History Literature / TCWGTHAHHeroes

* Osamu Tezuka's seminal work ''Manga/{{Phoenix}}'' is rife with examples of this type. Many of the characters start out heroic, and are actually close friends of the people they later cut down in cold blood. But they usually have a thread of power-lust running through them even from the start.

* Osamu Tezuka's seminal work ''Manga/Phoenix'' is rife with examples of this type. Many of the characters start out heroic, and are actually close friends of the people they later cut down in cold blood. But they usually have a thread of power-lust running through them even from the start.

* The book gives Henry Higgins from ''Theatre/MyFairLady'' and Captain Kirk from ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'', which should give you an idea of the range.

* Obviously there's The Professor from Gilligan's Island and Mr. Spock (or probably ''any'' Vulcan).

* General Woundwort from ''WesternAnimation/WatershipDown'', although he's not trying to ''expand'' his empire.

* ''Manga/{{Gunnm}}'''s Desty Nova fits, although he's more tragic and doesn't have the elitism that characterizes most (yeah, he uses people for inhuman experiments, but he doesn't look down on people of lower intellect).

* Amon from ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', a literal terrorist, fits this archetype to a T.

* Iago in ''Theatre/Othello''.

** Prince Humperdinck from ''Film/ThePrincessBride''.

* Edmund, a BastardBastard, from ''Theatre/King Lear''.

* Edmund from ''[[Creator/WilliamShakespeare King Lear]]''

* Iago in ''Othello''.
* Mr Morden in Series/BabylonFive

* Amon from ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra''.

[[AC: Literature]]

* '''The EvilGenius (MadScientist)'''

* Worf in ''[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space Nine]]''

* '''[[EvilOverlord The Tyrant]]:''' [[WesternAnimation/WatershipDown General Woundwort]], although he's not trying to ''expand'' his empire.
** Osamu Tezuka's seminal work ''Phoenix'' is rife with examples of this type. Many of the characters start out heroic, and are actually close friends of the people they later cut down in cold blood. But they usually have a thread of power-lust running through them even from the start.
* '''The Bastard:'''
** Edmund from ''[[Creator/WilliamShakespeare King Lear]]''
* '''The Devil:''' Iago in ''Othello''.
** Mr Morden in Series/BabylonFive
* '''The Traitor:''' [[Literature/TheBible Judas]]?
** [[Theatre/JuliusCaesar Brutus]] exemplifies this trope nicely
** [[Literature/HarryPotter Peter Pettigrew?]]
* '''The Outcast:'''
** [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII Sephiroth]]
** [[WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender Zuko]] -> [[CharacterDevelopment develops into]] Lost Soul.
* '''The Evil Genius:''' ''Manga/{{Gunnm}}'''s Desty Nova fits, although he's more tragic and doesn't have the elitism that characterizes most (yeah, he uses people for inhuman experiments, but he doesn't look down on people of lower intellect).
* '''The Sadist:'''
** [[Film/ThePrincessBride Prince Humperdinck?]]
* '''The Terrorist:''' ...
** Othar Tryggvassen, GentlemanAdventurer!! -- if you're being uncharitable. Also, he has shades of the MadScientist (but then for ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'', that's a bit of a given...).
** Saïd from ''Three Kings''
** The Operative from ''Firefly''.

* [[TheCaptain The Chief]]

* [[AntiHero The Bad Boy]] (AllGirlsWantBadBoys, JerkWithAHeartOfGold)

* [[UndyingLoyalty The Best Friend]]

* [[TheCasanova The Charmer]]

* [[TroubledButCute The Lost Soul]]

* TheProfessor

* [[{{Swashbuckler}} The Swashbuckler]]

* [[{{Determinator}} The Warrior]]

Their villainous versions are as follows:

* [[EvilOverlord The Tyrant]]

* [[{{Jerkass}} The Bastard]]

* [[TheStarscream The Traitor]]

* [[ManipulativeBastard The Devil]]

* [[LonersAreFreaks The Outcast]]

* The EvilGenius (MadScientist)

* [[BloodKnight The Sadist]]

* [[DarkMessiah The Terrorist]]

[[AC:Character Examples]]

* '''The Chief:''' The book gives [[Theatre/MyFairLady Henry Higgins]] and [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries Captain Kirk]], which should give you an idea of the range.
* '''The Bad Boy:''' [[Film/TheBreakfastClub John Bender]] is an obvious example. [[Anime/CowboyBebop Spike Spiegel]] is a combination of this and '''The Swashbuckler''' (Were he not such '''The Bad Boy''' he would qualify for '''The Lost Soul'''.)
** An example of how these archetypes can be combined to create [[strike:WesternAnimation/{{Captain Planet|and the Planeteers}}]] complex characters.
** Note well that this can be a positive character despite the character flaws.
* '''The Best Friend:''' JD from ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'', Lennier from Series/BabylonFive.
* '''The Charmer:''' Hawkeye Pierce from ''Series/{{MASH}}''; Shigure from ''Manga/FruitsBasket''. Ivan Vorpatril is this as well as Best Friend.
* '''The Lost Soul:''' Angel from ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''.
** Seamus Harper of Series/{{Andromeda}} is a combination of Lost Soul and Professor, with a little bit of Best Friend.
** Bothari in Literature/VorkosiganSaga
* '''The Swashbuckler:''' Book gives (of course) Franchise/IndianaJones - and Zorro.
** Miles Vorkosigan is a combination of this and Professor.
* '''The Professor:''' Obviously there's The Professor from Gilligan's Island, and Mr. Spock (or probably ''any'' Vulcan); the book adds Series/{{Frasier}}. And then there's Andrew Steyn from ''Film/TheGodsMustBeCrazy''....
* '''The Warrior:''' Book gives Clint Eastwood in ''Film/DirtyHarry'' and Mel Gibson in ''Film/{{Braveheart}}''.
** Worf in ''[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space Nine]]''

You can find this section on the [[{{Literature/TCWGTHAH-Heroines}} Heroine list]].