,

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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4.45 avg rating — 1,178,441 ratings
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2

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4.18 avg rating — 331,666 ratings
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3

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1,789,458 ratings
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4

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3.82 avg rating — 124,815 ratings
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5

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4.13 avg rating — 1,930,617 ratings
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6

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3.86 avg rating — 143,780 ratings
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7

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4.56 avg rating — 785,616 ratings
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8

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3.86 avg rating — 564,043 ratings
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9

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4.18 avg rating — 71,228 ratings
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10

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4.15 avg rating — 3,493,530 ratings
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11

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3.89 avg rating — 1,036,436 ratings
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12

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3.94 avg rating — 156,790 ratings
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13

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4.08 avg rating — 267,112 ratings
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14

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3.81 avg rating — 53,412 ratings
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15

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3.80 avg rating — 370,892 ratings
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16

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4.10 avg rating — 48,845 ratings
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17

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4.02 avg rating — 1,504,767 ratings
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18

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4.25 avg rating — 832,919 ratings
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19

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3.91 avg rating — 1,943,325 ratings
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20

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 780,257 ratings
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21

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3.87 avg rating — 960,326 ratings
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22

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4.01 avg rating — 69,897 ratings
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23

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4.18 avg rating — 189,873 ratings
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23

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3.89 avg rating — 199,287 ratings
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25

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4.22 avg rating — 58,165 ratings
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26

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4.11 avg rating — 133,653 ratings
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27

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3.90 avg rating — 222,916 ratings
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28

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4.26 avg rating — 593,623 ratings
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29

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4.03 avg rating — 113,215 ratings
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30

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4.44 avg rating — 694,893 ratings
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31

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4.04 avg rating — 567,688 ratings
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32

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4.11 avg rating — 167,729 ratings
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33

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3.96 avg rating — 296,123 ratings
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34

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3.86 avg rating — 131,660 ratings
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35

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3.89 avg rating — 21,959 ratings
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36

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3.84 avg rating — 1,261,603 ratings
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37

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4.60 avg rating — 10,619 ratings
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38

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4.13 avg rating — 16,292 ratings
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39

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4.24 avg rating — 103,686 ratings
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40

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4.09 avg rating — 950,487 ratings
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41

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4.39 avg rating — 451,259 ratings
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42

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3.95 avg rating — 122,249 ratings
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43

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4.42 avg rating — 152 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 — 1,112,698 ratings
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46

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4.10 avg rating — 784,637 ratings
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47

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3.99 avg rating — 861,516 ratings
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48

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3.50 avg rating — 691,607 ratings
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49

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3.87 avg rating — 847 ratings
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50

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3.97 avg rating — 97,929 ratings
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51

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4.22 avg rating — 322,238 ratings
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52

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4.63 avg rating — 3,318,384 ratings
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53

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4.19 avg rating — 2,531,193 ratings
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54

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4.31 avg rating — 1,263,189 ratings
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55

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3.86 avg rating — 184,906 ratings
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56

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4.26 avg rating — 358,910 ratings
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57

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3.79 avg rating — 42,432 ratings
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58

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4.17 avg rating — 3,800 ratings
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59

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4.02 avg rating — 13,730 ratings
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60

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3.94 avg rating — 851,724 ratings
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61

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4.42 avg rating — 1,033,823 ratings
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62

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4.24 avg rating — 127,677 ratings
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63

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3.94 avg rating — 369,086 ratings
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64

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4.38 avg rating — 16,907 ratings
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65

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 27,489 ratings
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66

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3.84 avg rating — 20,594 ratings
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67

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4.05 avg rating — 141,552 ratings
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68

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4.16 avg rating — 512,598 ratings
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69

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3.96 avg rating — 160,885 ratings
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70

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4.13 avg rating — 433,670 ratings
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71

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4.19 avg rating — 416,599 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 — 1,325 ratings
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74

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3.86 avg rating — 365,823 ratings
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75

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4.23 avg rating — 12,509 ratings
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75

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4.15 avg rating — 3,493,530 ratings
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77

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3.51 avg rating — 6,285 ratings
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78

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4.19 avg rating — 1,861 ratings
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79

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4.22 avg rating — 117,390 ratings
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80

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3.96 avg rating — 282,603 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 — 233,289 ratings
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84

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4.27 avg rating — 180,766 ratings
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85

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4.01 avg rating — 111,920 ratings
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86

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3.76 avg rating — 30,159 ratings
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87

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3.80 avg rating — 28,097 ratings
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88

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3.67 avg rating — 54,386 ratings
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88

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4.11 avg rating — 15,425 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 — 56,355 ratings
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92

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3.93 avg rating — 19,585 ratings
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93

by
4.25 avg rating — 114,616 ratings
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94

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3.95 avg rating — 16,991 ratings
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95

by
4.07 avg rating — 22,998 ratings
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96

by
3.96 avg rating — 248,105 ratings
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97

by
4.03 avg rating — 115,135 ratings
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98

by
4.48 avg rating — 1,018 ratings
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98

by
4.32 avg rating — 25 ratings
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100

by
4.12 avg rating — 57,777 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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