Ferdinand: Hero or Villain?

                Among all the characters in William Shakespeare's The Tempest, none are as morally ambiguous as Ferdinand. Prospero, Ariel, Gonzalo and Miranda are generally considered "good" people/spirits, while Ferdinand's father Alonso, Antonio, and their underlings are usually viewed as "bad" people. However, Ferdinand is the only major character not to have been clearly categorized by Shakespeare into one of these two groups, which raises the question: does he serve as a hero or villain in The Tempest?
                I would argue Ferdinand is a hero, primarily because he is able to rise above his surroundings and prevent himself from becoming a terrible person like his aforementioned father and friends were. Even though Ferdinand never did anything particularly heroic (unless one deems flirting with a beautiful island girl and immediately surrendering oneself into slavery at the first sight of danger as acts of great bravery and heroism), he never did anything remotely villainous either. This lack of devious intentions/action itself is remarkable, because he was raised by some of the most despicable people possible but was able to transcend his upbringing and keep himself on an if not righteous, than at least neutral path. While it may seem like I'm setting the bar incredibly low here (which I am), one must keep in mind how in the majority of cases people invariably end up as a product of their circumstances. Everyone (with the exception of Gonzalo) who Ferdinand was on the ship with ended up giving in to their inner lust for power and greed but Ferdinand, which makes him rather heroic in my opinion.