You are Legend.

Let's imagine the landscape of North America 400 years ago. Europeans have started to infiltrate the land and explore the territory of the continent.

There were two types of pioneers. Those that settled the land and those who wanted to explore and discover new territory.

The settlers escaped from their past. They wanted a new beginning.
The explorers sought out adventure. They wanted to be legends.

Not all settlers realized a better life in their new environment. Dangers came to them. And some died before their time from these threats.

Not all explorers became legends. Some of them died in their search for adventure. Their knowledge died with them.

It is only the explorers that succeeded in their quest that we learn about in history books.

The same is true in today's world.

The adventurers are called by a higher purpose. Not all will succeed. Some will fail miserably never to be heard of again. Some will achieve such fame and fortune that songs will be written about them.

The settler will die, just like the adventurer. Dangers still come to them. And some die before their time should be up. The person who settles for a simple life ends up in the same position as the adventurer.

He lives a life not lived. Engraved with a fear for adventure, the settler works hard at surviving, providing and protecting his family, not realizing that a bear is about to tear down his door, rip out his throat before he cocks the gun.

There are more dangers to the adventurer. There is a greater chance of death. But his life will be lived while he is alive. And if he finds super success, not only will he live a luxurious life, his legend will live for generations through our children's stories.

Overcoming the Monster

I remember my 10th grade history teacher, Mr. Olscamp, shrieking in a high pitch fitting for a role in MacBeth, "Those who do not know their history are bound to repeat it".

He was referring to the similar errors in judgement of Adolf Hitler and Napoleon Bonaparte.

The english word "history", is lent from latin with origins from the Greek word historia, which meant finding out or narrative.

The word story is a derivative of the word history or its predecessor historia.

The word story also comes from historia.
A story is a narrative on a sequence of events, whether real or fantasy.
History supposedly recounts only actual events.

Yet when we break it right down, history is nothing more than a series of stories. Are they factual or fantasy? Unless you were there, you can't be entirely sure.
Napoleon is credited with saying, "History is written by the winners of war".

What I have witnessed is that stories repeat.

They are told with different characters, different events, different locations. But there are only seven basic plots to any story. Everything else is a derivative of the seven plots.

Imagine a character who is utter evil. One who takes no prisoners. A killer. No love interests. No emotion.  The evil mission is the only thing that drives him. There is no internal struggle. He kills. He's mechanical, not maniacal. He will terrorize until he is destroyed or he completes his mission.

Who is the character?
Terminator (the first movie)
Darth Vader (Star Wars)
Drago (Rocky IV)
The shark (Jaws)
Voldemort (Harry Potter)
Jason (Friday the 13th)
Michael Myers (Halloween)
Bane (Batman)
Grendel and Grendel's mother (Beowulf)

These movies all recount the same plot. It's called "Overcoming the Monster".

Each story starts with a menacing introduction to the villain. The reader is afraid of him/her. He is introduced to the hero and the rest of the storyline details how the hero fights an epic battle until he defeats the villain.

History repeats. The stories change based on the narrator. But in reality, they are all similar in plot.

The stories are simply repeating. They tell the same story with a super villian and someone who is challenged to defeat the super villain.

In real life, we see real life monsters in "characters" like Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Saddam Hussein, Osama Bin Laden.

Has anything really ever changed? Or do we just like a good Monster story.