A Different Kind of Hero

Romance heroes these days are pretty straightforward. They’re big and buff and usually dark and dangerous. They have penetrating gazes [and other things] and they usually walk around shirtless – at least on book covers.

Normally I’m enamored of the science fiction or paranormal hero. Jon Crighton of Farscape, David Boreanaz’s Angel and even Smallville’s Clark Kent fit the bill and often fuel my writing fantasies.

But how about a different kind of hero? Someone without the swagger and the super powers, someone whose gift is cerebral and his manner is genteel. He’s not a gun or fang-wielding crusader and he can’t fly without an airplane but he’s heroic nevertheless.

I’ve been catching up on episodes of CSI: Las Vegas lately [I’m on Season 2 – and I have a real dilemma. Do I start watching Season 8 this September or hold off until I’ve caught up on the five intervening seasons??] and I find myself fascinated by the lead character.

William Peterson’s Gil Grissom has me enchanted. He’s smart, wryly funny and usually plays the calm in the middle of a storm surrounding his team’s murder investigations. He doesn’t do much hand to hand combat, or scooping up women and carrying them off to safety, but he’s just cool enough to be mysterious and completely intriguing.

Any CSI fans here? If not, who’s your ‘different kind of hero?’

Pictures are from the following sites:

http://billypetersen.com/TheGallery/index.php

http://home.att.net/~jo.an/