During the Z87's heyday ASUS introduced a new addition to their Republic of Gamers motherboard lineup: the Maximus Hero. This newcomer was carefully crafted to interest consumers who may have craved the PC gaming / enthusiast ethos of the RoG namesake, but could never justify the steep cost of entry.

To create the new Hero boards, ASUS changed up their RoG formula (no, not the famous Formula motherboard) by taking their usual 'everything and the kitchen sink' and 'budget is of no concern' philosophy and paring it down somewhat. If the RoG Formula and Extreme boards were the gaming versions of their Deluxe series, the Hero was very loosely based upon the more affordable but still perfectly capable PRO models. Essentially, ASUS kept the basic DNA of their extreme overclocker-friendly and gamer-centric RoG boards but packed in predominantly essential features rather than a bunch of stuff most folks would never use. This design philosophy quickly endeared the Hero series to folks who usually skip the RoG boards and opt instead for Pro or Deluxe models.