Hero Episode

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Well, your good ole Villain Protagonist is back for another episode of jolly good death and destruction- ready to teach those no good, rotten goody-two-shoes another lesson about why it's so great to be the bad guy. But wait . . . that's not Bob the Butcher on the screen. . . . it's not even his peppy yet psychotically insane sidekick. It's the heroes, ladies and gentlemen. And the next thirty-plus minutes are all theirs.

The Hero Episode is Exactly What It Says on the Tin, and basically what the Villain Episode is called when you've got yourself a villain protagonist. In TV shows where the person who is technically the villain is the main focus, it's interesting to have Something Completely Different for an episode to show what the real heroes of the story are doing. Whether it's just a Villains Out Shopping (villain?) episode, or The Greatest Story Never Told depends on the reason for the episode. Sometimes, the hero has done something so depraved that they need a Breather Episode. Maybe they just wanted something different.

Compare and Contrast: A Day in the Limelight, A Death in the Limelight, The Greatest Story Never Told, Day in the Life, Villain Episode, Hostile Show Takeover, and Sympathetic POV.

Examples of Hero Episode include:

Anime and Manga

  • Death Note has a constant battle of wits between Villain Protagonist Light Yagami, morally ambiguous Hero Antagonist L, and the pawns they use in that have no compunctions about their actions like Misa or Ryuk. Occasionally arcs will focus on the police detectives who are genuinely good people. Case in point, Matsuda risks his life several times to get intel about the Yotsuba corporation, and later poses as L in a big to rescue Sayu Yagami from a hostage situation.
  • Pet Shop of Horrors doesn't have a Villain Protagonist per se, but Count D is certainly not a hero; he is willing to let clients die or suffer a Fate Worse Than Death, children included. Detective Leon Orcot is suspicious of D, and rightfully so since the first meet regarding strange cases-- the Medusa lizard killing a washed up actor in the manga, Alice Hayward's death from drug addiction in the anime-- and D displays a cold Lack of Empathy. A few chapters, called "Flowers for the Detective," focus on Leon taking care of different plants that D provides.
  • Parodied in The Way of the Househusband with the cops keeping tabs on Tetsu in a few chapters and episodes. They know that he is former Yakuza and are waiting for him to slip up so they can arrest him. Tetsu doesn't help his case by treating every chore and errand like Serious Business, regarding his wife Miku as his boss. One episode shows the cops becoming mortified when they think Tetsu is having a drug exchange, only to find out it was a birthday party.
  • Most of Tomie focuses on the title character tormenting people, compelling them to kill her or commit acts of violence in her name. Ironically enough, the manga starts with some Early Installment Weirdness; the first Tomie was an ordinary enough girl, who died by Accidental Murder when her boyfriend Yamamoto overheard her seducing their teacher during a class trip, and referencing that he impregnated her. During the fight, Tomie fell and broke her neck; her Only Friend Reiko wanted to run and get help, but the entire class stopped her. When Tomie died, Mr. Takigo ordered the class of 42 students to chop up her body and distribute the pieces. Reiko was given Tomie's heart, which she tossed into the river. When Tomie later returns seemingly alive to class, with no memory of what happened, Reiko and Yamamoto decide they will confess to the police about what happened to clear their conscience. Their classmates chase them down and prepare to murder them as well because they don't want to be arrested; Tomie then performs a Villainous Rescue, allowing Reiko to run while confronting those who killed her, including Yamamoto.

Comic Books

  • Joker's Last Laugh is about Joker determined to leave his murderous mark on the world after developing a brain tumor. While he goes on his rampage, Kirk Langstrom and Harley Quinn (under protest) work together to create an antidote for new venom that "jokerizes" its victims. Tie-in comics featuring the Bat-family, Supergirl and the Titans show them handling the physical fallout while their poisoned villains find new ways to smile.

Film

Web Comics

  • This occasionally happens in the pre-reboot version of Evil, Inc during the arcs that focus on Captain and Commander Heroic. Though The Cape Captain Heroic is married to supervillain Miss Match, he has so much Incorruptible Pure Pureness that he refused a Reality Warper wish that could solve many of his problems out of fear of the potential consequences, and the one time that superheroes tried to run Evil, Inc., it went horribly because they were too fundamentally good to sell highly evil tech. There was also an arc where a parallel Miss Match, technically a villain but more heroic, ended up stranded in the prime universe.

Western Animation

  • In BoJack Horseman:
    • "Old Acquaintance" focuses on two antagonists for Princess Carolyn, Vanessa Gecko and Rutabaga Rabbitowitz. While Vanessa is catty and Rutabaga is a sleazeball who cheated on his wife with Princess Carolyn after lying to her that they were separated, they both have undergone Character Development offscreen, so that Rutabaga has saved his marriage and Vanessa doesn't underestimate Princess Carolyn again. They also both play by the rules while trying to secure a role for their client, while Princess Carolyn does underhanded tactics and BoJack Horseman bullies his way into a Horsin' Around spinoff only to back out of it. It undercuts that two of the main character are Villain Protagonists, while Diane stays out of the drama to hang out with her husband and brother-in-law.
    • "A Quick One While He's Away" serves as the focus for minor characters that Villain Protagonist BoJack hurt over six seasons and counting. Kelsey Jannings tries paying for her daughter's college tuition with Chicken4Dayz commercials, Gina Cazador is suffering PTSD from BoJack choking her, causing her to use arrogance as a defense mechanism while filming another movie, and Peter aka Pete Repeat reveals that he had to see a psychiatrist after BoJack left Pete and his girlfriend Maddie at the ER while she was unconscious from alcohol poisoning, thanks to bourbon and water that BoJack bought for them on prom night. Oh, and indirectly thanks to him, Margo Martindale became a nun briefly.
  • Rick and Morty emphasizes that the title characters and their family are not good guys. Occasionally, episodes, subplots and spinoffs will emphasize this fact with Anti-Villains, Anti-Heros, and Hero Antagonists.
    • "The Ricklantis Mix-up" shows what happens in the Citadel when you have a few Ricks that actually have a conscience or seek their identity, what it means when well-meaning Mortys can enact change either by running for office or going on an adventure. Tragically, they all get wiped out in the season 5 finale when Evil Morty uses their bodies and the citadel's powers to enter a universe where Rick is not the smartest guy in the room.
    • The spinoff Vindicators 2 focuses on the adventures of the titular hero team before Rick accidentally wipes them out in the third season. We find out that Supernova was always a monster, while Alan Rails genuinely sought to be good.
  • "Night Family" shows what happens when Rick creates night personas of the Smiths and Sanchezes to do mundane chores like ab workouts and Spanish lessons. When the night family politely asks for the "Daymninioids" to rinse their dishes so it's easier to wash them, Rick starts a petty feud by deliberately making the dishes dirtier. The episode ends with the night family succeeding in defeating their hosts, and spend the end credits using their money to go on lavish vacations.


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