Fop meaning had been blunted by this time. In the 1900s (decade), fictional heroes began to pose as fops to conceal their true activities. Sir Percy Blakeney of "The Scarlet Pimpernel" is a well-known example of this tendency; Sir Percy cultivates the image of being an overdressed and ineffectual social butterfly, the last person anyone would imagine being capable of dashing heroism. A similar image is cultivated by Zorro's public identity, Don Diego de la Vega. This continued with the pulp fiction and radio heroes of the 1920s and 1930s and expanded with the coming of comic books. The fashion and
Sir Percy Dwyer called Sir Percy an exceptional horse with a "tremendous turn of foot". Martin Dwyer's ride on Sir Percy at Epsom earned him the 2006 Lester Award for Flat Ride of the Year. Sir Percy was troubled with a series of training problems which included a shoulder injury which ruled him out of a run in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. On his only start after his Derby win he finished seventh of eight runners behind Pride in the Champion Stakes, when it was revealed he was still suffering the ill effects of an injury sustained in the Derby.