,

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 — 332,578 ratings
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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1,795,248 ratings
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4

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3.82 avg rating — 124,947 ratings
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5

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4.13 avg rating — 1,935,522 ratings
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6

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3.86 avg rating — 143,850 ratings
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7

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4.56 avg rating — 787,172 ratings
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8

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3.86 avg rating — 564,232 ratings
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9

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4.18 avg rating — 71,298 ratings
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10

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4.15 avg rating — 3,497,844 ratings
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11

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3.89 avg rating — 1,037,981 ratings
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12

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3.94 avg rating — 156,986 ratings
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13

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4.08 avg rating — 267,941 ratings
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14

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3.81 avg rating — 53,433 ratings
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15

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3.80 avg rating — 371,535 ratings
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16

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4.10 avg rating — 48,873 ratings
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17

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4.02 avg rating — 1,507,378 ratings
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18

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4.25 avg rating — 833,712 ratings
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19

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3.92 avg rating — 1,947,709 ratings
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20

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 781,129 ratings
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21

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3.87 avg rating — 961,776 ratings
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22

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4.01 avg rating — 69,942 ratings
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23

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4.18 avg rating — 190,181 ratings
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23

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3.89 avg rating — 199,745 ratings
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25

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4.22 avg rating — 58,238 ratings
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26

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4.11 avg rating — 134,071 ratings
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27

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3.90 avg rating — 223,195 ratings
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28

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4.26 avg rating — 594,160 ratings
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29

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4.03 avg rating — 113,337 ratings
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30

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4.44 avg rating — 697,081 ratings
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31

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4.04 avg rating — 568,940 ratings
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32

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4.11 avg rating — 167,970 ratings
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33

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3.96 avg rating — 296,483 ratings
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34

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3.86 avg rating — 132,006 ratings
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35

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3.89 avg rating — 21,963 ratings
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36

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3.84 avg rating — 1,265,202 ratings
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37

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4.60 avg rating — 10,640 ratings
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38

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4.13 avg rating — 16,327 ratings
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39

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4.24 avg rating — 103,855 ratings
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40

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4.09 avg rating — 951,395 ratings
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41

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4.39 avg rating — 451,591 ratings
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42

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3.95 avg rating — 122,639 ratings
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43

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4.41 avg rating — 153 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 — 1,116,002 ratings
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46

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4.10 avg rating — 787,014 ratings
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47

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3.99 avg rating — 862,956 ratings
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48

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3.50 avg rating — 692,007 ratings
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49

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3.86 avg rating — 856 ratings
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50

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3.97 avg rating — 98,186 ratings
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51

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4.22 avg rating — 323,292 ratings
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52

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4.63 avg rating — 3,330,458 ratings
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53

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4.19 avg rating — 2,543,143 ratings
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54

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4.31 avg rating — 1,263,885 ratings
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55

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3.86 avg rating — 185,203 ratings
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56

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4.26 avg rating — 359,971 ratings
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57

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3.79 avg rating — 42,477 ratings
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58

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4.17 avg rating — 3,801 ratings
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59

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4.01 avg rating — 13,733 ratings
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60

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3.94 avg rating — 852,930 ratings
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61

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4.42 avg rating — 1,035,094 ratings
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62

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4.24 avg rating — 127,985 ratings
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63

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3.94 avg rating — 370,307 ratings
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64

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4.38 avg rating — 16,934 ratings
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65

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 27,553 ratings
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66

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3.84 avg rating — 20,793 ratings
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67

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4.05 avg rating — 141,611 ratings
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68

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4.16 avg rating — 515,448 ratings
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69

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3.96 avg rating — 160,966 ratings
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70

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4.13 avg rating — 435,316 ratings
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71

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4.19 avg rating — 418,294 ratings
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72

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3.64 avg rating — 1,486 ratings
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73

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3.94 avg rating — 1,326 ratings
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74

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3.86 avg rating — 366,395 ratings
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75

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4.23 avg rating — 12,521 ratings
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75

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4.15 avg rating — 3,497,844 ratings
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77

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3.51 avg rating — 6,286 ratings
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78

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4.19 avg rating — 1,862 ratings
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79

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4.22 avg rating — 117,676 ratings
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80

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3.96 avg rating — 283,069 ratings
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81

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3.65 avg rating — 959 ratings
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82

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4.62 avg rating — 58 ratings
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83

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4.34 avg rating — 234,766 ratings
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84

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4.27 avg rating — 181,890 ratings
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85

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4.01 avg rating — 112,153 ratings
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86

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3.76 avg rating — 30,204 ratings
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87

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3.80 avg rating — 28,116 ratings
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88

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3.66 avg rating — 54,516 ratings
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88

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4.11 avg rating — 15,440 ratings
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90

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4.49 avg rating — 371 ratings
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91

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4.34 avg rating — 56,481 ratings
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92

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3.93 avg rating — 19,596 ratings
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93

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4.25 avg rating — 114,959 ratings
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94

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3.95 avg rating — 16,995 ratings
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95

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4.07 avg rating — 23,008 ratings
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96

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3.96 avg rating — 248,707 ratings
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97

by
4.03 avg rating — 115,476 ratings
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98

by
4.48 avg rating — 1,022 ratings
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98

by
4.27 avg rating — 26 ratings
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100

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4.12 avg rating — 57,886 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 4188 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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