There are no wrong answers, only your opinions 🙂
Personally, I think an anti-hero is a bad guy that does good things. He might cheat on his wife, steal, gamble, etc, but when it “matters,” he ends up on the side of what’s good.
Han Solo is an example that comes to mind.
Stone Cold Steve Austin
There is a definition of what a narrative anti hero is.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antihero
What is this ongoing trend of encouraging opinions to redefine accepted terminology and culture? Just make up your own new words instead of diluting the meaning of existing ones into slop.
Words change, meanings evolve, and it’s fun to talk about the nuances of what is and isn’t under the umbrella of a concept.
Literally.
A character who either does the right thing for the wrong reason or the wrong things for the right reasons as a kind of twisted version of a hero. Really any hero type character that doesn’t do the right things for the right reasons.
Punisher is an anti-hero because he takes things way too far.
Han Solo is an anti-hero because he is a scoundrel who happened to do the right thing a few times.
“The right thing” is also in the eye of the beholder. The killing of that healthcare CEO for example.
You’re right. I saw a mass murderer stopped for good.
Only to be replaced by a seemingly endless supply of another sooner or later. Shareholders will ensure that.
If one collides with a hero, they’re both annihilated.
There’s a lot of overlap with villains but whereas true villains are irredeemable, anti-heroes show some humanity or empathy or ethics in some context and have vulnerability.
Great distinction.
Of course there are wrong answers, otherwise the term has no meaning.
To me, an anti-hero is a character in a story who does not try to be a hero, and is not motivated by a heroic drive, but rather is selfish, and maybe stumbles upon doing the right thing in the end.
Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever is an example of this.
John Constantine is a good example. He will do the right thing, even if it means sacrificing one of his oldest friends to eternal damnation to do it.
And his past is littered with people he’s done that to. It’s not a one off “Oh, sorry mate, only way to get this done is to… you know, infest you with a swarm of demon bugs…”
Character that use bad means to achive good results.
Ozymandias?
Definitely an anti-hero, also Rorschach, Dr. Manhattan and The Comedian. Watchmen (and other Alan Moore works) is filled with anti-heros.
Although it’s often written into the story to make them more sympathetic, I don’t think an anti-hero needs to do the right thing when it matters. We can root for the thief in a heist movie even if he never really does the right thing.
Not all main characters are heroes or anti-heroes. They can just be protagonists.
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It’s like the saying, “is it wrong because it’s illegal, or is it illegal because it’s wrong?” It’s a recognition that the law doesn’t perfectly overlap what’s morally correct.
Anti-heroes live in that ‘moral-but-not-legal’ area. Contrast that with people who bend the written law to serve immoral ends. Fascists tend to be Lawful Evil.
Like Mario’s brother.
Ohhhhhhhhh. I get it.
i agree with you… not to be confused with the reluctant hero who really want no recognition and only to go about their day but cant
Vegeta from DBZ after the Saiyan Saga is an Anti-hero. Fights the bad guys, but only for his own ego.
Any hero that does the right thing for the wrong reasons.
