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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4.18 avg rating — 336,445 ratings
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3

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1,820,822 ratings
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4

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3.82 avg rating — 125,523 ratings
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5

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4.13 avg rating — 1,956,561 ratings
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6

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3.86 avg rating — 144,192 ratings
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7

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4.56 avg rating — 794,107 ratings
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8

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3.86 avg rating — 565,017 ratings
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9

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4.17 avg rating — 71,566 ratings
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10

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4.15 avg rating — 3,517,939 ratings
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11

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3.89 avg rating — 1,044,598 ratings
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12

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3.94 avg rating — 157,809 ratings
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13

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4.08 avg rating — 272,876 ratings
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14

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3.81 avg rating — 53,524 ratings
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15

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3.80 avg rating — 374,832 ratings
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16

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4.10 avg rating — 49,046 ratings
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17

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4.03 avg rating — 1,518,395 ratings
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18

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4.25 avg rating — 837,540 ratings
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19

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3.92 avg rating — 1,966,167 ratings
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20

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 785,073 ratings
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21

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3.87 avg rating — 967,504 ratings
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22

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4.01 avg rating — 70,143 ratings
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23

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4.18 avg rating — 191,339 ratings
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23

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3.89 avg rating — 201,791 ratings
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25

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4.22 avg rating — 58,488 ratings
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26

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4.11 avg rating — 135,838 ratings
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27

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3.90 avg rating — 224,492 ratings
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28

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4.26 avg rating — 596,641 ratings
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29

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4.03 avg rating — 113,808 ratings
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30

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4.44 avg rating — 706,241 ratings
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31

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4.04 avg rating — 574,383 ratings
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32

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4.11 avg rating — 169,051 ratings
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33

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3.96 avg rating — 297,989 ratings
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34

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3.86 avg rating — 133,341 ratings
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35

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3.89 avg rating — 22,011 ratings
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36

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3.84 avg rating — 1,281,822 ratings
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37

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4.60 avg rating — 10,719 ratings
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38

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4.13 avg rating — 16,433 ratings
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39

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4.24 avg rating — 104,674 ratings
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40

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4.09 avg rating — 955,408 ratings
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41

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4.39 avg rating — 453,109 ratings
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42

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3.96 avg rating — 124,706 ratings
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43

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4.41 avg rating — 154 ratings
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44

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3.51 avg rating — 1,109 ratings
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45

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4.29 avg rating — 1,128,573 ratings
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46

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4.09 avg rating — 797,103 ratings
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47

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3.99 avg rating — 869,979 ratings
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48

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3.50 avg rating — 693,551 ratings
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49

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it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 21 ratings
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50

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3.88 avg rating — 912 ratings
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51

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3.97 avg rating — 99,487 ratings
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52

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4.22 avg rating — 327,618 ratings
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53

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4.63 avg rating — 3,379,751 ratings
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54

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4.18 avg rating — 2,592,868 ratings
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55

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4.31 avg rating — 1,266,498 ratings
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56

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3.86 avg rating — 186,350 ratings
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57

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4.26 avg rating — 364,774 ratings
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58

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3.79 avg rating — 42,639 ratings
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59

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4.17 avg rating — 3,807 ratings
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60

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4.01 avg rating — 13,772 ratings
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61

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3.94 avg rating — 858,049 ratings
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62

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4.42 avg rating — 1,040,345 ratings
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63

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4.24 avg rating — 129,250 ratings
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64

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3.94 avg rating — 375,406 ratings
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65

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4.37 avg rating — 17,027 ratings
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66

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 27,940 ratings
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67

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3.83 avg rating — 22,318 ratings
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68

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4.05 avg rating — 141,868 ratings
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69

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4.15 avg rating — 527,760 ratings
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70

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3.96 avg rating — 161,268 ratings
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71

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4.13 avg rating — 442,268 ratings
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72

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4.20 avg rating — 426,580 ratings
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73

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3.64 avg rating — 1,490 ratings
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74

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3.93 avg rating — 1,329 ratings
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75

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3.86 avg rating — 368,634 ratings
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76

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4.23 avg rating — 12,570 ratings
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76

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4.15 avg rating — 3,517,939 ratings
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78

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3.51 avg rating — 6,301 ratings
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79

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4.19 avg rating — 1,871 ratings
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80

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4.22 avg rating — 118,660 ratings
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81

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3.96 avg rating — 285,216 ratings
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82

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3.65 avg rating — 959 ratings
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83

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4.62 avg rating — 58 ratings
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84

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4.33 avg rating — 240,764 ratings
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85

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4.27 avg rating — 186,815 ratings
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86

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4.01 avg rating — 113,153 ratings
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87

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3.76 avg rating — 30,408 ratings
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88

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3.80 avg rating — 28,223 ratings
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89

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3.67 avg rating — 54,983 ratings
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89

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4.11 avg rating — 15,495 ratings
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91

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4.49 avg rating — 375 ratings
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92

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4.34 avg rating — 57,037 ratings
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93

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3.93 avg rating — 19,657 ratings
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94

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4.25 avg rating — 116,307 ratings
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95

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3.95 avg rating — 17,026 ratings
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96

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4.07 avg rating — 23,048 ratings
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97

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3.96 avg rating — 251,358 ratings
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98

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4.03 avg rating — 117,006 ratings
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99

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4.48 avg rating — 1,032 ratings
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99

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4.31 avg rating — 26 ratings
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392 books · 663 voters · list created December 29th, 2013 by Otto (votes) .
289 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Otto 4190 books
53 friends
Shelly 932 books
16 friends
Tora 90 books
6 friends
Ann 356 books
551 friends
Brandi 141 books
530 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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