Relishing Hardship

In the D&D game I play at Comics and Collectibles, my character, Krusk Bloodfist, is having a pretty bad day, and I am loving it. Early in the day, the ship he captains was attacked by shark-riding sea monsters, but that was fine with me because it was a fun combat encounter. Later, he and the other officers entered the sea monsters' lair in search of treasure. They got into a fight with the sea monsters, and the strongest of them nearly killed Krusk, but I wouldn't have minded that much because it was an epic moment, and since he survived, I loved it. Having defeated the sea monsters, Krusk and the other officers returned to their ship carrying LOTS of loot, but much of it was almost stolen by his wife, who left behind a note revealing that she had been lying to him, that she had cheated on him, and that she had manipulated him in hopes of stealing an enormous amount of treasure from him. Naturally, Krusk is devastated and enraged, but I, in stark contrast, am absolutely thrilled at this, not because I'm some kind of emotionally-sadistic sociopath, but because I love a good story, and good stories almost always put their heroes through moments like this.

Heroes are often tested. Heroes are often placed in difficult circumstances and sometimes have their whole worlds turned on their heads. Heroes go through intense experiences because those experiences help the heroes become invested in their own stories and help them grow as characters. Krusk may not be a hero, but these experiences are certainly helping him grow as a character and solidify his personal investment in the progression of the story. We may not be heroes, but our difficult experiences can help us become heroic.

Some of the greatest heroes are the ones who have overcome the greatest hardships. Their stories are stories of triumph against fierce odds and great opposition. We can hope that our stories won't be much like theirs, but they probably will be. Everyone faces challenges. My hope is that we will become heroic by overcoming them. Krusk Bloodfist is not likely to become a hero by overcoming the challenges he now faces, but I hope he overcomes them anyway. His story is getting very interesting, and I can't wait to see where things go from here.

So, yes, I like to see fictional characters face hardship, but that's because I like to see people, real and fictional, overcome their challenges. I don't like to see real people struggle, but it is inspiring when people overcome their struggles, and that would never be possible if there wasn't a struggle in the first place. We have to experience hardship in order to grow. That's why difficulty is important, and it's a part of why I'm excited to see Krusk experience it. I look forward to seeing him (and us) face difficult challenges and still win anyway.