The play also falls into the category of the "villain play", a drama in which the dominant figure is not a traditional protagonist or hero but his antagonist, a figure of evil. In the context of English Renaissance drama, the villain play grew out of the "ranting Herod" of the Medieval morality play. In the Elizabethan era, Christopher Marlowe was the great innovator in the villain play, with "Tamburlaine," "Doctor Faustus," and "The Jew of Malta"; Shakespeare's "Richard III" is another obvious example in the subgenre.