I have a problem with heroes. Which, this wasn't a problem back when I was growing up with Goku and Wolverine as some of my favorite heroes, but it is now because as a storyteller you begin to care less about the transformations or supernatural abilities and more about the actual character themselves.

Whenever someone says "hero", usually the first thing that immediately comes to mind is strength. Some tall, muscular, impenetrable-looking man. Superman and Hercules for instance. You also generally think of charisma, someone who is attractive and speaks well and with authority. And of course, finally you associate it with them saving someone, I mean I think we can all agree that you're not a hero until you've saved people.

What if I said I didn't like this definition? And no, I'm not about to say that I think the best heroes are people like Walter White who are essentially protagonists who happen to be villains, or characters like Deadpool who are just... full retard. But Bilbo Baggins for instance. See, Bilbo is a hero I can get behind.

Bilbo is not some guy with superhuman strength. He's not a man of intimidating stature, with bass in his voice. He's not some Adonis that makes all the girls get wet, but he's just as much of a hero as anyone I mentioned above. Bilbo shows that heroes don't have to be powerful, or have supernatural abilities, or even be skilled at combat PERIOD. Bilbo's strengths are qualities we often overlook in a hero. Their composure, their courage, their compassion, their intelligence. We often forget these traits because the ones that are emphasized the most are always, as I mentioned before, the strength and swagger.

And Bilbo isn't some guy who gained the courage to fight because he became strong overnight ( Spiderman ), he's not some guy who fights because something bad happened to his parents ( Batman ), he's not some guy who fights because he finds out he's invincible ( Superman ). Do you know why Bilbo fights? This quote from him describes it all:

"Look, I know you doubt me, I know you always have. And you're right... I often think of Bag End. I miss my books, and my armchair, and my garden. See, that's where I belong, that's home. That's why I came back... 'cause you don't have one, a home. It was taken from you. But I will help you take it back if I can. "

This was one of the greatest things I've ever heard come out of a heroes mouth. He's not fighting out of overconfidence or vengeance or some holier than thou BS. He travels all across Middle-earth facing elves, giant spiders, orcs, even a dragon knowing that he'll most likely die all for some hairy, drunken dwarves who barged in his house unannounced one day, and his reason was none other than "I know the importance of a home, so if you say yours was stolen from you, and you guys need my help getting it back, then I'll help."

Granted, Bilbo wasn't exactly super raring to go at first, but this goes back to my point about Bilbo. The only reason he wasn't is because he was acknowledging the fact that he's not your average hero. He wasn't a warrior, he didn't have magic powers, he's just a man who quietly read books in his home and tended to his garden. How the hell was he supposed to save the dwarves? On top of all this, even one of the things he was good at isn't something we normally acknowledge as a heroic trait, and that was stealing. His ability to get in, take something, and get back out played a huge part in the dwarves succeeding. He was also very patient ( unlike Mr. Superman over here who just flies at the speed of a bullet everywhere ) as seen when they reach the Lonely Mountain and the door doesn't open.

Do you realize that in that situation, it doesn't matter how strong Bilbo was, or how tall he was, or if he had swagger, or if he had the ability to throw energy beams or not. He didn't find the keyhole because of strength, he found the keyhole because he waited. Patience. Optimism. Refusal to give up. All the dwarves had gone back down the mountain, but not him. He wasn't taking no for an answer. Once again he teaches us the important lesson that you can be a puny gardener and still save the day.

Bilbo is an awesome hero because he takes all the heroic qualities we pay no attention to and puts them directly in our faces, and takes the heroic qualities we all recognize immediately and throws them away. A lot of Disney movies do this, but I'm not really bringing them into the equation since LOTRO is more of a serious, fantasy war setting whereas most Disney movies aren't and show less violence and more humor since they're directed toward a younger audience. I'm strictly referring to how your average action movie protagonist or comic book hero is usually a hero via their strength and awesome appearance, or just a complete anti-hero jackass.

IDK, maybe I'm just bored at this point with the same old, same old. And you can see its effects on our society. We call people like Michael Jordan ( skill and charisma ) or Manny Pacquiao ( strength ) or Beyonce ( attractiveness ) heroes every day, but we only call the firemen who rushed into a collapsing building to save a life ( courage ) a hero once a year on 9/11. That's messed up if you ask me. We need to start acknowledging the Bilbos in real life, instead of focusing on and throwing our money at these front and center celebrities who in reality don't do much. MJ shoots balls into a hoop and sells shoes, Manny beats the crap out of people and Beyonce sings while twerking. Why exactly are these the people we idolize?