Heroes by Proxy

Heroes who have no desire to be good or heroic, but were forced into it by circumstance or a story's unique angle. This can be due to things like betrayal from the villain, brainwashing, or having no option in the matter. They also may not be necessarily forced into acting heroically, doing so out of free will, but are nonetheless only incidentally heroic due to acting in their own interests. Whatever the reason, these heroes do the right thing but not out of any moral reason. They are the polar opposite of villains by proxy.

There are several examples this can manifest in:

• The Nominal Hero: Heroes who do good, not because they feel their actions are right, but rather because they can directly benefit from the actions being taken. Heroes like The Bride, Team Dark, Denji, or Varrick are perfect examples of this.
• The Unwitting Hero: Neutral parties who are tricked into doing the right thing by others. Grim from The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy counts as one example.
• The Assigned Protagonist: Characters who become protagonists based purely on responsibility being thrust upon them, and not because they actually want to. Heroes like Rusty Venture, Denji, and Shinji Ikari epitomize this. However, some characters of this type, such as John Constantine, may eventually start doing the right thing of their own accord, while others like D-16 can end up becoming villains.
• The Best of the Worst: Heroes who are heroes only because they live in a dystopia where, as bad as they are, they're still the best of a bad situation, such as The Boss from the Saints Row games.
• The Token Evil Teammate: Heroes who in any other scenario would be doing evil but do good, purely as a favor to another hero. Characters such as Hiei, Erika Wagner, and Mayuri Kurotsuchi embody this concept.
• Reprogrammed Artificial Intelligence: Artificial intelligence villains that become heroes only because they were reprogrammed to be one. Heroes like IG-11 fall under here. In addition to having moral agency issues, they also never show remorse for their evil deeds. However, some, such as K-2SO, BT-7274, and AP-5, can still willingly be heroes if they can freely choose to do what is right in addition to having a clear personality outside their programming.
• Truce Partners: Villains who are assisting the heroes only for defeating other villains that are far more dangerous than themselves. Heroes like Bowser, Plankton, Melvin Sneedly, Luna Girl, and Dr. Neo Cortex are perfect examples of this.
• Possessed/Brainwashed: Non-heroes/villains who become heroic purely because of possession/brainwashing, but without it, they will never act as heroes, such as Captain Underpants, alongside his older and alternate timeline counterparts, Sergeant Boxers, Kris Dreemurr, and Bell.

Important Notes: None of these characters are Pure Good since that category applies to intentionally doing good. Also, don't add heroes who started off not wanting to be heroes but embraced the role later, even if they are not Pure Good. Save that for the reluctant heroes category instead. Heroes by proxy have to wish to not be a hero. Due to these heroes not having any desire to be good, many of them are villains.

All characters listed in this category must be heroic in some way. DO NOT use this category to simply pass off simple jerks or anti-heroes. Heroes by proxy must have some good intentions or cause something seriously good in the story to qualify.

Also, do not create pages of villains or neutral characters that join the heroes' side out of pragmatic and self-serving needs based on this category (e.g. Slade, Vilgax, Frieza, Dr. Eggman, Crocodile, Princess Morbucks, Professor Marmalade, Marx, Mickey Mouse (South Park), and Jabba the Hutt); Heroes by proxy MUST show some redeeming qualities like honor, loyalty, or protectiveness in their heroic actions even if their main reasons are pragmatic.

It is very uncommon for redeemed villains to be heroes by proxy. Since redemption is something a villainous character chooses willingly, it shows they have a desire to be a hero. However, if a villain redeems themselves and later feels that they don't like their role as a hero, then they can count.