I’ve speaking to friends and family lately about what makes a hero fun to read. While we all agree that heroes displaying grace and nobility are great role models, the over-powered “Mary Sue” character just doesn’t hold an audience’s interest these days.
Enter the anti-hero. Protagonists who are flawed, weak or otherwise not entirely up to the standards that their society would like them to conform to. These characters can be a lot of fun to read and to create, because it’s their flaws that makes them relatable, funny or sympathetic.
Let’s talk a little about my favorite type of anti-hero, the Redeemed anti-hero. These men and women are ones who often start off at the margin of society, not necessarily due to discrimination (that’s a different type of protagonist and a discussion for another day), but because they have in some way broken the rules or somehow just screwed up their life. Anti-heroes can start as outlaws, as alcoholics, or as a bitter recluse who has rejected their old life. What makes them captivating is watching them slowly face up to the flaws that led to their original downfall, and hopefully overcome them. Wolverine from the Marvel mythos is an obvious choice; forever growling and insulting those around him, he eventually softens up and eventually becomes a good teacher, companion and (in the last movie) father figure. Other good Redeemed anti-heroes include Duke Kaspar from Feist’s “Conclave of Shadows” series and the mage Yggur from Irvine’s “The View from the Mirror” quartet.
Redeemed anti-heroes doesn’t have to be grumpy and unpleasant, though. Tyrion from “Game of Thrones” and Moist von Lipwig from Pratchett’s “Going Postal” are fun, witty and engaging. So is Flynn Ryder/Eugene from Disney’s “Tangled” – the best Disney movie ever made (that is final and I refuse to debate anyone on that point!).
Then there’s the Drifter anti-hero. These are the characters who have a touch of pathos to their lives, as they know what their flaws are but still can’t overcome them. Their role is to help the characters around them, forever stopping at the gates of Heaven to look forward but never being able to bring themselves to take that final step. I have a soft spot for these types of characters. One of my favorites is John Ross from Brooks’ “Running with the Demon” series, a knight who is plagued every night by dreams of the future that will come to pass if he doesn’t act, and is constantly moving forward on an endless quest to stave off Armageddon for just one more day.
However some Drifter anti-heroes enjoy their lives and are completely content to be free: Spike Spiegel from “Cowboy Bebop” and Jack “That’s Captain Jack” Sparrow wouldn’t be any fun at all if they settled down and got a job.
Now we come to the “Edgy” heroes. Oh God help me. These are protagonists who have been spawned because someone wanted to create a “cool” character. By and large these protagonists start their stories overpowered, and rarely meet a challenge that they can’t easily best. They are unsociable, ungrateful and unlikable, and never seem to progress beyond this, or question their own actions. In many ways they are a negative Mary Sue, blandly perfect but with a nasty attitude.
Who are some of the worst offenders? Kratos from the “God of War” videogames springs to mind, who grunts, snarls and screws his way through the Greek pantheon, although he may have developed a little in his last game. Kylo Ren from the last Star Wars movie comes close, but I have high hopes for him in the final “Star Wars” film. There’s also Edward Cullen – yeah, I said it! From literary fiction, one hero I recently read was Occam the Untrue from “Sons of the Hydra” in the Warhammer 40K mythos, who is a “secret good guy working among the bad guys” character. The story opens with him standing at the bridge of a spaceship bombing the hell out of a military base and civilian town, with the motivation that he is weeding out the weakest of humanity’s protectors so that the rest of the species can thrive. It doesn’t get much better from there but I might give him a pass because he does have at least one scene where he wrestles with whether committing countless atrocities against innocent populations is really the best way to serve humanity as a whole. Actually, Warhammer 40K has a tendency towards this type of edgy character, but I’ll unwrap and best and worst that universe has to offer another day.
That’s all for now, please remember to repost this article if it was one you enjoyed!
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