,

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 — 320,221 ratings
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3

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4.01 avg rating — 1,719,578 ratings
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4

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3.83 avg rating — 123,207 ratings
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5

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4.13 avg rating — 1,868,325 ratings
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6

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3.86 avg rating — 142,831 ratings
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7

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4.57 avg rating — 766,177 ratings
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8

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3.86 avg rating — 561,759 ratings
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9

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4.18 avg rating — 70,571 ratings
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10

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4.15 avg rating — 3,436,346 ratings
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11

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3.89 avg rating — 1,017,334 ratings
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12

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3.94 avg rating — 154,615 ratings
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13

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4.09 avg rating — 256,365 ratings
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14

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3.81 avg rating — 53,187 ratings
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15

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3.80 avg rating — 360,918 ratings
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16

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4.10 avg rating — 48,369 ratings
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17

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4.02 avg rating — 1,471,010 ratings
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18

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4.25 avg rating — 823,513 ratings
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19

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3.91 avg rating — 1,876,749 ratings
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20

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 767,927 ratings
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21

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4.01 avg rating — 69,322 ratings
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22

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4.18 avg rating — 186,704 ratings
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22

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3.89 avg rating — 192,912 ratings
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24

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3.87 avg rating — 942,848 ratings
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25

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4.22 avg rating — 57,532 ratings
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26

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4.12 avg rating — 128,651 ratings
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27

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3.90 avg rating — 218,486 ratings
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28

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4.26 avg rating — 587,307 ratings
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29

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4.45 avg rating — 668,733 ratings
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30

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4.04 avg rating — 550,858 ratings
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31

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4.11 avg rating — 164,700 ratings
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32

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4.03 avg rating — 111,892 ratings
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33

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3.96 avg rating — 291,561 ratings
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34

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3.89 avg rating — 21,780 ratings
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35

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3.87 avg rating — 126,912 ratings
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36

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3.84 avg rating — 1,216,008 ratings
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37

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4.60 avg rating — 10,425 ratings
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38

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4.13 avg rating — 16,057 ratings
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39

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4.24 avg rating — 101,580 ratings
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40

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4.09 avg rating — 935,766 ratings
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41

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4.38 avg rating — 446,952 ratings
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42

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3.95 avg rating — 116,490 ratings
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43

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4.42 avg rating — 151 ratings
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44

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3.52 avg rating — 1,109 ratings
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45

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4.29 avg rating — 1,074,600 ratings
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46

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4.10 avg rating — 756,247 ratings
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47

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3.99 avg rating — 842,950 ratings
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48

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3.51 avg rating — 683,115 ratings
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49

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3.97 avg rating — 93,353 ratings
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50

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4.22 avg rating — 309,547 ratings
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51

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4.63 avg rating — 3,164,857 ratings
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52

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4.19 avg rating — 2,379,729 ratings
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53

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4.31 avg rating — 1,255,570 ratings
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54

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3.86 avg rating — 182,122 ratings
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55

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3.87 avg rating — 742 ratings
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56

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4.17 avg rating — 3,785 ratings
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57

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4.26 avg rating — 344,174 ratings
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58

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4.02 avg rating — 13,633 ratings
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59

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3.79 avg rating — 41,890 ratings
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60

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3.94 avg rating — 836,679 ratings
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61

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4.42 avg rating — 1,018,425 ratings
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62

by
4.24 avg rating — 123,673 ratings
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63

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3.95 avg rating — 355,545 ratings
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64

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4.38 avg rating — 16,659 ratings
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65

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 26,625 ratings
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66

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4.05 avg rating — 140,741 ratings
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67

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4.16 avg rating — 475,681 ratings
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68

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3.96 avg rating — 159,964 ratings
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69

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4.14 avg rating — 413,645 ratings
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70

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3.64 avg rating — 1,481 ratings
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71

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3.94 avg rating — 1,324 ratings
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72

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3.86 avg rating — 358,814 ratings
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73

by
4.23 avg rating — 12,387 ratings
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74

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4.19 avg rating — 1,848 ratings
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75

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4.22 avg rating — 114,345 ratings
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76

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4.19 avg rating — 398,007 ratings
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77

by
3.96 avg rating — 276,461 ratings
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78

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3.64 avg rating — 960 ratings
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79

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4.62 avg rating — 58 ratings
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80

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3.85 avg rating — 18,728 ratings
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81

by
4.28 avg rating — 166,758 ratings
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82

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4.02 avg rating — 109,075 ratings
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83

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3.76 avg rating — 29,505 ratings
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84

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3.80 avg rating — 27,843 ratings
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85

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3.66 avg rating — 52,841 ratings
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85

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4.11 avg rating — 15,291 ratings
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87

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3.51 avg rating — 6,269 ratings
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88

by
4.51 avg rating — 356 ratings
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89

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4.34 avg rating — 54,962 ratings
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90

by
3.93 avg rating — 19,468 ratings
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91

by
4.24 avg rating — 110,792 ratings
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92

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3.96 avg rating — 16,838 ratings
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93

by
4.07 avg rating — 22,887 ratings
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94

by
3.97 avg rating — 240,853 ratings
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95

by
4.04 avg rating — 109,385 ratings
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96

by
4.48 avg rating — 978 ratings
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96

by
4.48 avg rating — 23 ratings
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98

by
4.13 avg rating — 56,245 ratings
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99

by
4.39 avg rating — 429 ratings
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99

by
4.35 avg rating — 215,727 ratings
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384 books · 643 voters · list created December 29th, 2013 by Otto (votes) .
288 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Otto 4156 books
53 friends
Shelly 932 books
16 friends
Tora 90 books
6 friends
Ann 356 books
552 friends
Brandi 141 books
531 friends
Stella 85 books
385 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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