to heroes outside the genre of what would be your a-typical superhero universes.

What made them amazing in your eyes? What are the qualities, actions, or any other traits that cast them from the typical superhero mold, and made them "super" in a strictly human fashion?

Do you favor superheroes or heroes? If so or not, then why?

I love the creativity and excitement of SUPER hero's but I think in the long run I prefer "non-super" heroes. I wonder sometimes if by accentuating positive qualities of SUPER heroes we identify models to emulate for "non-super" heroes.

My favorite "non-super" hero was a man named Ira Wayne Miller.

He spent the last 8 years of his life on dialysis (some of you probably know what that entails) yet never complained about being sick or not feeling well.

He loved and supported his family with unquestioning faith and dedication.

He was devoted to his wife and set an example for others on how to treat women as ladies.

Although he often probably didn't feel like it, he participated in family events and supported his children's extra-curricular activities.

And although it can't be proven, I think he stayed deaths hand upon his door for years to wait for his youngest child to grow up.

Many years after he died another hero of mine, Dr. Israelit told me he used to show interns this mans chart and ask them for their assessment/diagnosis which inevitably came back as 'deceased' then introduced them to Mr. Miller.

He told me he did this to show them that medicine was more than charts and figures and encompassed a much harder to define quality called human 'spirit'.

 

[Action Avenue]

I'd be inclined to vote Batman. I've never read a Phantom comic, but I did see the movie with Billy Zane. It was good and better than some critics gave due credit.

 

[Joseph Gutierrez]

j r r tolkien was christian and all this idea of evil does not exist in real life

heroes do not exist to fight against evil

they are just part of popular culture

 

[Stephen Stagg]

Constantine.

Nuff said

 

[subtletylost]

I would have to say first Batman then Gibbs and his team from NCIS. Actuall all the CSI peoples great serieses (CSI, CSI: NY, CSI: MIAMI, NCIS. Heck even Bones and Criminal Minds.)

THe third pick for me would have to be Dr. Brennan from Bones because she proves that all it takes to be a hero is to know what to do and how to do it. You don't need to be sociable, just smart.

I have come across since my last post in this thread, a couple other characters, that I am going to add to my list. Xena and Gabrielle from Xena: Warrior Princess, Elphaba and Glinda from Wicked, and professor Robert Langdon.

 

[Pedro Del Mar]

j r r tolkien was christian and all this idea of evil does not exist in real life

heroes do not exist to fight against evil

they are just part of popular culture

bobbins