The Unknown Hero : An Urban Legend

You will not have heard of him, unless, like me, you are a fan of modern myths and urban legends, for unlike the masked supermen you read about in four-colour comic books, the Unknown Hero has no fancy name; in fact, no name at all; no name, no age, no gender, no known race or nationality and he wears no bright costume either because he doesn’t want to be noticed. In fact, one of his powers seems to be his chameleon like ability to assume any human form; his constantly changing face, the mask which conceals his identity. You will not recognize him when you see him. He may be the old man sitting opposite you on the tube train or the woman behind you in the check-out queue or even the little girl playing by herself on the pavement outside your window but you will know him by his powers and his principles, for the Unknown hero, though he may look like us, is every bit as powerful as the comic strip heroes and seems to follow their same moral code about defending the innocent and helping the powerless. Sadly, I can’t tell you much about where he came from because nobody knows; whether it was from some other planet or some government laboratory; his origins are a complete mystery but many claim that they have met or seen him; even that he has saved their lives. “A mysterious stranger”, the story usually goes, “Just seemed to appear out of nowhere when I was being attacked by a gang of armed thugs and fought them all off single handedly, displaying seemingly superhuman strength, speed and dexterity, then, somehow, miraculously, healed the injuries they had inflicted before walking off and apparently disappearing into nowhere before I could thank them”. Some have even theorized that the Unknown Hero might be more than one person; a secret superteam perhaps. Perhaps a group of visiting, benevolent aliens living among us who help people in trouble. While more religious or spiritually minded people have suggested that the unknown hero might be an Angel or a friendly spirit from beyond. Though some have taken the more rational and sceptical viewpoint that perhaps the Unknown Hero is nothing more than an ordinarily powered Good Samaritan and attribute his apparent superpowers to the effects of trauma upon the perception and memories of witnesses. But, whatever the truth; Angel, Ghost, Friendly Visitor From Another World or Good Samaritan, in an age where it often seems like no one cares, the Unknown Hero is an inspiring symbol of goodness and hope.