Harry+Potter

Kyle Clark 2nd Hour


 * __King Leonidas__**

__**Background Information**__ King Leonidas was the King of Sparta, a Greek city-state around 500 B.C. He led Sparta in the battle against Persia at Thermopylae, after being personally chosen by a Greek coalition. He famously led 300 of his Spartan soldiers into a suicide battle to defend his people. Unlike the movie, he did receive some help from other greek city-states during the battle. The total force was about numbered around 5,000, while the Perisan force was somewhere between 80,000 to 290,000. Despite being completely outnumbered, King Leonidas led his troops into battle and on the first 2 days of the battle killed 20,000 Perisans while losing 2,500. The fought They even held back the elite Perisan fighting force "the Immortals", who were said to be unstoppable. on the third day of fighting, King Leonidas and his men were betrayed by a Greek trader, when he told the Perisans of a secret pass through the mountains where they could surround the Spartans. At that point, King Leonidas told the Greek soldiers that they could leave, but he stayed with his 300 men and about 1600 others refused to leave him. King leonidas and his soldiers have go down in history for laying down their lives for their nation and for fighting against such a larger force. A monument was built for King Leonidas in Greece in 1955.

__**Often Stands Alone in Battle**__ All of King Leonidas's fame comes from how he led a small number of soldiers into battle against a force that was more than 20 times larger. Before the battle, the Oracles(Spartan prophets) said that either Sparta would be destroyed or the King would be killed. King leonidas knew what must be done. The King and his Spartan 300 went into this suicide mission knowing that they would be feeling quite alone out on the battle field. He was the unquestioned leader of this group and all commands and directions came from him. Any new tactics that were needed in the battle came from him When the Spartans were standing at the opening of the "hot gates", the Persians told them to lay down their weapons. King Leonidas replied, come and get them. This shows his confidence in battle and how he had no fear what so ever. His Spartan comrades fed off of this, because when they saw that he wasn't scared, they wouldn't be scared either. These traits show how he is a leader on the battlefield and how he is not afraid to stand alone. He is never completely alone though, as he is always with his fellow Spartan soldiers. He led them into all of the battles over the three days of fighting until he was killed. He will always be remembered as a King who wasn't afraid of death and how he led a group of soldiers into a battle where they were quite alone, but ended up saving their country by holding back the Persian forces for a long enough time. Although King Leonidas was a great leader and was a very smart military commander, he also had very strong physical capabilities. He was a member of the Agiad line, so him and his brother claimed Hercules himself to be an ancestor of theirs. With Hercules being his ancestor, you know he was a beast. Another thing is that every Spartan male is trained in military combat from about the age of 7. They are hardened, turned into skilled fighters, and taught to never retreat and never surrender. Every Spartan was a pretty formidable foe because of this, but King Leonidas even stood out in this aspect, which is really something amazing. He was always known for his fighting prowice and his immense physical strength. He was certainly someone you didn't want to meet on the battlefield. Other than all his skills on the battlefield, he was also noted for his bravery. Throughout his time on the throne, and before that when he was just a normal Spartan warrior, King Leonidas faced many formidable foes. When each Spartan warrior is going through their training and becoming a man, they must take a trek into the wilderness for a week. On this trek the young Spartans receive nothing except one weapon. On Leonidas's journey, he had t outsmart and then kill a ferocious wolf up in the mountains. This is just one monster that he had to take out. At the famous battle of Thermopylae with his Spartan 300, they faced many daunting opponents while defending their country with their lives. One such opponent was the "Immortals". This was an elite fighting group of the Persian army that was said to be the most deadly in all of Asia. King Leonidas put their "Immortal" name to the test and disbanded them in the night, when it was said that they could not be beat. Leonidas and his men also faced many strange animals and monsters from Asia that they had never seen before that came with the Persian army. They defeated most of them also until they were betrayed and surrounded.
 * __Is A Skilled Fighter__**
 * __Defeats Monsters and/or Very Bad Guys__**


 * __Harry Potter__**



Harry Potter is the boy who lived. He was born to magical parents and he, himself possesses magical abilities. Not every can do magic though, as there is the non-magical population, the muggles. The magical population lives in secret to the muggles. When he was just a baby his parents were murdered by the dark sorcerer, Lord Voldemort. Before her death, his Mom cast a protection spell on Harry with her life, so when Voldemort attacked Harry, he was destroyed and he lost everything. Harry, now orphaned moved in with his non-magical Aunt and Uncle. When he turned 11, he received a letter from Hogwartz, the magical school for adolescents. At this time, Hagrid the half-giant groundskeeper at Hogwartz had to come get him because his Aunt and Uncle had locked him up and wouldn't let him leave. Over the next 7 years, Harry went to Hogwarts with his two best friends, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley. Each year he also had an encounter with Lord Voldemort and survived each one. He lost friends along the way, but everyone knew Harry was the only one who could defeat Voldemort and he finally does in 7th book and saves the world.
 * __Background Information__**

Harry becomes known very quickly in his life for his courage and strength in bad situations and his survival skills. In each year of Harry's life, he is put into life threatening situations with Voldemort and usually some other monsters or foes also. Harry, Hermione, and Ron always seem to get themselves into sticky situations, but when they work together they usually make it out okay. What usually happens is that those 3 get into a bad spot and must get out soon or lose their lives. Hermione and Ron usually provide a lot of help, but at the end Harry usually ends up by himself facing the enemy. This happens numerous times throughout the 7 books, including the very end of the last book when Harry has to defeat Voldemort by himself. In this individual battles, Harry always shows tons of heart, courage, and determination, and with a little help always comes out on top
 * __Often Stands Alone In Battle__**

__**Is a Skilled Fighter**__ Harry Potter was born to two very strong and talented magical parents. Harry naturally inherited all of his parents magical skills. From when he was a very young, he was usually able to perform the tasks that were taught to him. These skills helped him to become the fighter and dueler that he is now. With his Defense Against the Dark Arts classes, along with many other attributes and spells he learned from other people, Harry was able to become a very respected and feared opponent. In the later books, Harry was able to take out just about every death eater that came his way. This was because of his natural talent, but also becasue of a lot of help from his friends and a ton of practice also. Another thing that always helped him in battle was his courage and determination to help out and save his friends. This love that he has for his friends and family is why he is better than Voldemort and is the reason why he is able to defeat Voldemort in the end.

Throughout the 7 books, Harry faces countless monsters, opponents, obstacles and bad guys. Harry is always able to come out on top of these situations, but he could never do it just by himself. Every time he gets in a sticky spot or has a life threatening experience, he has people and animals there to assist, and sometimes even save him. The people who help him the most are his two best friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, but another person who helps him a ton of times is Professor Dumbledore. He is the Headmaster at Hogwartz and he trusts and cares for Harry as much as anybody. He is always there for Harry, even if it is not actually him in person helping. Sometimes he sends an animal, or just someone to relay a message to him. Over the years, Harry destroys a basalisk, Voldemort, and takes out many other bad guys including death eaters, who are the servants of Voldemort. Harry also saves countless peoples lives and he is always willing to lay his life down or get hurt to save his loved ones or just anyone who needs it.
 * __Defeats Monsters and/or Very Bad Guys__**

http://www.hp-lexicon.org/wizards/granger.html http://ancienthistory.about.com/cs/people/g/leonidas.htm http://library.flawlesslogic.com/leonidas.htm http://www.300spartanwarriors.com/ http://www.mugglenet.com/