TO THE HASHI: The Problem With Invulnerable Heroes
I have a problem with invulnerable heroes. And I prefer Batman to Superman. Let’s go ahead and get that out of the way. My reason, on the surface, is a simple one. But when we lay it out on the table, it’s much more existentially complex. The knowledge that a character can be harmed bears a direct relationship to how compelling their battles are. And even though we know, like in the case of Batman, that the hero likely will not die during the proceedings of the story, the foundation of their heroics can be measured by the quality of their risks. Put another way, we know they won’t die but we never question whether they can die, or whether they can be harmed in the process of not dying. On the other hand, a hero that does not risk much, let alone his or her mortality, to do what […]
