Before I reveal the character trait this post is about, I want to distinguish between a protagonist and a hero.

There are some fun protagonists who I wouldn’t call heroes.

Ok, that said, what is the one trait every heroic character must have?

drumroll please…

Humility is the mother of giants.

G.K. Chesterton

Yes, it’s humility. By humility, I don’t mean that a character pretends to be weak when he isn’t. I don’t mean that she denies her obvious strengths.

In fact, humility is simply recognizing the truth about oneself: the good, the bad, the limitations, the flaws, the genius, the weaknesses.

This means that humility, in some way or other–even if only in one scene, even if it’s more hinted that than obviously displayed–will lead to VULNERABILITY.

And that’s where we really connect with a character. That’s what makes the hero.

Think John McClain walking across glass with his bare feet in Die Hard.

Think Frodo . . . “I will take it! I will take the Ring to Mordor . . . though I do not know the way.”

Think Eowyn, being painfully honest when Aragon asks her what she fears most: “A cage!”

Think Hermione admitting, “Books and cleverness . . . there are more important things.”

That’s vulnerability. That’s humility. It goes a long way to making courage the deepest, most inspiring kind of courage. It goes a long way to making a hero.