hero/heroine

use "hero" for both men and women. Although "hero" is the masculine form of the Greek word and "heroine" is the feminine, two of Greek mythology's best-known lovers were named Hero and Leander, and Hero was not the manly half. In English, a heroine is defined as "a female hero"—that is, a subset of hero. Although theoretically it should be possible to use "hero" and "heroine" in a gender-fair manner, they are already subtly weighted in favor of the broader, more prestigious "hero" and, given the devaluation and discounting of woman-associated words in our language, it seems best to support one neutral term. "Heroine" is still useful when referring to the female main character in a literary work. Poet Maya Angelou suggested, and others have adopted, "sheroe." If you want alternatives to "hero" and "heroine" consider protagonist, central/main character, champion, celebrity, notable, star, paragon, good example, saint, benefactor, leader, ideal, shining example, luminary, dignitary, personage, figure, public/popular figure, social lion, big name, principal, principal character/role, feature attraction.