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I always use males as the heroes. Just something...not right...about females saving the world. (Araréiel)
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Well, firstly, as long as you do not make them Superheroine, it can be quite an enjoyable read. Also, who says that the protagonist has to be an in-your-face, save-the-world heroine? Writing about females could even involve, as I mentioned earlier, one involved in action, but does not really end up being the number one hero of the story. Today, I actually picked up
The Pillars of Creation. Now many people do not like Terry Goodkind - even I will be the first to admit that he can be downright frustrating every now and again - but in this story, one of the major plotlines follows a girl, Jennsen. She is supposedly skilled with a knife, but it is not as though she ever takes on five heavily-armed men on her own (so far, I only read the first two-hundred pages today). Although she is supposedly attractive, it fits due to her heritage. Other aspects may seem rather cliché, such as her being an illegitimate child, but Goodkind even blends that into the story rather well.
At the same time, though, while a sense of normality is necessary to a hero to make them human, we all have to add something to them that makes them even able to do what they are doing. Just to be the hero of a fantasy story, there has to be something that makes them unique. I mean it's not as though John Doe in Fairytale Land is going to randomly pick up a sword and decide to save the world. If he is a normal person, usually it's a remarkable event or catastrophe that makes them take action. Sadly, the "your father isn't really your father," "mysterious men are hunting you," and "it's your job to save the world because you have mysterious powers" excuses are overused in my opinion these days. And while modesty is an admirable trait, the "why me?" stubbornness of modern heroes is rather annoying. I mean to dwell on it for a chapter or two is all right (actually a natural shock reaction), but when you've read three series in which the hero is like that for at least four seven-hundred-page books of the series, it gets old.