‘Steven Universe’ Destroyed What It Means to Be a Hero

Although not the first empathetic hero out there (e.g., Aang from Avatar The Last Airbender (2005–2008) also comes to mind), the existence of hero’s like Steven is the refutation of a type of storytelling decades, arguably even centuries, in the making. His use of empathy in the original series challenged the very values we think a hero should have.