Rand Al Thor, The Doctor, Bruce Wayne - Best Anti-Heroes?

[The Fisher King]

Peter Parker are Roland Deschain (The Gunslinger) - are a couple of others I think are good examples.

 

I certainly think the the most TRAGIC examples of protaganists in the fantasy and sci-fi genre that qualify as 'Anti-Heroes' are definitely Bruce Wayne, Rand Al Thor, Roland Deschain and The Doctor. Maybe Pug ConDoin too.

 

And I might put Fitz in from Hobb...well, no, maybe not, because he is not really an ''Anti'' Hero - just a sad hero.

 

Thoughts?

 

 

Fish

[Lilbaz]

Conan

Most of Gemmells/Abercrombie/Ericksons characters.

Aretmis Enreri/Jarlaxle

Raistlin Magere

Caine

 

thosands of others but can't think at the mo.

[Ashaman Kovan]

Raistlin is probably my favorite anti-hero ever. Mostly because dragon lance was one of the first fantasy books I was introduced to as a kid, but Raistlin has always been my favorite.

[Joshua Hendrickson]

I think we need to define "anti-hero" because I just don't see Rand or Batman or Spiderman in that category. Roland Deschain, however, I think would qualify, especially as we get to know him in the first and the last books of THE DARK TOWER. To me a real anti-hero would be someone like Alex Delarge in A CLOCKWORK ORANGE or Humbert Humbert in LOLITA--not good guys by any stretch of the imagination but ones with whom we come to identify through the course of their stories. Tyrion in A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE might qualify as well. Of comic book characters, Rorschach from WATCHMEN seems to fit, and of course Cerebus the Aardvark from Dave Sim's incomparable graphic novel CEREBUS.

[Joshua Hendrickson]

Perhaps the definition of anti-hero has to do with scruples. Rand and Batman and Spiderman all have scruples--they are not ruthless, and will not cross certain lines. Roland, however, is ruthless in his quest for the Dark Tower, and sacrifices everything to get it--with exactly the kind of results that he deserves. I won't throw out a spoiler for that story, but if you've read all the books in THE DARK TOWER and you know how it ends, you know what I mean.

[Red2111]

how abotu Snape. he's kinda an anti-hero, or rather a reluctant hero.

[Lilbaz]

Forgot Jack out of 24.

[The Fisher King]

You guys have some really good ones. Great call on Raistlin, btw.

 

I think we're kind of contradicting ourselves on certain things. We say an ''Anti-Hero'' cannot have morals then list characters that definitely had morals - then we leave OFF the list characters that were very, very ruthless.

 

I don't know. My thread title said ''Best'' Anti-Hero. Thats tough.

 

Maybe I should have titled it ''Most Tragic'' Anti-Hero.

 

If we went THAT way, Pug, Raistlin, The Gunslinger and The Doctor would probably take the cake.

 

 

 

Fish

[Sleeper]

Any anti-hero thread wouldn't be an anti-hero thread without the mention of Thomas Covenant. He freakin' rapes a girl in the first book.

[eclipse0]

In fiction, an antihero[1] (sometimes antiheroine as feminine) is generally considered to be a protagonist whose character is at least in some regards conspicuously contrary to that of the archetypal hero, and is in some instances its antithesis. Some consider the word's meaning to be sufficiently broad as to additionally encompass the antagonist who (in contrast to the archetypal villain) elicits considerable sympathy or admiration.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antihero

 

Frank Castle - The Punisher

MacManus Brothers - Boondock Saints

Blade

LeStat - Vampire Chronicles

William Wallace

Guy Fawkes

[Clayden69]

Not an anti-hero but an anti-heroic moment, if such a term exists, could be the use of the A-Bomb at end of WW2. Killed thousands but probably saved millions by ending the war.

 

 

and for anti-heores i got a few more

 

Gollum

Riddick- Pitch Black, Chronicles of Riddick

Ashen-Shugar

[Ashaman Kovan]

Any anti-hero thread wouldn't be an anti-hero thread without the mention of Thomas Covenant. He freakin' rapes a girl in the first book.

 

What...The...Fu&*? My dad named me after that guy. My middle name, Kovan, comes from that character. I've never read the books and I sure as hell didn't know he rapes a girl right out of the cage. Geeze..Time to have a talk with my dad I guess.

[Ashaman Kovan]

Poll time? lol. I say Raistlin in the winner.

[The Fisher King]

I seriously doubt anyone here will know who this is, but from Daytime Telivision, I would probably say that ''Todd Manning'' is the king here.

 

Primetime tv, The Doctor...Also probably Angel. Or Spike.

 

Scifi, probably Thomas Covenant.

 

Fantasy, Roland, Rand, Pug.

 

Those are my pics.

 

 

Fish

[Sleeper]

Any anti-hero thread wouldn't be an anti-hero thread without the mention of Thomas Covenant. He freakin' rapes a girl in the first book.

 

What...The...Fu&*? My dad named me after that guy. My middle name, Kovan, comes from that character. I've never read the books and I sure as hell didn't know he rapes a girl right out of the cage. Geeze..Time to have a talk with my dad I guess.

Haha yeah, Covenant's not a nice guy. Those books can get dark.

[The Fisher King]

One of the more interesting aspects to me of the portrayal of the ''Anti-Hero'' in Sci fi and Fantasy books and television and film is the situation where you end up with one that was NOT nearly so ''dark'' early on.

 

Pug is a great example of this. The young innocent lad in ''Magician: Apprentice.'' Boy, HE changed!

 

The Doctor is another. He started out impish, like Charlie Chaplain mixed with The Nutty Professor and a hint of James Bond/007 thrown in. ... Now days, especially the current Doctor (Eleven), well, we are talking veeeery dark. Eleven is downright scary, but Eleven is still my favorite.

 

Then you have the opposite example. Those that start out ''bad'' and are slowly ''redeemed'' - like Spike or Angel.

 

Raistlin from Dragonlance may be one of the more realistic representations of an Anti-Hero. He never thought of himself as 'Evil' or particularly desired 'Redemption' - he just acted by what his nature dictated in every situation he found himeself in ... ... ... not to end a sentence in a preposition (which I haven't ;-)

 

 

 

Fish

[eclipse0]

Jayne Cobb, the hero of Canton, defines antihero. There's a statue to prove it.

[ironisles]

Elric of Melnibone. He manages to kill just about everything he ever cared for despite trying not to.

[The Fisher King]

Not an anti-hero but an anti-heroic moment, if such a term exists, could be the use of the A-Bomb at end of WW2. Killed thousands but probably saved millions by ending the war.

 

 

and for anti-heores i got a few more

 

Gollum

Riddick- Pitch Black, Chronicles of Riddick

Ashen-Shugar

 

Is this the real life paralell to the fictional example of what The Doctor did during The Timewar?

 

 

Fish

[Turin Turambar]

Elric of Melnibone. He manages to kill just about everything he ever cared for despite trying not to.

 

How about another guy with a black sword, Turin Turambar? He killed his best friend(didn't know it was him), married his sister(didn't know it was her) all because his father defied Morgoth.

[Suttree]

The Bloody Nine