,

The difference between an anti-hero and a villain protagonist is that the anti-hero often has the role of a hero but with darker sides.

This list is meant to help list books with characters that have the role of what would normally be considered an antagonist, someone you normally wouldn't cheer for. Maybe they have sympathetic sides, maybe they don't but the important thing is that it's the main character of the story.
1

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2

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4.18 avg rating — 323,983 ratings
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3

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4.01 avg rating — 1,743,829 ratings
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4

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3.83 avg rating — 123,767 ratings
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5

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4.14 avg rating — 1,890,725 ratings
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6

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3.86 avg rating — 143,150 ratings
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7

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4.57 avg rating — 772,816 ratings
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8

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3.86 avg rating — 562,416 ratings
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9

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4.18 avg rating — 70,807 ratings
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10

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4.15 avg rating — 3,458,455 ratings
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11

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3.89 avg rating — 1,023,922 ratings
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12

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3.94 avg rating — 155,279 ratings
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13

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4.09 avg rating — 259,898 ratings
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14

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3.81 avg rating — 53,266 ratings
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15

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3.80 avg rating — 364,112 ratings
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16

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4.10 avg rating — 48,556 ratings
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17

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4.02 avg rating — 1,482,763 ratings
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18

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4.25 avg rating — 826,827 ratings
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19

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3.91 avg rating — 1,902,036 ratings
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20

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 771,969 ratings
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21

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4.01 avg rating — 69,517 ratings
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22

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4.18 avg rating — 187,749 ratings
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22

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3.89 avg rating — 195,165 ratings
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24

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3.87 avg rating — 948,871 ratings
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25

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4.22 avg rating — 57,764 ratings
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26

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4.12 avg rating — 130,314 ratings
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27

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3.90 avg rating — 219,748 ratings
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28

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4.26 avg rating — 589,475 ratings
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29

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4.03 avg rating — 112,283 ratings
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30

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4.45 avg rating — 677,582 ratings
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31

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4.04 avg rating — 556,499 ratings
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32

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4.11 avg rating — 165,713 ratings
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33

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3.96 avg rating — 293,249 ratings
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34

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3.87 avg rating — 128,413 ratings
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35

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3.89 avg rating — 21,855 ratings
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36

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3.84 avg rating — 1,231,847 ratings
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37

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4.13 avg rating — 16,128 ratings
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38

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4.60 avg rating — 10,493 ratings
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39

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4.24 avg rating — 102,321 ratings
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40

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4.09 avg rating — 942,326 ratings
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41

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4.39 avg rating — 448,570 ratings
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42

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3.95 avg rating — 118,168 ratings
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43

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4.42 avg rating — 151 ratings
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44

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3.51 avg rating — 1,112 ratings
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45

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4.29 avg rating — 1,087,830 ratings
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46

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4.10 avg rating — 765,785 ratings
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47

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3.99 avg rating — 850,127 ratings
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48

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3.51 avg rating — 686,891 ratings
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49

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3.97 avg rating — 94,674 ratings
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50

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4.22 avg rating — 313,754 ratings
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51

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4.63 avg rating — 3,219,124 ratings
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52

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4.19 avg rating — 2,430,396 ratings
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53

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4.31 avg rating — 1,258,216 ratings
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54

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3.86 avg rating — 183,128 ratings
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55

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4.26 avg rating — 348,922 ratings
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56

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3.79 avg rating — 42,054 ratings
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57

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3.87 avg rating — 775 ratings
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58

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4.17 avg rating — 3,794 ratings
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59

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4.02 avg rating — 13,667 ratings
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60

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3.94 avg rating — 841,749 ratings
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61

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4.42 avg rating — 1,023,310 ratings
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62

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4.24 avg rating — 125,093 ratings
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63

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3.94 avg rating — 360,045 ratings
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64

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4.37 avg rating — 16,727 ratings
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65

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 26,841 ratings
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66

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4.05 avg rating — 140,994 ratings
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67

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4.16 avg rating — 488,540 ratings
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68

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3.96 avg rating — 160,251 ratings
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69

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4.14 avg rating — 420,256 ratings
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70

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4.19 avg rating — 404,040 ratings
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71

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3.64 avg rating — 1,483 ratings
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72

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3.94 avg rating — 1,324 ratings
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73

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3.86 avg rating — 361,175 ratings
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74

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3.84 avg rating — 19,342 ratings
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75

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4.23 avg rating — 12,434 ratings
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76

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3.51 avg rating — 6,271 ratings
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77

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4.19 avg rating — 1,852 ratings
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78

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4.22 avg rating — 115,347 ratings
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79

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3.96 avg rating — 278,628 ratings
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80

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3.65 avg rating — 959 ratings
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81

by
4.62 avg rating — 58 ratings
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82

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4.28 avg rating — 171,286 ratings
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83

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4.02 avg rating — 110,037 ratings
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84

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3.76 avg rating — 29,662 ratings
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85

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3.80 avg rating — 27,923 ratings
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86

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3.66 avg rating — 53,396 ratings
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86

by
4.11 avg rating — 15,327 ratings
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88

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4.51 avg rating — 358 ratings
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89

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4.34 avg rating — 55,393 ratings
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90

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3.94 avg rating — 19,506 ratings
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91

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4.25 avg rating — 112,020 ratings
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92

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3.95 avg rating — 16,907 ratings
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93

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4.07 avg rating — 22,919 ratings
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94

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3.97 avg rating — 243,181 ratings
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95

by
4.04 avg rating — 110,450 ratings
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96

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4.48 avg rating — 993 ratings
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96

by
4.48 avg rating — 23 ratings
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98

by
4.13 avg rating — 56,726 ratings
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99

by
4.39 avg rating — 435 ratings
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99

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4.35 avg rating — 221,534 ratings
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384 books · 645 voters · list created December 29th, 2013 by Otto (votes) .
287 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Otto 4157 books
53 friends
Shelly 932 books
16 friends
Tora 90 books
6 friends
Ann 356 books
552 friends
Brandi 141 books
531 friends
Stella 85 books
385 friends
Mel 60 books
1 friend
Nathalie 407 books
0 friends

More voters…


Comments Showing 1-19 of 19 (19 new)

dateUp arrow    newest »

message 1: by Emily (new)

Emily Annnnd there seem to be no female MC's.......


message 2: by Nati (new)

Nati Emily wrote: "Annnnd there seem to be no female MC's......."

The protagonist from Plague of Angels is female.


message 3: by Otto (new)

Otto What's an MC?


message 4: by autumn (new)

autumn Main character, I believe


message 5: by Zakle (last edited Mar 10, 2015 06:29AM) (new)

Zakle Otto wrote: "What's an MC?"

M stands for main and C stands for character. A lot of people, both online and off, will sometimes use that instead of actually saying or writing it.


message 6: by Otto (new)

Otto Ah, thanks.


message 7: by Otto (new)

Otto And yes the MC of Plauge of Angels is an awesome female as is the MC of Subtle Beuty, Lady Susan and numerous MCs in the short story collections.


message 8: by Otto (new)

Otto You can head over to the Female Anti-heroine list if you like. :)


Erin *Proud Book Hoarder* Dracula isn't the protagonist of Dracula


message 10: by Amu (new)

Amu Emily wrote: "Annnnd there seem to be no female MC's......."

There are several, although most weren't released when you posted this. I'd really recommend The Young Elites by Marie Lu.


message 11: by [deleted user] (new)

Adelina in The Young Elites was more anti hero than villain tbh


Angry_Tree_Hugger Fellow wrote: "Adelina in The Young Elites was more anti hero than villain tbh"

In book 2 she killes a girl and her family because the girl disrespect her by spitting on her shoe. That is more than just an anti hero.


message 13: by [deleted user] (new)

Mastersheep wrote: "Fellow wrote: "Adelina in The Young Elites was more anti hero than villain tbh"

In book 2 she killes a girl and her family because the girl disrespect her by spitting on her shoe. That is more tha..."


It's been a while since I last read the Young Elites but I definitely remember some stuff about it. In my opinion she's an anti hero because she is constantly debating against her own mind and her "good consciousness" sometimes pulls her back from doing something evil. Sometimes she even does good things voluntarily (view spoiler) Now she is definitely the villain of the story to other people who oppose her, but to us readers she is definitely an anti hero as she is struggling as to whether or not to do good or evil. A villain would be someone like Jorg who literally gives no shits about the people he kills and never cares about doing something good.


Alyzzp: MG Explorer How is Kaz a villain lmfao. Just bc he's greedy doesn't mean he's a villain.


message 15: by Stefan (new)

Stefan Putting Gone Girl on this list is quite a major spoiler.


message 16: by Sabrina (last edited Feb 21, 2021 07:04PM) (new)

Sabrina Lady Awesome: MG Explorer wrote: "How is Kaz a villain lmfao. Just bc he's greedy doesn't mean he's a villain."

Kaz murdered people. He killed that one guy who betrayed his gang. He ripped someone's eye out of their socket. But yeah, in the end it was for money.


message 17: by Megan (new)

Megan what books are good in this list for a mature young adult?


message 18: by Abby (new)

Abby Megan wrote: "what books are good in this list for a mature young adult?"

SIX OF CROWS AND THE CRUEL PRINCE, they are so good!


message 19: by Cindy (last edited Dec 04, 2023 08:27AM) (new)

Cindy Huskey I'm pretty sure nonfiction books about the KKK and Emmett Till don't actually qualify in a list of antiheroes as fictional characters (check the last page).


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