Hello, my name is Lebowski.

Is The Dude heroic? Is The Dude a masculine, western character?

I think The Dude is a masculine character, clearly not a western though. He may not be all into drooling of women and sex. But his dirty household and poor laid back lifestyle gives a sense of masculinity. I mean how many women would live like that?! Parts of the film make the dude appear to be heroic. When Walter just throws his dirty underwear off the bridge instead of the money, The dude wants to go back, give them the money to save Bunny. He also was concerned for her safety. Only when you view his motives for doing this, you realize it was all for him. For the money and his rug, The Dude's actions were completely selfish. To be heroic is to do what is right with out worrying about what's in it for you. He doesn't have any motivation to do anything unless there is something there to motivate him.