Heroes vs. Villains: The Power of Personal Brands

I love films. Specifically, I’m a big Star Wars fan.

Yesterday, while taking a break and looking at the Christmas Tree, I saw a Darth Vader ornament and a Storm Trooper ornament. It got me to thinking about the differences between those two types of villains.

Some of my thoughts included, “Darth Vader has a stronger personal brand than a Storm Trooper. A Storm Trooper is fine just being one-of-the-many, and Darth Vader certainly is not”.

That got me to thinking how our heroes compare. So, let’s take a journey through with some of our favorite heroes and villains to see :)

(spoiler alert!)

STAR WARS: Darth Vader vs. Luke Skywalker

Where else would I start ;)

So, we’ve talked about Darth Vader a bit already. He’s out to rule the galaxy. And for quite some time, it was looking really promising.

Our hero, Luke, starts off with big dreams of being a pilot, but seems resigned to being a farm boy. Once he experiences his conflict (I’ll leave a bit out for those of you who haven’t seen the films), he heads off to follow his destiny.

A few times he faces Darth Vader and fails. Because he hasn’t yet connected strongly enough to The Force (or his personal brand, or if you’re a fan of The Alchemist, his personal legend). Not until Luke connects FULLY to his destiny is he able to defeat Vader.

Whoever has the strongest personal brand wins.

MULAN: Mulan vs. Xianniang

I recently watched the new Mulan film released by Disney (which I highly recommend), and we see a similar story.

Mulan grows up with a strong Chi, but is told by her family that she must hide it away to be an honorable daughter (I’m not going to break THAT down today, but my husband heard the brunt of it while we watched the movie). When she enters the army, she finds some access to it again.

Xianniang is a witch, working with the enemy to overthrow the empire. She has embraced her full witchy powers to get her revenge on the people who have banished her for being who she is.

Upon battling Xianniang for the first time, Mulan is asked to reveal her true self (which she does not). She is struck down, but saved by the leather binding her breast. She then decides to embrace her full Chi, and (at the end of the day) lives happily ever after (it is a Disney adaptation after all).

Again, she who has the strongest personal brand wins.

HARRY POTTER SERIES: Harry Potter vs. Voldemort

You guys probably could have guessed I’d do this one too, right ;)

OK, so Voldemort is like the king of his personal brand. He’s bad through and through, and owns it in every way. He has SO much personal brand in fact, that he has all of his powers PLUS he’s left his brand in a few other places (as horcruxes).

Harry, on the other hand, is thrown into a world where he’s famous for something he can’t even remember. Everyone else is depending on him to beat Voldemort, but for most of the series, he struggles to understand how that’s possible for him.

But what Harry doesn’t know until the very end, is that a part of Voldemort lays inside him, stopping him from 100% owning his personal brand. Not until that part of him is gone can he step into himself fully, giving him the power to defeat the dark lord.

THE LORD OF THE RINGS: Samwise Gamgee vs. Sauron

Hang on…isn’t Frodo the “hero” in the Lord of the Rings?

Let me explain friends.

Let’s start with Sauron. Typical bad guy right? He, like Voldemort, was so strong in his personal brand, that he left it behind when he was “destroyed”. He convinces one of the most powerful wizards (Saruman) to follow him. Together, they are close to covering the word in darkness.

Samwise starts out as a gardener, and is thrust on his adventure to take care of Frodo. Throughout the story, he builds his resilience, is critical in the actual destruction of the One Ring, and returns to Hobbiton to defeat Saruman (which you didn’t get to see in the movie) and become major. That guy 100% stepped into the guy he was meant to be, while so many others struggled around him.

The Power of Personal Brands

So, all of the stories are telling us the same thing. He (or she) who has the strongest personal brand, wins.

In each of the scenarios, a win looks a little bit different. Saving the galaxy. Bringing honor to the family. Defeating a dark lord. Saving Middle Earth. Which just goes to show that what the win IS doesn’t matter. The journey to find yourself does.

This is the power in personal branding. And whatever YOUR win looks like, it’s available to you.

If you’re ready to move forward into being your own hero, let’s chat about what that could look like for you :)