,

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 — 328,493 ratings
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3

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1,769,447 ratings
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4

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3.83 avg rating — 124,352 ratings
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5

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4.14 avg rating — 1,913,873 ratings
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6

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3.86 avg rating — 143,511 ratings
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7

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4.57 avg rating — 780,245 ratings
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8

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3.86 avg rating — 563,322 ratings
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9

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4.18 avg rating — 71,039 ratings
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10

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4.15 avg rating — 3,478,275 ratings
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11

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3.89 avg rating — 1,031,206 ratings
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12

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3.94 avg rating — 156,146 ratings
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13

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4.09 avg rating — 264,033 ratings
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14

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3.81 avg rating — 53,354 ratings
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15

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3.80 avg rating — 367,859 ratings
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16

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4.10 avg rating — 48,726 ratings
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17

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4.02 avg rating — 1,495,670 ratings
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18

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4.25 avg rating — 830,156 ratings
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19

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3.91 avg rating — 1,927,364 ratings
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20

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 776,643 ratings
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21

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3.87 avg rating — 955,441 ratings
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22

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4.01 avg rating — 69,743 ratings
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23

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4.18 avg rating — 188,913 ratings
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23

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3.89 avg rating — 197,667 ratings
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25

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4.22 avg rating — 58,006 ratings
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26

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4.12 avg rating — 132,217 ratings
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27

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3.90 avg rating — 221,468 ratings
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28

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4.26 avg rating — 591,880 ratings
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29

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4.03 avg rating — 112,839 ratings
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30

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4.45 avg rating — 687,401 ratings
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31

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4.04 avg rating — 562,945 ratings
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32

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4.11 avg rating — 166,864 ratings
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33

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3.96 avg rating — 294,872 ratings
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34

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3.86 avg rating — 130,404 ratings
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35

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3.89 avg rating — 21,919 ratings
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36

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3.84 avg rating — 1,248,758 ratings
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37

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4.60 avg rating — 10,560 ratings
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38

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4.13 avg rating — 16,222 ratings
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39

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4.24 avg rating — 103,134 ratings
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40

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4.09 avg rating — 947,205 ratings
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41

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4.39 avg rating — 450,052 ratings
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42

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3.95 avg rating — 120,427 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 — 1,111 ratings
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45

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4.29 avg rating — 1,101,975 ratings
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46

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4.10 avg rating — 776,559 ratings
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47

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3.99 avg rating — 856,707 ratings
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48

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3.50 avg rating — 690,004 ratings
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49

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3.87 avg rating — 816 ratings
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50

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3.97 avg rating — 96,445 ratings
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51

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4.22 avg rating — 318,784 ratings
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52

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4.63 avg rating — 3,274,650 ratings
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53

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4.19 avg rating — 2,485,919 ratings
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54

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4.31 avg rating — 1,261,069 ratings
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55

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3.86 avg rating — 184,136 ratings
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56

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4.26 avg rating — 354,222 ratings
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57

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3.79 avg rating — 42,264 ratings
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58

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4.17 avg rating — 3,796 ratings
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59

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4.02 avg rating — 13,701 ratings
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60

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3.94 avg rating — 847,345 ratings
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61

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4.42 avg rating — 1,029,252 ratings
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62

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4.24 avg rating — 126,597 ratings
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63

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3.94 avg rating — 365,107 ratings
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64

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4.37 avg rating — 16,829 ratings
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65

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 27,235 ratings
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66

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4.05 avg rating — 141,341 ratings
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67

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4.16 avg rating — 502,497 ratings
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68

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3.96 avg rating — 160,622 ratings
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69

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4.13 avg rating — 427,920 ratings
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70

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4.19 avg rating — 411,010 ratings
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71

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3.64 avg rating — 1,485 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 — 363,927 ratings
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74

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3.84 avg rating — 20,032 ratings
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75

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4.23 avg rating — 12,469 ratings
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75

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4.15 avg rating — 3,478,275 ratings
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77

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3.51 avg rating — 6,279 ratings
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78

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4.19 avg rating — 1,857 ratings
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79

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4.22 avg rating — 116,521 ratings
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80

by
3.96 avg rating — 280,989 ratings
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81

by
3.65 avg rating — 959 ratings
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82

by
4.62 avg rating — 58 ratings
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83

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4.34 avg rating — 228,460 ratings
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84

by
4.28 avg rating — 176,786 ratings
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85

by
4.02 avg rating — 111,144 ratings
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86

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3.76 avg rating — 29,977 ratings
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87

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3.80 avg rating — 28,008 ratings
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88

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3.66 avg rating — 53,951 ratings
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88

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4.11 avg rating — 15,381 ratings
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90

by
4.51 avg rating — 363 ratings
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91

by
4.34 avg rating — 55,945 ratings
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92

by
3.93 avg rating — 19,550 ratings
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93

by
4.25 avg rating — 113,492 ratings
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94

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3.95 avg rating — 16,955 ratings
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95

by
4.07 avg rating — 22,962 ratings
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96

by
3.97 avg rating — 246,018 ratings
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97

by
4.04 avg rating — 111,686 ratings
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98

by
4.48 avg rating — 1,009 ratings
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98

by
4.32 avg rating — 25 ratings
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100

by
4.13 avg rating — 57,332 ratings
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389 books · 651 voters · list created December 29th, 2013 by Otto (votes) .
288 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Otto 4183 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
384 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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