Favorite anti-heroes

[FPLOON]

Two words: Spike Spiegel from Cowboy Bebop

A badass bounty hunter who ends up having to put up with his top pet peeves simultaneously on a daily basis... His backstory and especially his personality are why I like this character...

(Also, on this list include Mugen from Samurai Champloo, since he's basically me but with better sword skills, and Afro from Afro Samurai, since nothing will stop him from getting his revenge...)

 

[Mark D. Stroyer]

So, the problem is that 'anti-hero' has quite a wide swath of varieties, and what hasn't come up yet is the type that is decidedly not a hero due to ineptitude.

That said, I rather like Harry Dresden, Kara Thrace, and of course Solid Snake. Those comes to mind off the top of my head.

 

[SilverBullets000]

Guts from Berserk. The guy is loyal to a T to his friends and his crew, but he does so much messed up stuff...then ends up losing it all and fighting off demons for the rest of his life. What a trooper.

 

[Jessta]

Lelouche Le Britannia, he simultaneously plays both the masked rebel knight trying to free the people from oppression and the evil emperor in order to unite the world against himself.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Who do you think...?

Spoiler: This fucking guy ofcourse.

Takes on unholy demons with nothing but his brawn... oh, and a giant fucking sword and a cannon he keeps in place of his left arm.

Spoiler: Major Spoilers!

Born from his mother's hung corpse, treated like shit by his adoptive father who sold him out to men. The woman he loved raped by his closest friend who entered into a demonic pact sacrifiing everyone else he cared about. And his unborn son, warped into a grotesque fetus haunting his nights, along with every other monster drawn to his sacrificial brand.

Not the cheeriest fella, obviously.

 

[Angie7F]

I dont know why but the first person that popped to mind was T-bone(?) from Prison Break.

 

[The Wykydtron]

Lelouch from Code Geass. I freaking love that character so much.

He raises an army from scratch to oppose an evil regime that cast him out as a child. His motivations are a little off sometimes, he does preach that he's fighting for the people and while that might be true sometimes, he is actually fighting for selfish reasons like revenge and on really shaky words from his sister that she probably thought up on the spot and forgot about but he took it like SUPER seriously and used it as motivation to change destroy the world

That said he does find a reason to jump to aid his friends when they get wrapped up in it, so he's not a bad guy. He's just all over the place.

 

[TheMigrantSoldier]

Lelouch. He isn't really evil if you watched the entire series. His motivations are good-natured but it's very easy to forget that when actually watching the guy in action.

I like Deadpool if only for the sake of comedy.

Scorpion from the MK series, even though he doesn't have his own game. One of the few purely neutral characters in the entire cast.

 

[PoolCleaningRobot]

Well obviously, the number one anti hero would have to be Shadow the Hedgehog

Just kidding. Since its on my mind. I'd have to say Joel from the Last of Us. He turns all those lame anti hero cliches on their head. Most would be like "I'm sad and grungy cause I miss my dead wife/daughter/son/family" and Joel would tell that person to keep their pussy feelings to themselves. I also like how:

Spoiler: not really a spoiler cause this is just the into of the game, but in case someone cares

Joel doesn't seem like the nicest guy even before his daughter dies given how he's unafraid to shoot his infected friend in the beginning of the game and tells his brother to abandon a family walking along the side of the road. He's not a monster by any means, but he clearly on cared about himself and his daughter

I'd also have to say Kain from Blood Omen/Legacy of Kain because he's such a complete ass hole with no redeeming qualities and his voice actor is amazingly good at conveying that

 

[Lovely Mixture]

Kane from the Tiberium series.
He initiates three major wars that end up killing many people.
While he views humanity as weak, he rewards loyalty and does end up giving his people the ascension that he promised.

I dont know why but the first person that popped to mind was T-bone(?) from Prison Break.

T-Bag IIRC.

 

[Legion]

Hmm that's pretty interesting. I've always thought the protagonist was by default a hero, and if not they were an anti-hero or something else.

Hmm, that's not really it. An anti-hero is more like a character who fights for the "good side", but isn't really good themselves. Riddick is pretty much the definition of an anti-hero, he fights the bad guys, but he is not good. John Constantine fights demons, but only because it benefits himself. Dexter from the book series and the television of the same name would also count I reckon.

 

[Hazy992]

30 posts in and nobody's mentioned the Prince of all Sayians?! Unacceptable!

Vegeta straight up doesn't give a fuck about anyone or anything other than his need to one day surpass Goku. Even when he allies with the others it's just to further his goal. Teaming up to defeat Frieza's forces? That's just so he can get a hold of the Dragon Balls for himself. Fighting the Androids? Well that's only so he can be the one to kill Goku.

Also Wolverine. Because Wolverine

 

[Mossberg Shotty]

Jackie Estacado from The Darkness, Walter White and Mile Ehrmantraut from Breaking Bad, Jacket from Hotline Miami, Travis Bickley from Taxi Driver, Rorschach from Watchmen, arguably all the main characters from the Vengeance trilogy, the list goes on and on. I love Anti-Heroes >w<.

The only one I can agree with from that list is Heisenberg. I like Jacket and Jackie, but I wouldn't call them anti-heroes, because none of them have done anything particularly heroic, as far as I know. What with one being a possessed Mob Boss, and the other being a mask-wearing mass murderer, I think they better fit the description of 'villain'. Also, are you sure you don't mean 'Mike'?

I'm pretty sure more than a few of those don't count as anti-heroes. They are the protagonists of their specific work, but that doesn't make them heroes or anti-heroes.

Walter White for example isn't an anti-hero, and I don't think Jackie is either (although I haven't played the Darkness games, so I can't say for sure).

I feel the need to point out that Walter White is advertised (On AMC) as "America's favorite anti-hero." And I think he fits the description perfectly because he started out doing bad things with good intentions before he eventually went full evil. If that isn't an anti-hero, what is?

 

[Scarim Coral]

Travis Touchdown count as a anti hero right?
Yes he is an assassin but as far as I know, he never assassinate/ killed an innocent person but he had killed the other assassins, villains and all the other low life henchmen that the villain/ assassin had hired!
Sure you could say he does the hero jobs for them by killing them all but his goal to become rank number 1 is not out of greed/ glory but lust (he want to become number 1 to band Sylvia)!

 

[Zen Bard]

I'm Old School.

My favorite is a Hero so Anti...he doesn't even have a name.

Without him, this list would be empty.

 

[Shinsei-J]

[HEADING=3]Hei from Darker than Black.[/HEADING]

The mans not a saint by any means, he fights for his own purposes and if that lines up with saving people then so be it.

 

[Kungfu_Teddybear]

Kain and Raziel, Vegeta, Deadpool, Gabriel Grey/Sylar.

 

[sextus the crazy]

I like a lot of anti-heroes, but my favorite is Joseph Yossarian from Catch-22. He's probably the most basic Anti-Hero; he a very sympathetic everyman, who realizes the danger and absurdity of the war he is forced to fight and tries to escape it.

 

[Nouw]

The only one I can agree with from that list is Heisenberg. I like Jacket and Jackie, but I wouldn't call them anti-heroes, because none of them have done anything particularly heroic, as far as I know. What with one being a possessed Mob Boss, and the other being a mask-wearing mass murderer, I think they better fit the description of 'villain'. Also, are you sure you don't mean 'Mike'?

I feel the need to point out that Walter White is advertised (On AMC) as "America's favorite anti-hero." And I think he fits the description perfectly because he started out doing bad things with good intentions before he eventually went full evil. If that isn't an anti-hero, what is?

I do suppose a few of them upon reconsideration would be closer to sympathetic villains but then I'm then wondering what Walt has done could be considered heroic. Providing for your family at the cost of untold lives doesn't really come off as being heroic. I suppose he'd be an anti-hero under the definition that they do 'bad' things with 'good' intentions and I suppose that's arguable whether Jacket or Jackie have positive intentions. And then we have a 'bad' person doing 'good' things with their own personal intentions which

Spoiler: @Legion pointed out.

Hmm, that's not really it. An anti-hero is more like a character who fights for the "good side", but isn't really good themselves. Riddick is pretty much the definition of an anti-hero, he fights the bad guys, but he is not good. John Constantine fights demons, but only because it benefits himself. Dexter from the book series and the television of the same name would also count I reckon.

Can these two co-exist though? I'll have to think about it.