Are fantasy heroes born or made?

Are fantasy heroes born or made?

>Inb4 depends on the setting
In that case, we're talking about your setting

Every man is maker of his own fate. Heroes and villains alike.

What do you mean, made? "explicitly designed for a the purpose of being a hero by a higher being"?

>"explicitly designed for a the purpose of being a hero by a higher being"?
Well, that's basically what Space Marines are.

Even those with great power are not born heroes. Sloth is a very prevelant quality in those of great ability. It takes dedication to be a hero, so heroes are made I would say.

You must be a hero to become a space marine to begin with

>It takes dedication to be a hero
"Heroes frequently come from people who are so tired, hungry, cold and scared they don't really care anymore."

Born.

Though in my setting, reincarnation is a thing, so your soul is usually drawn into being a hero or a villain even after being scrubbed and put into a new body with its own new life, sort of like how heavy things are drawn to the ground by gravity. Sometimes quirks of fate draw the unwilling into being heroes, or keep those who should be villains in mundane positions, but if anyone cared or were able to map their past lives, they would've more than likely been a hero or villain in more than one of them if they're a hero or villain now.

The people that are worst off are the ones that get the memories of their last life by mistake, making them unable to feel their current lives are real. They might become heroes again, but since they feel so out of tune with the world - possibly by centuries - they tend to grow reclusive or driven on completing tasks they had not finished in their last life or mourning what they had lost, causing stagnancy instead of new adventures.

Heroes are neither born nor made. They are just the energetic fools who get lucky enough not to die early.

One could argue you need extraordinary stats to be a player character in the first place, but I tend to say that a certain amount of the 'talent' within ability scores is actually the result of training and dedication to improving.
That said, there is a specific villain in the setting who was literally bred for the job though manipulation of fate.

No heroes in my setting only jobber

Fuck off Lindybeige

>Are fantasy heroes born or made?

Yes

>My life literally can't get any worse, so I might as well try to do something worthwhile before I die a cold and lonely death.

Sounds about right, considering the last character I played.

>before
>not while
Obviously your setting's not GRIMDARK enough.

Fate doesn't choose heroes, but it chooses villains.

Considering the GM for the game was running not!warhammer but refuses to run anything but d20 clones, instead of running the WHFRPG, I agree (which is why I usually am the GM, because I have a better taste in systems, but even a Forever GM gets burned out). Still pretty much played a dirt poor farmer in a village that was being raided, poisoned and murder to death by undead and edgelord necromancers whom figured that if he was going to die, he might as well die ramming a pitchfork down an asshole mage's throat.

Settings where you're literally born special are shit.
Settings where anyone special made it through fucking reality until they got respect are good.

Reality is shit.

>I wasn't born with a level in Paladin. I was once a lowly Commoner who killed his way through a horde of demons because they were between me and my dumb ass family.

Depends on the... Character. Usually made, but sometimes you are born to a god under a bleeding star. Your fate is sealed here, you ain't gonna be a night shift janitor.

Depends on individual.

Mine? Both.

The god of heroes and his manipulation of prophecies assures heroes happen anyway. They are the cosmic immune system.

Heroes are born, villians are made.

What is a hero? Is it a matter of your mindset, what you've actually accomplished, or how others see you?

Yes.

Not all space marines are heroes.
Or is it that some of them are even more hero than others?

Born, though everyone tries to make heroes anyways. Heroes are born, but not necessarily of a specific class, faith, or creed. Fate is a cruel beast.

Someone could be "born a hero," but until they get out and do something to earn the name, it don't mean jack shit.

They're statted.