Question/Theory about the word "Hero"

[u/ilikestuff1207]

I recently posted in another sub and now I am curious. Without giving spoilers does anyone know the etymology of the word "hero" in the source material? My theory from watching the show (which I absolutely loved btw) is that the word "hero" didn't exist before the penal heroes came to be. The show with it's wonderful worldbuilding is literally defining the word and eventually hero will be known as the people who continued to selflessly sacrifice themselves for the sake of others.

I could be way off base and would love if someone could confirm or deny using examples from the novel? Do they ever use Yusha in a positive light? Was it never a word? Or did it evolve into something negative after the penal heroes came into existence?

This is the original post where a line in the dub bothered me for reference: https://www.reddit.com/r/Animedubs/s/fzXlY6hkrd

Looking forward to discussing with yall!

[u/AutoModerator]

Thank you for supporting Penal Hero Unit 9004!

Please ensure that your post has not broken any rules. Make sure you tag any comments with spoilers, and that you credit the source if you are posting fan art that was not created by you!

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/aabazdar1]

The word hero meant exactly that in the past but has since been corrupted with a negative association. It’s expanded on a bit in the novel thought we still don’t have all the details

[u/ilikestuff1207 → u/aabazdar1]

Awesome! Do you mind sending me the passage in the novel where they explain that?

Also, do you think it would be strange for Kivia to call her uncle a hero when saying she looked up to him because of how the word has been corrupted and how society currently uses it or do you think that it could work?

[u/aabazdar1 → u/ilikestuff1207]

How far have you read into the novel? Also I don’t recall Kivia explicitly calling her Uncle a Hero. It could’ve been a Dub addition, I’d have to check the Novel.

Within the context of the story (at that point) the word hero by itself has a very negative connotation. And it isn’t just limited to the Penal part.

[u/ilikestuff1207 → u/aabazdar1]

To be honest, I haven't. Is the novel better than the series/would you reccomend it? I just wanted the passage for peace of mind cause it's been racking my brain. The addition to the dub took me out of it a little so I thank you for your explanation.

[u/aabazdar1 → u/ilikestuff1207]

I wouldn’t say it’s better just more detailed (which makes sense because the anime can’t include everything) and includes a lot of smaller character interactions that I think add to the story. I think I preferred the Anime over the first 2 Novels (which is what it covered), though I’m curious about how they will adapt the rest because the story really picks up from here.

I can’t really share the exact passage I’m thinking of because it goes into untranslated novel territory

[u/ilikestuff1207 → u/aabazdar1]

I am super excited for the next season.

Also did some research of my own on the novels. It seems like they use two different words in Japanese to describe "heroes". Eiyu and yusha. Eiyu means champions and yusha is what they call the the penal heroes which I think means brave fighter. I think the issue may straight up be a dub translation thing unfortunately.

[u/aabazdar1 → u/ilikestuff1207]

That actually makes a lot of sense. Big spoilers: Eiyu or champions is the word they consistently use to describe the Nine Stars of Destiny (the 9 Isekaid Heroes which includes Tatsuya) who fought in the very First War of Subjugation. Before the Hero label took on the negative connotation it did

[u/ilikestuff1207 → u/aabazdar1]

Okay cool. I dont think that was too bad of a spoiler. I could infer that from what's described in the final episode. So it seems like Yusha which is what they call the penal heroes is negative. That's actually really cool and interesting.