,

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 — 1,179,170 ratings
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2

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4.18 avg rating — 331,951 ratings
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3

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1,791,201 ratings
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4

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3.82 avg rating — 124,851 ratings
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5

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4.13 avg rating — 1,932,140 ratings
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6

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3.86 avg rating — 143,804 ratings
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7

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4.56 avg rating — 786,082 ratings
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8

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3.86 avg rating — 564,094 ratings
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9

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4.18 avg rating — 71,249 ratings
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10

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4.15 avg rating — 3,494,873 ratings
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11

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3.89 avg rating — 1,036,946 ratings
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12

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3.94 avg rating — 156,851 ratings
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13

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4.08 avg rating — 267,389 ratings
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14

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3.81 avg rating — 53,418 ratings
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15

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3.80 avg rating — 371,117 ratings
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16

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4.10 avg rating — 48,857 ratings
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17

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4.02 avg rating — 1,505,554 ratings
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18

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4.25 avg rating — 833,135 ratings
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19

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3.92 avg rating — 1,944,703 ratings
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20

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 780,573 ratings
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21

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3.87 avg rating — 960,771 ratings
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22

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4.01 avg rating — 69,915 ratings
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23

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4.18 avg rating — 189,961 ratings
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23

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3.89 avg rating — 199,435 ratings
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25

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4.22 avg rating — 58,185 ratings
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26

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4.11 avg rating — 133,779 ratings
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27

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3.90 avg rating — 223,022 ratings
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28

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4.26 avg rating — 593,797 ratings
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29

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4.03 avg rating — 113,256 ratings
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30

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4.44 avg rating — 695,557 ratings
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31

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4.04 avg rating — 568,054 ratings
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32

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4.11 avg rating — 167,813 ratings
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33

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3.96 avg rating — 296,250 ratings
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34

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3.86 avg rating — 131,755 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 — 1,262,699 ratings
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37

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4.60 avg rating — 10,626 ratings
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38

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4.13 avg rating — 16,300 ratings
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39

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4.24 avg rating — 103,744 ratings
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40

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4.09 avg rating — 950,756 ratings
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41

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4.39 avg rating — 451,357 ratings
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42

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3.95 avg rating — 122,390 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 — 1,110 ratings
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45

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4.29 avg rating — 1,113,629 ratings
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46

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4.10 avg rating — 785,378 ratings
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47

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3.99 avg rating — 861,949 ratings
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48

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3.50 avg rating — 691,746 ratings
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49

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3.86 avg rating — 849 ratings
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50

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3.97 avg rating — 98,024 ratings
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51

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4.22 avg rating — 322,557 ratings
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52

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4.63 avg rating — 3,322,095 ratings
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53

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4.19 avg rating — 2,534,796 ratings
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54

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4.31 avg rating — 1,263,407 ratings
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55

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3.86 avg rating — 185,003 ratings
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56

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4.26 avg rating — 359,229 ratings
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57

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3.79 avg rating — 42,444 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 — 852,123 ratings
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61

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4.42 avg rating — 1,034,230 ratings
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62

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4.24 avg rating — 127,779 ratings
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63

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3.94 avg rating — 369,457 ratings
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64

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4.38 avg rating — 16,916 ratings
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65

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 27,510 ratings
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66

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3.84 avg rating — 20,644 ratings
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67

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4.05 avg rating — 141,568 ratings
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68

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4.16 avg rating — 513,482 ratings
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69

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3.96 avg rating — 160,905 ratings
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70

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4.13 avg rating — 434,217 ratings
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71

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4.19 avg rating — 417,124 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 — 365,978 ratings
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75

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4.23 avg rating — 12,512 ratings
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75

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4.15 avg rating — 3,494,873 ratings
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77

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3.51 avg rating — 6,284 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 — 117,462 ratings
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80

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3.96 avg rating — 282,756 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 — 233,744 ratings
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84

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4.27 avg rating — 181,112 ratings
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85

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4.01 avg rating — 111,994 ratings
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86

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3.76 avg rating — 30,169 ratings
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87

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3.80 avg rating — 28,105 ratings
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88

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3.66 avg rating — 54,437 ratings
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88

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4.11 avg rating — 15,432 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 — 56,391 ratings
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92

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3.93 avg rating — 19,587 ratings
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93

by
4.25 avg rating — 114,728 ratings
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94

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3.95 avg rating — 16,990 ratings
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95

by
4.07 avg rating — 23,000 ratings
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96

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3.96 avg rating — 248,277 ratings
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97

by
4.03 avg rating — 115,249 ratings
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98

by
4.47 avg rating — 1,019 ratings
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98

by
4.32 avg rating — 25 ratings
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100

by
4.12 avg rating — 57,806 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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