History Main / AntiHero

%%** Gru after his HeelFaceTurn.

%% ZCE * Same thing goes with the eponymous character of ''WesternAnimation/{{Megamind}}''.

[[folder:Music]]
* Music/FiveIronFrenzy'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."
%%zce* Music/{{GWAR}}, sometimes.
%%zce* Music/MyChemicalRomance's "Killjoys".
%%zce* Music/SonataArctica's "Peacemaker".

[[folder:Myths And Religion]]
* Since one of the main themes of Literature/TheBible is that HumansAreFlawed, almost all the "heroes of faith" whom God chooses to carry out His purposes have vices that causes all sorts of problems.
** In the Old Testament, God usually identifies Himself as the God of [[Literature/BookOfGenesis Abraham, Isaac and Jacob]]. All three men are less-than-ideal in their own way, but especially Jacob, who deceives his father to steal his older brother's blessing, and later shows blatant ParentalFavoritism towards his son Joseph (sparking fatal jealousy in his brothers). Despite this, God promises to make a great nation out of him and [[MeaningfulRename renames]] him "Israel", and this name is what his descendants would be known as for the next hundreds of years.
** [[Literature/BooksOfSamuel David]], despite being known as "a man after God's own heart" repeatedly falls into his vices, such as committing adultery with Bathsheba, and [[UriahGambit having her husband murdered]].
** Unlike the later Kings of Israel, the [[Literature/BookOfJudges judges]] are personally handpicked by God to rescue the nation from foreign opressors, but a lot of them (especially the latter half) are just as proud and bloodthirsty as their enemies.
*** Gideon massacres a neutral party for refusing to help him chase his enemies, and, after defeating his adversaries, builds an ephod for his honour (which becomes a new source of Israel's idolatry), which is described as a "snare to his family".
*** Jephthah recklessly makes an oath to sacrifice whatever comes out of the house to greet him when he returns from battle. This turns out to be his daughter, and Jephthah chooses to stand by his (poorly thought out) oath and sacrifices his daughter rather than admit his mistake and bear the consequences of breaking the oath by himself.
*** Samson is consistently depicted as violent, ill-tempered and prone to fall into his own carnal whims. He marries a Philistine woman (the nation he's supposed to be saving Israel ''from''), then promptly divorces her when she causes him to lose a bet he made with the party guests, only to regret it later and tries to get her back. Failing to get back his wife, he goes on to cavort with prostitutes, including Delilah (who would lead to his downfall). Whenever he kills the Philistines, it's not because he wants to help his oppressed people -- as his predecessors did -- but because he's pissed and goes on a rampage.

[[folder:Opera]]
* In Wagner's ''[[Theatre/DerRingDesNibelungen Ring Cycle]]'', Wotan is trying to establish a world of order and laws, his actions are nearly always self-serving.

[[folder:Radio]]
* Jason Whittaker, [[BigGood John Whittaker's]] adult son, from ''Radio/AdventuresInOdyssey'' is certainly this; particularly when faced with a dangerous or otherwise sticky situation. He is the most likely to be told that he doesn't have to ignore basic morality to successfully counter evil, and he tends to be very cocky and aggressive when he thinks he knows what he's doing.
* The Shadow of the [[Radio/TheShadow radio series]] is a LighterAndSofter version of this term, at least during Orson Welles' tenure. He was much more moral overall and never directly killed anyone, but still often manipulated villains into killing each other or themselves. Once Welles left the role, however, later actors played him as a straight-up hero.

** Portluck is a GoodIsNotNice version.

** He tortures enemies. He has a disregard, at best, for figures of authority, along with generally disregarding people's lives when facing a threat to those he cares about. He generally hovers around Pragmatic Anti-Hero [[spoiler: until Ginny turns up]]. Then he's generally a milder Anti-Hero, with worse tendencies when someone he cares about is hurt.
* Joachim Hoch from the {{Fanfic/Uplifted}} series, on the one hand is a Waffen SS Officer somewhat disenchanted with the war, charming and kind, sympathetic to the Quarians, and has lines he will not cross. He offers to let his Jewish sister in law escape, though that confrontation ends badly in a shocking fashion. On the other hand he is violent and brutal in combat, not shy about his anti-semitic, homophobic viewpoints (though it does get him into trouble with Hanala at times), and fiercely believes in his cause. He is Waffen SS for a reason. His Quarian counterpart and eventual lover, Hanala Jarva, is manipulative, lying, and brutal, and yet more idealistic than Hoch. Even if it usually is Hoch who plays the role of peacekeeper.

** Gru after his HeelFaceTurn.

* Jack Frost from ''WesternAnimation/RiseOfTheGuardians'' may be brave and heroic at heart, but also an incorrigible trickster who prefers to work alone.

*** Samson is consistently depicted as violent, ill-tempered and prone to fall into his own carnal whims. He marries a Philistine woman (the nation he's supposed to be saving Israel ''from''), then promptly divorces her when she causes him to lose a bet he made with the party guests, only to regret it later and tries to get her back. Failing to get back his wife, he goes on to cavort with prostitutes, including Delilah (who would lead to his downfall). Whenever he kills the Philistines, it's not because he wants to help his oppressed people--as his predecessors did--but because he's pissed and goes on a rampage.
** [[Literature/BooksOfSamuel David]], despite being known as "a man after God's own heart" repeatedly falls into his vices, such as committing adultery with Bathsheba, and [[UriahGambit having her husband murdered]].

* The Soldier, from Sarah Kane's ''Blasted''.
* The 2013 stage musical ''Theatre/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory'' takes the InterpretativeCharacter {{Deuteragonist}} of Willy Wonka and nudges him into this trope, to the point that he comes off as ''AmbiguouslyEvil''. On the one hand, all of his confectionery creations stem from a drive to make the world a lovelier place ForHappiness, though owing to his [[TheWonka eccentric way of thinking and creating]] his "art" isn't usually recognized as such. And he is capable of incredible kindness and generosity, able to recognize diamonds in the rough as readily as [[DevilInPlainSight devils in plain sight]], to the point that [[spoiler: he's the reason poor Charlie Bucket found his Golden Ticket to begin with -- it's a long story]]. BUT. He has a SugarAndIcePersonality; he's ''fiercely'' proud of and prone to boasting about his marvelous world, and frosty towards the Golden Ticket tour group, more concerned with punctuality and showing off than getting to know them. And when the bratty kids disobey his warnings and get themselves into trouble, he not only has NoSympathy (in part because [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans he's more concerned with his factory's continued operation]]), but clearly sees them as getting what's coming to them...''even when it proves [[DeathByAdaptation fatal]]''. Oh, ''some'' of them might get an offstage rescue or DisneyDeath...but ''we'll'' never know. David Greig, who wrote the book of this musical, commented in a Twitter chat that while the [[Literature/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory original novel]] may have NoAntagonist, "I started to wonder about the dark side of Willy and realised he is a goodie AND a baddie." (Coincidentally, this show's director is Creator/SamMendes, who directed [[Film/{{Skyfall}} two of the]] [[Film/{{Spectre}} Daniel Craig James Bond films]], and actor Creator/DouglasHodge, who originated the role of Wonka, previously played Theatre/TitusAndronicus at Shakespeare's Globe!)
* Prince Hippolytus from Sarah Kane's ''Phaedra's Love''.

** Archer walked this line. He grew up as an idealistic busybody, believing that he could be a 'champion of justice' and turn the world into a better place. In the end, he realized that for everyone he saved, someone else must die. He lost faith in his own ideals, and from then on, he simply killed whoever posed a threat to the rest of humanity, saving millions by killing thousands - "for the greater good".\\

This was in no small part thanks to [[Literature/FateZero his father]], [[spoiler:Emiya Kiritsugu, who held the same ideals, and did the same thing - killing people whose work would involve death of others, even if it would've benefited others. After the 4th Grail War, finally believing that he made a difference in the world (ordering Saber to destroying the Grail) he dies. The Grail wasn't ''really'' destroyed..]].

-->'''Riff:''' "I literally summon demons to keep myself from buying a shotgun and permanently emptying a Taco Bell!"

* In ''Literature/TheAntithesis'', 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.

* Jack Masterson of ''Literature/ChronoHustle''.

** WebVideo/ADoseOfBuckley aka Adam Buckley He is a good guy deep down, but is prone to dealing with topics in less than ideal ways and will call you a "droolie" and swear.

** In Paragon Tier, Gibnaf is slowly becoming Unscrupulous. To the point that the other players begin tracking up his 'anti-hero points.'

* In ''{{Literature/Worm}}'', the main characters, the Undersiders, are either Anti-Heroes or {{Anti Villain}}s, as while they're supervillains they spend most of the story protecting people from the really evil villains and monsters of the CrapsackWorld that they live in.

** Chivalrous and unfailingly polite to women? Check (unless you insult his girlfriend. The worst you'll get is temporary hives. If you're a man [[spoiler: he will hold you at knife point]]). Total badass? Check. Total disregard for anything approaching authority? Check. Occasional habit of torturing enemies? Check. Complete disregard for the value of human life when it might constitute a threat to those he cares about? Check. Probable [[CloudCuckoolander mild insanity]] which leads to a near FaceHeelTurn on at least one occasion? Check. He generally hovers around Pragmatic Anti-Hero [[spoiler: until Ginny turns up]]. Then he's generally a Disney Anti-Hero, with Unscrupulous tendencies when someone he cares about is hurt.

* QuirkyGood: They're a hero alright, just not the regular type.

An ArchetypalCharacter who is almost as common in modern fiction as the IdealHero, an anti-hero is a protagonist who has the opposite of most of the traditional attributes of a hero. They may be bewildered, ineffectual, deluded, or merely apathetic. More often an anti-hero is just an amoral misfit. While heroes are typically conventional, anti-heroes, depending on the circumstances, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kohlberg%27s_stages_of_moral_development may be preconventional (in a "good" society), postconventional (if the government is "evil")]] or even unconventional. Not to be confused with the villain or the BigBad, who is the ''opponent'' of Heroes (and Anti-Heroes, for that matter).

Sometimes, they're not the "star" (protagonist), but serve as TheRival or WorthyOpponent of the [[DesignatedHero protagonist]] and are prone to becoming a EnsembleDarkhorse as fans enjoy their interactions with the protagonist. If they are part of a FiveManBand, they will most certainly be TheLancer. Well liked ones may become a {{Deuteragonist}} or at least get ADayInTheLimelight to please the fans.

The term is used more loosely today than it used to be, at least on [[Website/TVTropes This Wiki]]. In one definition of the word, the appeal of an antihero is that they're often very literally a ''hero'': Namely; they do heroic deeds. But whereas Superman, Wonder Woman, and many other [[TheCape conventional heroes]] have ''both'' the physical and moral capabilities to do it, an antihero almost ''never'' has both.

Not to be confused with the webcomic ''Webcomic/AntiHeroes'', or VillainProtagonist, where the main character is outright evil.

* Sidney from ''Webcomic/{{Distillum}}'' is an abrasive, confrontational loner with implied issues. She's also the one person in the group with any experience in heroing, although as a mentor sha ranges from [[CynicalMentor cynical]] to downright abusive.

* Sid from ''Webcomic/{{Distillum}}''.