Modern Heroes: Integrity, Honor, and Martial Arts - Essay Sample

Introduction

Heroes are people in different plays, movies, or articles that possess integrity, intelligence, honesty, honor, morality, and action where they help the people in need and work to fight evil people. The modern day hero may be shown to possess different powers, and they use that power to fight villains with evil forces. Another expert that the modern day heroes may use in the fight against evil and protecting other innocent people in martial arts. Modern day heroes are shown to have extensive knowledge of all fighting skills which they use to fight villains and keep the city safe. An excellent example of a modern day hero is Batman, who portrays different qualities like courage, judgment, and responsibility.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Modern Day Hero

Batman is a comic superhero that is loved by many people, both children, and adults, in the current world. Batman is a courageous superhero who does not possess any superpower but fights with all types of villains those that have power and those that do not have (Comerford 183-200). The main trait that is evident with this superhero is that he puts his life in danger so that he can save the people of Gotham City as it is his responsibility to do so. Accountability is essential for the modern superhero as everyone in the city looks up to him for safety. A modern day hero also possesses good judgment because wrong decisions ns can lead to people getting killed. Batman is faced with the task of thinking about a situation thoroughly so that he can defeat the villain without hurting or killing innocent people. Bruce Wayne is Batman, and he is alive until now, making him a modern day hero celebrity. Other qualities that define him include physical strength, intelligence, and passion.

Differences

Sir Gawain is a medieval hero who originates from a noble family of kings and is given the responsibility to be courageous and take care of his people in the kingdom. He uses a shield and a sword to fight his enemies, unlike Batman, a modern hero who uses guns and other modified weapons to fight the villains (Comerford 183-200). Medieval heroes are usually sent on quests to ensure that they finish a specific mission. The pentangle Sir Gawain carries has five points that resemble truth and faithfulness to Green Knight. Batman, on the other hand, does not take any items that resemble any loyalty or truth to any other person.

Unlike in modern films where modern heroes use modern means of transport like cars, the medieval heroes used flying dragons and other strange creatures from one place to another. They encounter various enemies in the form of dragons, giants, and other big and small animals (Reeves 1-64). The modern heroes also encounter different enemies before reaching the main enemy. They are on a mission to defeat, although they are usually in the form of human beings or technologically modified weapons that place a barrier to them.

The medieval hero is restricted to religious beliefs and cults, while modern heroes originate from different backgrounds and work their way up to become superheroes. The current heroes may also experience a situation where they encounter a tragedy that changes them from ordinary people to supernatural people with either power or high IQ and physical skills (Medrano 1-69). Batman is a modern hero who is admired by many people, unlike medieval heroes, most of whom were feared rather than respected by the people under them.

Similarities

The shield that Gawain uses represents the purity of mind, compassion, courtesy, brotherly love, and generosity. These traits are similar to modern day heroes like Batman as he carries bat-like stars, which he gives to different people, especially children and adults who admire him and look up to him for security (Massey 1-38). The modern day and the medieval hero are courageous and fight to ensure that the people in their cities or kingdoms are protected from any evil. They both possess faith and loyalty, where they encounter one main enemy who is a threat to the people they care about, and they go through a lot of risks and challenges to ensure that the primary mission is completed.

Both the medieval hero and the modern day hero do some investigations first and get information from different people on their way to achieving their missions, which make them have great knowledge about the enemies' traits and moves for better chances in the final attack.

Both heroes also face difficult times in their quests for justice because they face a lot of tests and decision making processes that create a choice between life and death (Massey 1-38). They either make choices that lead to the death of people close to them as well as innocent people who expect to get protection from them, or they make good decisions that help overcome the enemies without injuring those around them.

Conclusion

Certain character traits make medieval and modern heroes similar and different from each other. Bravery and selflessness are the main traits that define both types of heroes as society looks up to them for protection. Many of the characteristics that form the basis of different acts of heroism cannot be changed despite the different changes that may be realized in the societies.

Works Cited

Comerford, Chris. "The Hero We Need, not the One we Deserve: Vigilantism and the State of Exception in Batman Incorporated." Graphic Justice: Intersections of comics and law (2015): 183-200.

Massey, Anna. The framework of fantastical heroes. Diss. The University of Missouri, College of Arts and Sciences, 2019: 1-38.

Medrano, Karen. "He's the Hero We Deserve Batman as a Figure of Dominant Masculinity." (2019): 1-69

Reeves, Emma F. "The World's Greatest Detectives: Analyzing the Relationship and Cultural Meaning of Sherlock Holmes and Batman." (2017): 1-64.