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Q&A Why do heroes need to have a physical mark?

It seems that a lot of authors want their heroes to be marked in a special way. It is not enough that these protagonists are going to be heroes, no; they seem to require having a mark that makes t...

2 answers  ·  posted 10y ago by Reed‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T03:51:32Z (about 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/14333
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar Reed‭ · 2019-12-08T03:51:32Z (about 5 years ago)
It seems that a lot of authors want their heroes to be marked in a special way.

It is not enough that these protagonists are going to be heroes, no; they seem to require having a mark that makes them special be it golden eyes, a red streak of hair, a lightning shaped scar...

I mean it is quite silly and one would expect it only from mediocre or lazy writters, but some major authors do it regularly.

I don't really understand why, is there realy a need for the heroes to be pre-ordained to their destiny as manifested by the mark that identifies them as unique?

For instance Frodo is one of the most heroic heroes, yet he is a common sort of chap, he doesn't have a bunion shaped glowing birthmark shouting "I am the one!"

What need is there to mark them as special?

Is it simply there for foreshadowing? Since the character is “marked” for great things, he is not only the main character but the protagonist?

Is the mark planted early on to make the reader doubly aware of the character’s importance?

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2014-11-07T00:46:23Z (about 10 years ago)
Original score: 11