But others saw him as the rude, dominating hero that starred in many of the romances of the 70 s - harsh, mean even cruel. After spending hours trying to figure out all these designations, a couple of associates and I came to the conclusion that we needed to start from square one in thinking about heroes. Many heroes didn t fit into any of these categories. We discussed all the romance novels we d read, as well as viewing hundreds of movies and TV shows, trying to find the key to figuring out heroes. What we found surprised us.
Heroes generally fall into eight clear archetypes.
And this fact crossed all genres - romance, mystery, science fiction. The eight hero archetypes are instantly recognizable and have been used by Shakespeare as well as Nora Roberts. By defining and describing these archetypes, we were able to pick and choose characteristics that helped us create exciting protagonists. For most romance writers, this is the quintessential alpha hero. Whether he s a born leader or a conqueror, this guy is tough, decisive and goal-oriented.