[Auryporry]

Just how sinister can an antihero be? If he/she stars as the protagonist of my novel and he/she does destructive, corruptable things, is there any limit as to how sinister those actions can be? If one thinks of an antihero as a villain in any regular novel, can they have a parallel mindset? For example, every villain can be looked at as their own hero if written from their perspective. To them, their villains are the heroes...the good guys. Just how insane and murderous can antiheroes be before you (the readers) would possibly lose interest or discontinue your liking for the character? Is there a certain point where their brutality would discourage you from reading a novel?

As an example, say we write a story through the eyes of Lord Voldemort, Sephiroth, or someone similar. They would be considered antiheroes in this case. To what extent would you write of their brutality? Would the reader lose interest at a certain point?

What if they were so bent on their mission, that they did not care much about relationships, sex, etc.? Would that type of character bore you, discourage you from reading a story? Thanks in advance!

[whereisbook4]

Often, an antihero is actually more interesting to read, because he dose not rationalize his actions. As much. Look at Shadow, for example. He can do what ever he wants, he knows it, and he chooses to be a hero. Chooses. Also, look at Batman. He breaks laws to uphold justice. This is an antihero. An antihero is a person who believes that they are doing good while breaking laws. Like, say, Robin Hood. Or Doctor Horrible. In short, an antihero is more awesome than an irish dancing bear ninja pirate. Which is, in other words, really d@mn awesome.

[Riss]

Yes characters like Jack Sparrow, Sawer from lost, Angle and Spike from Buffy.

Actually for this The Punisher is a perfect example as to how it doesn't matter how far an anti hero goes... I think an anti hero can have almost no limits (anything short of genocide is cool and even then it can be justified.)

[whereisbook4]

The only real downside to an antihero is that everyone is their enemy. The government, the crime bosses, everything.

[Regitnui]

The difference between a anti-hero and a villian is that the Anti-hero usually has a moral code of sorts. Batman, for example, firmly upholds his 'no killing' rule. There is a moral boundary, although it's usually deep grey. An anti-hero will also be like a hero in that he has positive qualities, maybe two or three, while a villian usually has one or none.

---,-'-@

[whereisbook4]

Or, sometimes the antihero will be a villan whose eyes we see through. No one considers themselves evil. Say... Galbatorix, for instance. If we had one chapter where CP was writing him as a human in his own head, he would not see himself as evil. He would not call himself good either, but certainetly not evil.

[Sirhai]

The only real downside to an antihero is that everyone is their enemy. The government, the crime bosses, everything.

That's not really required for an antihero.


The name actually says it all. An antihero is the opposite of what is considered to be a hero, therefore it's a pretty ambiguous term. An antihero can be everybody with questionable morals, from a corrupt politician to a vigilante to a womanizing jerk...

The limitation isn't in the number of the antihero's flaw but more in your writing abilities. A passable writer can make me emphasize with a classic hero - most of the time - but only a great writer makes me root for an antihero. On the other hand, people are easily fascinated by the more ruthless characters since they tend to look badass so that makes writing an antihero a little easier.

So, if you have enough confidence in your abilities as a writer, go ahead. If not, try giving your character a few redeeming qualities that still fit within your story or try to take a different point of view character. Remember, your protagonist doesn't have to be the hero/antihero.

[Auryporry]

Another quick question regarding anitheroes as it's buggin' the jitters outta me!

If, say, I had an antiheroine who's an incredibly cold and merciless. Ok, here comes my problem. In one scene, she wakes up from a deep sleep (she was wacked unconscious in a fight) and the man who rescues her jokes/taunts her into believing she's pregnant. That's one thing she absolutely would not want...she doesn't want to have any kids anyway. Although she is not pregnant but she's joked into believing it...how would she properly react? If she's so cold and cruel, what would she say? Would she have a panic attack, would she kill her rescuer, or something else? This may be a question geared towards women. So help everyone. Give me a hand here!

[Sirhai]

Uhm... she would probably wonder why the hell that guy thinks she's pregnant, has he done an ultrasound scan or what? Honestly, in my experience us women can easily be shocked into thinking we might be pregnant for like five seconds before actually thinking it over rationally, but that's it. In the end it's the woman who knows it best not some random guy. Joking someone into believing she's pregnant... highly improbable.

If she had unprotected sex in her fertile phase, now that's different, but who is dumb enough to do that? (Yeah, a lot of girls, I know. Still, it's pretty stupid.) And again, why would that guy know about that?

Oh, and if she's a "cold" and therefore rational person, she probably wouldn't freak out. Or be afraid of an abortion.

And be careful with the merciless characters and the killing since they're really clichéd. And why would she want to kill him if he rescued her? And why would he want her to believe she's pregnant and why would she be so gullible as to believe him?

Well, it's really hard to form a reasonable opinion with so little to go on. Maybe you should expand that summary and give some more character description or something, but I'm not sure whether that would still belong in this thread.

This post has been edited by Sirhai: 23 May 2009 - 06:17 PM

[Go for Gin]

Let's see what the all-powerful TV Tropes Wiki has to say in their Sliding Scale of Anti Heroes.

Love that site. Maybe you should just look up the Antihero page while you're at it.

[Regitnui]

Or you could (if you feel like reading) Find a copy of Bullies, Bastards and Bitches by Jessica Page Morrell. It has a chapter distinguishing Bad Boys, Anitheroes and Villians from each other. The main difference is the amount of sympathy the Reader feels for each.

---,-'-@

[Auryporry]

Is it also important to show an antihero has emotions? As in they actually cry and the like? That express feelings?

[Go for Gin]

You're worrying about this waaaaay too much. You have 14 posts, three of which are asking questions about antiheroes. Just relax. Antiheroes aren't necessarily necessary. Just write your character, and they'll end up being an antihero or not.

[Regitnui]

Is it also important to show an antihero has emotions? As in they actually cry and the like? That express feelings?

Yes, but mostly rage or negative emotions. No crying, or you'll ruin it. No happy-joy, or you'll ruin it. Like my friend DR just said, write the character, don't write a template. If he/she turns out an anti-hero, Wonderful.

---,-'-@

[Sirhai]

Like Dwarves said, you worry too much. You not only ask a lot about antiheroes, you have also posted like six other topics asking about how to do this or that. Just relax, lean back and write the story without worrying about anything. Then, when you've finished, you put it away for a few days then read it over and think about what can be improved, otherwise you'll never get actually anything written.

Writing has to be fun not obeying a thousand rules or doing what other people tell you to do. Honestly, try to make a few decisions yourself.