From the Greek cognate ηρως, in mythology and folklore, a hero (male) or heroine (female) is an eminent character who quintessentially embodies key traits valued by its originating culture. The hero commonly possesses superhuman capabilities or idealized character traits which enable him or her to perform extraordinary, beneficial deeds (i.e., a "heroic deed") for which he or she is famous (compare villain). Hero - Overview. A person normally becomes a hero by performing an extraord ...

Including:

• Hero - Overview
• Hero - The Greek Hero
• Hero - Nature of hero cult
• Hero - Types of hero cult
• Hero - Heroes politics and gods
• Hero - Later European History
• Hero - Operatic Hero
• Hero - The Modern Fictional Hero

Read more here: » Hero: Encyclopedia - Hero

See also:

Hero, Hero - Overview, Hero - The Greek Hero, Hero - Nature of hero cult, Hero - Types of hero cult, Hero - Heroes politics and gods, Hero - Later European History, Hero - Operatic Hero, Hero - The Modern Fictional Hero

Read more here: » Hero: Encyclopedia II - Hero - The Greek Hero

Homer applies the Greek word ηρως to all free men who were fighting in the Trojan War. Another epic poet, Hesiod, uses it in the context of the Fourth Age of Men. The most common mythological meaning comes from the Greek poet Pindar, who presents them as the offspring of mortals and the gods or those who had done a great service to mankind.[1] Hero - Nature of hero cult. Hero cults were one of the most distinctive features of ancient Greek religion. Greek hero-cults were distinct from ancestor worship: they were usually a civic rather than familial affair, and in many cases none of the worshipers ...

See also:

Hero, Hero - Overview, Hero - The Greek hero, Hero - Nature of hero cult, Hero - Types of hero cult, Hero - Heroes politics and gods, Hero - Later European history, Hero - The validity of the hero in historical studies, Hero - Operatic hero, Hero - The modern fictional hero

Read more here: » Hero: Encyclopedia II - Hero - The Greek hero

In literature and film, an anti-hero is a character that possesses some of the personality traits and weakness traditionally assigned to villains, outlaws and those that either are shunned by society or do not abide by the status quo, but nonetheless have enough heroic qualities and intentions to align them with the heroes in the readers' minds. Anti-heroes can be awkward, obnoxious, passive, pitiful, obtuse, or just normal; but they are always, in some fundamental way, flawed, unqualified, or failed heroes. When the anti-hero ...

Including:

• Anti-hero - Types
• Anti-hero - Vigilante
• Anti-hero - The developing hero
• Anti-hero - The drifter
• Anti-hero - The failure
• Anti-hero - Flawed everyman
• Anti-hero - The villain

Read more here: » Anti-hero: Encyclopedia - Anti-hero

An action hero is any character that lacks the superhuman powers that would normally be connoted in superhero. Instead of fighting crime using latent or expressed superpowers, they are normal people who use special devices (not limited to gadgetry and detective work), fighting techniques/martial arts or simple brute force. Examples of action heroes: James Bond Batman The Green Hornet Doc Savage John McClane from the Die Hard movies Indiana Jones Master Chief Pet

Read more here: » Action hero: Encyclopedia - Action hero

City of Heroes (CoH) is a massively multiplayer online role-playing computer game based on the superhero comic book genre, developed by Cryptic Studios and published by NCSoft. The game was launched in North America on April 28, 2004 and in France, Germany, and the UK (by NCSoft Europe) on 4 February 2005 with Scandinavia, Italy, Spain, and Benelux to follow. On October 31, 2005 the game's first sequel, City of Villains, was launched, allowing users to play as supervillains. Six gratis major updates for City of Heroes have released since its launch, with more on ...

Including:

• City of Heroes - Overview
• City of Heroes - Character creation
• City of Heroes - Origins
• City of Heroes - Archetypes and Power Sets
• City of Heroes - Costumes
• City of Heroes - Enhancements and inspirations
• City of Heroes - Enhancements
• City of Heroes - Inspirations
• City of Heroes - Influence
• City of Heroes - Enemies
• City of Heroes - Badges plaques and accolades
• City of Heroes - Geography
• City of Heroes - Updates
• City of Heroes - Criticism
• City of Heroes - Praise
• City of Heroes - Awards
• City of Heroes - Servers
• City of Heroes - American
• City of Heroes - European
• City of Heroes - Subscription
• City of Heroes - Payment options
• City of Heroes - Beyond the computer
• City of Heroes - The comic book
• City of Heroes - The Novels
• City of Heroes - Collectible card game
• City of Heroes - Role-playing game
• City of Heroes - Suit by Marvel
• City of Heroes - Communities
• City of Heroes - Official forums
• City of Heroes - Fan Sites
• City of Heroes - LiveJournal communities
• City of Heroes - alt.games.coh

Read more here: » City of Heroes: Encyclopedia - City of Heroes

A theme that pervades much of Byron's work is that of the Byronic hero, an idealized but flawed character whose attributes may include: having conflicting emotions, bipolar tendencies, or moodiness self-critical and introspective struggles with integrity having a distaste for social institutions and social norms being an exile, an outcast, or an outlaw a lack of respect for rank and privilege having a troubled past being cynical, demand ...

Read more here: » Byronic hero: Encyclopedia - Byronic hero

Beowulf is the hero of the Anglo-Saxon poem titled after him (see Beowulf). Beowulf was the son of Ecgþeow, a banished warrior of the apparently Swedish Wægmundings. His father had slain Heaðolaf, a man from another clan named the Wulfings (according to Scandinavian sources, they were the ruling dynasty of the Geatish petty kingdom of Östergötland). Apparently, due to the fact that the victim was from a prominent family, the weregild was set too high, and so Ecgþeow was banished and had to seek refuge among the Danes. The Danish king Hroðgar generously paid ...

Read more here: » Beowulf hero: Encyclopedia - Beowulf hero

A culture hero is a mythological or historically-embellished hero specific to some group (cultural, ethnic, racial, religious, etc.) who changes the world through invention or discovery. A typical culture hero might be credited as the discoverer of fire, or agriculture, songs, tradition and religion, and is usually the most important legendary figure of a people, sometimes as the founder of its ruling dynasty. The hero is sometimes said to be still living, but is often instead a ...

Including:

• Culture hero - A partial list of culture heroes from various mythologies

Read more here: » Culture hero: Encyclopedia - Culture hero

HERO - Greek priestess of love and beloved of Leander.

2. (lc) one who plunges into the darkest part of the wilderness where there in path to discover truth. (Joseph Campbell) (NAD)

(See also: HERO, Wiccan Pagan, Paganism, Pagan Dictionary)

Heroes (from Greek heros free man, lord, great man)

Classical antiquity speaks of heroes and demigods, of mingled divine and human parentage, who ruled over and instructed mankind in bygone ages. The mingled divine and human parentage has reference to the great human figures of the later third and early fourth root-races who imbodied as individuals the spiritual qualities of their divine ancestors as well as the human attributes which in those days were continuously becoming more dominant, and in time were destined to overshadow the diviner parts.

Such traditions are found everywhere, from Chaldea to Peru and Mexico, and always consistent with one plan. They recount the evolution of mankind through long ages preceding the present kali yuga; and teach that, as mankind proceeded on the descending arc, human beings were ruled successively by gods, demigods, heroes, and finally mortal initiate-kings, who later gave way to ordinary human rulers. Among genuine semidivine heroes who belong to the earliest part of the present root-race, are such names as Orpheus, Hermes, Cadmus, and Asclepois, all of whom revealed true esoteric sciences to humanity, from which sciences have descended to our own times the various arts, knowledges, and sciences.

(See also: Heroes, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Herod (Antipas) Ruler of Judea 4 BC - 40 AD. Educated at Rome; invested with tetrarchy of Galilee and Perea on his father's death. Reproved by John the Baptist, whose death he brought about by the desire of his wife Herodias and her daughter Salome (Matthew 14:3-12). He was banished in 40 by Caligula to Lugdumun (Lyons).

The story of King Herod and the slaughter of the 40,000 innocents, Blavatsky remarks that "innocents" was a name given to initiates in ancient Judea.

"There is a legend to this effect, and the event which took place almost a century BC, shows the origin of the tradition blended at the same time with that of Krishna and his uncle Kansa. In the case of the N. T., Herod stands for Alexander Janneus (of Lyda), whose persecution and murder of hundreds and thousands of Initiates led to the adoption of the Bible story" (SD 2:504n).

(See also: Heroes, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

The mythical figure known as Herakles to the Greeks and Hercules to the Romans is an example of a hero possessed of enormous strength and a divine lineage, but possessed with the fatal flaw of uncontrollable anger. In a fit of rage, he kills his wife and children, he becomes the servant of King Eurysthenis and then must undertake twelve labors (extremely difficult feats) in a decade long quest to redeem himself. His struggles made Hercules the embodiment of an idea the Greeks called pathos, the experience of virtuous struggle and suffering which wo ...

See also:

Tragic hero, Tragic hero - Classical tragic hero, Tragic hero - The modern tragic hero, Tragic hero - Competing precepts of the tragic hero

Read more here: » Tragic hero: Encyclopedia II - Tragic hero - Classical tragic hero

In the Modernist era, a new kind of tragic hero was synthesized as a reaction to the English Renaissance, The Age of Enlightenment, and Romanticism. The idea was that the hero, rather than falling calamitously from a high position, is actually a person less worthy of consideration. Not only that, the protagonist may not even have the needed catharsis to bring the story to a close. He may die without an epiphany of his destiny, or suffer without the ability to change events that are happening to him. The story may end without closure and even without the death of the her ...

See also:

Tragic hero, Tragic hero - Classical tragic hero, Tragic hero - The modern tragic hero, Tragic hero - Competing precepts of the tragic hero

Read more here: » Tragic hero: Encyclopedia II - Tragic hero - The modern tragic hero

!Hero is a rock opera modernizing Jesus's last two years of life, as described in the Bible. The story takes place in New York City, in Brooklyn. The world's government in this near-future Earth is centered under the International Confederation of Nations, aka I.C.O.N. Under the iron fist of I.C.O.N., nearly all religion in the world has been wiped out, except for small occult and mystic sects. Only one synagogue in Brooklyn exists. Currently, New York City, is a police-occupied warzone between ethnic gangs and small, isolated revolutionary groups fighting I.C.O.N. Of all the ancient world religions, only Judaism survives and flourishes ...

See also:

!Hero, !Hero - Plot, !Hero - Recording Cast

Read more here: » !Hero: Encyclopedia II - !Hero - Plot

The usage of the term "hero-city" is dated to articles in Pravda as early as in 1942. The first official usage of the title is dated by May 1, 1945, when Joseph Stalin issued his Supreme Commander Order #20 commanding to fire salutes in "hero cities Leningrad, Stalingrad, Sevastopol, and Odessa." On June 22, 1961 (20th anniversary of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War) the term "Hero City" was applied to Kiev in the ukases that awarded Kiev the Order of Lenin and introduced ...

See also:

Hero City, Hero City - History, Hero City - Brest Hero-Fortress, Hero City - Minsk, Hero City - Smolensk, Hero City - Kiev, Hero City - Odessa, Hero City - Murmansk, Hero City - Saint Petersburg Leningrad, Hero City - Tula, Hero City - Moscow, Hero City - Sevastopol, Hero City - Kerch, Hero City - Novorossiysk, Hero City - Volgograd Stalingrad

Read more here: » Hero City: Encyclopedia II - Hero City - History

Anti-hero - Vigilante. Arguably the most popular type of anti-hero is the vigilante. Usually, these are individuals with the same goals as a traditional hero, but for whom "the ends justify the means". This character type is a mainstay in comic books: for example, in the Marvel comic Daredevil, attorney Matt Murdock seeks to bring evildoers to justice in the court systems by day, but when the judicial system fails, he exacts vigilante justice by night. Another example is Frank Castle, an ex-Marine whose family wa ...

See also:

Anti-hero, Anti-hero - Types, Anti-hero - Vigilante, Anti-hero - The developing hero, Anti-hero - The drifter, Anti-hero - The failure, Anti-hero - Flawed everyman, Anti-hero - The villain

Read more here: » Anti-hero: Encyclopedia II - Anti-hero - Types

Computer Gaming World hailed the game saying "City of Heroes blows a superpowered gust of fresh air into an increasingly stale sword-and-sorcery MMO world" in August of 2004. PC Gamer, Game Informer, GameSpy and several other industry magazines critically acclaimed City of Heroes for its foray into the superhero genre and gave the game top or near top scores across the board. GameSpy went on to say that City of Heroes has the most flexible character creator to date of any MMORPG and has consistently given the update issues high marks. The launch of City of Heroes was widely reported as one of the most successful MMO ...

See also:

City of Heroes, City of Heroes - Overview, City of Heroes - Character creation, City of Heroes - Origins, City of Heroes - Archetypes and Power Sets, City of Heroes - Costumes, City of Heroes - Enhancements and inspirations, City of Heroes - Enhancements, City of Heroes - Inspirations, City of Heroes - Influence, City of Heroes - Enemies, City of Heroes - Badges plaques and accolades, City of Heroes - Geography, City of Heroes - Updates, City of Heroes - Criticism, City of Heroes - Praise, City of Heroes - Awards, City of Heroes - Servers, City of Heroes - American, City of Heroes - European, City of Heroes - Subscription, City of Heroes - Payment options, City of Heroes - Beyond the computer, City of Heroes - The comic book, City of Heroes - The Novels, City of Heroes - Collectible card game, City of Heroes - Role-playing game, City of Heroes - Suit by Marvel, City of Heroes - Communities, City of Heroes - Official forums, City of Heroes - Fan Sites, City of Heroes - LiveJournal communities, City of Heroes - alt.games.coh

Read more here: » City of Heroes: Encyclopedia II - City of Heroes - Praise

Players begin by using the game's extensive character creation system to select an archetype and Power Sets, design a unique costume, and write a back story for their hero. They start their adventure in a tutorial zone that teaches them how to play the game (experienced players may choose to bypass the tutorial and proceed directly into the game. However, this results in them being unable to earn a particular badge). It is here they learn about the level system and how to determine which enemies to attack. As a hero's level increases, ...

See also:

City of Heroes, City of Heroes - Overview, City of Heroes - Character creation, City of Heroes - Origins, City of Heroes - Archetypes and Power Sets, City of Heroes - Costumes, City of Heroes - Enhancements and inspirations, City of Heroes - Enhancements, City of Heroes - Inspirations, City of Heroes - Influence, City of Heroes - Enemies, City of Heroes - Badges plaques and accolades, City of Heroes - Geography, City of Heroes - Updates, City of Heroes - Criticism, City of Heroes - Praise, City of Heroes - Awards, City of Heroes - Servers, City of Heroes - American, City of Heroes - European, City of Heroes - Subscription, City of Heroes - Payment options, City of Heroes - Beyond the computer, City of Heroes - The comic book, City of Heroes - The Novels, City of Heroes - Collectible card game, City of Heroes - Role-playing game, City of Heroes - Suit by Marvel, City of Heroes - Communities, City of Heroes - Official forums, City of Heroes - Fan Sites, City of Heroes - LiveJournal communities, City of Heroes - alt.games.coh

Read more here: » City of Heroes: Encyclopedia II - City of Heroes - Overview

The developer continually expands City of Heroes with free downloadable patches/updates. City of Villains will be a quasi expansion for City of Heroes, because both games will stand alone, but there will be some zones where heroes and villains will clash. Issue #1: Through the Looking Glass (June 29, 2004) - high level content (levels 40-50), new zones (Peregrine Island and the Rikti Crash Site), instanced outdoor missions, and the ability to have multiple costumes. Issue #2: Shadows of the Past (Se ...

See also:

City of Heroes, City of Heroes - Overview, City of Heroes - Character creation, City of Heroes - Origins, City of Heroes - Archetypes and Power Sets, City of Heroes - Costumes, City of Heroes - Enhancements and inspirations, City of Heroes - Enhancements, City of Heroes - Inspirations, City of Heroes - Influence, City of Heroes - Enemies, City of Heroes - Badges plaques and accolades, City of Heroes - Geography, City of Heroes - Updates, City of Heroes - Criticism, City of Heroes - Praise, City of Heroes - Awards, City of Heroes - Servers, City of Heroes - American, City of Heroes - European, City of Heroes - Subscription, City of Heroes - Payment options, City of Heroes - Beyond the computer, City of Heroes - The comic book, City of Heroes - The Novels, City of Heroes - Collectible card game, City of Heroes - Role-playing game, City of Heroes - Suit by Marvel, City of Heroes - Communities, City of Heroes - Official forums, City of Heroes - Fan Sites, City of Heroes - LiveJournal communities, City of Heroes - alt.games.coh

Read more here: » City of Heroes: Encyclopedia II - City of Heroes - Updates