How is a Hero Made?

I believe that a hero is born in two specific ways; the first I believe creates a more poignant figure-- the hero who becomes a hero through loss.  The hero is a regular person and through some horrible calamity loses a loved one.  The hero already possesses some qualities that would make them heroic, such as a strong sense of justice, and their grief drives them to perform heroic acts and correct the injustice.  An example of this type of hero is found in "Supernatural" when Sam Winchester's life abruptly deviates from the life of a college student to a demon hunter when his girlfriend is killed by a powerful demonic force.  A second example is, of course, Batman who becomes Gotham's hero after his parent's murder.

The heroes who are motivated by loss are so moving to the audience because while they have a strong moral compass, their motives are motivated by their grief.  The decisions made by a hero affected by grief can be morally ambiguous at best, and sometimes it isn't clear whether they are the hero or the villain.  I think that is what makes these heroes the most human because through their grief we-- the audience, or reader-- understand ourselves better; perhaps they make us ask the difficult questions about human nature that we are often too afraid to ask.

The second type of hero is the ordinary man who is placed in an extraordinary situation and triumphs.  Frodo and Bilbo Baggins, or Donna Jones come to my when I think about this type of hero.  Nothing noticeably distinguishes them from any other person around them, but there is some mettle in them that when tested does not fail.  They reach astonishing heights and inspire-- they make the audience believe that they are also capable of extraordinary feats as well.