Despite the purposefully silly nature of the series, Futurama repeatedly delved into cosmic level conflicts, with characters like the unassuming Fry actually helping save the universe multiple times. But there's another, more surprising member of the Planet Express crew who also saved the entire planet from a fiery doom, turning Bender into one of Earth's single greatest unsung heroes.
"The Inhuman Torch" was a late episode of Futurama's seventh season. After sent to assist in the rescue of helium miners trapped within a facility at the Sun, the Planet Express crew become notable heroes thanks to television coverage by Morbo. Bender quickly stole the spotlight as his adaptability allowed him to personally save most of the miners. The Planet Express crew are turned into the New New York Fire Department, with Bender becoming increasingly big-headed about his fame and success as a hero, while the rest of the crew become more and more jealous. They even suspect him of creating the fires himself, so he'd have a chance for public glory.
However, Bender is genuinely surprised when he's kicked out of the crew. It turns out that while Bender was in the depths of the Sun, a malicious being of pure solar energy (which Bender nicknames Flamo) hitched a ride within him and is now seeking to spread more flames across the Earth and rule the fiery remains. To keep this from happening, Bender travels deep into the Arctic. Building an igloo for them and deciding that his natural long-life will allow him to watch over Flamo, Bender resigns himself to a billion years of loneliness as part of his duty to save the Earth.
His mission is jeopardized, though, when Fry arrives to confront him, inadvertently allowing Flamo to return to New New York and try to breach the Earth's core through the lava pit in the Planet Express building's basement. Bender follows after him, eventually saving Fry in the process while also capturing Flamo before he reaches the core. Fry is the only witness to the arrival of the Mystic Aldermen of the Sun, who congratulates Bender for his heroism, calling him the greatest hero in Earth's history. Notably, Bender refuses to make his title known to the world, as he knows no one outside of Fry will believe him.
Throughout Futurama, Bender is surprisingly capable of terrible acts -- with the character even raising multiple evil armies of robots against humanity. But he's also been shown to have a great capacity for empathy and even heroics when it comes to the people he cares about. "The Inhuman Torch" plays up his glory-hound attributes for comedy, but makes it clear that, at the end of the day, Bender lovest his home planet and the people he's grown to care for that live on it. Bender deciding to sacrifice his near-infinite existence toward an important but unnoticed duty speaks to a character who's genuinely grown from his more brash moments.
Coming toward the end of the series, the episode serves as a nice capstone to Bender's development over the course of Futurama, with his greatest heroic moment only existing between him and an eternally grateful Fry. It's also just a fun realization that Bender is now known to cosmic elders of the universe as the greatest hero in Earth's history. Despite his terrible impulses and malicious streak, there is a genuinely kind character in Bender's heart.