Heroes and heroines are everywhere. They figure prominently in many modern popular songs performed by David Bowie, Alesso, and Måns Zelmerlöw, who have all released tunes called “heroes,” and in series and movies revolving around superheroes like The Flash, Arrow, Wonder Woman, and Spiderman, who ultimately save the world or even the entire universe. As far back as Gilgamesh, regarded as the earliest surviving work of great literature, the main character is described as “the most glorious amongst heroes! […] the most eminent among men!” (app. 2000 B.C., see Heidel 1949, 8). That complex epic, written in cuneiform, describes the journey of the king of Uruk, who was part god and part human (Abusch 2001). The universal concept of heroism pervades many cultures and time periods, vide the Iliad, the Odyssey, the Bhagavad Gita, and many biblical stories.

The word “hero” can be broadly defined as “a person admired for achievements and noble qualities” (Merriam Webster 2023). The roots are Latin and Greek and point toward demi-gods or superhumans with transcendent capabilities. For millennia, they have inspired and motivated us, as their stories carry “transrational” knowledge about mores and values, spirituality and wisdom, and their journeys teach us to be more empathetic and to consider new perspectives (Allison and Goethals 2014). When we hear, watch, or read a heroic story, we can experience it through the hero's eyes and achieve a psychological state of euphoria, a feeling of invincibility, and a strong motivation to better ourselves (Algoe and Haidt 2009).

Joseph Campbell (1904–1987), one of the most influential and innovative mythographers of the twentieth century, created a model for the quintessential story, which he called the hero's journey (Campbell 2008). The basic motif is a transformation from one state of being to another in search of the source of life energy. Campbell's foundational work was the starting point for interdisciplinary research focusing on heroes, heroism, and heroic leadership (Drysdale et al. 2014; Allison and Goethals 2014), as well as a strong impetus for postheroic research, which views leadership activities as collective rather than individual (Crevani et al. 2007; Ryömä 2020). Until now, however, heroes or heroic acts have been defined and described in a static way on a journey toward sainthood, enlightenment, strength, and so on.