Sepulchrave II
Legend
I think that viewing hit points in terms of their wargaming roots might be useful, and there are certain artifacts of wargaming which are deeply embedded - the d8 standard hit die and the d8 longsword damage has always seemed a relict of this sort of approach (originally d6/d6); it's a sort of natural balancing point, from which other extrapolations can be made.
A "Hero" with 4 hit dice - later the 4th-level Fighter title - represents exactly that in the context of miniature wargaming; other wargames also found ways to represent heroes or fantasy monsters - I'm thinking specifically of Phil Barker's WRG rules, which expand on rules for unit commanders to make them more durable in a similar sort of way.
A "Hero" with 4 hit dice - later the 4th-level Fighter title - represents exactly that in the context of miniature wargaming; other wargames also found ways to represent heroes or fantasy monsters - I'm thinking specifically of Phil Barker's WRG rules, which expand on rules for unit commanders to make them more durable in a similar sort of way.