There are two types of primary character archetypes in professional wrestling, the hero (good guy) and the heel (bad guy). These characters represent the good versus evil dichotomy, a primary narrative of professional wrestling. Wrestling characters use semiotics to portray their character in explicit fashion. Storylines in wrestling will have the babyface and the heel battling over a period of time. These matches have standard metanarratives, or semiotic structures, that help audiences to "read" the characters like a text. The personalities of a particular character can change over time. For example, the babyface in the ring can become a heel by doing actions considered illicit or cowardly by the audience.
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Semiotics is the study ‘signs’ that take the form of words, speech, images, sounds, gestures, and objects.[1]
The hero is the hero wrestler in the ring. The hero is also known as the "babyface" character[2], or "face". The hero is considered to be fair and virtuous. He obeys the rules. The hero also holds the fans in high regards and revels in the opportunity to communicate with the audience.[3] The hero’s moves inside the ring focus on disabling their opponents, rather than inflicting pain. The hero is also patriotic to the politics of the nation.[2] Heroes can also be based on ethnicity, such as Native American, Mexican, Russian, or British.[2]
The heel is the “bad guy” character portrayed in the ring. The heel is looking to inflict pain on their opponent.[3] The heel does not follow the rules within the ring. The heel also holds fans in contempt and revels in opportunities to continue to gain fan contempt and hatred.[3] The heel character will insult the audience’s intelligence. The heel character will often engage and antagonize the audience. The heel character engages in a conversation with the audience and will respond to the audience's reaction while maintaining the disdain of the audience. The heel character also never accepts defeat. When the heel character is defeated, he will look to establish a personal victory by attacking his opponent after the match or using an illegal maneuver which disqualifies the heel.[4][3] The heel will taunt his opponent after the match with a victory pose over his opponent, tarnish the patriotism of the opponent’s character, or continue to physically assault the opponent.
The heel has stereotypical character paradigms. You can see these paradigms in the wrestling ring at any given time. The "foreigner" heel will represent enemies of America, its values, ideals. For example, a Japanese wrestler will enter the ring with the Japanese flag waving.[2] The "foreigner" will then disrespect their opponent’s nationality by placing their nation’s flag on them after their opponent has been defeated.[2] The "manager" character will not wrestle in the ring; they will however assist the wrestler they are managing by interfering in the match illegally.
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