History Main / Heel

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** Bender becomes this in ''[[Recap/FuturamaS2E8RagingBender Raging Bender]] when he joins the Ultimate Robot Fighting League. At first his Bender The Offender personality is ''extremely'' well-liked, but as his popularity begins to wane [[GorgeousGeorge they put him in a pink tutu,]] call him ''The Gender Bender'', and [[{{Jobber}} declare that he's going to lose the next match.]]

* Bender becomes this in ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' when he joins the Ultimate Robot Fighting League. At first his Bender The Offender personality is ''extremely'' well-liked, but as his popularity begins to wane they put him in a pink tutu, call him ''The Gender Bender'', and declare that he's going to lose the next match.

* The Music/BeastieBoys' early BarbaricBully image was heavily influenced by the Heel role, according to then-manager Rick Rubin, a huge WWE fan.

** Many of the recurring boxers, such as Bald Bull, Great Tiger, or Vodka Drunkenski/Soda Popinski fit the "Monster"/"Foreign" trope nicely. Bear Hugger represents literally every single stereotype of [[CanadaEh his country]] at once, although he's more of a NatureHero than your typical heel. (The best part is that [[Creator/NextLevelGames the studio who made the Wii game]] is Canadian.)

* Wolf (played by Michael Van Wijk) from ''Series/{{Gladiators}}''. Which leads to a subversion, as he was easily the most popular Gladiator, although his attitude never changed throughout the show's run (due to his [[BadBadActing deliberately-poor acting]]). This even carried into the revival when he returned, though somewhat toned down in his role.

7. The '''[[WrestlingMonster Monster]]'''. ''"From PartsUnknown...",'' a menace capable of demolishing top stars, modern heroes, and legends of the industry. Usually doesn't talk much. The idea is to sell them as a threat without having to compete to be "the best" in the main event scene. They mainly fight against guys [[EvilIsBigger below their height/weight class]], whether it be in tag team or singles action. Having a 'small' guy who can defeat the big guy on an even playing field is a great way to build them up. Note that the Monster has considerable overlap with The Giant and the WildSamoan.

* In ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'', [[MaskedLuchador Mask de Masculine]] insists on viewing himself as the "[[{{face}} hero]]", and decries all of his opponents as "villains", evoking this trope. When they meet during the Vandenreich's second invasion of Soul Society, Renji introduces himself as "a villain" in a way that is meant to make fun of Mask's [[WrestlerInAllOfUs wrestler gimmick]]. [[TookALevelInBadass Having taken a few levels in badass while training in the Soul King's Palace]], Renji ends up [[CurbStompBattle curbstomping]] Mask so hard that the latter [[SoreLoser becomes enraged]] and breaks character.

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'', Amethyst secretly joins a wrestling club under the guise of an overly aggressive cat-themed wrestler known as the Purple Puma. When Steven finds out, he keeps her secret in exchange for joining her as her tag team partner, the obnoxious Tiger Millionaire. He quickly gains the admiration of the crowd, but loses it after he gets carried away and acts mean to Lars when he tries to get an autograph.

* In ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'', [[MaskedLuchador Mask de Masculine]] insists on viewing himself as the "[[{{face}} hero]]", and decries all of his opponents as "villains", evoking this trope. When they meet during the Vandenreich's second invasion of Soul Society, Renji introduces himself as "a villain" in a way that is meant to make fun of Mask's [[WrestlerInAllOfUs wrestler gimmick]]. [[TookALevelInBadass Having taken a few levels in badass while training in the Soul King's Palace]], Renji ends up [[CurbStompBattle curbstomping]] Mask so hard that the latter becomes enraged and breaks character.

* In ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'', [[MaskedLuchador Mask de Masculine]] insists on viewing himself as the "[[{{face}} hero]]", and decries all of his opponents as "villains", evoking this trope. When they meet during the Vandenreich's second invasion of Soul Society, Renji introduces himself as "a villain" in a way that is meant to make fun of Mask's [[WrestlerInAllOfUs wrestler gimmick]].

* The Tiger's Den from ''Manga/TigerMask'' is basically a criminal organization who specializes in training heel wrestlers. This included Tiger Mask who was a brutal ForeignWrestlingHeel back when he was wrestling in the US. He turned face though to help support the orphanage he grew up in (as Wrestlers from the Tiger's Den had to give half their income to them.)

** If Kyle Busch isn't [=NASCAR's=] most hated driver that that honor has to go to Joey Logano, another kid from a wealthy family and a liberal state (in this case Connecticut), who was given a Cup Series ride at only '''18''' and fans believed he got that ride solely because [[Main/EstrogenBrigade all the female fans]] [[Main/MrFanService think he's adorable.]] Logano hasn't really played into it too much, making this a bit of a case of Main/XPacHeat.

1. The '''[[DirtyCoward Chickenshit]]'''. Bog standard heel from the golden age. (You know the type, the ones who kept [[Wrestling/FreddieBlassie Fred Blassie]] in business.) They [[CombatPragmatist cheat]] a ton, exaggerate about everything, [[MovingTheGoalposts change the rules each time they lose]], use [[HumanShield bystanders as shields]], and win on [[DisqualificationInducedVictory technicalities]]. Plus, they have that punchable face which is damn-near a blueprint for CheapHeat.

Note that hate comes from a desire to see the heel punished and set back, distinct from XPacHeat, which skips that step and simply wants someone gone entirely, which is itself distinct from a heat vacuum, where the crowd neither pops nor boos, they just sit absolutely silent for their entrances. At this point he/she should just hang up the boots because they don't even elicit a response.

The Lucha Libre equivalent is known as a ''rudo''. In theory, rudo is more an 'attitude' about Lucha Libre as a whole, but in practice rudos are almost always interchangeable with heels.

* The biggest heels in AEW nowadays are Wrestling/{{MJF}} and Wrestling/BrittBaker.

** Back in TheSeventies, the rivalry between Leeds United and Chelsea, two teams that seemed to go out of their way to sign up football-playing Heels, had something of the aura of an all-in wrestling/bare-knuckle bout on the football pitch. This aura of violence was something that caused the football authorities to regularly discipline both sides for "bringing the game into disrepute", and matches between Leeds and Chelsea were renowned for the on-field violence rather than the football. Sure enough, the management of both sides took care to hype up the rivalries and the feuds beforehand, which temded to maximise match attendance. Players such as [[ViolentGlaswegian Billy Bremner]], Jackie Charlton, Norman Hunter and Ron Harris were big-name football playing Heels in their time. Other sides such as Manchester city were not far behind: Francis Lee had a reputation as city's resident hardest man in a hard-man side.

* Pro footballers with a reputation for robust or even dirty play were not above playing the Heel card, in a spirit of warped showmanship. Vinnie Jones shamelessly played up his reputation as the hardest man on and off the field, even once, quite deliberately, bullying and beasting a newspaper sports reporter in a bar, knowing this would enhance his reputation. It worked: when his playing days were over, he made a second career playing hard men and gangsters in movies.
** Back in TheSeventies, the rivalry between Leeds United and Chelsea, two teams that seemed to go out of their way to sign up football-playing Heels, had something of the aura of an all-in wrestling/bare-knuckle bout on the football pitch. This aura of violence was something that caused the football authorities to regularly discipline both sides for "bringing the game into disrepute", and matches between Leeds and Chelsea were renowned for the on-field violence rather than the football. Players such as [[ViolentGlaswegian Billy Bremner]], Jackie Charlton and Ron Harris were big-name football playing Heels in their time.

** If Kyle Busch isn't [=NASCAR's=] most hated driver that that honor has to go to Joey Logano, another kid from a wealthy family and a liberal state (in this case Connecticut), who was given a Cup Series ride at only '''18''' and fans believed he got that ride solely because [[Main/EstrogenBrigade all the female fans]] [[Main/MrFanService think he's adorable.]] Logano wasn't really played into it too much, making this a bit of a case of Main/XPacHeat.

* Heels can also be managers (as Vince and Paul have shown) as well as commentators, and--in the case of Nick Patrick--even ''referees''!

->''[[Wrestling/JakeRoberts Jake "the Snake"]] could teach a class on the art of being a psycho heel. Apparently there's a good reason to call Wrestling/DeanAmbrose "The Lunatic Fringe".''\\\

Heel champions didn't draw in Madison Square Garden the same way face champions do. The main examples of this are Wrestling/BuddyRogers and [[Wrestling/SuperstarBillyGraham "Superstar" Graham]]. Even Randy Savage, fairly or not, was running out of steam, and (for that matter) Wrestling/RicFlair never took off in [[{{Wrestling/WWE}} WWF]], either. The only heel they ever pushed long and hard was Wrestling/TripleH, and it seems they've learned their lesson since then. Because while there's money in a babyface [[OneManArmy fighting off a swarm of heels]], there's very little draw in a heel champion [[TheBadGuyWins gobbling up faces]] the same way. Considering how many hours of television they have to fill, they need a constant stream of fresh challengers, and the best way to sort through them ''and'' draw money is with a babyface on top. It's a proven formula since [[Wrestling/HulkHogan january of 1984]].

* Wrestling/AbdullahTheButcher is possibly one of the most interesting cases in pro wrestling history, he's one of the earlier examples of a CompositeCharacter blending the foreing and monster heel tropes. His carrer spanned over 5 decades with a very limited set of moves, relying only in cheating, the use of foreign objects and a very, very slow work pace.

* Wrestling/JohnBradshawLayfield (formerly only ''Bradshaw'' of Wrestling/TheAPA, and nephew to "Blackjack" Lanza) turned heel in 2004 and never looked back. His transformation from trailer-trash Texan to conniving stock-broker was inspired in part by his [[RealLifeWritesThePlot actual exploits on Wall Street]], for which he became eminently known in the world of finance. Throughout that period, he was hardly ever seen without his trademark white Stetson hat and matching limousine, which his opponents had the pleasure of wrecking! (Wrestling/TheUndertaker once chokeslammed Bradshaw through the limo.)

* Wrestling/ShawnMichaels was just another long-haired blond in a federation stacked with long haired blonds, so he had to turn the heat somehow. By the mid-nineties and the incident known as the Wrestling/MontrealScrewjob, he was already hated for what he did to his former tag partner, Wrestling/MartyJannetty.

* Wrestling/WilliamRegal played the EvilBrit with aplomb. These days he remains a firm, but fair neutral party on ''[[{{Wrestling/WWENXT}} NXT]]''--unless he's pushed too far by a wrestler. He’s like a British Dario Cueto minus the outright murder boner.
* Wrestling/JakeRoberts was unfortunate in that steroids didn't have the desired muscle-building effect on his body, and he just got fatter. But he still looked the part, and he had the WrestlingPsychology down to a science.

** The Iron Sheik innovated many of the tropes used by the foreign heels: Carrying foreing flags, wearing ethnic clothing and the evil mustache. He's also worth of notice for he went over as a great in-ring technician, and not just for his villany.