Born Heroes vs. Bootstrap Heroes

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This is Born Heroes vs. Bootstrap Heroes: How Writers Can Choose the Right Type of Hero for Their Stories. This is a presentation I gave at Archon 2024. My name is Matt Davids. You can find my works at dicegeeks.com, mattdavids.com, or scoundrelspace.com. This is my novel, but I also create tabletop role-playing game resource books that help dungeon masters cut down their prep time. So, let’s dive into the types of heroes. If you Google types of heroes, you’re going to get a lot of search results.

Types of Heroes in Fiction

However, you won’t see born hero versus bootstrap hero because I’ve kind of coined those terms to deal with a concept that I have been thinking about for a while. So, if you Google heroes, you’ll get the tragic hero—he’s the hero who shoots himself in the foot. Classically, that might be Oedipus. Then there’s the anti-hero—the hero who does the wrong things for the right reasons, something like that. We have plenty of those in our media and fiction today. There’s also the Byronic hero—the dark and brooding young man who thinks life is terrible, even though he doesn’t have to work for a living and gets to read books all day, that kind of Byronic hero. Then there’s the epic hero—Gilgamesh is a classic example of an epic hero.

But you could also say Hercules or some other mythological figures. Superheroes—we all know what superheroes are. The crossover hero is a term I hadn’t heard until researching this presentation. That’s the hero created in a different era but moved to a modern or contemporary setting in new works. Batman would be one, and I guess Godzilla would be as well. The reluctant hero, we get that. The archetypical hero—I think this has to do with Jungian psychology and stuff, which I’m not an expert on by any means. The adaptational hero was also new to me, although I’ve seen it many times without knowing the term. It’s the character introduced as a villain but later becomes a hero, which we’ve seen happen quite often. Godzilla, again, would be an example of this. The everyman is just a normal person who gets caught up in larger events and becomes a hero because they’re brave and courageous. Sandra Bullock’s character in Speed would be the everyman.

Born Heroes and Bootstrap Heroes Origins

But let’s think about this for a second—the born hero and the bootstrap hero. Like I said, these are terms I coined. The concept was really brought to my attention when I did an interview with Ethlie Ann Vare, who is a writer. She did a lot of work on the syndicated shows from the 1990s and early 2000s, like Renegade, Earth: Final Conflict, and Gene Roddenberry’s Andromeda. When I interviewed her, she started talking about these different types of heroes.

Now, she framed it a little differently, as the Star Wars hero versus the Star Trek hero—Star Wars being born heroes and Star Trek being bootstrap heroes. You could also class it as American heroes being bootstrap heroes versus European heroes being born heroes, or even further back, Greek heroes as bootstrap heroes versus Persian heroes as born heroes. I found this concept fascinating because it backed up something I’d noticed when reading screenplays. I studied screenwriting and filmmaking in college and read tons of screenplays throughout the late 1990s, early 2000s, and mid-2010s. I kept seeing born heroes, often hearing the line “be who you were born to be” and things like that. So when Ethelie started talking about this, I was really intrigued.

Let’s break down some of the aspects I see in born heroes versus bootstrap heroes. I’ll also link that interview with Ethelie in the description below.

Born heroes tend to be heirs or heiresses. They’re going to receive something—they’re going to inherit the kingship or queenship or some item that makes them special. They’re just going to get it because they were born that way. Sometimes, it’s their genetic code that makes them different. Often, there’s a portent about their birth. In some cases, they’re absolutely called “the chosen one.” They didn’t do anything to be chosen; they’ve just been chosen, so they’re going to be the chosen one. Or they have a very fixed destiny. Sometimes they are required to go through testing to see what their character is like. The born hero really only has the choice to be good or evil. They’re special—they’re going to be king or queen, have some kind of genetic difference, or have a destiny, but they can choose to be good or evil. There’s no normal life for them; they’re going to live some kind of abnormal or special life.

The bootstrap hero, on the other hand, often has humble beginnings. They’re born in poverty or just have a very humble start to life. Nothing surrounds their birth—they weren’t heralded or dubbed the chosen one. They have potential, they’re willing to work hard, they have loyalty, and they are courageous. Sometimes they receive schooling or training, though that’s hit or miss. The bootstrap hero can opt out—they can live a normal life, and we’d never hear of them because nothing was expected of them. They didn’t have to rise up or become a hero, but those who do work hard, are loyal, and have courage can become heroes.

Examples of Born Heroes and Bootstrap Heroes

Now, let’s look at some examples and see if we can identify who’s a born hero and who’s a bootstrap hero. What about Aragorn and Frodo? Who’s the bootstrap hero, and who’s the born hero? Well, that was a trick question—they’re both born heroes. Aragorn is obviously a born hero. He’s Isildur’s heir—that’s what he is, born to be a hero. Frodo is actually a born hero too. You might argue he had humble beginnings, but I don’t think so. He’s part of the Baggins family, who aren’t exactly the poorest people in the Shire. Also, Frodo is Bilbo’s heir, so the ring comes to him whether he wants it or not. He didn’t have a choice in the matter. He also has some genetics involved—he has that Tookishness in him, so there’s some genetic difference. Frodo is a born hero.

But The Lord of the Rings does have a bootstrap hero. Sam is the bootstrap hero in The Lord of the Rings. He’s born a poor kid at the end of the row, and his whole life was meant to be what? Nothing. He was just going to be a gardener, but because he was loyal and courageous, he put himself in a situation where he rose up and became a hero. When he returns to the Shire, he’s elected sheriff. He would have never been elected sheriff before, but now he’s proven himself through loyalty and courage. He’s shown potential, honesty, decency, and the judgment of someone we all admire. Sam is the bootstrap hero.

All right, what do we think about Captain Kirk vs. Captain Kirk? Old Kirk vs. New Kirk? Prime Kirk vs. Kelvin Kirk? What do we think?

Original Captain Kirk, played by William Shatner, is a bootstrap hero. He went to the academy, learned, and was honest when his friend made a mistake. He reported it, even though it cost him his friendship, but it saved the ship. We know this from Court Martial, the old episode. So Kirk, played by William Shatner, is a bootstrap hero. He’s courageous, loyal, and worked hard to become a starship captain.

New Captain Kirk is a born hero. In the film, his father was a starship captain for 17 minutes and saved 400 lives. That means starship captaincy is now in his genetics. New Kirk doesn’t have to go to the academy, study, or learn how to be a starship captain—he was born to be one. He’s just there. There’s no progression through the ranks; he’s automatically a captain because he was born to be one. The original James T. Kirk had to earn it.

Let’s look at another example. Jack Crusher vs. Wesley Crusher. What do we think? Born hero vs. bootstrap hero?

Jack Crusher is a born hero, and Wesley is a bootstrap hero. You could argue there’s some genetics involved with Wesley because the Traveler says he can be a Mozart. But the Traveler also says Wesley needs to be guided and trained—he doesn’t have to reach that potential unless he chooses to. So Wesley is a bootstrap hero who will rise up through hard work. Jack Crusher, on the other hand, is obviously a born hero—he has Borg DNA in him, so his genetics are altered. He didn’t learn how to fight; the Borg genetics taught him. He’s also a Picard, which means his genetics are different, so he’s a born hero.

Born Heroes are Legitimate Characters

Born heroes are legitimate character types and can be done well or poorly. I didn’t mean to suggest that born heroes are bad; it’s just that poorly executed ones, like New Kirk and Jack Crusher, can ruin the character. Born heroes can resonate with audiences, but we tend to root more for bootstrap heroes because we can identify with them. Most people aren’t born into greatness, but we can relate to the idea that if we work hard, show loyalty, and have courage, we could achieve greatness too.

As writers, we should consider which type of hero best fits the story we’re telling, and understanding these different types of heroes helps us avoid confusion in our writing. Whether we choose born heroes or bootstrap heroes, the key is to stay consistent and avoid changing the hero type halfway through the story.

More Examples

Let’s look at some more examples. Sarah Connor and Ellen Ripley—what do you think? Sarah is a born hero. She has a very strong destiny, although she does have humble beginnings. And, like I said, these are general concepts, and I’m still working them out. But Sarah has a fixed destiny—she is going to give birth to John, train John, and name him John. Her choices are limited, but profound, of course. James Cameron drew her very well, making her a great example of a born hero that we root for.

Ellen Ripley, on the other hand, is a bootstrap hero. She was thrust into a situation, having learned how to work on a spaceship and got a job doing normal things. But when the situation arose, she stepped up. Through hard work, loyalty, and courage, she rises to the occasion to save as many lives as possible.

Epic Stories Have More Than One Type of Hero

If you’re writing an epic story with multiple characters, you’re probably going to have both born heroes and bootstrap heroes, as we see in The Lord of the Rings. There are numerous born heroes, but there are also bootstrap heroes like Sam.

Thoughts on Villains

I also noticed that villains are often similar to born heroes. You could even say there’s a “born villain.” Look at many villains—they often feel entitled to power because of their birthright, such as claiming they deserve the land because of their lineage or family connections. It’s a shorthand for creating a villain who’s slimy and disliked, relying on their supposed privilege. This type of villain is often contrasted with the bootstrap hero.

Interestingly, an audience member pointed out that there could also be bootstrap villains. I think that’s absolutely true, and bootstrap villains can be scarier than born villains. They’re the people who start out with nothing, rise up, and don’t care what stands in their way. They have loyalty and courage, but they apply them to all the wrong things, making them formidable adversaries.

Don’t Change Hero Types in the Middle of the Story

Now, let me drive home one key point: don’t change hero types in the middle of the story. I’m not talking about characters who don’t know they have a destiny and discover it later. That’s a storytelling technique that can be done well, like in The Black Cauldron books by Lloyd Alexander. The main character does have a destiny, but he doesn’t know it at the beginning, and neither does the reader.

What I’m talking about is when a character starts off as a bootstrap hero and is suddenly switched to a born hero. This can ruin the character. For example, Dr. Bashir in Deep Space Nine starts out as a bootstrap hero. He goes to medical school, works hard, and rises through the ranks because he wants to help people. But later in the series, it’s revealed that his parents secretly had him genetically altered as a child to make him smarter, turning him into a born hero. This ruins his character because he didn’t become a doctor through hard work—he was just genetically engineered to be smarter.

Another example is Captain Dylan Hunt from Gene Roddenberry’s Andromeda. He starts out as a bootstrap hero, going to the academy, studying hard, and rising through the ranks. But in season five, it’s revealed that his father was an alien, and he’s genetically superior. Suddenly, he’s a born hero, and it undermines everything that came before.

Even Captain Picard from Star Trek falls victim to this bait-and-switch. Picard starts out as a bootstrap hero, rising through the ranks of Starfleet through hard work and study. But in Star Trek: Picard, we learn that he has Borg DNA, and it’s revealed that his ancestor was a trailblazing space explorer. So now, Picard is a born hero, destined to explore the stars because it’s in his genes.

Hollywood has an Urge to Make All Heroes Born-Heroes

Hollywood has an urge to make all heroes born heroes these days, and I don’t understand why. Born heroes can be done well or poorly, but why does every hero need to be a born hero now? We see very few bootstrap heroes anymore, and that’s frustrating. As writers, we should understand the types of heroes we’re creating and make sure we’re consistent with our choices. Don’t muddle the hero types or switch between them mid-story. That’s my main point here—understanding these concepts can help us create clearer, more compelling heroes for our stories.

If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below, and I’ll try to answer them. If you’d like to learn more about me, check out the description for links to my tabletop resource books, my novel, and other websites. Thank you!


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