| dc.description.abstract | The aim of this thesis is to explore the impact of the parent-child relationship on the
development of the heroic identity within the comic book and graphic novel genre.
The life of a hero is seen as a solitary one. For many, this solitary life begins in
childhood, often with the loss of the parent. For many heroes, their origin story begins
with trauma and isolation. It is this trauma and loss that will be explored throughout
this thesis. In a similar manner, many characters have developed surrogate parental
relationships, impacting their heroic identities in a very real way.
For many heroes the parental relationship, loss, and subsequent pseudo
parental relationships are the reasons for their heroics. This thesis will explore the
motivating factors for each hero based on their attachment types with their parents, as
well as the significance of any loss they face. The core objective of this thesis is to
understand why certain heroes behave as they do, be it craving isolation or their
perpetual search for a new family.
While many heroes have iconic, instantly recognisable origin stories, others
are more recognisable because of their role as a hero, with their origin being somewhat
more obscure, with each hero being impacted in a different way as a result. Many of
the heroes discussed in this thesis are superpowered beings, however there are some
that will be discussed who possess no superpowers, but are heroes, nonetheless. While
each hero has developed a different type of heroism, based off a different origin story,
each hero discussed is deeply impacted by the parent-child relationship. | en_US |
