what is a heel in wrestling

In professional wrestling, a "heel" is a wrestler who portrays a villain, "bad guy", or "rulebreaker", and acts as an antagonist to the faces, who are the heroic protagonist or "good guy" characters. The job of the heel is to be booed by the audience, which helps to gain sympathy for the face. Common heel behavior includes cheating to win, employing dirty tactics such as blatant chokes or raking the eyes, attacking other wrestlers backstage, interfering with other wrestlers matches, insulting the fans or city they are in (referred to as "cheap heat") and acting in a haughty or superior manner. The term "heel" does not describe a typical set of attributes or audience reaction, but simply a wrestler's presentation and booking as an antagonist. Depending on the angle, heels can act cowardly or overpowering to their opponents.