Talk:Day 141-150/Day 149/@comment-124.83.30.57-20160526073140/@comment-124.83.30.57-20160526131101

士 means person.

The reason it's needed is because 守 alone is just the act. The person who does the act is, well, the actor. Someone who protects is a protector, someone who defends is a defender, someone who guards is a...well, guard, but it has a different nuance. The point is that you can't read 守 as a person who does that act. The kanji alone is only the act.

The stuff you listed out (to protect, protection, to defend, defense) are all just actions or a noun referring to the act (and not a noun referring to a person who does the act). Some kanji can both refer to a person noun or a noun referring to something else. You brought up Samurai, so here's 武士 as an example (well, there's also a kanji for samurai alone, but the word became synonymous with "bushi" later on). 武士 means warrior or samurai (武士 literally means armsman, so someone who wields arms/weaponry), but 武 alone can translate into warrior (guess 武士 has a more elevated meaning). 武 can also refer to chilvalry or weaponry (arms). Anyway, I'm digressing. It's fine if you forget all this other stuff, just keep in mind that 守 is not like 武 and isn't a noun for a person on its own.

They're not all guardians, INA. You're treating the Dark Hero as if her role in combat is to protect, however she actually dismantles her opponents with precision attacks. Same with the Rock Hero. Of course he protects the kingdom, but in combat, his job as the Hero of Rock Iron relates to how powerful his hits are. During the civil war, Rou noted down that, in terms of raw physical strength, the Rock Hero would be above Kichi. So while Rock Iron just means he's hard, its meaning is closer to how hard he hits rather than how sstrong his guard is. The Wood Hero is the only hero with a defense-oriented role.

It's been agreed upon here to translate 英勇 as Hero, hasn't it?