Day Eight: Harry, Hercules and Hannah Montana

Just kidding, I won't talk about Hannah Montana : )

Well, it's a lovely Wednesday *checks clock* evening, and we are going to do a little run down on heroes! First off, a few definitions:

Merriam-Webster Dictionary: a man admired for his achievements and qualities
dictionary.com: a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities
wikipedia.org: a person who performs extraordinary deeds for the benefit of others

This hero figure will almost always acquire a "boon," that meaning something he brings back, learns or earns for the benefit of the general public, i.e. a special treasure, the ability to heal, being crowned king. There is also a cultural/psychological thing called an archetype, that is, our typical idea of what something should look like. The definitions above are all examples of archetypes; while one hero might be radically different from another, they're still expected to have those general traits.

So here's a hero in our generation: Harry Potter. Let's do a bit of evaluation, shall we?
Starting at the end of the series, Harry's boon is that he kills Voldemort. Fairly obvious, yes? I think it's about the only good thing he did for society overall, so there we go. He fits the general archetypes of being extraordinary (duh, he survived, plus he's extraordinarily hot), talented (well, in some ways?) and generally courageous, selfless, that sort of thing. See how he doesn't fit every detail but still has the general ideas down well?

Then you have your more professional heroes, like Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., and John Lennon. Any more clever ideas? Be sure to comment with them!