Other forms: tragic heroes
In literature, a tragic hero is the main character in a very sad story. Shakespeare wrote a lot of plays featuring tragic heroes, including Hamlet, Macbeth, and King Lear.
Inevitably, tragic heroes suffer unfortunate outcomes — they're the protagonists in tragedies, after all. The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle is often credited with inventing the tragic hero, a character who makes an "error of judgment" that results in terrible misfortune. The audience should root for and empathize with this character, feeling fear (that they could make similar mistakes) and pity (as they watch the tragedy unfold).