The most engaging heroes that I like to watch or read about are very simple. They have to be heroic. However, they shouldn’t be perfect characters or author avatars. The most engaging characters are heroic but are still very human and imperfect. In fact they try to be heroic despite there greed, etc.
Recently, while looking for some new books or anime to read/watch/generally consume. One problem I keep seeing is the perfect character. This could be Goku in Dragon Ball reaching another new form, Luffy making even more new friends in One Piece, or some sort of new near-perfect character somehow getting through all the odds in Star Wars.
Characters that are perfect and get plot armor, seem to always have the right point of view, and have little to no flaws are boring to me. Heroic characters that are heroic despite their shortcomings are the most engaging.
surrealcouchuniverse 