Antihero

An antihero is a main character in a story who does not act like a traditional hero. The antihero does not show  idealism, courage, and morality.

The antihero became prominent in early 20th century existentialist works such as Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis (1915), Jean-Paul Sartre's La Nausée (1938), and Albert Camus' L'Étranger (1942) (). The protagonist in these works is an indecisive central character who drifts through his life and is marked by ennui, angst, and alienation.

Examples of antiheroes from modern pop culture are Marvel Comics The Punisher & Deadpool, Sega's "Shadow The Hedgehog", DC's Batman, Catwoman of Batman, John Constantine, Sweeney Todd, Light Yagami from the Death Note manga / anime series, Robin Hood, V from V for Vendetta, and Kratos from the God of War video-game franchise.

From English literature the classic example is Prince Hamlet from Hamlet by William Shakespeare, and from children's literature Discord from My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic.

Most of the time it means a character in fiction, television, or movies. Sometimes it is used to mean a real person. Sometimes the antihero is linked to the author's social critique or message to the reader: for example, the unnamed protagonist in Fyodor Dostoyevsky's Notes from Underground.

The whole concept was the subject of a book by Colin Wilson called The Outsider.Wilson, Colin 1956. The Outsider. London: Gollancz. There the author imagines he is in the position of many of his favourite characters in fiction, such as Dostoevsky's Raskolnikov.

 References 

 Related pages 
 False protagonist
 Villain
 Antagonist


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Category:Tropes