What Makes a Hero?

 

I've been thinking lately about heroes – what makes a hero we want to root for, what characteristics does a hero need to have so that we will want to empathize him or her, and better yet, how do you create a hero that people not only want to watch or read about, but that they want to spend time imagining themselves as?

First off, I'll be using the word hero to refer to both male and female characters. I've never understood the need to cling to male and female words for the same occupation...