On the Messianic Hero

The Messianic Hero is a far rarer archetype than either the Human Hero or the Anti-Hero. He is the one who comes down from Heaven to save us all. Common examples would be Superman (sometimes) and Jesus. The mark of the Messianic Hero is a total lack of internal conflict. They are all gold, and there is not a trace of corruption about them. Lacking any form of corruption, they are impervious to all assaults upon them. True they may suffer physical injury occasionally, but nothing can shake their souls. One is reminded somewhat of how Marcus Aurelius said that no man can be injured but by himself.
The Messianic Hero is less common in literature for a few reasons. In the first place, he is much harder to write. It is easy to write a character who is worse than oneself. It is very hard to write one that is better. Because of this, most authors fail in creating a Messianic hero and instead produce a shining machine spouting truisms. Sin is so deeply ingrained into human nature that it is hard to create a sinless character without making him inhuman. Secondly, current fashions in literature make much of dynamic characters. Messianic Heroes can only really change by falling. They may grow, but they cannot really exhibit positive change. Hence the Messianic hero is by nature static. Thirdly, people are less likely to believe in the Messianic Hero without being able to see how he came about. For this reason, he is usually featured as a Human Hero who achieves the status of a Messianic Hero at the end of the story.
It is a common feature of the Messianic Hero that he dies to save his people and is then raised from the dead (see Matrix). He is also commonly the child of a god (Aeneas). He also generally has a deep impact upon the ideas and spirit of the people. He roots out underlying despair, hypocrisy, and cruelty. The end of the heroic journey is often to become a Messianic Hero, just as it is the end of the alchemical one to turn lead into gold.

On the Anti-Hero

     The anti-hero is one of the most ambiguous of the archetypes. There are at least three prominent definitions.

(1). It can refer to a hero who lacks divine power. Hence Achilles would be a hero, and Samwise Gamgee would be an anti-hero. 

(2). It can refer to hero who has character flaws. By this definition, Samwise is the hero and Achilles the anti-hero.

(3). Finally, it can refer to the evil character who you want to root for, like Captain Jack Sparrow.

     Each of these archetypes is clearly a distinct concept and each should be dealt with separately. 1 and 2 will therefore be regrouped under the heading of "Human Heroes." They are admittedly in different subsets, but they have a common feature. They are both of this earth, struggling to stand upright against greater forces which are trying to tear them down. For Achilles it is the fate that binds all mortals, for Sam it is the power of Sauron. 

The Messianic Hero is unbreakable, the anti-hero is broken, and the human hero totters between the two.

So for this discussion, the anti-hero will be confined to the inhabitants of group 3. 

    Within the category of evil characters we shouldn't like but do, there are two further sub-categories. There is the humorous anti-hero, and the diabolical one. Jack Sparrow and Falstaff are the first, Henry V is the second. 

     Is is hard to be really angry at the humorous anti-hero. He just doesn't seem that evil. Furthermore, because he is funny, those opposing him often seem overly puritanical and grim. They cannot take the joke. 

Yet this sort of hero often does great harm to the people around him, he just does it with such jollity that even those he has hurt have trouble being angry. Sir John leaves his friends in pretty tight financial straights because of his carousing, yet they are faithful to him to the end. It is hard to know what to do with a character both wicked and sympathetic. Shakespeare kills off Falstaff, but he is never such a sympathetic character as when he dies. Queen Elizabeth actually requested another play with Falstaff as the central character. In my humble opinion, Shakespeare did never did quite finish off the rouge. Falstaff got away from him. Redemption might be a promising solution, but since the anti-hero's crimes are funny, it is hard to bring about any real repentance. I do not think that most audiences really want it any way. It is certainly hard to pull off believably. Most authors just let the comic anti-hero go his way and leave him to the mercy of Heaven or Hell.

The only way that this kind of character ever becomes a hero is that circumstances conspire to place them at the center of things and heroism is in line with their selfish motives. More often he serves as a supporting character, in which case he is called the rogue.

The second type of anti-hero, the diabolical one, works in a very different vein. He is simply awesome enough that his cruelty and deceit elicit a sort of admiration. He plays on a certain nerve. The admiration of power, delight in subtly, and the love of cruelty all play into his attraction. Nietzsche's superman is a fair example of the diabolical hero. The Comedian from Watchmen may be another example. He is only able to be the hero if the author employs a very skewed worldview in which his wickedness can be applauded. 

The diabolical anti-hero differs from the comic one in that the comic anti-hero acts heroically in spite of his wickedness, and the diabolical anti-hero is admired precisely because he is wicked. A similar character is used by many authors as the simple villain. The only difference is in whether the quest at the center of the story involves toppling wicked giants or becoming a wicked giant. A surprising number of people admire the giants.

The diabolical anti-hero is a dangerous archetype to invoke. If he is successful, he will be appealing. A conscientious author has to be careful to disenchant his audience with the anti-hero before the book ends. He is too much of a loose cannon to leave careening about. Personally, I do not think he should be used much at all. Even if the author successfully subdues the anti-hero in the story, he may be used by other less scrupulous writers for worse ends. His best use is as the simple villain rather than as the anti-hero, but more on that topic later.

Refrigerator Poetry

Before it disappears, I have imprudently decided to preserve some of the poetry I wrote with refrigerator magnets. The title was unfortunately not included with the other magnets. I wonder why.

Azrael

The angel of death,

Like winter,

Appears by you dreaming,

Black flood,

White mount,

And a purple knife drawn,

Then like an egg,

It's smooth skin sweet parting

A moment of silence,

And then summer song.

(I made one slight change from the original text. If the work were of the slightest importance I would be condemned to that level of Inferno reserved for impudent scribes. As it is, I hope to get by with a few years Purgatory).