Like you could have a felon convicted of child rape sign up to fight a forest fire and die. Would he be a hero?
He may have just signed up to get some time out of jail, or maybe they are willing to reduce his sentence some for fighting the forest fire. Does the “why” factor in at all? What about the general character of the person?
Edit: there is no “right” answer. Just your opinion. And that is what I am looking for.
Doing what you believe to be right despite severe personal consequences.
The subjective part is that what you think is right and what others think is right differs. You’re only a hero if most people agree that you did the right thing I guess.
You probably need to be decently upstanding, too. Some might say the child rapist in your example committed a heroic deed by dying fighting a wildfire but people would not call them a hero.
I think sometimes people can be heroes without extreme sacrifice, too. For instance, I would call Fred Rogers a hero solely because of his positive impact on others.