Qualifications of a Hero

"With great power there must also come great responsibility." These words from Peter Parker's uncle, along with spiders attributes, allow Peter to defeat the Green Goblin and successfully to become the hero of the story, Spiderman. Traditionally, characters who carry attributes such as strength and distinguished super-natural powers/abilities and are successful in the end are automatically known as the heroes of the stories. However, what requirements does a character literally need to be an …

…the hands of the controllers of the brave New World. Similar to John, Lennie is forever locked in his mentally handicapped mind and be tricked and betrayed by his best companion, George. As heroes tend not to have successful conclusions, why will anyone choose to be honoured with such positions? If you are required to carry out non-traditional-qualities and/or hardships throughout a story, are you willing to be a hero when given an opportunity?