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The Hero Complex

Posted on December 5, 2010 by Matt

Just got home from a company Christmas party and happened across Kick-A– which, as it deals with young people, usually turns me off but for some reason I stuck it out. One thing it made me think about was the need for mankind to have heroes. I always thought there must be something like a hero complex. Turns out there kind of is:

The person suffering from true Hero Complex will have hullicinations of saving the people they care about most. They have day dreams that include saving friends/family from fires, drowning, etc. They can also get a feeling inside of them like their stomach dropped ten feet. This usually occurs when they view someone in pain. Whether its a movie, video game, or real life, their Hero Complex can be triggered by someone elses misfortune. Crying is a big weakness for those with Hero Complex. Even if the person in need is an enemy, a Hero Complex will try to help. As stated above, this is not just having a “big heart” it is a compulsion to help others. If they dont they feel horrid and think they arent good people.

I don’t know when I started thinking of these symptoms as a complex, of sorts, but it was a long time ago and way before I heard anything about it being a real thing. I suspect all humans have varying degrees of these symptoms probably because we’re made in the image of God and have feelings that it would be right to be able to do these things.

On the flip-side, I have found that such feelings are counter-acted by moral, ethical or pragmatic thoughts. For instance, the thought of coming to a friend’s rescue is countered by the very next thought you would never wish your friend to be in that situation in the first place and to think of the lack of others for your own gain is simply morbid – and so each thought cancels out the other.

It fascinates me because something as apparently innocent as escapist fantasy, sci-fi, comic books, etc., actually acts as a commentary on a significant drive within humans to have heroes and to want to be heroes – but this commentary isn’t often presented on the level of individuals where I’m convinced it is a significant factor in personality.

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1 thought on “The Hero Complex”

  1. Fretz says:
    December 22, 2010 at 8:29 pm

    Ouch, you had to watch Kick Ass? I’m sorry you suffered through that garbage. Now, I am a sucker for superheroes but that movie simply sucked. There were some parts that were better off not in it.

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