Illustrated for your convenience.
"You see that you and I are of a different stripe, don't you? We don't have to dream that we're important. We are."
— Mr. House, Fallout: New Vegas
The good guy, seeks to defeat the villain, save the princess, find the treasure, etc. Generally the central figure in Action Series and Adventure Series. Always wins in the end.
This list is about different kinds of heroic characters. We also have a specific list of Hero Tropes, which are ways that heroes are made heroic in storytelling.
If you're looking for something about the show of the same name, try Heroes (and if a link from another page sent you here instead of there, feel free to correct it — no-one may ever know you did, but virtue is its own reward!). You may also be looking for our page on the David Bowie album "Heroes".
Contrast this index with its antithesis, Villains. There's also a Wiki
on this trope per the Wiki Rule.
Tropes:
Main sub-index:
Other categories:
- Accidental Hero: A character who does a heroic deed completely by accident.
- The Ace: The hero who's good at everything.
- Action Dad
- Action Girl
- Action Hero
- Action Pet
- Action Survivor: They're not a skilled fighter, but prove to be quite capable of handling a dangerous situation anyways.
- Actual Pacifist: Someone who refuses to physically harm other people no matter what.
- Badass Pacifist: While they would never beat the crap out of their enemies, they're brave enough to stand up for their beliefs anyways.
- Adaptational Heroism: The villain character from the original work is a hero in the adaptation.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: A character is made nicer in the adaptation than they were in the original work. Often done with heroic characters whose rudeness might prevent them from being sympathetic.
- Adventurer Archaeologist
- The All-American Boy
- All-Loving Hero: A good guy who's kind to everybody. Often willing to give even nasty villains another chance.
- Always Lawful Good: An entire race of completely benign beings.
- Amnesiac Hero: The protagonist has little or no memory of who they are, and how they got themselves in their current situation.
- Anti-Antichrist: The Antichrist is expected to help the forces of evil with conquering/destroying the world. Fortunately, this Antichrist wants to save the world instead.
- Anti-Hero: A hero who has serious personality flaws or even questionable morals. They are the equal and opposite counterpart of the Anti-Villain.
- Anti-Hero Substitute
- Byronic Hero
- Classical Antihero
- Designated Hero: The character is supposed to be a hero, but his actions say otherwise.
- Heroic Comedic Sociopath
- Knight In Sour Armor: A cynical hero who nonetheless continues to do good.
- Nominal Hero: Someone who may incidentally do some good deeds despite a total lack of altruistic motives.
- Pragmatic Hero: A hero who does morally questionable deeds for the greater good.
- Sociopathic Hero: The Sociopath is a "hero".
- Unscrupulous Hero: A hero who is considered one because the villains are worse than him.
- Arc Hero
- The Atoner: The hero really wants to redeem themselves for bad deeds or horrible mistakes they've made in the past.
- Badass Bookworm: An intelligent hero.
- Genius Bruiser: The hero has both brains and brawn.
- Science Hero: The hero is a scholar who uses his scientific knowledge to fight evil.
- Badass Unintentional: The hero is completely oblivious of their great power.
- Bad Powers, Good People: A hero has superpowers that are usually associated with villains.
- Barbarian Hero: A "savage" warrior who's rather brave and noble.
- Beauty = Goodness: Most heroes tend to be very physically attractive.
- Benevolent Mage Ruler
- Benevolent Monsters: Scary-looking creatures who would much rather befriend humans instead of harming them.
- Friendly Ghost: A friendly ghost.
- Friendly Neighborhood Vampire: A benevolent vampire.
- Friendly Skeleton: An undead skeleton that is nice.
- Friendly Zombie: A zombie who is nice.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Heroes who can be quite dangerous and formidable when pushed too far.
- Big Good: The most powerful and significant force of good who exists in the story.
- Blue Is Heroic: Many good guys like to wear blue clothes.
- Red Is Heroic: Many good guys like to wear red clothes.
- Broken Hero
- Brother–Sister Team
- Bully Hunter
- The Cape
- The Captain
- Celibate Hero: A hero who is not interested in pursuing romantic/sexual relationships for some reason or another.
- Chaste Hero: A hero who is oblivious to the feelings of someone who is in love with them.
- Character Alignment:
- The Chosen One: According to fate and prophecy, this hero is destined to save the world.
- The Chosen Zero: But they're kind of a loser as well.
- The Poorly Chosen One: Unfortunately, they totally failed to achieve their great destiny.
- Chronic Hero Syndrome: The hero can't resist helping out anyone and everyone in need who they may come across.
- Comedic Hero: A hero prone to humorously foolish behavior.
- Commanding Coolness
- Contrasting Sequel Main Character: The protagonist of a sequel differs significantly from the protagonist of a previous installment in the series.
- Cool Old Guy
- Cool Uncle
- The Cowl
- Create Your Own Hero: A villain's actions inadvertently lead to someone rising up to oppose them.
- Creepy Good
- Crimefighting with Cash
- Crusading Lawyer: An attorney who genuinely tries hard to help out their client without ulterior motives.
- Damsel in Distress
- Dark Is Not Evil: Being associated with darkness doesn't make the character less of a hero.
- Defends Against Their Own Kind
- Determinator: Absolutely nothing can make the hero give up.
- Deuteragonist
- Doomed Moral Victor
- Dork Knight
- The Drifter
- Eternal Hero: The hero has existed for eons and will likely continue existing for eons.
- The Everyman: The protagonist is a (mostly) average, normal, ordinary guy just trying to deal with everyday life. Though sometimes they get forced into dealing with extraordinary problems...
- Experienced Protagonist: A veteran hero who clearly isn't a rookie or newbie.
- Extraordinarily Empowered Girl
- Face: A good guy in wrestling terms.
- Face of a Thug: A person who is good or neutral in spite of having a menacing appearance.
- Failure Knight
- Fallen Princess
- Farm Boy: When the hero is just a simple peasant from the countryside.
- The Fettered: The hero's strength is his moral limitations.
- First-Person Smartass
- Five-Man Band: Most hero teams tend to fit into this classic mold.
- The Big Guy: The physically strongest member of the group.
- The Chick: The (female) member of the group, often quite nice and diplomatic.
- The Lancer: The hero's second-in-command.
- The Leader: A role always filled by the main hero/protagonist of the story.
- The Sixth Ranger: An additional team member who joins the hero team a good while after the other members have been active.
- The Smart Guy: The most intelligent member of the group.
- Folk Hero: A hero who became the subject of popular myths and legends, though certain aspects of their reputation may have been greatly exaggerated.
- Friend to All Children
- Friend to All Living Things
- Gentle Giant: A big, tall guy who's pretty nice.
- Gentleman and a Scholar
- God of Good: A benevolent deity who treats mortals well.
- Good All Along: Someone assumed to be a bad guy was really a good guy this whole time.
- Good-Guy Bar: A place for heroes to hang out after saving the day, just right across the street from the Bad-Guy Bar.
- The Good Guys Always Win: As a near-universal rule of fiction, the heroes must always defeat the villains and save the day in the end (with some rare exceptions).
- Good Is Not Dumb: A character who is good gets underestimated because of it.
- Good Is Not Nice: A hero who acts like a jerk most of the time.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Some heroes are mean, but have a soft side deep down.
- Took a Level in Kindness: They become less of a self-centered prick over time.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Some heroes are mean, but have a soft side deep down.
- Good Is Not Soft: A hero who has no qualms about severely punishing villains.
- The Good King: A monarch who honestly wants what's best for his people.
- The High Queen: The queen is beautiful and good to an inhuman degree, and is to be held in awe.
- Good Parents: Parents who do a pretty good job of protecting and raising their children.
- Good vs. Good: Where two heroes are in conflict against each other.
- Greater-Scope Paragon: A heroic being who is indirectly responsible for the heroes existing or being involved in their mission, but is not directly involved with the story.
- Guile Hero: A hero who relies on saving the day with his wits and quick thinking.
- The Gunslinger
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: A good guy/girl with blonde hair.
- The Heart
- Heel–Face Turn: The villain becomes a hero.
- High-Heel–Face Turn: When a villainous group has just one woman, then she's the one who will turn good in the end.
- Heel–Face Return: The villain gets Put on a Bus and returns as a good guy.
- Mook–Face Turn: Mooks who are convinced by heroes to defect to the forces of good.
- Reformed Bully: A former bully becomes nicer.
- Reformed Criminal: Small time Criminals who have a change of heart and join the good guys.
- Henshin Hero: The hero has a super mode where they become stronger.
- The Hero: The character who performs heroic deeds with a heroic motivation. And usually the biggest force of good in the story. Likely The Leader of any Five-Man Band, though lone-wolf Heroes who prefer to go solo also exist.
- Hero Academy: A school for training young heroes.
- Hero Antagonist: When the antagonist role is filled in by a good guy. They're usually the main opponent of a Villain Protagonist.
- Hero Protagonist: The main character of the story is almost always a good guy (with some exceptions).
- Heroes Act, Villains Hinder
- Heroes Love Dogs: Good guys like to keep pet dogs.
- Heroic Bastard: A good guy born to unmarried parents.
- Heroic BSoD: A hero experiences an emotional breakdown.
- Heroic Build: Many heroic men have an impressively muscular body.
- Heroic Dog: A canine who really is man's best friend.
- Heroic Dolphin
- Heroic Russian Émigré
- Heroic Sacrifice: Getting oneself killed in a selfless effort to save other people.
- Heroic Seductress
- Heroism Won't Pay the Bills: Fighting for all that's good isn't a well-paying job.
- Hero Secret Service
- "The Hero Sucks" Song: Characters, usually villains, insult the hero through a song.
- A Hero to His Hometown
- Hero with an F in Good: A character who isn't very good at being a hero.
- Hero with Bad Publicity: A good guy who has an (undeservedly) bad reputation among the citizens. Which may be the result of manipulations by a bad guy with a better reputation.
- Hidden Agenda Hero: The hero's motive is a mystery.
- Homeless Hero: A nomadic hero who wanders around to fight evil.
- Honest Corporate Executive: Not all wealthy businesspeople have to be ruthlessly greedy plutocrats.
- Hope Bringer
- Horseback Heroism
- Hunter of Monsters: Someone who fights and slays dangerous supernatural creatures to protect other people.
- Hurting Hero
- Ideal Hero: A hero who's held up as being a near-perfect role model.
- Idiot Hero: The hero is not really smart.
- Incorruptible Pure Pureness: The hero who is morally pure and is immune to temptation.
- Intrepid Reporter
- Invincible Hero: A hero who is so super-competent that they seem to be outright unstoppable.
- Iron Lady
- Iron Woobie: The hero is a miserable person, but that won't stop them from quitting their journey.
- Kid Hero: The hero is a young child or teenager.
- Kid Detective: A child who solves crime.
- Kid Hero All Grown-Up: They've entered a full-time career of heroism in adulthood.
- King in the Mountain: A legendary figure is believed to be in hibernation until the people they've protected need them again rather than dead.
- Knight Errant: Drifting heroes who do good deeds as they pass by.
- Knight in Shining Armor
- Lady of Adventure
- Lantern Jaw of Justice: Good guys with huge chins.
- Light Is Good: Heroes are usually associated with the light and bright colors.
- Little Old Lady Investigates
- Lord Error-Prone
- Lovable Alpha Bitch
- Lovable Coward: They're too chicken to confront danger, but end up being forced to do so anyways.
- Madonna Archetype
- Magician Detective
- Magnetic Hero
- Martial Pacifist: They would personally prefer a peaceful solution, but that doesn't mean they aren't willing to put up a good fight if they have to.
- Mean Character, Nice Actor
- Messianic Archetype
- Mighty Whitey
- Monster Adventurers
- Mr. Vice Guy: A hero who often engages in some sort of sin or vice.
- My Girl Back Home
- Mystery Writer Detective
- Naïve Everygirl
- Nature Hero
- Nazi Hunter: Someone who tries to bring fugitive Nazi war criminals to justice.
- Nice Guy: A kindhearted hero who is a very swell guy/girl to be around with.
- Noble Savage: Someone from a primitive tribe, who is generally more decent and wise than people from civilized society.
- Outdated Hero vs. Improved Society
- Outside-Context Problem, when they are the good guys
- The Paragon: The hero who encourages others to be more heroic.
- Part-Time Hero
- Pet the Dog: An outwardly rude character does something nice to prove that they are good underneath.
- Pink Heroine
- Plucky Girl
- Polite Villains, Rude Heroes: Good Is Not Nice versus Affably Evil.
- Politically Incorrect Hero: A hero who holds some very controversial beliefs about other people.
- Noble Bigot: They still try to do the right thing despite their prejudices.
- Noble Bigot with a Badge: A policeman who tries to uphold the law despite their prejudices.
- Noble Bigot: They still try to do the right thing despite their prejudices.
- Princess Protagonist: When the heroine is a member of royalty.
- Prodigal Hero
- Propaganda Hero
- Proto-Superhero: Early versions of the modern superhero archetype.
- Punch-Clock Hero: This character is a hero because it's his job. Not a big deal.
- Rebellious Rebel
- Redshirts: The Good Counterpart of evil Mooks. Unfortunately, they're not any more useful in a fight.
- Redeeming Replacement: The identity of a villain is assumed by someone who instead uses the identity to be a hero so as to make amends for their predecessor's crimes.
- The Republic
- La Résistance: A group of people who intend to fight back against and overthrow the tyrannical regime oppressing them.
- Retired Badass: A hero who is retired (but no less brave or competent).
- Right Man in the Wrong Place
- Righteous Rabbit: Heroic rabbits.
- Rude Hero, Nice Sidekick: A hero who is a jerk who is accompanied by a nicer sidekick.
- Scrap Heap Hero
- Sealed Good in a Can: A hero who has somehow been imprisoned for a long time.
- Secular Hero: A hero who doesn't cherish religious beliefs.
- Sheep in Sheep's Clothing
- Small Steps Hero
- Smith of the Yard
- Snooping Little Kid
- Socially Awkward Hero: While they're eager to help other people, they're not very good at casually socializing with them.
- Spanner in the Works: The hero foils the villain's plan by accident or because the villain failed to anticipate their involvement.
- Spoiled Sweet
- Stock Shōnen Hero: The stereotypical protagonist of most Shōnen anime.
- Stock Shoujo Heroine: The stereotypical protagonist of most Shoujo anime.
- Summon Everyman Hero
- Super Zeroes: Incompetent superheroes.
- Supporting Leader
- Teen Superspy
- Token Good Teammate: The only nice person among a gang of scoundrels.
- Token Heroic Orc: The only heroic member of a species that is (otherwise) evil.
- Tragic Hero: A hero who's motivated by their Dark and Troubled Past, or has otherwise suffered great hardship.
- Trenchcoat Brigade
- A "True" Hero
- Tsundere
- Underhanded Hero
- Unfazed Everyman
- Unlikely Hero: Nobody really expects them to rise up to the challenge of saving the day.
- Wake Up, Go to School, Save the World: Young heroes have to balance their school life with fighting evil.
- The Wise Prince
- The Wonka: The owner of a business who runs the business well in spite of being completely bonkers.
- Working-Class Hero: The hero comes from a lower-class background.
