The Measure of a Man

Aspiration, Obsession, and Immortality

What is it that separates a hero from a villain?

In works of fiction, such as comic books, we often see humanity expressed in radical extremes such that the characters almost completely embody a notion, concept, or ideal. While I can expound further on those ideals and offer up examples of them, I want to focus primarily on the nature of human’s perpetual allure to properties and attributes we find generally inspiring.

I would argue, that a hero and a villain are separated by one distinct difference found between two definitions: heroes aspire while villains obsess. These two terms are very similar in function. When does a healthy aspiration become an unhealthy obsession? When does fascination become a burden?

Where they intersect, we find individuals as mentioned before — radically extreme examples of humanity who go on to accomplish great things; bringing about prosperity and tragedy in equal measure. Where they differ, however, is in the inclinations of the individual in question. An aspiration to become a hero can very quickly become an obsession. Where a hero has limits and will operate within them to accomplish their goal and aspire to whatever greater ideal they’ve set their eyes upon, a villain has no limits and will break any rules, laws, dogma, morals, and even challenge reality in order to see their dream to fruition. In other words, a villain adopts a “the ends justify the means“ mentality with their approach to their higher ideologies while a hero refuses to cheat or take shortcuts to accomplish their goal.

The line between the two, between aspiration and obsession, is that thin.

Should one cross that line on their path to greatness, there’s very little left in the psyche to prevent them from pursuing that obsession at all costs, especially at the cost of others. Which plays into an even greater theme, and why humans are so fascinated with the nature of greatness, of glory, and of immortality.

The Pursuit of Immortality

You see… It is the nature of humans to desperately become anything other than just human. We all wish in the deepest part of our hearts to become something more than just another pebble in the road of time; to not be forgotten and return to the dust as nothingness; to become immortalized in body, mind, and soul alike.

The fear of death, therefore, is threefold, just as is the nature of God.

Some aspire to produce great fruit for the rest of humanity through trade work, invention, or a craft, and therefore their works are immortalized though their creations in the annals of history. Some aspire to live vicariously through the rearing of children as successors and carriers of their name and legacy. Then there are those who aspire to physically live forever, such that their will be carried on indefinitely. This last aspiration is the primary foundation for all other aspirations to fall into the same trap and devolve into obsession. It comes not from a place of honest appreciation of Creation, but from a place of vain Pride thinking the world is only complete so long you are alive in it. A deluded belief that you are so important that the world could not do without you. In short, a God Complex.

Aspirations very quickly become obsession at the very point in time where no cost is too high to pay for achieving this victory.

This is where a true villain is born. A desire in all those to immortalize themselves while paying any cost. They think that so long as they arrive at their destination, they will excuse their actions; that so long as they win that lottery, all their debts will be paid; that once they are kings, no — a living god!, that they will then be in a position to right any wrongs they wrought forth into the world.

So long as they gain immortality, the ends will justify the means… So long as they become god, they will have the authority to cleanse themselves of their own sins; to force others to forget their transgressions.

But if they fail… Well, failure is not even conscionable to the obsessed.

Many will therefore delude themselves in saying “If I steal this money; if I seize this power, I can use it to do good works!“ or “It’s just one life, one person in my way. After they are dead my debts will be gone and I will never gamble again!“

We all know how that really works out…

This is the heart of obsession. To chase impossibility while throwing everyone else aside as sacrifices on their path towards chasing immortality. They seek to become God without God. They truly believe only they can sit on that throne; that only they know everything there is to know and how to solve all the world’s problems, so long as their will is done. They no longer aspire to glory, to make a name for themselves and be satisfied, they wish to become the glory they obsess over —to fully embody an ideal instead of give credit to the one who created it. They seek to sit in a throne not meant for them.

Ambition vs. Vitality

The weight of any individual, as well, includes a module of ambition versus vitality. Those with much ambition but little vitality will require using others who have vitality to spare in order to accomplish their lofty goals. Those with little ambition but much vitality are content to live their lives without having the burden of chasing glory hanging over their heads, but are easily fooled and taken advantage of because they lack an inner purpose. These two will find one another, as heroes and villains often do. Parasites harbor ambition while the host reluctantly offers up their vitality. So, it is then, that they inevitably clash and do battle while bringing great terror in their wake.

Then there are those poor souls who have neither ambition nor vitality. They often waste away in their own time, swept up in the currents cast by the previous two and drowned among the foam and tumultuous waves.

Finally, we have those who have both high ambition and high vitality. These are the rarest of humanity. These are the ones whose ambitions fuel their aspirations and their vitality provides for their aspirations to come to fruition. They require no one but themselves to achieve, and so are resilient in the face of obsession’s temptation. It is in this category that we find the most loneliest of individuals, who will intentionally limit themselves such that they may at long last experience the challenges and toils of friendship. They seek, above all else, to calm the delusional dreams of the ambitious, give purpose to those of greater vitality, and comfort those poor souls who have neither. So rare are these individuals, true leaders, that most often do not recognize such a perfect mediator could possibly exist.

Biblically speaking, we call this figure a Messiah, the Christ. Jesus fits the model perfectly, not as a hero, but as a Savior which is the final evolution of that lofty ideal.

Heroes rescue people from harm, while a Savior saves people. Which is to say, only a Savior can rescue you from your self — from the harm which originates from within, not without.

Jesus limited himself, brought himself down to the level of others, such that he may satiate the parasites and their ambitions, give purpose to those whose vitality is overflowing for a need to dare greatly, and to comfort the meek who would otherwise be drowned out by the abyss found among the weak and crestfallen.

In this way, Everlasting Life is more than just immortality. Sure, we can be immortalized in our works, through our progeny, and even bodily to a degree, but none of these methods for being remembered by the World have any bearing on whether or not God will remember you.

Hell is nothing more than what God has forgotten. If you cannot cast away your sins, but seek to bind yourself to them in your obsession, they will weigh you down and drag you into the deepest waters of the abyss and you will be forgotten about. The only path to Hell is by your own refusal to forgive not only others but to forgive your self.

Absence of God is the very nature of Hell and is only arrived at should you refuse his unfathomable mercy.