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As most fans of fiction should know, heroes come in all stripes, shapes and sizes. You have your classic virtuous do-gooders, reluctant brooders, anti-heroes who still do the right thing, callow youths... all people who, for some reason or another, are extraordinary. I'm fine with this, and fiction as a rule requires that its heroes be more than simply normal people, be it by ability or history (e.g. a direct relation to the plot or its characters). Yet, I can't help but wonder if sometimes a story would be better served by someone more mundane as its star. Permit me to elaborate.
When I say 'mundane', I'm not speaking of the average Joe or Jane forced into abnormal situations by circumstances beyond their control. Quite the contrary, I mean someone more basic; someone who has no vested interest in seeing the story to its conclusion, perhaps beyond his or her own sense of responsibility, or even morbid curiosity. Someone doing the right thing simply because it's the right thing to do, even - or perhaps especially - if they stand to gain little from it.
Often, the hero has all the incentive in the world to pursue the bad guy: lives are at stake, often his or her own. While the good guys in such cases frequently invoke notions of righteousness or justice, many, if not most, admit to personal stakes in the matter. Rare is the hero that fights solely because they believe in the cause, or because it's their job, or even because a nagging conscience or sense of guilt prevents them from simply walking away from something they know is wrong.
It is perhaps true that such characters would be difficult to write in an interesting fashion; equally true is that such characters would almost inevitably become emotionally involved in the proceedings, if they so claimed to fight for justice. Still, I do think the idea of a hero who is not motivated by survival or the safety of loved ones, a hero who can opt out at any given moment and walk away, is underexplored, and can be done well without hampering the story.
There is also the question of what such a hero would look like. Heroes as-is run the gamut, and I see no reason why that still couldn't be true. Perhaps the hero could be an investigator of sorts, putting together disparate pieces of evidence which point towards whoever it is that's running the show. Perhaps a common soldier, tasked to aid someone who is attached to the story; no hero of legend, but capable of fighting when called to do so. Perhaps a nobody, an Everyman or woman with an eye for the big picture and nothing better to do.
Such heroes may not be extraordinary, but they still can be special, in the way that people can be. A person with the gift of gab, or skilled in the sweet science of pugilism, or with a natural bent towards intellectual pursuits; that guy you know who can talk his way out of a parking ticket, or the girl who's a track runner, et cetera. In other words, just because one isn't the Chosen One, or isn't blood-related to the head bad guy, or fighting to avenge a friend or save the conveniently attractive healer woman, doesn't mean they don't have what it takes to get the job done.
Sometimes, it's enough to have someone who wants to do the right thing, and can. They can be skilled, they can be above-average, and they can indeed be special, but sometimes they need only be people, with no strings attached. I think all of fiction could benefit from a few more of such heroes.
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