,

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 — 332,116 ratings
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3

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1,792,392 ratings
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4

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3.82 avg rating — 124,871 ratings
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5

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4.13 avg rating — 1,933,109 ratings
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6

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3.86 avg rating — 143,819 ratings
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7

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4.56 avg rating — 786,433 ratings
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8

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3.86 avg rating — 564,144 ratings
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9

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4.18 avg rating — 71,261 ratings
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10

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4.15 avg rating — 3,495,723 ratings
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11

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3.89 avg rating — 1,037,217 ratings
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12

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3.94 avg rating — 156,885 ratings
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13

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4.08 avg rating — 267,579 ratings
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14

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3.81 avg rating — 53,420 ratings
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15

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3.80 avg rating — 371,253 ratings
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16

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4.10 avg rating — 48,862 ratings
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17

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4.02 avg rating — 1,506,032 ratings
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18

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4.25 avg rating — 833,286 ratings
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19

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3.92 avg rating — 1,945,584 ratings
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20

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 780,745 ratings
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21

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3.87 avg rating — 961,065 ratings
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22

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4.01 avg rating — 69,923 ratings
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23

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4.18 avg rating — 190,035 ratings
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23

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3.89 avg rating — 199,532 ratings
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25

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4.22 avg rating — 58,204 ratings
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26

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4.11 avg rating — 133,860 ratings
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27

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3.90 avg rating — 223,078 ratings
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28

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4.26 avg rating — 593,898 ratings
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29

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4.03 avg rating — 113,281 ratings
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30

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4.44 avg rating — 696,044 ratings
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31

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4.04 avg rating — 568,325 ratings
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32

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4.11 avg rating — 167,865 ratings
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33

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3.96 avg rating — 296,302 ratings
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34

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3.86 avg rating — 131,828 ratings
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35

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3.89 avg rating — 21,960 ratings
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36

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3.84 avg rating — 1,263,465 ratings
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37

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4.60 avg rating — 10,630 ratings
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38

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4.13 avg rating — 16,307 ratings
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39

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4.24 avg rating — 103,785 ratings
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40

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4.09 avg rating — 950,915 ratings
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41

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4.39 avg rating — 451,424 ratings
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42

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3.95 avg rating — 122,466 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 — 1,114,421 ratings
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46

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4.10 avg rating — 785,918 ratings
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47

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3.99 avg rating — 862,237 ratings
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48

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3.50 avg rating — 691,816 ratings
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49

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3.86 avg rating — 853 ratings
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50

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3.97 avg rating — 98,064 ratings
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51

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4.22 avg rating — 322,781 ratings
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52

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4.63 avg rating — 3,324,532 ratings
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53

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4.19 avg rating — 2,537,221 ratings
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54

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4.31 avg rating — 1,263,544 ratings
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55

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3.86 avg rating — 185,052 ratings
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56

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4.26 avg rating — 359,467 ratings
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57

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3.79 avg rating — 42,454 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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4.02 avg rating — 13,732 ratings
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60

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3.94 avg rating — 852,361 ratings
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61

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4.42 avg rating — 1,034,476 ratings
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62

by
4.24 avg rating — 127,847 ratings
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63

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3.94 avg rating — 369,736 ratings
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64

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4.38 avg rating — 16,920 ratings
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65

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 27,526 ratings
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66

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3.84 avg rating — 20,682 ratings
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67

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4.05 avg rating — 141,580 ratings
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68

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4.16 avg rating — 514,053 ratings
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69

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3.96 avg rating — 160,919 ratings
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70

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4.13 avg rating — 434,550 ratings
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71

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4.19 avg rating — 417,456 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 — 366,093 ratings
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75

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4.23 avg rating — 12,514 ratings
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75

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4.15 avg rating — 3,495,723 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 — 117,531 ratings
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80

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3.96 avg rating — 282,848 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 — 234,055 ratings
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84

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4.27 avg rating — 181,345 ratings
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85

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4.01 avg rating — 112,037 ratings
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86

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3.76 avg rating — 30,182 ratings
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87

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3.80 avg rating — 28,107 ratings
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88

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3.66 avg rating — 54,460 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

by
4.34 avg rating — 56,418 ratings
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92

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3.93 avg rating — 19,590 ratings
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93

by
4.25 avg rating — 114,790 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 — 23,002 ratings
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96

by
3.96 avg rating — 248,389 ratings
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97

by
4.03 avg rating — 115,309 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 — 57,827 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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