Female Heroes

To be honest, it is difficult to think of very many contemporary, or historical, female heroes. Society at large does not support them nearly as much as male heroes, and even when women rise above the general populace, they still tend to take a backseat to a male hero. In example, batgirl and supergirl are little more than sidekicks to their respective superhero men. However, there are a few examples of female heroes in modern culture. One heroine, less popular now, is wonder woman. An independent hero, Wonder woman uses strength and skill to defeat enemies. She is not disguised as a man in the slightest, and in fact her feminine features are exaggerated. This could be viewed as positive because she does not have to hide that she is a woman, or negative because she is highly sexualized; the feminine features that are exaggerated could appear to make wonder woman nothing more than a sex object. Another heroine in modern culture is Samus Aran, a fixture in many video games. Samus takes the opposite approach, hiding all feminine qualities behind an all-encompassing suit of armor. She does not appear to be female, and she is not nearly as sexualized as wonder woman is. Again, this appearance could be interpreted multiple ways. Samus Aran is purely powerful; with no sex characteristics she rises above typical feminine stereotypes to be much more like a traditional hero. However, one could also argue that Samus achieves this because she is disguising herself as a man, or at least losing all gender characteristics. It could easily be argued that she is becoming a hero only by failing to remain a woman.

Batman

There are elements of Batman’s character that put him into any of the three archetypes we have discussed. Primarily, he is the archetypal hero. His journey, set out mainly in Batman Begins, follows quite closely the nine steps of a typical hero. He has an unusual birth, being rich and watching his parents murdered. He has a mystic weapon in his suit and crime-fighting gadgets, a spiritual guide in Alfred, and crosses the threshold when he learns to fight and dons the mask, becoming Batman In general, he is a physically and financially gifted individual who uses his abilities and assets to empower himself to fight evil. He captures criminals and generally cleans up the streets of Gotham City, saving lives and making noble decisions that would classify him as a hero. These qualities, his journey, and his decisions would generally classify him as an archetypal hero.

However, there are elements to suggest he is a tragic hero and an anti-hero as well. Batman is an anti-hero in that he completes noble actions, but does not necessarily act like a gentleman or even a nice guy while he does them. He often beats criminals senseless, and does not always treat the common people well, as evidenced in the first scene when he ties up and leaves for arrest vigilantes mimicking him, even though they, too, are trying to do good. Batman is also a tragic hero because, at the end of the movie, he falls from grace. Even though he has everything going for him, his decision to take the blame for Harvey Dent turns him into an outcast, a fallen idol who everyone despises. This fall from respect and glory classifies the normally victorious Batman as a tragic hero.