Antihero

In literature and film, an anti-hero is a fictional character that has some characteristics of a villain or an outsider, but is nevertheless portrayed somewhat sympathetically. In particular, an anti-hero may have enough heroic qualities and intentions to align them with the heroes in the readers' minds.

Anti-heroes can be awkward, obnoxious, passive, pitiful, obtuse, or just normal; but they are always, in some fundamental way, flawed, unqualified, or failed heroes. When the anti-hero is a central character in a work of fiction the work will frequently deal with the effect their flawed character has on the other people they meet. Additionally the work may depict how their character alters over time, either leading to punishment, un-heroic success or redemption.

Comic books and graphic novels commonly feature anti-heroes (also called "dark heroes") who are individuals fighting for good, but either:

• have some tragic flaw (such as a tormented past),
• are fighting for reasons that are not entirely altruistic (they may be after a villain due to a grudge or other selfish motivations, with little or no regard for typical "heroic" means),
• are neither "good" nor "evil", but find themselves fighting on the side of good due to circumstance, or
• use questionable means to reach their goals.

A good working definition of the anti-hero is a paradoxical character; that is, someone who within the context of the story is a hero, but taken out of context could easily be seen as a criminal, an outlaw, or just simply unlikeable.

Types

The vigilante

Arguably the most popular type of anti-hero is the vigilante. Usually, these are individuals with the same goals as a traditional hero, but for whom "the ends justify the means". Rather than relying on the proper legal channels, the character "takes the law into their own hands" and persues justice in their own manner. This character type probably owes its popularity to the comic book superhero.

Well-known examples of this type include:

• Batman from comic book series of the same name
• The Punisher from the comic book series of the same name
• Harry Callahan in the 1971 film Dirty Harry
• Paul Kersey of the novel Death Wish and the film of the same name.

The developing hero

A second type of anti-hero is one who starts off possessing unlikeable traits such as prejudice, immaturity, cockiness, a single-minded focus on things such as wealth; status; or revenge or even being a criminal. As the story develops, the character grows and changes, and eventually becomes sympathetic and rises to the occasion to become heroic in every sense of the word.

Well-known examples of this type include:

• Han Solo from the Star Wars films
• Napoleon Wilson from John Carpenter's 1976 film Assault on Precinct 13
• Conan the Cimmerian from the stories by Robert E. Howard

The drifter

A third type of anti-hero is one who feels helpless, distrusts conventional values and is often unable to commit to any ideals, but accepts (and often relishes) their status as an outsider. The cyberpunk, western, noir, and jidaigeki genres also make extensive use of this character-type.

Well-known examples of this type include:

• Takeshi Kovacs, from Richard Morgan's Altered Carbon
• Neo from the original 1999 film The Matrix and the rest of The Matrix Series
• The Man With No Name (As played by Clint Eastwood) from Sergio Leone's Dollars Trilogy.

The failure

Another type of anti-hero is a character who constantly moves from one disappointment in his life to the next, without end, with only occasional and fleeting successes. But they persist and even attain a form of success through persistence and their determination to never give up or change their goals. These characters often keep a deep-seated optimism that one day they will succeed (though usually in the end they still meet with failure, the ultimate fate of a traditional villain).

Well-known examples of this type include:

• Jay Gatsby in F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby.

The flawed everyman

Sometimes, an anti-hero is an ordinary man or woman who completely lacks any particular heroic aspects, and also features one or two highly negative personality traits such as a large degree of greed, selfishness, cowardice or laziness. While such characters are not nearly despicable enough to be classified as villains, they lack any of the classical heroic traits such as bravery or self-sacrifice that normally distinguish heroes (even flawed heroes) from the general population. Typically, due to circumstances beyond their control, such characters are thrust into extraordinary situations that one would normally expect a traditional hero to deal with.

Such characters often behave immorally or in a cowardly fashion, and do not always have good intentions, which distinguishes them from the typical everyman or reluctant heroic characters, yet they lack the actual malice demonstrated by "villains"

Well-known examples of such characters include:

• Homer Simpson from The Simpsons
• Arthur Dent from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
• Case from Neuromancer
• David Summers of Sam Peckinpah's film Straw Dogs.

The villain

Occasionally the central character in a work has no redeeming features at all. The character seems to be a complete villain but for the fact that the story's focus is entirely upon this character and other characters are so insignificant, weak or flawed that they offer no respite. The reader or viewer is forced to sympathize or relate to a wholly unlikeable character and to directly confront their feeling for this kind of hero.

Well-known examples include:

• Pinkie Brown from Graham Greene's novel Brighton Rock
• Alex DeLarge from A Clockwork Orange
• William Shakespeare's Richard III
• Tony Montana from Scarface
• Riddick from The Chronicles of Riddick

The noble criminal

Another variation of this approach is a character who is, by traditional sensibility, a criminal, but who is actually an honorable person, exploiting people who are corrupt beyond redemption, sometimes with comic effect.

Well-known examples of this type include:

• Simon Templar aka The Saint
• Cary Grant's character from the film To Catch a Thief
• The Scarlett Pimpernel

The monster

Taking this point even further is the monster as hero. Although his deeds and nature might be horrific, we can identify with his struggle against fate or injustice. Examples include:

• Frankenstein's monster from the novel by Mary Shelley
• Marv from Frank Miller's graphic novel series Sin City
• The Vampire Lestat from Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles
• Elphaba (the Wicked Witch of the West) from Gregory Maguire's novel Wicked

See also

• Hero
• Vigilante
• Tragic hero
• Byronic hero

References

• Nobel e-Museum: The Nobel Prize in Literature 1976 Presentation Speech by Karl Ragnar Gierow
• Thomson Gale e-research and educational publishing:Glossary A

External links

• Salon.com: Anti-heroes (May 15, 2000)
• The Gallery of Anti-heroes and Villains: What is an Anti-Hero?