Heroics

The following inference floated out of a quick view of the How to Train Your Dragon animation world: The hero begins as an outsider trying to fit in who transforms the world without directly trying to (at least at first.) 

Is this a common Hero attribute? Examining a few recent and well known texts:

Luke Skywalker in Star Wars (The original, that is, later renamed A New Hope): YES. He’s trying to get a few droids working one day, rescuing a Princess the next, streaking over a massive battle station and reinvigorating a nearly extinguished warrior tradition soon after.  Seems to match when looking only at this, although he later appears to fit the Prophet mold better - at which point he is acting with much more direction and determination.

Anakin Skywalker: UNCERTAIN. Similarly fits about as well as Luke does, but not in a good way. As Luke appears (eventually) to be a Prophet, Anakin naturally would be of a Hero generation. The existing movies don't work well in the Saeculum model, though.

George Bailey in It’s A Wonderful Life: YES. Saves Bedford Falls from an alternate reality as Pottersville despite spending at least half of his life trying to leave it behind. That might not quite count as a transformation, although the point is that the world would have been quite different without him.

Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games trilogy: YES. She volunteers to save her sister, and does what’s needed to “win” for her own survival. Soon after - and evidently without her involvement, much less desire - she is the symbol for change across the continent.

Harry Potter: YES. Outsider trying hard to fit in, without understanding of how the world works, but with a number of advantages that allow him to transform from a world with the threat of Voldemort to one without him or other Death Eaters.

Wall*E: NO. Fits as well as the others, which is unfortunate, as previous analysis suggests he’s an Artist rather than a Hero. It doesn’t fit well for The Apartment (noted here as having similarities to Wall*E), though.

Indiana Jones: YES. He's a Nomad, and does not fit this description. His efforts lead to a largely unchanged world, and everyone is happier for it.

Captain America (and The Winter Soldier): YES, in both. 

Still, it might be that this is a common way to structure a story, so there shouldn’t be too much read into it.