,

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 — 330,955 ratings
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3

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1,784,540 ratings
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4

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3.82 avg rating — 124,686 ratings
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5

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4.13 avg rating — 1,926,604 ratings
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6

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3.86 avg rating — 143,711 ratings
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7

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4.56 avg rating — 784,366 ratings
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8

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3.86 avg rating — 563,885 ratings
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9

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4.18 avg rating — 71,177 ratings
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10

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4.15 avg rating — 3,489,759 ratings
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11

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3.89 avg rating — 1,035,232 ratings
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12

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3.94 avg rating — 156,655 ratings
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13

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4.09 avg rating — 266,390 ratings
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14

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3.81 avg rating — 53,395 ratings
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15

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3.80 avg rating — 370,299 ratings
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16

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4.10 avg rating — 48,819 ratings
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17

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4.02 avg rating — 1,502,657 ratings
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18

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4.25 avg rating — 832,237 ratings
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19

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3.91 avg rating — 1,939,815 ratings
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20

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 779,498 ratings
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21

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3.87 avg rating — 959,106 ratings
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22

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4.01 avg rating — 69,862 ratings
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23

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4.18 avg rating — 189,647 ratings
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23

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3.89 avg rating — 198,869 ratings
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25

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4.22 avg rating — 58,127 ratings
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26

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4.11 avg rating — 133,318 ratings
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27

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3.90 avg rating — 222,667 ratings
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28

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4.26 avg rating — 593,168 ratings
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29

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4.03 avg rating — 113,132 ratings
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30

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4.44 avg rating — 693,075 ratings
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31

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4.04 avg rating — 566,694 ratings
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32

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4.11 avg rating — 167,524 ratings
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33

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3.96 avg rating — 295,827 ratings
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34

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3.86 avg rating — 131,341 ratings
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35

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3.89 avg rating — 21,946 ratings
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36

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3.84 avg rating — 1,258,497 ratings
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37

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4.60 avg rating — 10,607 ratings
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38

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4.13 avg rating — 16,279 ratings
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39

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4.24 avg rating — 103,549 ratings
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40

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4.09 avg rating — 949,685 ratings
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41

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4.39 avg rating — 450,991 ratings
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42

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3.95 avg rating — 121,926 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 — 1,110,170 ratings
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46

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4.10 avg rating — 782,666 ratings
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47

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3.99 avg rating — 860,363 ratings
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48

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3.50 avg rating — 691,264 ratings
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49

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3.87 avg rating — 838 ratings
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50

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3.97 avg rating — 97,659 ratings
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51

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4.22 avg rating — 321,419 ratings
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52

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4.63 avg rating — 3,308,217 ratings
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53

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4.19 avg rating — 2,520,862 ratings
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54

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4.31 avg rating — 1,262,667 ratings
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55

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3.86 avg rating — 184,718 ratings
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56

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4.26 avg rating — 357,976 ratings
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57

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3.79 avg rating — 42,399 ratings
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58

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4.17 avg rating — 3,798 ratings
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59

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4.02 avg rating — 13,721 ratings
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60

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3.94 avg rating — 850,711 ratings
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61

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4.42 avg rating — 1,032,725 ratings
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62

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4.24 avg rating — 127,415 ratings
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63

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3.94 avg rating — 368,148 ratings
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64

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4.38 avg rating — 16,892 ratings
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65

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 27,427 ratings
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66

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3.84 avg rating — 20,443 ratings
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67

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4.05 avg rating — 141,490 ratings
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68

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4.16 avg rating — 510,080 ratings
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69

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3.96 avg rating — 160,824 ratings
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70

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4.13 avg rating — 432,320 ratings
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71

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4.19 avg rating — 415,181 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 — 365,375 ratings
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75

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4.23 avg rating — 12,497 ratings
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75

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4.15 avg rating — 3,489,759 ratings
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77

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3.51 avg rating — 6,283 ratings
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78

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4.19 avg rating — 1,859 ratings
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79

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4.22 avg rating — 117,218 ratings
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80

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3.96 avg rating — 282,201 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 — 232,157 ratings
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84

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4.27 avg rating — 179,847 ratings
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85

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4.01 avg rating — 111,736 ratings
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86

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3.76 avg rating — 30,128 ratings
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87

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3.80 avg rating — 28,070 ratings
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88

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3.66 avg rating — 54,272 ratings
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88

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4.11 avg rating — 15,412 ratings
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90

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4.50 avg rating — 368 ratings
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91

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4.34 avg rating — 56,227 ratings
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92

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3.93 avg rating — 19,581 ratings
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93

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4.25 avg rating — 114,338 ratings
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94

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3.95 avg rating — 16,988 ratings
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95

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4.07 avg rating — 22,992 ratings
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96

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3.97 avg rating — 247,566 ratings
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97

by
4.03 avg rating — 114,851 ratings
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98

by
4.48 avg rating — 1,016 ratings
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98

by
4.32 avg rating — 25 ratings
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100

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4.12 avg rating — 57,653 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 4186 books
53 friends
Shelly 932 books
16 friends
Tora 90 books
6 friends
Ann 356 books
552 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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