Semiotics of wrestling characters
Encyclopedia
There are two types of primary character archetypes in professional wrestling
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...

, 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.

Semiotics

Semiotics is the study ‘signs’ that take the form of words, speech, images, sounds, gestures, and objects.

The Hero

The hero is the hero wrestler in the ring. The hero is also known as the "babyface" character, 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. 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. Heroes can also be based on ethnicity, such as Native American, Mexican, Russian, or British.

The Heel

The heel is the “bad guy” character portrayed in the ring. The heel is looking to inflict pain on their opponent. 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. 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. 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. The "foreigner" will then disrespect their opponent’s nationality by placing their nation’s flag on them after their opponent has been defeated. The "manager" character will not wrestle in the ring; they will however assist the wrestler they are managing by interfering in the match illegally.

See also

  • Professional Wrestling
    Professional wrestling
    Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...

  • Semiotics
    Semiotics
    Semiotics, also called semiotic studies or semiology, is the study of signs and sign processes , indication, designation, likeness, analogy, metaphor, symbolism, signification, and communication...

  • Roland Barthes
    Roland Barthes
    Roland Gérard Barthes was a French literary theorist, philosopher, critic, and semiotician. Barthes' ideas explored a diverse range of fields and he influenced the development of schools of theory including structuralism, semiotics, existentialism, social theory, Marxism, anthropology and...

  • Mythologies (book)
  • Metanarrative
    Metanarrative
    A metanarrative , in critical theory and particularly postmodernism, is an abstract idea that is thought to be a comprehensive explanation of historical experience or knowledge. According to John Stephens, it "is a global or totalizing cultural narrative schema which orders and explains knowledge...

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