Heroism - Tumblr Posts

DW’s Perspective on Heroism + Why He Doesn’t Like Gizmoduck

*This is purely my perspective. I’m mostly talking about the 2017 version but both could work in this*

I’ve been rewatching the Darkwing-centered episodes so I could do an analysis on Drake. I really like him and is in my top 10 list. I see a lot of myself in him. He’s also an adorable dumb*ss.

Anyway, after watching these episodes, I came up with a theory on why DW doesn’t like Gizmoduck.

In Drake’s eyes, being a hero is willing to risk everything for the world’s protection, especially your own body. His inspiration is a fictional version of DW who is willing to get himself hurt to get the job done.

Drake looks down on heroes who don’t follow this ideal, which is where is disdain for Gizmoduck comes in.

Fenton wears a suit to protect himself and hold his gadgets-which is not bad; Iron Man does it. Yet, Drake sees the suit as Gizmo’s “cowardice” or “reluctance” to be a real hero. He sees himself as a better hero because he doesn’t wear protection.

This is how I think Drake processes this, “I’m better than Gizmoduck because he is a regular person who is not willing to risk everything. I don’t wear a stupid suit to protect myself.”

What are your thoughts? Do you think this could be accurate? 😁

12 central traits of heroism featuring My Villain Academia

Psychologists have also identified the traits of heroes. Elaine Kinsella and her colleagues have identified 12 central traits of heroism, which consist of:

brave,

[Bravery is the ability to confront something painful or difficult or dangerous without any fear. It’s a quality, not a state of mind; it doesn’t need a cause to awaken it. Someone is brave—full stop.]

moral integrity,

[Integrity is the practice of being honest and showing a consistent and uncompromising adherence to strong moral and ethical principles and values.In ethics, integrity is regarded as the honesty and truthfulness or accuracy of one's actions.]

conviction,

[conviction (kənvɪkʃən ) Word forms: plural convictions 1. countable noun [usu N that] A conviction is a strong belief or opinion. ]

courageous,

[Courage, on the other hand, is the ability to confront something painful or difficult or dangerous despite any fear. It’s not a quality, but a choice; a person feels the fear or pain or danger, but chooses to persevere anyway. Unlike bravery, courage is driven by a cause; the courageous person believes that cause is worth standing up and fighting for, despite all the clear reasons not to. It takes a great effort, because what’s on the other end merits it. ]

self-sacrifice,

[sacrifice of oneself or one's interest for others or for a cause or ideal]

protecting,

[to keep someone or something safe from injury, damage, or loss]

honest,

[ To be honest (= To tell the truth) ]

selfless,

[ concerned more with the needs and wishes of others than with one's own; unselfish. ]

determined,

[ showing the strong desire to follow a particular plan of action ]

saves others,

[1: to stop (someone) from dying or being killed : to rescue (someone) who is in terrible danger 2.informal : to help (someone) in an important way —often used to thank someone for his or her help]

                                                                                                                                                                                            inspiring,

[inspiring(Adjective) Providing inspiration; encouraging; stimulating.]

and helpful.

[adjective giving or rendering aid or assistance; of service]

After re-reading the first chapter of bnha I can honestly say that the foreshadowing is brilliantly done, so here’s an analysis with the currently plot in mind. Standpoint chapter 319.  This is going to be the next couple of posts.

 The literal first page is Deku saying that people are born unequal and he knew what society is like by the age of four.

So here’s the thing: this is what will allow Deku to become the greatest hero. He lived through the society and suffered from it, just like his enemies.

He just needs to go back to his roots he seems to have left behind currently. He spend all this time with people who have incredible power by birth and he got gifted the power of all powers because of something he accomplished, by being a proper hero.

And that led him to forget his roots, but in order to really understand his enemies he would have to look back at his life before he spend it with all these people that society praises to see what is the reasoning behind his enemies.

Currently he is talking to them through the lens of a pro hero and not that of a human who knows the suffering by society and that is why he isn’t getting the answers he wants with Muscular and Overhaul. Not to mention he did not even ask the villains he didn’t know personally. So right now Deku is selecting who if worthy of saving and who isn’t. But a real hero would safe anyone.

And this Deku, this kid from the first chapter did not care who he was saving, as long as the person needed saving.

Bakugo was horrible to Deku at the beginning, he literally told him to kill himself.

And still, when it came down, Deku went to safe Bakugo, he didn’t even think twice about it.

This is the kind of person Deku is at the very beginning and his recent focus on Tomura being someone worth saving shows that this kind of person is still there.

But he spend so much time in pro hero society that he forgot that saving anyone is the first thing to do. Tomura said in chapter 19, so just a few chapter after Deku got his powers that society is unfair, but no one listens to him.

(Obviously showing up with a bunch of villains and attacking kids is not a good way to start that conversation, but)

Deku is there to hear it, but he doesn’t pay attention to what is being said. Tomura actually tells him multiple times that society is unfair. But Deku does not listen because the words are coming out of a villains mouth.

And this is an issue that Deku is working on right now. But great yet, considering he started the conversation with Muscular doing the rampage and didn’t really listen to what Overhaul said, but is still listening more than the pro heroes. Especially the top 3 when it comes to Dabi’s speach.

But this moment right here, the very first page is what gives Deku the possibility above every other kid in UA to actually be a real hero and not a pro. Because he like his enemies knows that society is bad. He just needs to remember that.

part 1

part 2

part 3

part 4

part 5

part 6

What it takes to be a hero?

So what does it take to be a hero in the literal sense, in our world the criteria has changed from the ancient heroism of being strong and getting fame and fortune for it to being brave and going beyond everything others do in order to do good.

And bnha has this dynamic too. Being a pro hero means doing it for fame and fortune like the first term heroism was used for. But being a true hero requires something else which is why the society of bnha suffers from too many pros and not enough heroes.

Not only does being a pro hero have hurdles like good grades and entrance exams you can fail you also need to have “the body for it”, aka a strong quirk. You cannot be a hero if you aren’t born one.

Which is why someone without a quirk, or a weak quirk can’t possibly be a hero.

All Might even tells Deku if he wants to save people, aka what a true hero does he can do it by joining the police force or working in prisons, all jobs that are highly overlocked in bnha and apparently underpaid. These jobs are extremely important for a functioning system but those people aren’t considered heroes, even though they do all the work, past the initial flashy fighting of the pros. They are upholding the at this point still stable society but are looked down on.

So it is no wonder once the system collapses the cracks run so deep that no one trust the heroes anymore.  This ties in with part 3, heroes can’t be humans, they have to be above everything and can’t show flaws.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

This is something I’d love to see, but I think the sad reality of pro heroes failing to safe someone is for most of them what happens in chapter 1.

They see heroism so much as a profession that they activly do not help people if it’s a risk to themselves. Something that is understandable, and a rule in the real world for a lot of professions, but a huge problem in the society of bnha, where the expectancy for heroes is that they will put their lives at stake no matter what. 

So I think for the most part: if you fail this is just something that happens.

I worked at a nursery home and you get used to people dying or having diseases and/or disablities. It honestly stops hurting because your brain naturally distance itself from that notion in order to stay healthy and it does so very fast.

So the natural assumption here is: some strangers dying is most likely not going to leave an impact for most pro heroes, who only see this as a normal profession.

And probably a lot of bribing and sweeping things under the rug in terms of people not being safed and sad family members. If you never watched “The Boys” on amazon, [spoilers ahead!] there is a scene very early where Hughie is at a “people who lost things because of superpowered people” meeting and they all got brides, they had lawyers against them and everything and if needs be they could still sent a superpowered person to get rid of any problematic people. I imagine it’s similar in bnha.

But I’d love to see a pro being closer to true heroism having this, instad of the dulled reaction I expect from everyone else.

always strange to me that in BnHA, we never really see a Hero who directly failed to save someone? As in like, Heroes are effectively first responders, and for that occupation, it’s inevitable that they will have someone die on them, no matter how hard they tried. Doctors will lose patients, EMTs will get to a scene too late, and officers will fail to stop a death. There should be a Pro-Hero out there cradling a dying person in their arms, an everyday occurrence in-universe. Logically, especially after the Kamino and Jaku disasters, we know that must have happen - but we never see it.

(I think the closest we get is Uraraka who had an injured Nighteye on her arms, but Nighteye’s actual death was in the hospital surrounded by his important people; maybe Aizawa and Shirakumo?)

Where are the Heroes motivated by the One They Failed To Save? The Heroes haunted by that one everlasting ghost of their first failed hostage crisis, of the one person their attempt at first aid couldn’t stabilize? Heroes who have to make that annual visit to the grave of someone they knew only for 15 seconds?

For that matter, where are the grief stricken parents or spouses of these dead victims that turn against Heroes? That turn Villain just to take out the one Hero they blame? Again, we should’ve seen these people before Jaku ?

There’s just no way Heroes can be so perfect they save everyone; no way that even if they fail, it’s never directly their fault??? Do they categorize victims and feel less bad that the one they failed to drag out of the fire didn’t have a spotless record? Did they perfected a counseling system that can expunge PTSD and guilt? Did Lady Nagant take out these preparing-for-revenge parents?

this is big missing piece, i feel like???

True.