Anti-Hero: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

 

 

Most are far to the cynical end of the [[Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism]].

 

 

 

 

 

Sometimes, they are not the "star" (protagonist), but serve as [[The Rival]] or [[Worthy Opponent]] of the [[Designated Hero|protagonist]] and inevitably steal the spotlight. If they are part of a [[Five-Man Band]], they will most certainly be [[The Lancer]].

 

 

Antiheroes are spread all over the alignment chart, tending toward Neutral types. It is nearly impossible for them to be [[Chaotic Evil]] or [[Lawful Good]].

 

 

If you've been sent here by a work referring to someone as a "Type-I" antihero (Or so forth), they are referring to the [[Sliding Scale of Anti-Heroes]], which is a sub-page of this one.

 

 

{{examples}}

* Guts from ''[[Berserk]]'' has one goal in life: making his former ally Griffith pay in blood for what's happened to him. A childhood spent as a mercenary and an adult life spent being attacked by demons has left him with few moral precepts. He thinks nothing of cutting people in half, although he ''does'' prefer not to take out bystanders (still a bad idea to stand in his way, though). On the other hand, he cares deeply for Casca and has given some thought to what he really wants to do with his life once he's gotten his revenge; he doesn't have an answer for that one yet. Pre-Eclipse Guts is more of a [[Byronic Hero]].

** Mello is solely dedicated to being the one to stop Kira and is more than willing to become a mob boss, kidnap innocent girls, and in the manga, even threaten the President to sabotage his rival so said rival can't catch Kira.

** Vegeta. In his first appearance, he's the [[Big Bad]], but in the ongoing series, in his effort to beat Goku, he keeps saving the day. He also often unnecessarily endangers the situation by letting his enemies reach their full potential, so he can have a honorable fight.

* Scar from ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]'' starts out as a villain and gradually transforms into one of these. Second Greed as well.

* The only good guys in ''[[Hellsing]]'' are anti-heroes or vampire fodder. And then there's Alucard. The only thing that keeps him from being a villain is the fact he is fighting vampire Nazis, although the first anime adaptation definitely plays up the anti-hero side.

* ''[[Inuyasha]]''

** Kagura was created by Naraku out of one of the youkai that had been trapped inside himself for at least fifty years. In return for the hope of freedom in the future, she was forced to work as a slave for him, her life bound due to the fact he, quite literally, held her beating heart captive in his position and could therefore destroy at any moment. Despite her position, her [[Implied Love Interest|growing feelings]] for [[Noble Demon|Sesshoumaru]], coupled with her growing [[Protectorate|protective instinct]] for [[Designated Victim|Kohaku]] all combined to make her increasingly helpful of both Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha's causes. In the end, she was feeding information to both Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha's groups to help them fight Naraku and ended up dying in an [[Heroic Sacrifice]] to save Kohaku's life from Mouryoumaru and Naraku's machinations.

** Koga, leader of the southern wolf-demon tribe. Seeking vengeance against Naraku, he becomes a reluctant ally (while maintaining rivalry) to [[The Hero|Inuyasha]]. Thanks to his romantic interest in Kagome, he and his men give up eating human. Koga, Kikyo, Sesshomaru and his followers are described as "Those who, at times will fight, and other times have the same intentions." in Inuyasha Zusetsutaizen Ougikaiden.

** Who were key figures in the Corsican mob, so their hands weren't exactly clean, either. They set the events of the story (And get themselves killed) by declaring that [[Even Evil Has Standards]].

* Saito Hajime from ''[[Rurouni Kenshin]]'' is the very epitome of this trope.

** Shinomori Aoshi counts if anyone else does. {{spoiler|After he became more of a villain; he started off as an [[Anti-Villain]].}} Most of the male characters can be: Kenshin himself lapses into this and even Sanosuke, who is not afraid to fight against his nation's government. It seems Saitou has an effect on everyone, so it could be said this quality rubbed off nearly as well as anything from Kenshin (Sano in particular).

* Ikki Phoenix from ''[[Saint Seiya]]'' starts out like this. It took some time before he stopped horribly killing every opponent.

* ''[[Vinland Saga]]'''s. Thorfinn and Thorkel. Many of the other characters of the manga are villains in one way or another.

** Yami Yuugi from the early manga. Example: A guy steals a playing card from Yuugi. Yami Yuugi comes out to drive him permanently stark raving mad. Whenever he gets out, someone is gonna die or go nuts. Not to mention the fact that he is ''smiling'' as he lights people on fire, condemns them to insanity, etc.

* The core protagonists of ''[[Slayers]]'', which makes the show as intriguing as it is - Lina Inverse is a well-reputed slayer of bandits and has saved the world, but she's only done the latter if the danger she and her companions were in had reached that point. Otherwise, she slays bandits for personal wealth, has no concern for the welfare of innocents (and entire villages for that matter), and will occasionally go to [[Comedic Sociopathy|sociopathic]] levels to get what she wants, even if it includes hurting her friends. Zelgadis is similar to Lina in those aspects, with the exception being that he's more than willing to either murder or flat-out [[Face Heel Turn|abandon]] those he cares about entirely.

** Princess Amelia is not as much of this as it warrants, but her [[Black and White Morality|naivite]] on peoples' motives inadvertantly make her this - she often relies on stereotypes (such as outward appearances) to determine who is and isn't noble. Gourry the good-natured swordsman would wholly avert this trope if he weren't apathetic to certain worldly events, but that's possibly due to his [[The Ditz|lack of intelligence]]. The only protagonist that joins Lina that isn't this trope completely is [[Yamato Nadeshiko|Sylphiel.]]

* Agito and Aptom in ''[[Guyver]]''.

* Miyu from ''[[Vampire Princess Miyu]]'' - She banishes the Shinma because it's her fate to do so, not because she cares about the human race. She even uses humans for her personal amusement, just like the Shinma, but arguably not with the same cruelty of the Shinma.

* Chirico Cuvie in ''[[Armored Trooper VOTOMS]]''.

 

* Marvel's [[The Punisher]] is a [[Badass Normal]], [[Badass Longcoat|trenchcoat-wearing]] [[Vigilante Man]] who often uses extreme amounts of violence to combat criminals. Why do super heroes fight ''super'' villains? Because the Punisher shot the lesser ones.

** Even more so in the MAX series, which has neither super villains nor super heroes. On one occasion, the Punisher killed [[Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique|two pimps, crippled four and stabbed another one in the eye in order to get information]], only to find out that they didn't have it. Later in the same story, he disembowels a [[Complete Monster|human trafficker]], among other things. However, he's still not as bad as his enemies, and he [[Pet the Dog|DOES show kindness on several occasions]], especially towards children.

* ''[[Spawn]]'' (that is, from Todd McFarlane's comic book of the same name).

** Rorschach doesn't differentiate between most degrees of criminal acts, except for the most heinous. He'll kill a rapist, but the general lowlifes in a dive bar only get slightly less severity from him, and even then it seems to be more so that he can pump them for information.

** The Comedian. Dr. Manhattan thinks he's fallen off the end of the scale. He is "so deliberately amoral" that any heroic aspects are essentially non-existent.

** Everyone. Nite Owl II is pretty ineffective as a hero. Silk Spectre II was just in it because her mother wanted her to be a hero, just like her. [[Person of Mass Destruction|Dr. Manhattan]] can't relate to humans anymore and his powers have made him apathetic. {{spoiler|Ozymandias is a full-blown [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]]}}. The heroes of the last generation were much more heroic in general, especially the first Nite Owl. However, they weren't without flaws, either.

*** Judging by their actions in the street conflict during the climax, some of the side characters (the police detective, the psychologist, the newspaper stand owner) seem to be decent if not idealistic people who instinctively try to do what's right in difficult circumstances. Arguably, if there any actual heroes in watchmen, it's them. Their instinctive, uncalculated responses contrast nicely against the murky and/or purely philosophical motivations of the costumed characters, which actually seems to be a pretty good way to distinguish between heroes and antiheroes.

* Rayek from ''[[Elf Quest]]'' always does what he thinks is best for the entire elfin race, without ''ever'' stopping to ask the rest of the elfin race what ''they'' think is best for them.

* Cassie Hack in ''[[Hack Slash]]''. Her motivation is mostly admirable, but her tactics and personality are... not role model material.

* [[Batman]], [http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=SR2c8r6jgMQ Marvel/DC Happy Hour]:

** Never mind the fact that Batman ''does'' have family. It's even called the Bat-family and stretches from Alfred, to Robin, to Huntress, to Catwoman, to fucking Superman. Batman has the best kind of family, one of chosen friends.

* ''[[Sub-Mariner]]'' - Namor the Sub-Mariner, since the beginning. He's a month older than Batman, but nowhere near as influential. Usually moving between this and being an Anti-Villain.

* Crackerjack in ''[[Astro City]]'', not in the sense of being grim and ruthless, but in the sense that he fights crime and saves people primarily for [[Smug Super|his own self-aggrandizement]] and is, simply put, a jerk. At least, this initially seems to be the case, but he's portrayed in a more favourable light in later stories.

* A classic example is Raven in ''Zoids: Guardian Force.'' Once you get to the last episode, he's screaming antihero.

* Marvel also has Daimon Hellstrom: The Son of Satan. To be correct, the [[Badass Crew]] he joins in Marvel Zombies 3 is an entire ''team'' of antiheroes, including [[Morbius]] the Living Vampire and Werewolf by Night.

* ''[[Preacher (Comic Book)]]'' - Jesse [[Badass Preacher|Custer]]

* [[Jonah Hex]], who has been around since 1971.

* [[Moon Knight]], occasional hero, frequently just a crazy bastard.

'''Shadow''': Sonic holds such beliefs. Then again, he's a hero, I'm not. }}

* Cynosure's resident go-to guy, Grimjack is willing to do whatever needs to be done to do a job. But despite his gruff exterior, he has a soft spot for people who had the same kind of troubles he had in his past, and has been known to let a deserving person slip out. In the end, he will end up doing the right thing.

* Jason Todd, The Red Hood, could be considered an antihero.

 

 

* In old Westerns, when the hero and villain would face off in a duel, the hero would traditionally wait for the villain to draw, then draw awesomely faster and shoot first. Anti Heroes facing a villain, would simply draw first.

* [[Clint Eastwood]]'s characters, Pretty much any character ever played by Clint Eastwood will be an anti-hero.

** Charles was willing to turn the house into a sort of amusement park and have Adam and Barbara perform like some sort of dead sideshow freaks.

** Otho stole the ''Handbook For The Recently Deceased''.

** And Lydia ''used'' Beetlejuice to save the Maitlands. Remember, Beetlejuice ''didn't'' force Lydia into marriage. It was part of a deal that she managed to get out of.

* ''[[The Boondock Saints]]'' ''are'' this trope. Seriously: two [[Badass]] Irish brothers running around Boston with crosses and bringing down the Wrath of God on the scumbags of the Earth? I think yes.

* The Warden in ''[[Death Race]]''. She is also, by her manipulation of the convicts into playing the [[Game Show]] she runs to finance the prison, a [[Chessmaster]], is definitely a [[Manipulative Bastard]] but almost but doesn't quite qualify as, and falls just a bit shy of being a [[Magnificent Bastard]].

* When he's not destroying Tokyo on a daily basis, [[Godzilla]] is often saving the world from some other giant monster.

* The guys ''[[In Bruges]]'' would be shining examples of this trope, if anti-heroes were allowed to shine. Even the villain is [[Affably Evil]] and has some very clear principles.

* Tony Montana from ''[[Scarface]]'' is a murderous drug lord not above gunning down his many enemies, but [[Even Evil Has Standards|refuses to kill innocents]] and [[Redemption Equals Death|breaks with his more vicious fellows, to his very great detriment]].

* ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean]]'' - Captain Jack Sparrow. While you can generally count on him to do the right thing in the end, most of the time he's a largely amoral, perpetually intoxicated, marginally sane rogue who's out only for himself (and occasionally people he likes). [[Magnificent Bastard|And we love him for it]].

* ''[[The Dark Knight]]'' - Batman's unscrupulous methods in make him something of an anti-hero. [[Chaotic Good|His intentions are heroic but he is willing to break the law in order to achieve them]].

* [[Riddick]] from ''[[The Chronicles of Riddick]]'' films and various tie-ins.

* Jet Li's character in ''[[Warlords]]'' had good intentions and started out as a good guy but as he grew in power his methods became more and more extreme even if his goals were still for the overall greater good.

* ''[[Predators]]'' has Royce, a mercenary who nearly causes his comrades to die and recognizes he is not a good person. [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|But he's fast.]]

* Frank Galvin of ''[[The Verdict]]'' is a quite the [[Ambulance Chaser]] in the beginning of the film, and even after he rediscovers his thirst for justice, he can be rather...[[Amoral Attorney|scummy]] in his tactics.

* The protagonist of pretty much every [[Film Noir]], ever.

** Some salient examples being the protagonists of many [[Jean-Pierre Melville]] movies, including [[Le Samourai]], [[Boble Flambeur]], and [[Le Cercle Rouge]].

 

** Sirius Black probably counts as well - even though he's a [[Team Dad]] and a generally nice, though [[Knight in Sour Armor|cynical]] man.

* The Damned, from [[Hells Children]], by Andrew Boland, are Antiheroes for sure.

* In Steven Brust's ''[[Dragaera]]'' novels, Vladimir [[Taltos]], an assassin for a criminal outfit who has been known to destroy souls ''on accident''. Lampshaded in ''Issola'':

''Yeah, but I'm a nice guy.'' }}

* In [[Orson Scott Card]]'s ''[[Ender's Game]]'', Ender Wiggin is not only the most talented boy in Battle School - he's also a killer. He isn't the [[Jerkass|gleeful sadist]] type: that would be his brother Peter. But, all the same, he gets away with killing {{spoiler|two boys who bullied him}}, and doesn't find out that they really were dead until {{spoiler|he saves the world by nearly wiping out an alien species in a war that he didn't know was real}}. Despite having acted in self-defense, he edges towards suicidal over their deaths:

{{quote|Well, I'm your man. I'm the bloody bastard you wanted when you had me spawned. I'm your tool, and what difference does it make if I hate the part of me that you most need? What difference does it make that when the little serpents killed me in the game, I agreed with them, and was glad.|'''Ender, at the end of the book'''}}

* [[Raymond Chandler]]'s iconic private eye, [[Philip Marlowe]].

* Ferdinand Bardamu, from Louis-Ferdinand Celine's oeuvre. He is, among other things, an [[Audience Surrogate]], and a real anti-hero.

* Yossarian from Joseph Heller's ''[[Catch-22]]''.

* ''Enemy Glory'': The main character, Llewelyn.

** Vaanes returns in The Chapter's Due... {{spoiler|As one of the Iron Warrior Honsou's chief Lieutenants. He takes part in the battle against the Ultramarines and Ultramar but is continuously shown to be uncomfortable with the traitors he is with and what he is doing. Later he is captured by the Ultramarines, though he claims he let them take him, and agrees to take them to Honsou if they promise to kill him before he can ruin himself, he has learned that [[Being Evil Sucks|he does not like being a Chaos Marine]] and he feels he isn't strong enough to walk the path of righteousness but he doesn't want to embrace damnation either. He saves the protagonist's life from another of Honsou's lieutenants, but dies in the next battle when he attempts to kill Honsou who bests him then turns his attention to Uriel Ventris, Vaanes again saves Ventris's life by attacking Honsou again, Honsou then tears off Vaanes' arm and crushes his chest by stomping on it. After he is dead the protagonists notice his restored Raven Guard chapter tattoo, that he gouged out with a knife years ago, causing the them to wonder if he [[Redemption Equals Death|redeemed himself through dying for them]] and note that they do not feel hatred towards him anymore. At the novel's end Uriel sees a memory of the Newborn that prophesied that the Newborn would be present at a great hero's death, both Honsou and the Newborn believed this to be Uriel. Uriel realises that the great hero was actually Vaanes.}}

* Hawk from the ''[[Spenser]]'' series by Robert B. Parker is a great example of an anti-hero. Parker often writes the characters as being something dark, powerful and inhuman. Yet, Hawk often considers the main protagonist, Spenser, the closest thing he has to a friend and he treats him as such. Wherein Hawk has few if any rules with respect to violence and its' application, Spenser is his opposite. What makes the series fascinating is that the two work together well.

** Discworld has a more traditional anti-hero in the form of Cohen the Barbarian, an [[Affectionate Parody]] of Conan (which see).

* Lestat, of [[Anne Rice]]'s vampire novels, is an anti-hero who seeks to rationalize his feeding on humans for sustenance by only allowing those he considers "evil" to die, though his morality has been known to lapse at times. This could be considered an example of unreliable narrator, since Louis and Lestat disagree about so much, including who Lestat killed, it's really up to the reader if they believe Lestat only killed murderers.

* Pretty much everyone from Laurell K. Hamilton's ''[[Anita Blake]]'' series.

* Meursault, from Camus' ''[[The Stranger]]''. Actually, pretty much any Existentialist hero, as noted on the [[Sliding Scale of Anti-Heroes]].

* Kelsier from ''[[Mistborn]]'' is a brilliant revolutionary determined to bring down [[The Empire]], but he has absolutely no mercy for the nobility, even those who seem to be good people, and those who know him best suspect that he's in this as much for personal glory as for freedom. His protege Vin starts off as one, though she becomes a more solid [[The Hero|hero]] post [[Character Development]]. Vin's main anti-heroic trait is her rampant paranoia- in the authors words "she's not a bad person; she just thinks everyone else is." She gets better.

* Malachi Thorndyke in ''Christendom'' - an [[Beauty Equals Goodness|ugly]] smoking, alcoholic, former smuggler, arsehole, slob who goes out of his way to prevent people from getting to know him.

* The Whiskey Priest in Graham Greene's ''[[The Power and The Glory]]''.

* Lisbeth Salander in Stieg Larsson's ''[[Millennium Trilogy]]''.

* [[Larry Niven]]'s Beowulf Scheaffer and, to a lesser extent his stepson Louis Wu.

* Roland, the hero of [[Stephen King]]'s ''[[The Dark Tower]]'' series, has a history of valuing his quest for the Dark Tower above the lives of his friends.

* All the protagonists of Kelley Armstrong's ''Exit Strategy''. They are after all, [[Professional Killer|professional hitmen]], although a couple of them are also [[Vigilante Man|of the Do Evil Unto Evil]] persuasion as well.

* Elion is the clearest example in Maggie Furey's [[Shadowleague]] trilogy, though none of the [[Loads and Loads of Characters|many characters]] are conventional heroes.

* Chili from [[Get Shorty]], as mentioned in Film above.

* Vanya Sedemona from Paul Kelly's ''The Lost Brigade'' definitely qualifies for this trope.

* [[Sandman Slim|James Stark]] will ''maybe'' save your life from hordes of zombies, demons and assassins. But only if you pay in advance.

 

** Also Giles (known as "Ripper" in his youth), who says outright that he is not a hero, unlike Buffy (right before he {{spoiler|smothers Ben to prevent Glory from ever returning}}).

** Actually, almost all of Joss Whedon's characters are examples of this trope, especially the characters in Firefly (with perhaps the exception of Kaylee and Wash), cf infra.

** True, the Cylons nuked the colonies to cinders. But what the Colonials are doing to them during the series don't even try to fit under the definition of "revenge"; "sadism" is a much more apt term. In fact, it's an open secret that many of the Colonials don't hate the Cylons because of what they did to the colonies, they hate them because they're Cylons, period. [[Sarcasm Mode|Kinda makes one wonder why the Cylons rebelled against them in the first place, don't you think?]]

* ''[[Boston Legal]]'' - [[Bunny Ears Lawyer|Alan Shore]] is lecherous, conniving, snarky to a fault and one of the most dedicated defense attorneys at Crane, Poole and Schmidt, who routinely does tough cases [[Pro Bono]] for friends who need help navigating the law. The best example of his heroism was when he successfully got a man let off for bludgeoning his mother to death with a skillet, and [[Knight in Sour Armor|regretted it]] when the bastard killed again.

* George from ''[[Dead Like Me]]''.

* The Strike Team from ''[[The Shield]]''

* Paige Michalchuk and Gavin "Spinner" Mason from ''[[Degrassi the Next Generation]].'' The two of them are among the most loathsome teenagers ever portrayed on TV, but the audience can still root for them because they suffer far more than even they deserve.

** Season 8 replaced them with Holly J Sinclair and Johnny DiMarco, in the respective roles Paige and Spinner held. Neither is a really nice person... but they aren't bad people. Season 10 adds Eli to the mix, who's more proactive about bully problems.

** Perhaps the clearest example of Christopher Eccleston's Ninth Doctor's anti-heroism appears in the episode "The End of the World", where he prevents the escape of Lady Cassandra and impassively watches as she dies horribly, coldly ignoring his own companion's request to heed the villain's pleas for mercy.

** For David Tennant's Tenth Doctor, his cold-blooded execution of the Racnoss in "The Runaway Bride" is probably the quintessential example, an act where he lost himself so completely in his own inherent ruthlessness that in an alternate reality where his companion was not there to stop him, it actually cost him his life. Then you have his actions against the Family of Blood in "The Family of Blood". And he brought down the prime minister that led Britain's Golden Age prematurely because of her own ruthlessness against fleeing aliens. All this leading to "The Waters of Mars," where he gets so dark that when he decides to [[Screw Destiny]] by saving three people from the monster of the week, one of them (who knew she was fated to die, according to history) walks inside and {{spoiler|kills herself}}.

** Not to mention the Brigadier, who ordered the mass genocide of a hibernating race, and aforementioned prime minister Harriet Jones.

** The Eleventh Doctor. Some of his darker actions include brainwashing the human race into enacting the genocide of the Silents without their knowledge, and destroying a fleet of Cybermen ships in order to intimidate the remaining ship to tell Rory what he wants to know.

* ''[[Firefly]]''

*** Mal acknowledges his position on the Sliding Scale when he wins a duel against a "gentleman", and [[To the Pain|has the humiliated man on the ground, at his mercy]].

** Then there's Jayne Cobb, though he's arguably more of a [[Heroic Comedic Sociopath]].

** Most of Mal's crew fits under this, and they're saved from being [[Designated Hero|Designated Protagonists]] by way of [[Honor Before Reason]]. Sure, they may be petty criminals working under the radar of a [[Lawful Evil]] government, but they at least make an effort to do the right thing.

* Det. Crewes from ''[[Life]]''. On the surface he practices Tao and is into self help materials. Underneath, he has a vengeful Count of Monte Cristo thing going on as he tracks down who was responsible for setting him up when he went to prison for 10 years. Moreover, despite all of his wisecracks during each episode, he always looks like he is going to snap (and sometimes he does).

* Lincoln Burrows of ''[[Prison Break]]'' is probably the best example of that show. His past life was that of a normal thug. In the first 3 seasons, this was largely overshadowed by more important plot points. However, in season 4 he seems to gladly show that he's not a nice guy.

* Neil Burnside of ''[[The Sandbaggers]]'' is not above lying and cheating to get his way, as both Wellingham and Peele [[What the Hell, Hero?|frequently tell him]]. He even (unintentionally) {{spoiler|drives a young woman to suicide}} in order to prevent her boyfriend from resigning from Special Section.

* ''[[The Sarah Connor Chronicles]]'' - [[Robot Girl|Cameron]], Sarah, and Derek Reese fit under this =- Cameron especially, as she is entirely willing to kill people who may be a ''potential'' threat to the Connors, and in one case used a man who knew important information on the promise of helping him, and then casually walked away when mobsters came to kill him. Derek also has no qualms with killing people who may be a threat or bring about SkyNet's creation. And (legally, at least) [[Your Terrorists Are Our Freedom Fighters|all three are terrorists]].

* Dr. Cox from ''[[Scrubs]]''.

* Tony Soprano of ''[[The Sopranos]]''.

** Vala, though less so as time went on and [[Badass Decay]] set in.

** Ronon. Combine elite military training with years of being chased by the Wraith and you get an intimidating muscle wall with dreadlocks and a trigger-happy personality (and a whole armory of knives on his person, including at least one '''in his hair'''). For him, shoot-to-kill is default unless explicitly told otherwise.

** Dean was [["Well Done, Son" Guy|always seeking his father's approval]] and usually wallowing in a deep, dark pit of [[Death Seeker|death-seeking]] self-loathing so that he puts [[Big Brother Instinct|his family]] [[Thicker Than Water|ahead of]] [[Sadistic Choice|everything else]] when he's not [[Despair Event Horizon|utterly hopeless]]. When Sam isn't addicted, craving, or {{spoiler|soulless}}, Dean tends to be the one who [[Shoot the Dog|takes care of potential threats]] or [[I Did What I Had to Do|does the practical thing]].

* The military team from ''[[The Unit]]''. They are a representation of real world US special operations soldiers like Delta Force, Seal Team Six, etc. They are highly trained, efficient, and ruthless. They will do anything needed to complete their missions. Although they operate by some rules and moral codes, they are trained to do things that the average person would not have the stomach for.

* Gleb Zheglov, the police officer in ''[[The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed]]''.

* James Ford AKA Sawyer, in the TV series ''[[Lost]]'', is such person.

** Pretty much non-villain in [[Lost]] is.

** Not all of them just some of them.

* [[Law and Order SVU|Elliot UnStabler]] - "If that's the guy that's questioning me, I definitely want my lawyer present."

* Patrick Jane of ''[[The Mentalist]]'' is normally a straight consultant helping the cops solve murder cases (his tendency to annoy people aside), but he is obsessed with finding serial killer Red John (for killing his wife and child). When it comes to anything involving this ongoing case his rationality and level headedness flies out the window, his darker side manifests and there are no lines he is unwilling to cross. He fully intends to murder Red John in cold blood when he finally catches him... and partner Lisbon intends to arrest him if he does. {{spoiler|At the end of the third season he goes through with his intention and kills Red John, though the episode ends before we find out what kind of consequences are in store for him.}}

* Eric from ''[[Power Rangers Time Force]]'' starts out like this, but gradually shifts towards being more of a regular hero.

* Team [[Leverage]]: Running down the list, we have an [[The Alcoholic|alco]][[Off the Wagon|holic]] ex-insurance agent who [[The Chessmaster|plans and runs cons]], a [[Con Man|grifter]], a [[Genius Bruiser|hitter]] with a ''[[The Atoner|very]]'' [[The Atoner|dark past]], a [[The Cracker|computer hacker]], and a [[Impossible Thief|world-class cat burglar]]. [[They Fight Crime]] and are heroes to many people, but their methods are less than legal, and have involved hurting some innocent folks, as well.

* The titular character from [[Sherlock]]. Sure, he assists the police rather than criminals, but he makes it very clear that his primary motivation is to solve cases and relieve boredom, not to do the world any kind of good.

 

* [[Five Iron Frenzy]]'s song 'My Evil Plan to Save the World' illustrates this point to an extent.

* God Forbid's song "Anti Hero" Explore themes of anti-heroism, with lyrics like "Torn between right and wrong."

* [[My Chemical Romance]]'s Killjoys

 

* [[Professional Wrestling]] ''thrives'' on anti-heroes, as the very nature of the show requires even the most idealistic to pound someone into a gooey paste for a living. Plus, if a woman dumps a man and betrays his trust, the audience will often demand [[Domestic Abuse|physical retribution]] from the wronged hero.

* [[Stone Cold Steve Austin]] raised it to an art form by becoming (in his own words!) a "trash-talking, beer-swilling, backstabbing son of a bitch" who was the hero because he opposed [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]] [[Vince McMahon]].

* During [[Dwayne Johnson|The Rock]]'s heyday, he was cheered by millions (and millions) of fans while showing classic bullying behavior, most notably to [[Mick Foley]].

* [[Hulk Hogan]]'s status as superhero and protector of the innocent meant he could get away with a ''lot'' of things on camera, such as hogging the spotlight and fighting fire with fire. The deconstruction of his wrestling style helped facilitate his infamous [[Face Heel Turn]] in 1996.

* [[Randy Orton]] in his current face role. What better example of an antihero do you need than a man who told [[Sheamus]] to his face that he would RKO his own grandmother if it meant holding on to the WWE title, and then he would RKO Sheamus' grandmother just to see the look on her face. All the while he's one of the most beloved wrestlers in the WWE.

* [[CM Punk]] is this right now. Brash, bold and hilariously entertaining, he gets cheered for doing/saying anything he would normally.

 

** Toshiro Umezawa of the setting Kamigawa is a selfish, conniving, snarky bastard. Doesn't keep him from fighting against a war against nigh-omnipresent and incredibly powerful god-spirits wanting to tear the entire world apart, for obvious reasons.

 

* John from Shakespeare's ''[[King John|The Life and Death of King John]]'' tracks this trope pretty closely, in his efforts to navigate the murky ''realpolitik'' of early-1200s west Europe. Contending with finicky noblemen at home, enterprising relatives with ambitions of coronation and control, foreign armies, and a heavily influential Vatican, John is completely overwhelmed. In spite of arguably having the military advantage over his foes, the events around him cause him to behave with irrational brashness: he orders the execution of his nephew in vague language, later rescinding the order once he realizes that popular support for such an action is nil; takes his army to continental Europe to battle France and Austria for control of a small ''départment'' (which he later offers just to give away), leaving England vulnerable to attack from a swift Franco invasion at the behest of the Pope; and he [[Incredibly Lame Pun|royally]] pisses off the church in an attempt to levy unfair taxes on the church, {{spoiler|on account of which a priest poisons him}}.

 

* Haseo from the ''[[.hack|.hack//G.U.]]'' Is a good example of an anti-hero.

* Ayane from ''[[Dead or Alive]]''. She's bound by her duty to hunt down and kill her half-sister Kasumi for running away from the ninja clan where they both grew up, and was also jealous of her for getting all the attention while the others saw her as a "[[The Unfavourite|cursed child]]" due to the [[Heroic Bastard|circumstances surrounding her birth]]. In ''DOA 2'' and ''DOA 3'', she's a bit of a loner and a jerk, but in her story mode in ''DOA 4'', {{spoiler|she helps Kasumi, Hayate, and Ryu Hayabusa bring down the [[The Syndicate|DOATEC corporation]], suggesting that her feelings toward Kasumi may have softened a bit}}.

* [[Sly Cooper]] goes without saying. His m.o. is thievery after all

* Caim from ''[[Drakengard]]''. It's hard to sympathize with someone slaughtering thousands of people. Many games have protagonists that slaughter enough mooks to populate a small city. Caim is a [[Blood Knight]]: he ''likes'' it.

* ''[[Grand Theft Auto]]''

** Niko Bellic, the star of ''[[Grand Theft Auto IV]]'' is a classic [[Punch Clock Villain]]. There's even an option to have him [[Pet the Dog]] in certain story events.

*** The stars of the 2 DLC games, Johnny Klebitz (The Lost and Damned) and Luis Lopez (The Ballad of Gay Tony) also fit this.

* Kain from ''[[Legacy of Kain]]'' is generally considered an anti-hero, having apparently doomed the world and subjugated the human race to the point of extinction, but apparently did so since the original choice would have doomed the world either way and is technically trying to save the world.

** He also acknowledges, indirectly, his own choices and course in his life with a simple line in Max Payne 2:

** Team Chaotix from the same series. They'll do good, but they expect to be paid-handsomely. Of course, Vector at least has his better moments, such as finding a kid's lost toy for free.

* Considering the game is titled ''[[Thief]]'', it probably isn't too surprising that the protagonist, Garrett, is a vaguely amoral and deeply selfish burglar, motivated almost solely by profit, who seems to end up saving the world only [[Because Destiny Says So]] and all his stuff is there. In his defense, the people he steals from are frequently much worse, he has a sense of humour, and his world isn't one given to rewarding displays of ''nice''.

* Yuri Volte Hyuga from ''[[Shadow Hearts]]'' is a quintessential antihero, even though he does incidentally [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?|kill a surprising number of world-devouring evils along the way]].

*** Kain is probably a better example. While Cecil believed what the king told him to at first, after he destroyed Mist he turned around and never looked back. Kain, on the other hand, is possessed by {{spoiler|the Disc One Final Boss (Who is possessed by the Big Bad...)}} several times during the game, and although usually calm and dedicated, shows that he is truly in love with Cecil's girlfriend, Rosa; stealing her several times during the game (while possessed), and even showing that he, deep down, would be willing to KILL Cecil just to be with her. He has proved to be able to control his inner demons, though, and is truly a good guy.

** The Assassin order throughout the series. Their motto even states that they "work in the dark to serve the light". Assassins have no respect for the law, working with the seedier elements of the cities to murder important figures and every guard between them and their target. It's all for the benefit of the people and to stop the evil Templar plots.

* The fan-made ''[[Neverwinter Nights]]'' module "A Dance with Rogues" literally forces you to play one to get any even remotely heroic traits into your character, due to the [[Crapsack World]] it is set in. The Bastard of Kosigan module has Alexandra de Velan, who is out to take over the titular county and is prepared to kill anyone in her way. However, her hatred of every single member of the ruling family except for Alexis is at least partially justified and her plan if you don't ruin it leaves Alexis alive in a comfortable situation.

* [[Player Character|Commander Shepard]] from ''[[Mass Effect]]''. While it's easiest to do as a [[Karma Meter|Renegade]], most Paragons will be to some extent anti-heroic. By ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'', Paragon Shepard is ''definitely'' an anti-hero, but his/her position on the Sliding Scale is left to the player.

* ''[[Disgaea]]''

* ''[[Dragon Age]]'' ''Origins'' - It is very easy to play the Grey Warden as one of these in There is no [[Karma Meter]] in the game and there are often good rewards for acting like a greedy selfish [[Manipulative Bastard]]. It's all for the greater good though, since your end goal is preventing a horde of soulless [[Ax Crazy]] rape happy monsters led by an insane dragon god from killing the world.

* Zero from the Megaman Zero series toes the line on this, as he isn't afraid to kill whatever stands between him and his goal; even his girlfriend, Iris, although the event scarred him mentally. As he said in Megaman Zero 4, "I never cared about justice, and I don't ever recall calling myself a hero... I have always only fought for the people that I believe in. I won't hesitate... If an enemy appears before me, I will destroy it!"

* In the flash game series ''Sonny'', the titular protagonist is one of these, only saving a mountain village from a cult in exchange for finding his way to a town on a map in the second game. When he first meets the guy who offered to help him perform the above task, his response is along the lines of "Get out my way or die". He also helps out a fellow zombie in the first game who was trying to fight off humans that chase him, immediately fights soldiers in revenge when they shoot and kill someone helping him at the beginning, and hesitates when a traveling companion suggests that they kill a human warrior [[Enemy Mine|that just helped them against a common threat]].

** Given [[Crapsack World|the setting,]] the other party members are antiheroes as well, one example being outlined above.

 

 

== [[Web Animation]] ==

 

* Ironically, Dechs Rashart of ''[[Antihero for Hire]]'' isn't anti so much as he is [[Dark Is Not Evil|dark and edgy]]. But [[Action Girl|Crossroad]] sure is.

* ''[[Looking for Group]]'' A recurring theme is doing what must be done. As such, a lot of the main characters tend towards the anti-hero. For at one point, Krunch at one point kills a gnome out of necessity, and then annoyance when the gnome is not quite dead. Benny objects to working for free at one point, claiming that isn't how the world works.

** Richard is this when he does good instead of wantonly killing things for his own amusement.

* Riff from ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' is in many ways a [[Badass]] who saves his friends and the world at large from aliens, vampires, and the like. Thing is, thanks to his [[Mad Scientist]] experiments and reckless behavior, he's probably endangered the human race more times than he's protected it. What else do you call a hero who's on record saying this?

* Special mention needs to go to Abbey from ''[[Gnoph]]''.

* Ed from ''[[Fake Knight]]''

* While its difficult to quantify where, precisely, Sixx from [[Collar 6]] falls due to the [[Blue and Orange Morality]] of the series, she clearly isn't a traditional hero.

 

 

== Web Original ==

* In ''[[The Antithesis]]'', main character Qaira Eltruan is not a hero by any means, and the methods he goes about 'protecting his world' are usually evil, cruel and unjust. While his ultimate goal is to protect his people and rid his world of the angels, Qaira will not hesitate to kill anyone who stands in his way, and this includes his peers. This stems from a lack of moral duty—Qaira is considered a moral nihilist by most readers.

* Gavin Taylore of ''[[Kate Modern]]'' is often cowardly, often selfish, and sometimes a bully, and cares not for the civil liberties of webcam users, but somehow it's hard not to root for him.

* In ''[[Survival of the Fittest]]'', some of the most popular characters are anti heroes. Among the most prominent examples are {{spoiler|version two winner}} Bryan Calvert and version one contestant Hawley Faust. Over the course of version one, Adam Dodd steadily turned into one.

* Clark of ''[[Clark Kallen and His Merry Band]]'' was made with this trope in mind.

* In [[Theatrica]], Arthur represents such a trope {{spoiler|although he dips in and out of the [[Anti-Villain]] territory later}}

* The Punisher, Wolverine and the majority of the Avengers and New Avengers, just to name a few examples, in [[Marvels RPG]] are easily identified as anti-heroes. Most of their solutions to problems, is, well, killing them.

* Pretty much every character in [[Ather City]] falls under this, but the degree varies.

* Shoutan Himei from ''[[Sailor Nothing]]''. Cowardly, weak, selfish, and pessimistic, she couldn't care less about being forced to kill Yamiko just to get back to her normal life, and her attitude has harmed people close to her constantly, not to mention even herself. I.e., [[This Loser Is You]].

* ''[[The Gungan Council]]'' has many anti-heroes, but Je'gan is most notable for beginning a genocidal crusade against the Galactic Empire and Sith.

* The main character of the web series ''[[Chapel]]'' is probably a Type III (and getting worse every day). She's cold-bloodedly killed a few people, but they weren't very nice people. If you wrong her, she might not try to kill you, but she also won't try to ''not'' kill you either.

 

 

* Valerie [[Meaningful Name|Gray]] [[The Hunter]] on ''[[Danny Phantom]]''.

* Gaz from ''[[Invader Zim]]'' is an antihero, or even a [[Sociopathic Hero]]. Zim might qualify as well, but seems more clearly marked as a [[Villain Protagonist]].

** Dinobot, a [[Defector From Decadence]] who never lost his Predacon sense of warrior honour - but had a tendency to push for the more aggressive option.

** Depth Charge, gritty loner determined to bring Protoform X to justice.

*** [[Memetic Mutation|He's the goddamn Batmanta.]]

** And, in the third season, Blackarachnia, who joins the Maximals mainly to save herself, although Silverbolt's constant romantic/chivalric advances may have had something to do with it.

* The title character of ''[[El Tigre the Adventures of Manny Rivera]]'' is a preteen super deciding between the heroic path of his father and the villainous one of his grandfather. Lampshaded when in one episode he's subjected to a machine designed to tell whether one is a hero or villain and it ''explodes''!

* Heloise from ''[[Jimmy Two-Shoes]]''.

* By the end of ''[[Total Drama World Tour]]'', Heather gradually became more and more of an anti-heroine (especially when compared to [[Magnificent Bastard|Alejandro]].)

* Killface from ''[[Frisky Dingo]]''.

* Plucky from ''[[Tiny Toon Adventures]]''.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Archetypal Character]]

[[Category:The Cynic]]

[[Category:Romance Novel Tropes]]