Standing on the edge of the building a man looks over the city. Hundreds of feet below him one car smashed into another, causing a third car to run into the second. As one new speeding deathtrap is added to the chaos, the man knows he has to do something. Should he wait for someone else to save the people, or should he go down into the wreckage and try to save everyone himself? Different societies want their heroes to do different things. Some prefer the heroes willing to risk their lives, such as Beowulf and Captain America, but others prefer the Anti-heroes, ones that do not follow the ideal standards, such as Gollum from Lord of the Rings or Deadpool from the Marvel comic books. Definitions may change through the time, but values and the impacts of these heroes have stayed the same. On a smaller scale, heroes can be just about anyone, whether it is the man down the street or…show more content… Beowulf himself honored the Norse heroic code. The Norse valued fighting, no matter if the fighter will win or lose. On "that final day was the first time when Beowulf fought and fate denied him glory in battle. So the King of the Geats raised his hand and struck hard..." (723-726). When he fought the dragon, Beowulf knew that he was going to die, and potentially lose the battle. Instead of giving up, he stuck with the Norse ideals and kept fighting, ultimately winning the fight but losing his life in the process. While both heroes have their faults, Beowulf is the most applicable for today's standards. Even though Beowulf existed hundreds of years ago, he was the first hero in English literature. When today's kids think of Batman, English teachers think Batman's bravery is less than Beowulf's courage when "...he leaped into the lake, would not wait for anyone's answer" (675-676). Beowulf understood that someone had to avenge the King’s friend’s death. The willing hero jumped right into action without waiting to be called