Okay, so storytime, Escapists!
I always preferred villains. My first well-made characters were evil with a sense of humor, making them likeable assholes. But way back when I was still in high school, I developed my first hero character, and he's still one of my best, since he's come a long way through all the stuff I put him through.
People like Final Fantasy 7 and so do I. Back then, the first real and proper hero I made was a 3rd Class member of SOLDIER who wields a url=http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m315/MagnusReaper/forcestealer.jpg]Force Stealer[/url], a background nobody who makes his way through the rigorous training (unlike Cloud, who was never actually a member) and just tries to get through life in one piece. He joined because he believed that he could do some good. He does his job, he goofs off on occasion, and he would never kill anyone without a reason.
Not everything goes his way, and some things in life scare the shit out of him, but he's an okay guy. That's Joe Hockner, and that's who I'd probably be like if I were really the hero-type.