Anti-Heroes and Ex-heroes
There are plenty of examples of past heroes who have done something to show that they are not worthy of holding that title any longer, and to lose that status in society.
There does not appear to be a commonly used word to describe heroes who were once heroes and have fallen from grace due to their own actions or changes in circumstances. The words 'fallen heroes' has already been used to describe heroes that have died, so how about anti-heroes or ex-heroes? Anti-heroes sounds quite evil, but maybe that is appropriate. As I am calling the highest rated heroes on this site 'Super Heroes', then this term is somewhat appropriate.
There are plenty of examples of anti-heroes who have done something to show that they are not worthy of holding that title any longer.
Some of the things that a hero may do to lose that title include:
- Taking performance enhancing substances
- Extramarital affairs
- Drug taking
- Unsportsmanlike behavior
- Domestic abuse
- Illegal activities
- Excessive violence
- Gambling
- Cheating
- Murder
Here are a few well-known examples:
- Oscar Pistorius — multiple Paralympic gold medalist, arrested for the murder of his girlfriend.
- Lance Armstrong — one time multiple winner of the Tour de France, after years of accusations of doping was found guilty in 2012.
- Tiger Woods — Possibly the greatest golfer of all time will be mostly remembered for his numerous extramarital affairs.
- OJ Simpson — the great NFL footballer fell from grace following the drama of his dramatic acquittal of the murders of his ex-wife and her friend.
- Ben Cousins — AFL player with drug addiction.
- Marion Jones — US sprinting star banned for drug taking
- Mike Tyson — Boxer, unsportsmanlike behavior.
- John Terry — English football captain had affair with the ex-partner of his former Chelsea teammate Wayne Bridge.
- Serena Williams — tennis player who questions authority.
- Ben Johnson — 100m sprinter taking performance enhancing substances.
- Wayne Carey — AFL footballer having affair with teammate's wife.
- Floyd Landis — cyclist caught taking a banned substance
- Tonya Harding — US figure skating champion fell from grace when it emerged her ex-husband had hired someone to injure her competitor Nancy Kerrigan.
- Cricket players — Pakistan accused of cheating (rigging matches) in 2010, some Australian players found applying sandpaper to the ball in 2018.
- Hansie Cronje — cricket match-fixing.
Hero Ratings
I have designed my own hero rating system to give each hero a rating based on five criteria, from which we get our Super Heroes. Using the same rating system, the lowest rated heroes of those that are on the rating list are (up to Oct 2012): Tiger woods, John McEnroe, Lou Gehrig, Jesse Owens, Ben Cousins, Cal Ripkin, Joe DiMaggio. These are not necessarily all anti-heroes, it is just that so far only sports people we consider as true heroes have been rated.
Related Pages
- Fallen Heroes — sporting champions who have died prematurely
- Hero Ratings
Any comments, suggestions, or corrections? Please let us know.
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