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{{short description|Archetypal protagonist of action-genre fiction}} |
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{{short description|Archetypal protagonist of action-genre fiction}} |
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{{for|a list focused on female action heroes|list of female action heroes}} |
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An '''action hero''' (sometimes '''action heroine''' for women) is the protagonist of an ] or other form of entertainment which portrays action, adventure, and often violence.<ref>{{citation |title=Blood, guns, and testosterone: action films, audiences, and a thirst for violence |author=Barna William Donovan |publisher=Scarecrow Press |year=2010 |isbn=9780810872622}}</ref> Action heroes are depicted in exciting or perilous chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. Other media in which such heroes appear include ]s, ]s, ], ]s, ]s, ]s, and ]. |
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]{{·}}]{{·}}]{{·}}]<br>'''Row 2''': ]{{·}}]{{·}}]{{·}}]</small>]] |
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==History== |
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The archetypal '''action hero''' or '''action heroine''' is the ] of an ] or other entertainment which portrays action and adventure.<ref>{{citation |title=Blood, guns, and testosterone: action films, audiences, and a thirst for violence |author=Barna William Donovan |publisher=Scarecrow Press |year=2010 |isbn=9780810872622}}</ref> Other media in which such heroes appear include ]s, ], ], ]s, ]s, ]s, and ]. |
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The origin of the action hero is rooted in the history of ] with adventure stories being primarily written for boys, to imagine being men on travels and experiencing exciting action. Shawn Shimpach wrote, "The young, white men who were (or became) the aggrandized subjects of these stories motivated the narratives through their penchant for action and resolved conflict through violence informed by grit, wits, and innate skill, securing, in each story, the future of the world for which they were responsible and in the process confirming their masculine identity." In the early twentieth century, this storytelling was commercialized, and the stories were "readily adapted" to film. One of the earliest action-hero actors was ].<ref name="shimpach">{{cite book | last=Shimpach | first=Shawn | year=2010 | chapter=The Hero | title=Television in Transition: The Life and Afterlife of the Narrative Action Hero | publisher=Wiley | isbn=978-1-4443-2068-8 | pages=33–34 }}</ref> In the '']'', Donald Liebenson wrote, "Douglas Fairbanks was Hollywood's first major action hero, best known for the costume epics that established him as the screen's most dashing swashbuckler."<ref>{{cite news | last=Liebenson | first=Donald | url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1996-06-14-9606140270-story.html | title='King of Hollywood' a tribute to action-hero Fairbanks | work=] | date=June 14, 1996 | accessdate=December 2, 2022 }}</ref> One of the defining action-hero characters played by Fairbanks was ], which ] called "the most influential action figure in film history and the happiest movie warrior of all time".<ref>{{cite news | last=Sragow | first=Michael | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/zorro-100-birthday-movies/2020/12/29/455d6e30-4596-11eb-a277-49a6d1f9dff1_story.html | title=Zorro at 100: Why the original swashbuckler is still the quintessential American action hero | newspaper=] | date=January 1, 2021 | accessdate=December 2, 2022 }}</ref> Fairbanks was followed by ], who achieved fame as ] in the 1938 film '']''.<ref>{{cite magazine | last=Ehrlich | first=David | url=https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-news/from-swashbucklers-to-supermen-a-brief-history-of-action-movie-heroes-60935/ | title=From Swashbucklers to Supermen: A Brief History of Action-Movie Heroes | magazine=] | date=September 1, 2015 | accessdate=December 2, 2022 }}</ref> |
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In the middle of the twentieth century, "...the action genre was predictably populated by suave, attractive heroes living adventures of thrilling, exotic excitement, unimpeded by (if clearly aligned to) national, cultural, or state borders." When television became commonplace, shows that featured action heroes included '']'' (1952–1958), '']'' (1961–1969), '']'' (1962–1969), '']'' (1964–1968), '']'' (1966–1968), and '']'' (1966–1973). Shimpach said they "offered up extraordinary (if not always completely serious) white men who resolved conflict through direct action and violence while displaying their effortless mastery of urban spaces, new technologies, fashion, and their own bodies."<ref name="shimpach" /> |
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==See also== |
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==See also== |
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* ] |
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* ] |
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==Notes== |
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==References== |
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{{reflist}} |
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{{reflist}} |
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==External links== |
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==External links== |
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*{{cite web |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/01/AR2006090100360_pf.html |title=The Lost Action Hero |newspaper=]}} |
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In the middle of the twentieth century, "...the action genre was predictably populated by suave, attractive heroes living adventures of thrilling, exotic excitement, unimpeded by (if clearly aligned to) national, cultural, or state borders." When television became commonplace, shows that featured action heroes included Adventures of Superman (1952–1958), The Avengers (1961–1969), The Saint (1962–1969), The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964–1968), Batman (1966–1968), and Impossible (1966–1973). Shimpach said they "offered up extraordinary (if not always completely serious) white men who resolved conflict through direct action and violence while displaying their effortless mastery of urban spaces, new technologies, fashion, and their own bodies."