Historical Hero Upgrade: Difference between revisions
→Examples using real people
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** ''Bathory'' took the position that she was completely innocent of any of the murders, and was really a kind a loving mother and ruler who was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and was the victim of the malicious slanders of greedy noblemen. That's not even getting into the ridiculousness of the monks spying on her.
** ''[[The Countess]]'' is similar, but with one main difference: Elizabeth Bathory is guilty of several murders. However, she is driven to it by circumstances, and an attempt to stay young and beautiful while she is in power. In this film, she is definitely a [[Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds]]. You still feel sorry for her and sympathize with what she is going through
* [[George Washington]]'s career has been embellished and exaggerated to a point where it has [[Memetic Badass| become hard to tell myth from reality]]. Some portray his qualities as nearly superhuman, with a personality ''completely'' untainted by vice or any flaws whatsoever. [[Wolverine Publicity]] aside, Washington was ''not'' perfect, and ''did'' have flaws, but had a lot of contemporaries who exaggerated his career to the point of absurdity.
* Wyatt Earp, in portrayals such as ''[[My Darling Clementine]]'' (1946) and ''The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp'' (1955), is portrayed as the paragon of the western lawman. Even more modern takes like ''Tombstone'' still can't uncouple themselves entirely from this image. In reality, he was much shadier and more self-interested. Earp himself was good at branding himself. The historical record seems to present the Earps and the various families like the Clantons or the McLaurys as no better than each other - more feuding families than cops vs. robbers. On the other hand, [[Hollywood History|most of the supposed Wild West tends to get treated like that.]] Earp's legend was also partially built on the fact he served as an "advisor" on a number of early Western movies.
* [[Richard the Lion Heart|King Richard I]] of England has entered mythology as Richard the Lionheart, paragon of knighthood, King Arthur come again. The real Richard was a deeply complex individual, warlike, greedy (according to one story, Richard claimed he would ''sell London'' to finance his wars if he could find a buyer), ''probably'' not actually an Anglophone, and not above stabbing someone in the back; this becomes a case of [[Values Dissonance]]. He did have a good sense of humor, being one of the few medieval kings of whom amusing quips are recorded. Not a cardboard villain, but not the cardboard angel of ''[[Ivanhoe]]'' and the ''[[The Adventures of Robin Hood (film)|The Adventures of Robin Hood]]''.
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* Similarly, [[wikipedia:Nicolas Chauvin|Nicolas Chauvin]], if he really existed, got this treatment from French Bonapartists. Ironically, today he would generally get a [[Historical Villain Upgrade]] due to being the origin of the word "chauvinism".
* As at least one entry above notes, Abraham Lincoln is already considered to be one of America's greatest heroes, usually portrayed as a staunch abolitionist and believer in complete and utter equality, as well as a competent and upstanding example of everything a President should be. Statements and actions that would be condemned in others (such as his suspension of freedom of the press, his statements that he believed black people to be innately inferior to white people, and other such examples) are either outright ignored or given halfhearted excuses by those who cherish the idea of an utterly heroic Lincoln.
* Prince Charles Edward Stuart(Bonnie Prince Charlie)is considered a Scottish hero. In fact his personality was rather that of a typical court-noble with little extraordinary about it, and his flight after the '45 campaign reflects rather better on his followers who sheltered him then upon himself.
== [[In-Universe]] examples ==
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