John proctor: hero or stooge?

In my opinion, John Proctor is more accurately described as a hero than a stooge. In order for him to be a stooge, he would have to be there to support or serve an authority, which in The Crucible could have been the court. However, I think that that is the opposite of what John Proctor did. He had no problem defying the court, because he knew that what they thought about witchcraft being practiced was false.
John Proctor was not a completely moral Puritan , because he did not always go to church and could not even name all 10 commandments. He also cheated on his wife while she was sick with Abigail. This made him guilty of his actions because he had a good name and was against hypocrisy. When the other characters, especially Abigail, accuse others of participating in witchcraft (and getting killed for it) just to save their own lives, John Proctor was accused of witchcraft himself and was willing to die, just to put an end to other innocent people dying. He also overcame his own guilt by confessing that he commuted adultery with Abigail in front of everybody. That, in my opinion makes John Proctor a hero.