It's been a year of blood and bullets, heroics and heartbreaks. Not all of their wins or misdeeds are comparable*, but all of these people on the Huffington Post's lists of heroes and villains caught the attention of the media, glorified or villified.
*We know Dapper Laughs, whatever you think of him, is not quite in the same league as the leader of Islamic State...
So, in no particular order...
The Heroes Of 2014
Heroes of 2014
Joshua Wong(01 of10)
Wong is just 18. Let that sink in for a moment. The student leader took on the world's biggest police force and authoritarian government, demanding free elections for Hong Kong's citizens. He has been an activist from the age of 15, establishing a group to campaign about the 'moral' education of students in Hong Kong. It grew to a crescendo this year in a protest at the government's refusal to consider electoral reform proposals, and became 'The Umbrella Revolution'. Occupy Central, a tent city in the centre of Hong Kong, lasted two months. They may have been forced out now, but firebrand Wong has vowed the pressure will continue, and you wouldn't bet against him. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Sarah Koenig(02 of10)
She is the creator of a podcast that became an international phenomenon, and is, as she put it, just about "where a high school kid was for an hour after school 15 years ago". 'Serial' follows the real life case of Adnan Syed, the 17-year-old accused of killing his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee, and currently serving life in prison. But it is not for the popularity of the podcast that Koenig is a hero. She has restored many listeners faith in the process of journalism, describing a story she has followed for more than a year, shared her doubts she might be being played by Syed, and let us in on her thought process. She's given us back the hope that there still might be a place in the future for real, investigative reporting. (credit:Meredith Heuer)
Alan Henning(03 of10)
Though all of the five people brutally murdered in propaganda videos by Islamic State this year were heroic, Henning stood apart because of his sheer selflessness. Going to Syria was not part of his job. He was volunteer, who went with Muslim colleagues on a convoy over Christmas. He was kidnapped within 30 minutes of arriving. His bravery was beyond comprehension. (credit:REX)
Frank Field(04 of10)
For the past two years, Labour MPs have either simply wrung their hands about food banks, or used their existence as political capital to attack the Tories. And the Conservatives, meanwhile, have pretty much said they exist because people like free food. Frank Field actually decided to do something about food poverty, with an exceptionally thorough, non-partisan, and sober investigation into food poverty in Britain, and appealing for cross-party co-operation to solve the problem. A sight too rare in Westminister where re-election seems to be the only thing on peoples' minds as the year ends. (credit:Anthony Devlin/PA Wire)
Nicola Sturgeon(05 of10)
She's the first woman leader of Scotland, has the charm to disarm pretty much any opponent, and wasn't afraid to give bruiser Alex Salmond what for during the election campaign. She's setting out to prove the SNP in power isn't just about independence, though that's a priority. She states pay equality as a key ambition, and has said she will make scrapping Trident a key issue in any potential coalition negotiations in Westminster in 2015. (credit:Dan Kitwood via Getty Images)
William Pooley(06 of10)
Pooley, as a survivor of Ebola, knew that meant he was well placed to return to Sierra Leone, because it is believed he will be immune to the disease. Believed. But not certain. Pooley went back anyway. He checks his privilege every single day, and he knows he probably owes his survival to his nationality. And he uses that advantage to keep pushing the issue on the agenda, delivering Channel 4's alternative Christmas message. (credit:WPA Pool via Getty Images)
Taylor Swift(07 of10)
1989 is the album of the year, but that's not why Swift's a hero. Plenty of people made good albums. She's a hero because she is one of the first pop culture icons of her generation to actively write, produce her own songs, promote female solidarity and friendship in music rather than just being boy-crazy. She is never over-sexualised, and she remembers the fans that put her where she s are impressionable young teenage girls. So she behaves accordingly. 2014 was the year everyone became a Swiftie. (credit:Mike Coppola via Getty Images)
Kailash Satyarthi (08 of10)
Malala Yousafzai might have been the headline stealer, but the achievements of her co-Nobel Peace Prize laureate Kailash Satyarthi are the work of a lifetime. The Indian campaigner has fought for 35 years to free thousands of children from virtual slave labour. But there was one particular tender moment that stands out in our minds. Yousafzai broke down as she toured the Nobel exhibition, upon seeing her bloodied school uniform which she was in when she was shot by the Taliban. Satyarthi, 60, hugged and kissed her on the head and repeatedly said: "You are so brave, you are so brave." (credit:ODD ANDERSEN via Getty Images)
Denis Mukwege(09 of10)
Dr Denis Mukwege has been nominated for the Nobel Prize five-times-running, but this year he had to settle for the prestigious Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. The Congolese gynecologist has treated more than 30,00 victims of sexual violence in war and his Panzi Hospital clinic in Bukavu has pioneered a holistic approach to treating traumatised women who have often been the victim of brutal gang rape, during the civil war in the country. He has been known to work 18-hour days, performing up to 10 surgeries every day on women's shattered internal organs after their ordeals. After surgery, many would have otherwise been forced to live on the streets, but the clinic now provides transitional housing, education, job skills training, small grants and psychological care. Maybe 2015 will be his year for a Nobel. (credit:GEORGES GOBET via Getty Images)
Katrina Dawson and Tori Johnson(10 of10)
Dawson was a talented barrister and the mother of three children. She died in the Sydney siege, trying to protect her pregnant colleague Julie Taylor. Johnson, the Lindt cafe's manager, died trying to wrestle the gun from the deranged hostage-taker Man Haron Monis. Both refused to be victims, they died doing heroic acts. That's how we should remember them. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
And The Villains Of 2014
Villains of 2014
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi(01 of10)
This list isn't in order, but if it was, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi would still be at number 1. The leader of Islamic State has personally overseen the massacre of thousands of minorities, Christians, Yazidis and Kurds, but also of thousands of Baghdadi's fellow Muslims. The group justifies and encourages the enslavement of women, and the rape of pre-pubescent girls. It has executed aid workers and journalists and has designs on mass genocide. And Baghdadi does it all whilst wearing an enormous, gauche wristwatch. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Sony(02 of10)
The foul language, avarice and racist humour of some Sony executives was laid bare after the hack. But worst was Sony's flip-flop decision on releasing "The Interview", showing the studio didn't have the balls to show what is by all accounts supposed to be a pretty average film. Now it is showing it, after all, because it "believes in free speech". And the hack probably wasn't even the North Koreans. All in all, this should be a lesson in how not to handle a PR crisis. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Dapper Laughs(03 of10)
The worst thing about Dapper Laughs was not his violently sexist humour. Or his legions of adoring fans. No, Dapper Laughs biggest crime was being criminally unfunny, and then trying to pass of the sexism as him doing "satire" and "playing a character". Come off it. Good riddance. (credit:Jon Furniss/Invision/AP)
Viktor Yanukovych(04 of10)
Despite being ousted by violent protests in Kiev, because of the cosiness Yanukovych enjoyed with President Putin, and his presidential mansion and zoo being turned into a public tourist attraction, the former Ukrainian president still isn't keen on accepting that he is the, um, former, Ukrainian president. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Recep Tayyip Erdogan(05 of10)
Turkey's president built himself a 1100 room palace, declared birth control was 'treason', bombed the Kurds on the front line against Islamic State, and imprisoned critical journalists. Here he is being chummy with David Cameron. (credit:Maurizio Gambarini/DPA)
Darren Wilson(06 of10)
Darren Wilson himself is a police officer who, it could be said, made a mistake. But he is symbolic of a wider perception among many white police officers that black men, regardless of background, are a threat, that their lives are worth less, that you shoot first and ask questions later. Wilson's shooting of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown sparked the protests in Ferguson that may yet be seen as the start of a revolution in America.
Alexander Borodai(07 of10)
Borodai is the "Prime Minister" of the self-proclaimed Donetsk Peoples Republic. It was his militant organisation who were, beyond all reasonable doubt, responsible for the shooting down of the Malaysia Airlines passenger plane. Borodai didn't fire the missile, but he was the man who initially prevented any investigators reaching the site, allowed bodies of young holidaymakers, families and renowned AIDS scientists to lay out in the fields for days, and initially hid the black box recorder to prevent it being taken by authorities. Whatever you might think of the rebels' cause, this alone puts him in contention for villain of the year. (credit:Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Eron Gjoni (08 of10)
Eron Gjoni is not exactly a household name. But the movement he began is - GamerGate. It started with an incendiary 9,000 blogpost Gjoni wrote about his ex-girlfriend Zoe Quinn and her alleged affairs with a video games journalist. Despite the movement's proponents saying the hashtag is about "ethics in video games journalism" and the cliquey-ness between developers and writers, it has spiraled to become a cesspit of abuse and death threats against women in gaming who in some cases claim they were driven from their homes. Regardless if Gjoni meant this to happen (he says he didn't, but he thought it might) the reality is that he doesn't regret starting it, and has remained defiant about much of the pain it has caused, and refuses to distance himself from it.
Rolf Harris(09 of10)
Of all hideous revelations of historic sex offences committed throughout the entertainment world, Rolf Harris was the offender who made our hearts sink the most. The veteran Australian-British entertainer was sentenced to five years and nine months in prison in July for a dozen indecent assaults on four girls. A prosecutor said that Harris, 84, got away with the assaults, which took place between the '60s and '80s, because he was "too famous, too powerful and his reputation made him untouchable." (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Ed Miliband's bacon sandwich(10 of10)
It has a lot to answer for. (credit:Jeremy Selwyn/Evening Standard)