The hero complex is a collective term for behaviours associated with acts of seeking heroism or rewards such as praise through valiant or philanthropic acts.
The individual craves the recognition of being seen as the Hero.
Also called the “hero syndrome”, the term was introduced in 1984 after a bomb was discovered in the Turkish Olympic team’s bus by Los Angeles police officer Jimmy Wade Pearson.
Jimmy presented as the only police officer available on the scene after he “discovered” it.
He would later in ‘a heroic act’ ripped off the device’s wires out before running it out onto a runway, something that he was hailed for as a hero by the public.
The following day however, he was arrested for planting the bomb himself. This raised questions as to people’s desire to create scenarios for themselves to be the heroes.
And this is where the Hero Complex come in..
Causes For Hero Complex.
• The main root cause stem in childhood where one was only praised or earned validation for heroic acts at homes. The adult behaviour might be a regression of what worked in the past.
Let’s take an example from this personal experience of mine of a young Kid who hides a TV remote. The family starts the search and later the kid emerges with the remote claiming he has found it. He gets praised for his valiant act. Later however, it’s revealed that he intentionally had hidden it.
• Narcissisticism. Grandiose narcissists are more concerned with how others perceive them. And would create scenarios that may impress others and earn them attention.
This is more common among politicians who manufacture an imaginary crises and claim to have solved them.
Philanthropists and Police officers are also known for this effect.
• A Manipulation Tactic for instance used by fake preachers to woe unsuspecting believers (More on this later)
Hero Complex and Genuine Heroism.
It however remains a question if genuine acts of heroism can be categorized under the hero complex.
As stated earlier, the individual with a hero complex is driven with an end goal in mind; Validation, admiration, attention or even sympathy.
Genuine Heroism comes from selfless acts of rescuing or protecting others not out of need for validation or other benefits.
Equally worth noting, the crises in the situation might not have been driven or caused by the ‘hero’ in question.
Hero Complex and Story Telling.Â
Sometimes the actions of the hero do not have to be shown in action or real life event. We find individuals who fake or create narratives that never happened or are an inaccurate recording of what happened by rewarding themselves roles they never played..
They want recognition or attention.
Take a case scenario where one witness from a fire incident comes to report how he found some victims trapped and helped them only for later information to come out that the people who had been trapped inside managed to escape before the fire catched the building.
Though verbally, the individual creates a scenario to be hailed as a hero. The slight difference arises from the fact that the heroic action did not happen.
Hero Complex and Fake Preachers.
Sorry to my religious friends but I think there are a bunch of hypocritical ‘men of God’ in our world..
The Hero Complex is highly prevalent in such environments.
The Preacher might hire individuals to act as say, Physical disable individuals who he/she comes to pray for. The once ‘Physically disabled’ individuals demonstrate their healing by for example Walking or Talking. The believers hail him as one send by God or the Saviour or the New Messiah. The hero!