I think one answer to your question is: the story wouldn't be worth telling if the drama didn't involve some sort of tale-telling technique that made the unbelievable palatable. Besides, if the hero was nicked (in the general run-of-the-mill good-guy case), he would be disabled and that would slow him down, then he'd be found by the bad guys, and/or ultimately be tracked and killed ruthlessly: he wouldn't be a "hero": he'd be a "dead hero."
I just watched Live Free or Die Hard - talk about a hero that gets nicked, brutalized and down right abused (as a character) and stays alive to claim the title. 16 Blocks (again with the ultimate beat-me-up good guy actor, Willis) is another example of the hero getting the better of a beating/bullet.
Heroes are those characters that achieve a level of greatness through the lucky/skilled shot or effective "drop" on the bad guy, against all odds and for a good cause in the eye/ear of the viewer/listener. Heroes are just "good guys" until they survive the story and claim the title, of course, bestowed on them by the viewer/listener. Especially in action flicks.
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I just watched Live Free or Die Hard - talk about a hero that gets nicked, brutalized and down right abused (as a character) and stays alive to claim the title. 16 Blocks (again with the ultimate beat-me-up good guy actor, Willis) is another example of the hero getting the better of a beating/bullet.
Heroes are those characters that achieve a level of greatness through the lucky/skilled shot or effective "drop" on the bad guy, against all odds and for a good cause in the eye/ear of the viewer/listener. Heroes are just "good guys" until they survive the story and claim the title, of course, bestowed on them by the viewer/listener. Especially in action flicks.