A hero (female: heroine) is a man who is distinguished by his outstanding courage, and bravery. It could also be someone whom others look up to and admire for the things he has done, and for his extreme level of accomplishments and greatness. There are specific exceptional qualities that characterized a hero. It is true that these qualities are exceptional, yet they are not far to reach for anyone who truly wants to cultivate them in order to become a hero. Below, we are going to examine these qualities to understand how essential it is in the life of anyone who is a hero.
1. Courage: Someone once said that courage is not the absence of fear, but the ability to act in spite of the fear. As a human, it is common to experience fear in your journey. As you progress in life, trying to accomplish a thing, you will definitely meet situations that will frighten you and almost scare you to death. At those moments, your progress will lie only on your ability to conquer those fears. It may come in different forms; whether it is asking your crush out, or public speaking, when you’ve been chosen to make a presentation, for the first time, that would lead to your promotion. It could also be the fear of trying to save someone in danger, just as we see in Chinonso Aguzie’s The Mind of a Hero. Obidike, the protagonist faces so many fears on his journey trying to save his clan and his people of Umumbara from Jideofor’s evil. He is afraid, yet still conquers.
2. Strength: Strength is one of the things that are synonymous with heroes. Heroes are mostly admired by their ability and capacity to act and accomplish a mission. This includes; emotional, physical and intellectual capacity and other forms of strength. Think of the emperors who conquered cities and territories in the pasts. Think of the one who never folds and always did what needs to be done regardless of how he feels. This is also very evident in The Mind of a Hero. Obidike possesses great strength that he struggles and kills a lion terrorizing his community. He embattles and kills Jideofor, a sorcerer, in what most people consider a gruesome bloody fight ever.
3. Sacrificial: Heroes are not selfish. This is not by carelessly giving out unsolicited resources, help, or time to those who don’t value it. But it’s all about giving out what they have, be it their ideas, strength, resources to a course they truly believe in for the betterment of everyone around them. Just in the book, The Mind of a Hero, Obidike is so selfless to his clan that he dies in the course of saving his people.
4. Determination: Every hero must have the ability to decide and persevere with grit and to remain grounded until he achieved his purpose. This is also very evident in the life of Obidike who did not break even when he was faced with obstacles. He kept going until his people were delivered from slavery.
5. Confidence: Heroes exude confidence. This is not pride. It is who they are, and it is one of the reasons why people gravitate towards them. This is why they earn the respect of others. Because they believe in their abilities, people also believe in them—it’s like a magnet. Heroes are leaders, and no one would want to follow one who did not really believe, with self assurance of the certainty of where he is going.
6. Strong Moral Compass: One of the qualities that distinguishes heroes from the crowd lies on their abilities to know what is good and that which is bad. What really made them heroes is in their abilities to do what is right, and to shun evil. Heroes have healthy moral standard which always made them to always fight against evil. In the book, The Mind of a Hero, Obidike fights evil to the later, which made his name great in the clan, and also echoes afterwards even when he was gone.
7. Resilience: While determination is what gives heroes the decisiveness and the ability to pursue a goal, resilience is what keeps them going despite challenges. Resilience is what keeps them from giving up too easily. It is what makes them to bounce back and try again even after suffering from failure.
8. Honesty and Integrity: Heroes are never afraid to tell the truth without flinching. Heroes are ethical, and their high moral standard is hardly to be influenced or impaired. They stand firm at all time to that which is right, because they understand how their decision can affect the people looking up to them. This quality is also evident in the life of Obidke (in The Mind of a Hero), because even when the white men visited the community, demanding Obidike to sell his people as slaves to him, Obidike rejected them and their gifts.
9. Helpfulness and Compassion: Even though heroes are strict in doing the right thing, they are people of understanding. They possess the tenderheartedness to understand the suffering of the people around them, and to assist them in any way they can.
10. Protective: Heroes sometimes could be overly protective to what they own, and that is what makes them responsible. Just like how Obidike (in The Mind of a Hero) was overly protective of her sister, and never wanted her to get married to a poor man, only but to the success. Moreover, heroes would try all possible means to never allow anyone to destroy what they have.
11. Inspirational and Authentic: Heroes always serve as inspiration to the people around them. By the extraordinary things they do, others are motivated to do the same, too.
