Hero

The hero of a given story is the entity who wants one particular goal very badly despite there being a massive, insurmountable obstacle to that goal.

We identify the hero a little differently depending on whether we are storytelling for entertainment or storytelling for business (in which case the hero is known as the “decision-maker“).

In storytelling for entertainment (film, TV, new media, fiction, theater), it’s not always clear who the hero is because the writers have embedded the narrative deep below the action and dialogue. It can seem like there are two heroes, like in a classic “buddy cop” movie, or multiple heroes, like in an ensemble TV show.

However, there is always and only ONE hero. The hero will carry the theme of the project and have the furthest emotional distance to go. They will make the key choices at each act break and in the climax/battle scene. And, when the hero succeeds or fails to achieve their goal, the story is over.

So…

If you’re solving a story puzzle, and you want to figure out who the hero is, look at which character wants the most, suffers the most, transforms the most, makes key choices, and wins or loses right before or at the end of the story. It’s not always obvious, and the answer is there.