Quote:
Originally Posted by Juggernaut
I never considered him anti hero. Nor did I ever consider the Angel gang anti heroes.
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Probably because they're really not. They're no more anti-heroes than The Joker is.
They're villains. Popular villains. Beloved villains even, and great, very enjoyable characters, but still villains and rogues all the same.
An anti-hero is a character that ultimately, when pushed, does the right thing, or at least what they view as being the right and/or necessary thing by their own personal code, while using what could be seen as morally questionable methods, and while having personality traits that no true, clean cut hero would have, while also being willing to go to extremes that no ordinary clear cut hero would ever go to, or consider acceptable.
Snake Plissken is an anti-hero. The Punisher is an anti-hero. Dexter Morgan is an anti-hero. Jack Bauer is an anti-hero. Hell, one could even very much make the case that Judge Dredd is somewhat of an anti-hero given that he is basically a fascist and a ruthless, uncompromising bastard, and thus falls under the typical 'the end justifies the means' anti-hero style reasoning. Although the fact that Dredd is a character that lives in a fascistic worldscape to begin with may nullify that a little bit too, as that isn't really a world with any clear cut and traditional 'clean' heroes to begin with.
Anti-heroes are neither true heroes, nor are they villains, but instead live in a grey area in between the two, where they have a certain code that they operate by, but don't really conform to any set societal rules. They are usually loners, and they don't prey on the innocent, but they may not go out of their way to protect them either, or may only do so begrudgingly. And their punishment of those who they see as the enemy or as villainous in a way that conflicts with their own personal code is usually met with a rather ruthless form of justice. They do what they see as necessary, rather than what society would deem as just and proper and acceptable.
My view anyhow.