It’s a trope, but it highlights a key issue with the way we view our history and most fundamental tales. Why are so many human achievements attributed to one guy? one great man? And why is Fantasy media complicit?
It’s good that within history circles the “Great Man” theory has fallen by the wayside. But as far as works of fiction are concerned, it’s a pretty natural consequence. It’s much more boring to have a huge cast of nominally important characters.
Been thinking about this as I work on the dungeon-delving setting for my GURPS campaign. I’m taking a fair amount of inspiration from Roadside Picnic - I want the players to feel like Redrick Schuhart, not Rand al’Thor.
I found a YouTube link in your post. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
