As I’m still in foreign parts, visiting my grand-daughter, I was having a discussion with my son about Anime. Now this is something I know nothing about, so sensible input from me stops dead as this point.  But he told me something I was unaware of, and found fascinating: theat lead character is often ‘quite ordinary’ in a world of creatures with extraordinary features, and then gains powers to survive/thrive in it – but remain physiologically at least the same.

My son’s theory was that this was to help the readers – who were likely quite ordinary and enjoying some degree of wish fulfilment. I don’t have a clue, and it is rather aside from the point. But it is true that we do like characters we can identify with, if not as ourselves, at least as some one we’d like, at least in some aspect.

And yes, that is why I have always avoided too close a description of my heroes and heroines… to allow that space. It is part of the ‘framing’ process: let your readers fill in the picture they recognize around the details you do supply. Those details are clear and do get used to ID the character throughout.  

It’s also why, mostly, they don’t start terribly competent. Speaking personally, I haven’t started most of my adventures terribly competent. If I had they wouldn’t have been such adventures. Sometimes by the end of them I am very good whatever it is that is required of me. It’s like my adventure in house-moving/building. The first time was cock-up, but I didn’t die. So I undo and redo. The second time is better, but I’m picky, so I do it the third time. My wife stops me doing it a fourth, fifth and six time. Yes, actually my books often run to seven drafts… And you are free to tell me another seven would not hurt. I would agree with you, but there is a limit to how close you get silk purse from my starting point.

Perhaps I am wrong but I believe that hero appeals to a lot of readers, for the same reason the Anime non-descript one did.