- "Being a cheerleader is hard work - hard, treacherous work."
- ―Claire Bennet
Claire Bennet from Heroes.
A cheerleader is one who participates in the act of cheerleading. Such individuals, usually female, but sometimes male, are part of an organized group that promotes team spirit and effectiveness for a sponsored sports team. Cheerleaders rally both athletes and fans by intoning a set of spoken cheers, and performing a series of gymnastic achievements including tumbling, flips, etc.
Actress Linda Harrison played a cheerleader in the "The Joker Goes to School" and "He Meets His Match, the Grisly Ghoul" episodes of the 1960s live-action Batman television series.
Actress Kari Ann Peniche played a cheerleader in the 2004 sci-fi/horror film Species III.
Cheerleading played a fairly vital role on season one of the NBC television series Heroes. The character of Claire Bennet was a cheerleader at Union Wells High School in Odessa, Texas. Claire was one of several superhumanly gifted individuals who played a key role in preventing a nuclear explosion from destroying New York City. Claire was often referred to as "The Cheerleader", as if it were her superhero name. A recurring tagline during the season was "Save the cheerleader - save the world".