Roy Batty from Blade Runner, hands down. Sympathetic motives, depth of character, and a speech for the ages. He's arguably more morally correct than the protagonist, making the audience question whether we're routing for the right team.
Such a great example. And even though he’s depicted as being so physically strong, he shows so much vulnerability throughout the film as you see his desperation in his search to try and extend his life and the lives of his fellow replicants.
Next to Scorpius in Farscape, absolutely. I'd go so far as to call Roy the other anti-hero of Blade Runner alongside Deckard, since the real villain is Tyrell.
Magneto from X-Men. He has a tragic backstory which renders his character choices understandable and human. He often teams up with the heroes. Sometimes for heroic reasons, sometimes for more sinister reasons in disguise.
The Hound is just so well written. I loved his interactions with Arya and Sansa. He's a terrible child killing cynic, however, there's a softer side to him that we see when he saves Sansa and Arya again and again. Arya for weak reasons and Sansa for none at all.
My favorite would be Zuko from Avatar: The Last Airbender. Could you do a video where you cover writing from the villain's perspective, where information is given to the reader but not known to the hero? Would this be a good idea, and is there anything to be mindful of when writing this way?
IMHO that's good for building up drama and suspense: The hero is chasing an obviously innocent man, or is welcoming an obvioulsy betraying enemy into his group... But doesn't know it. I think they call it "dramatic irony".
Dramatic irony is where you'll find more info. There can be lots of reasons for it to exist. Even as simple as the audience has seen the original trilogy but the characters on screen have no reason to be wary of this talented child they've met. Or we see another villain monologue about how much they hate how popular their friend is and they've decided to ruin his life.
My favorite female Anti-villainess is Sorcha from the original Willow movie. She's fully dedicated to her mother, enough so that she'll hunt down an innocent baby to help her mother stay in power. But when she's exposed to Willow and Madmartigan's bravery, she changes her mind and helps them defeat her mother. The movie didn't focus much on her feelings, but i could always imagine how hard it was for her to finally acknowledge that her mother was evil and in the wrong.
I don't think it was Madmartigan's bravery that swayed her. I think it was the fact that, for a brief moment, he was the only one in her entire life that had shown her kindness. When he was drugged, and thought he loved her, that might have been the first time she had heard that she was beautiful.
As a wise man once wrote: "I will not have a daughter. She would be as beautiful as she was evil, but one look at the hero's rugged countenance and she'd betray her own father."
One of my favorite anti villains is the Penguin from the Batman animated series from the 90’s. He follows much the same arc as Jaime Lannister, but instead of joining the heroes, he stays firmly in the grayest of gray areas at best, often hinted to being very dark gray.
YES! I just got to the "Birds of a feather". And when I started the series, I did not expect to root for his redemption as much as I did during that episode.
Batman: TAS holds up because of it's mature respect for character. Clayface & Mr. Freeze only lashed out in violent anger after the world broke their spirits.
My favorite anti-villain is the Operative, from the movie, Serenity. He is after River Tam for the dark military secrets rattling around in her head. He will use any tactic, however unsavory, to attain his goal. He does vile things, commits atrocities, to achieve his ends, & believes those ends justify the means. He is a monster, & knows it. He says as much to Mal. He tells him he knows there is no place for the likes of him in the better world he is trying to bring about, a noble goal, but one he commits vile acts to try to accomplish. Once he is shown the dark truth of his "better world", he lets the Tams & the rest of our protagonists go free & lesves them in peace. He is neither entirely good, nor entirely evil. He is simply a man who believes the noble goal he seeks to attain justifies the vile acts he must commit in pursuit of it.
Probably my favourite villain, and one of my favourite characters outright, of all time. Shame I never see him discussed or bright up anywhere. He was my favourite part of an extremely good movie.
@@MrNoucfeanorRickman was almost too good. People who have only seen the movies often don't understand why fans of the books often hate Snape. From the beginning, Movie Snape is a much softer and more sympathetic character
Spike on Buffy the Vampire Slayer was a great anti-villain. Even without a soul, he had a strict code to 'keep his word'. You could see it in his eyes. He tried to be bad but his past good nature was always there. He did terrible things, he was a villain but I always wanted to see more of him.
That’s a great shout. The most compelling thing about him was that, even in his first appearance you could see genuine human compassion for Drusilla. He was unusual in that he always retained a level of humanity, even before he regained his soul. He was unquestionably a villain and a monster but there were many layers to him, that other villains and vampires (Angelus) lacked, to make him interesting.
Favorite anti villain is Silco from Arcane. He'a ruthless drug kingpin who kills and threatens to keep his status, but his goals aren't selfish. He't trying to build up his city to be strong enough to gain independence from the oppressive state occupying it. He doesn't want fame or glory, he wants his people out of slavery. He genuinely doesn't see a better way of doing it as every other attempt has ended in horrible bloodshed. 😊
Hero: selfless for selfless reasons Anti-hero: selfless for selfish reasons Anti-villain: selfish for selfless reasons Villain: selfish for selfish reasons It's as simple as that folks
I'd say a better example would be: Hero: Good for the greater good Anti-hero: good for their own gain Anti-villain: evil for the greater good Villian: evil for their own gain I feel like your descriptions narrows what constitutes an anti-hero or anti-villain, so some broader terminology helps.
I think there’s a little more to an anti-villain than that. Anti-villains are villains that do heroic acts and possibly join the hero’s side. Sometimes, the anti-villain can only be on the villain’s side because the villain manipulated them. For example, Karyl from “Princess Connect: Re Dive” starts on the villain’s side because Mana, the villain, is the only one that treats her nicely. That is, until she meets the heroines, Pecorine and Kokkoro (and Yuuki). Later in the TV show adaptation of “Princess Connect: Re Dive,” Karyl realizes that she is on the wrong side. As she grows a bond with then heroines, she eventually joins the side of the heroines. I would consider Karyl an anti-villain because she starts on the side of the villain because Mana is the only one that treated her nicely before the heroines came along.
@@WriterBrandonMcNulty Thanks! One more thing...I have a story I've been writing because I want to try to make it into a film (I actually found your channel when I first started writing and I was looking for tips and I've been subscribed ever since because I just love the way you format your videos)...but the issue is I can't stop procrastinating now. I have not sat down to work on it for months now and it makes me feel bad because I really do want to bring it to life. I don't know if you'd ever make a video on this but I guess what I'm wondering is what are some tips you'd give when you're struggling to get back to work on your stories?
I feel one who is either under appreciated or not known as an anti-villain is Shishiō Tsukasa from Doctor Stone. He is, in my opinion, a great example of an Anti-Villain. He has a tragic backstory, understandable and even somewhat good or decent motives, and even kills as quickly and painlessly as possible and, in the case of killing lions in self-defense, made sure to eat them so they have more purpose even after life.
@@evgenykungurov8613I've only watched the movie, but there his actions are to save the world from nuclear destruction. I would say that is a noble cause.
@@ZartaxtheWise The declared cause might be noble but there are some disturbing nuances. First of all Ozzy is not a reliable narrator. If Putin told you he invaded Ukraine to prevent larger war, would you believe him even for a second? Secondly there is no hard evidence the master plan is going to work and neither there is any evidence that nuclear war is otherwise inevitable. If you are about to take millions of lifes, you better have something more substantial than a guess work within your own head. Have I also mentioned that indiscriminately murdering millions of civilians is a war crime in itself regardless how noble your motives are?
Favorite Anti-Villian is Vegita during the Namek Saga of Dragonball Z. He’s still a villain at this point but he acts as a disgruntled employee dishing out vengeance against is former boss who is the real big bad. Vegita in general goes through the best villain to hero turn in anime. Saiyan Saga- Villian. Namek Saga- Anti-villian. Android Saga- Anti-hero. Buu Saga- relapse to villian followed by to full blown turn to hero. Dragonball super- Hero.
Hey Brandon, can make a video on how to create an effective final battle between the Protagonist and Antagonist? I find that a lot if the time the final battle just feels unsatisfying in a small percentage of stories. Btw, great videos as always!
Kreia, from the game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II - The Sith Lords. There are many anti-villains and anti-heroes in that story, and they are all amazing.
My mum, who taught English and wrote her Masters thesis on The Role of the Heroinne in English Literature, used to explain this to me as 'Good Goodies, Bad Baddies, Bad Goodies and Good Baddies.' So anti-heroes are good baddies. Like Jamie Lannister. I couldn't help but cheer for Jamie, even though he tried to kill an innocent little boy! How crazy is that? Circe Lannister, on the other hand was a straight up bad baddie!
Prince Zuko. Practically the greatest redemption story in all of modern storytelling. I can't even tell if he is an anti-hero or an anti-villain because depending on the point of view, he encompasses both.
I'm a more recent writer, and Harry Potter is my biggest inspiration. So Snape is my favorite Anti-Villain! In fact, in the end of my 23 Ch novel, the 'final boss/dark lord' of my story was inspired by Snape.
Zuko from ATLA is a perfect Anti-Villain. Starts off seeming like the main villain, but there's moral complexities surrounding him and his actions are based on a setting of attaining a noble title that was cruelly revoked from him. He does have a solid redemption arc, but has villainous traits that were instilled in him, even when he's trying to become good and better.
It isn’t obvious to distinguish between the types. You did a good job explaining it. I like the graph in the beginning. This reminds me of quote from Poetics by Aristotle: “Some characters are all good, some are all bad and some are in between”
Thanks for your super helpful videos. And congrats on Bad Parts being on the bestseller list. Think that was ghost suspense category I saw this morning 😁👌
One of my all time favorite anti-villains is the assassin Joubert (Max von Sydow) from 3 Days of the Condor. MAN is he chilling! Polite, genteel, even understanding at times. But VERY chilling!
Great one. Not sure he's so much an anti-villain as a punch-clock villain, but he's great and more "likeable", or at least worthy of respect, as the villains of the story. The whole CIA in the film is depicted as anti-villainous.
Another amazing video. I’d never heard of an anti-villain before, although I’ve written stories my entire life. Thanks for teaching me something totally new.
For me it's gotta be Wammu from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. He is evil, but he does have a sense of honor. He respects his opponents as noble warriors, and he is paired with the evil villains Kars and Eisidisi, his masters. While he is siding with his masters and even kills one of the main characters, it's easy to understand why he is this way. At a young age, he was saved by them and now he has that sense of loyalty. He fights the main protagonist and dies in that fight. I really felt sympathetic for him.
Hey Brandon! I recently subscribe to your channel. I have watch all videos about storytelling, and want to say thank you. I preparing to write a script for my short film. I think my favorite anti-villain is Donkey from War Of The Planet Of The Apes. He saves Caesar in the end.
It's more about comic book character, but I think the Red Hood character depicted in animated movie Batman: Under the Red Hood is one of the best anti-villian characters I've ever seen. His tragic past made him cruel in pursuing a goal that was right but pursued in the wrong way. His motivation, action style and final interaction with Batman make him a great and memorable but also sad character.
One of my favourites is Haytham Kenway from Assassin’s Creed III. You play as him for the first few chapters of the game and are deliberately misled into believing that he is the hero, only for him to suddenly be revealed as a villain. When you meet Haytham and the other villains later in the game, you can empathise with them more because you already got to know them while playing as Haytham.
I totally feel you. To be honest, i loved Haytham always more than Connor. Our Main Charakter feels like a leaf in the Wind, without an own motivation, spineless running into any direction, people point him to. While Haytham has his beliefs, his Codex, and would do anything for it. The Boss fight against him was one of the hardest things, i ever had to do. I really didn't want to kill him, and I hated the game for forcing me to do so.
Great video as always. I just wanna make a suggestion for your next video. Can you please make a video about diction? It would be really helpful for new writers like me.
Murtagh from Eragon is my favorite. I'm just now reading his book (Murtagh) but I loved his arc in Eragon. He really has no choice but to be bad. I hope the new book does him justice. Thanks Brandon! Great advice as always!
I'm not sure at what point this video flicked a switch in my brain but this is the video that finally had me figuring out a character I couldn't unlock for almost 10 years. I can't believe it lol, thank you so much!
I love Jaime, I adore Snape, and I admire a character many people haven't even heard of, who spends almost two books in a thilogy as supposed villain, then is upgraded to an anti-villain, and eventually - into a hero. Akkarin from "The Black Magician" trilogy by Trudi Canvan. I guess, Lelouch Lamperouge (Code Geass R1) also counts? As well as Ciel Phantomhive?
Have you ever made a video on how to turn a goody-two-shoe MC into something a bit darker? How can I write a character that used to think every life mattered in the beginning and now thinks the opposite without it feeling out of place?
hey brandon! could you do a video on how to make nonviolent conflict in a story? i tend to always introduce guns or some kind of weapon into my story, and situations are life or death. but eventually, i wanna make stories about let’s say a struggling artist or a gambling addict. i want to be able to have intense stories that are nonviolent hope that makes sense!
That makes a lot of sense. What you are looking at is a classic “man vs. himself” story where the main character’s biggest conflict and even the antagonist is themself with whatever negative thoughts, feelings, or addictions they are battling. Which is something I think everyone can relate to in some way.
I think early Game of Thrones has some great examples of nonviolent conflict, by weaponizing words and information in various ways... things like revelation of secrets, characters gaining/trading information, betrayal, slander, public insults/humiliation are all great ways to introduce conflict and tension without physical violence...
My favorite anti-villain is Rumplestiltskin from the show Once Upon a Time. Heart-breaking past, occasionally helps the heroes, does bad things sometimes for good reasons, and had 2 big redemptions arcs
You should really watch Avatar: The Last Airbender, and even its sequel The Legend of Korra. They have a lot of the tropes you discuss in your videos, and are overall great storytelling. Prince Zuko, Amon, Zaheer and Kuvira for example would fit this trope very well
Totally agreed! Avatar consistently had good villains (minus the Water Tribe prick in season 2). The ones you listed were captivating to watch any time they were on screen.
Honestly what I hate the most is when the author makes the anti-villain too relatable/morally grey, and then chickens out and has the villain commit some hysterically evil act so that the author doesn't have to wrestle with more complex motives/characterization and just stick with an easy "Me evil, BWAHAHA!!" villain for the rest of the plot.
MCU 101. To me the best example of this is in Falcon and the Winter Soldier, you have a "terrorist" group stealing food and medicine to give to the refugees across the world, to the point where they were clearly the heroes of the story, then they end up killing someone in an accident and get pretty messed up, and yet still clearly redemable, but we cant have superheroes pummeling good people into a paste so obviously one chapter latter their leader goes full psycho for no reason betraying every single piece of the established core identity she had to basivally rampage and kill dozens of people out of nowhere. Basically any interesting MCU villain goes through the same process, have a valid criticism of the system that makes the heroes look bad, make a mistake, the use the sky beam to murder hundreads of peoples so the heroes can put an end to the villain and everyone can forget about the very vallid points and criticisms made in act 1 because now in act 3 they clearly have to deal with a monster.
Jorg Ancrath. He's a testament to how a brutal world creates equally brutal people. He's a genuine monster, but even he had some good in him that was buried deep inside due to his traumas and environment.
Call me a basic bitch, but my favourite anti-villain has to be Prince Zuko from ATLA. Second place is a tie between Kokichi Ouma and Nagito Komaeda from Danganronpa. Third place goes to Paul Dano's Riddler from The Batman.
I’ve been thinking of adding an anti-hero/villain to my story, but not there yet. Btw, I just got Bad Parts a day ago and already almost done! Such a good read!
My favourite anti Villain has to be Sir Huillam D'Averc from Michael Moorcock's Hawkmoon series. A quirky and ruthless enemy who is a cultured neat-freak, hypochondriac, and near-peerless swordsman. He almost kills Hawkmoon on more than one occasion, but can't quite get the job done due to twists in fate. He finally decides (in something of a "ah, f***-it" moment) to turn on his former villainous allies and joins Hawkmoon despite the odds because Hawkmoon always seems to have the best of luck at all times. I always thought that was an interesting redemption arc of sorts.
Jamie Lannister is my personal favorite. Though I'd argue that in the books, he's definitely heading towards hero status, and he might even be Azor Ahai, too.
Great video as always. - I immediately had to think of "The Lives of Others" (Das Leben der Anderen), the excellent 2006 foreign language Oscar winner that is set in 1980s communist East Berlin. What defines a good person is one of the central questions the movie asks, so if you are interested in this anti-villain/anti-hero topic I can only recommend watching it if you haven't already. It is about Stasi officer Gerd Wiesler who starts as an ideologically convinced, stone-cold secret police agent who won't hesitate a second to destroy someone's life, but then comes to question his cold and empty existence during a surveillence project where he taps into the appartment of writer Georg Dreymann and his girlfriend. He goes through the whole process from villain over anti-villain to anti-hero and, in the end, a true hero when he puts himself into great personal danger to save other people without ever taking credit for it. The characters in this movie offer the whole spectrum of good and evil: You have Dreymann's writer friend Hauser who is "100 percent good": he knows he has to do the right thing, no matter the consequences. You have communist big shot politician Bruno Hempf who is portrayed as "100 percent bad" with no redeeming qualities: fat, repugnant and corrupt to the bones, he abuses his political position to press sexual favors out of women ecc. Between those two extremes, you have all kind of people - those who collaborate with the system because they are weak and blackmailable, the opportunists who primarily use the system to further their personal careers without thinking too much about ethical questions, but then either do or do not decide to change course. The story as such is not necessarily very realistic (there is no such recorded case), but it sets a tremendously impressive and authentic atmosphere and asks a lot of interesting questions.
Lily from The Kind Worth Killing Mason Hargreaves from Wrath of Man (Jason Statham’s character) Loki Most of my favorite characters are anti-hero’s. Hard to come up with a list of anti-villains but will think about it.
I didn’t know what an anti villain was until I saw this video so I think this character is an anti villain: John Kreese from the karate kid movies/cobra Kai. In the tv show cobra Kai it is shown that kreese still has some good inside of him and in season 3 of the show we get is backstory and it makes you feel sympathetic for him. And in his backstory we see that he was very heroic. But after he was in the Vietnam war that’s when he became a villain. And in season 4 and 5 of the show we can really see how he isn’t completely evil, especially at the end of season 4 when he was framed for attempted murder. So yeah John kreese is my favourite anti villain.
Somehow I'm thinking of one of the characters in the phantom liberty dlc of cyberpunk 2077. It's a ripperdoc who decides fate of those who needs help but if the patient is dead or death is inevitable he uses their implants to help others
Definitely either Kirschtaria Wodime and Morgan from Fate/Grand Order. Both are well-crafted characters with noble motives. Although the latter had been disillusioned by immortality that they went on to conquer the world and rule it with an iron grip. There's also Douma from Demon Slayer. Arguably one of the fan favorites of that show. He's well-crafted and his backstory is down-to-earth. His skills and actions are literally littered with tons of foreshadowing that makes sense after you see his backstory.
What's interesting about Jaime Lannister is that he initially was supposed to be the main villain of the saga. Hence his dark presentation in first book. However, Martin scrapped the idea and has basically rewritten him in later books.
I've always thought Brian de Bois-Guilbert from Ivanhoe is an anti-villain. He genuinely loves Rebecca while still working for Prince John and changes his moral stance because of it.
Another not alredy mentioned is Dinobot from Transformers Beast Wars. He betrays Megatron, try to take the leadership of the Maximals, ends up joining them, but still keeps plotting. But when he realize what Megatron wanted tond do, he sacrifices himself. Oh, and Blackaradnia started as a female fatal, but changed to the side ofnthe Maximals. Heck, she literally learned more about betrayal from the ghost of Starscream.
Favourite Anti-Villains: Movies: Darth Vader TV Series: Ignacio Varga (Better Call Saul) Cartoons: Zuko (Avatar: The Last Airbender) and Viggo Grimborne (DreamWorks Dragons) Literature: Luke Castellan (Percy Jackson) Anime: Satsuki Kiryuin (Kill La Kill)
I always think of Delita Heiral from Final Fantasy Tactics as a top-tier antivillain: He's the childhood friend of the hero who is more ambitious and less morally grounded - The hero's goal and Delita's goal are not the same, but they don't contradict eachother. Dissimilarly, the "real" antagonists plans get in the way of both the protagonist's goals AND the antivillain's goals, so the sympathy card works really well in Delita's favor as he does terrible things, since hero+antivillain have common problems, if not common goals. He uses the hero's nostalgia as a safety net for his evil deeds, which allows him to work inside of a sort of "moral blind spot" away from the narrative, which makes it difficult to see how bad he is, since the hero is mostly just excited to see an old friend whenever he pops up - very manipulative and charismatic. Great antivillain!
I’m trying to write an anti-villain in my story I’m writing and this video has really helped me to understand what makes an anti-villain an anti-villain:)
Dutch Van Der Linde, from Red Dead Redemption 2. Idk if he matches the definition, but that's what I love about him. It's so hard to put him in a box. And the voice acting is just 100/10.
Favorite anti-villain? Without a doubt, Death from Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. The ONLY thing that makes him villainous is his decision to claim Puss's last life early. And that's all that was needed to give us, not just one of animation's greatest villains, but one of the coolest, toughest and most menacing characters in history.
My favourite anti-villain is actually a protagonist: Alex in A Clockwork Orange. He's an amoral teenage criminal, but given that the story is about free will, he's been given some positive qualities, his love of music being the most important one. What the state does to him is depicted as dehumanising and there's no character in the story who can claim moral high ground over him: the police force is a bunch of sadistic thugs, the state is authoritarian, the opposition is scheming, etc. Oh and again, Michael Corleone in The Godfather: he becomes a monster, but for his family.
Good example, I always thought of him as a victim of the state, both the mental programming and as a general example of forgotten society. and thanks for being the only person on here who doesn't reference some video game or comic book movie, I can tell by your name you;re a big fan.
If you like Alex Delarge, I feel like you'd also like Jorg Ancrath, the protagonist from the Broken Empire trilogy who evolved from villain to anti-villain. Like Alex, he was driven to evil because of the nature of his post-apocalyptic, war-torn world, as well as the traumas of his childhood. Because of his lust for revenge, he grew an appetite for violence which drove him to do some unspeakable things. He raped, pillaged, and burned an entire town on the first chapter alone, and he chalks up the villagers' cruel fate to them being foolish enough to not yield when he asked them. But even so, he still has some sort of code where he wouldn't attack anyone if he didn't have to. Not exactly a moral code, but it only serves to show that he is a professional mercenary, rather than an unhinged barbarian. The author even mentions that Jorg was inspired by Alex, and it shows in the way he speaks and carries himself. Despite having done much worse things than Alex, Jorg earned more of my sympathy, not just because I understood the traumas and manipulations that made him this way, how a brutal world makes equally brutal people, but because there was still some good in him he locked away due to his hate. Good that manifested when he showed genuine care for his mercenary band, and how even he had it in him to comfort a dying child (though it was mostly because her parents saved his life). In the end, he managed to regain some of the empathy he lost because of his savage lifestyle, and in the end, even managed to weed out some monsters who are even worse than him. My favorite moment from him is when one of his comrades were beaten, robbed, and implied to have been raped by thugs. So he went on a roaring rampage of revenge to burn those asshats who wronged one of his "brothers".
I like Tywin Lannister. He's ruthless and has many villainous traits, but he also respects good qualities in others such as bravery, integrity, or intelligence, and he despises poor qualities such as stupidity, pointless cruelty, or cowardice. We saw this side of him during his interactions with Arya Stark at Harrenhall.
omgg i love this vid!!! i want to get into writing books... but ive not read any fiction books since i was like 12. im turning 18 this year and idk where to start 😭😭.
Doug Judy from Brooklyn-99. A notorious car thief, who crosses the main character many times trough the series, but keeps coming back, treating Jake as a friend, claiming to be changed, helping to catch other crooks etc, but always ends up getting away with something selfish
You really can’t go wrong with a Brandon McNulty writing video
Hahah thanks! Although to be fair, a lot of my early videos were clunkers
@@WriterBrandonMcNultyThey were still useful thought refreshers.
And easy to follow along.
@@WriterBrandonMcNulty They are all fantastic.
Always straight to the point, love it
Roy Batty from Blade Runner, hands down. Sympathetic motives, depth of character, and a speech for the ages. He's arguably more morally correct than the protagonist, making the audience question whether we're routing for the right team.
Such a great example. And even though he’s depicted as being so physically strong, he shows so much vulnerability throughout the film as you see his desperation in his search to try and extend his life and the lives of his fellow replicants.
Next to Scorpius in Farscape, absolutely. I'd go so far as to call Roy the other anti-hero of Blade Runner alongside Deckard, since the real villain is Tyrell.
Blade Runner is a gem of storytelling.
Which cut? Uhh...
Perfect example. Cheers from Boston ☘️
Roy is basically Hamas
Magneto from X-Men. He has a tragic backstory which renders his character choices understandable and human. He often teams up with the heroes. Sometimes for heroic reasons, sometimes for more sinister reasons in disguise.
Good call
The Hound from A Song of Ice and Fire does such a touching 180. He never betrays who he is but little by little reveals a sympathy for Arya.
If your teacher was so good, why is he dead?
He died because he had no armor & the other guy had a big f***** sword 😆😆😆
The Hound is just so well written. I loved his interactions with Arya and Sansa. He's a terrible child killing cynic, however, there's a softer side to him that we see when he saves Sansa and Arya again and again. Arya for weak reasons and Sansa for none at all.
My favorite would be Zuko from Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Could you do a video where you cover writing from the villain's perspective, where information is given to the reader but not known to the hero? Would this be a good idea, and is there anything to be mindful of when writing this way?
IMHO that's good for building up drama and suspense: The hero is chasing an obviously innocent man, or is welcoming an obvioulsy betraying enemy into his group... But doesn't know it.
I think they call it "dramatic irony".
Dramatic irony is where you'll find more info. There can be lots of reasons for it to exist. Even as simple as the audience has seen the original trilogy but the characters on screen have no reason to be wary of this talented child they've met. Or we see another villain monologue about how much they hate how popular their friend is and they've decided to ruin his life.
Zuko was the Anti-Villain, and he was working for the main evil Villain all along, Honor...
My favorite female Anti-villainess is Sorcha from the original Willow movie. She's fully dedicated to her mother, enough so that she'll hunt down an innocent baby to help her mother stay in power. But when she's exposed to Willow and Madmartigan's bravery, she changes her mind and helps them defeat her mother. The movie didn't focus much on her feelings, but i could always imagine how hard it was for her to finally acknowledge that her mother was evil and in the wrong.
Good call
I don't think it was Madmartigan's bravery that swayed her.
I think it was the fact that, for a brief moment, he was the only one in her entire life that had shown her kindness. When he was drugged, and thought he loved her, that might have been the first time she had heard that she was beautiful.
That's a good point too! I'm mostly remembering the scene when she's watching him fight Kael's men alone. Thank you for the reminder!
As a wise man once wrote: "I will not have a daughter. She would be as beautiful as she was evil, but one look at the hero's rugged countenance and she'd betray her own father."
My sun my moon my star lit sky.... AND IT WENT AWAY! One of my favorite lines
One of my favorite anti villains is the Penguin from the Batman animated series from the 90’s. He follows much the same arc as Jaime Lannister, but instead of joining the heroes, he stays firmly in the grayest of gray areas at best, often hinted to being very dark gray.
YES! I just got to the "Birds of a feather". And when I started the series, I did not expect to root for his redemption as much as I did during that episode.
I’m with actually I forgot how great of a story that episode is. Yea Penguin is a great anti villain
Batman: TAS holds up because of it's mature respect for character. Clayface & Mr. Freeze only lashed out in violent anger after the world broke their spirits.
How is penguin an anti villain?
I think Catwoman is, def two face.
But I'm failing to see how penguin is.
My favorite anti-villain is the Operative, from the movie, Serenity. He is after River Tam for the dark military secrets rattling around in her head. He will use any tactic, however unsavory, to attain his goal. He does vile things, commits atrocities, to achieve his ends, & believes those ends justify the means. He is a monster, & knows it. He says as much to Mal. He tells him he knows there is no place for the likes of him in the better world he is trying to bring about, a noble goal, but one he commits vile acts to try to accomplish. Once he is shown the dark truth of his "better world", he lets the Tams & the rest of our protagonists go free & lesves them in peace. He is neither entirely good, nor entirely evil. He is simply a man who believes the noble goal he seeks to attain justifies the vile acts he must commit in pursuit of it.
Probably my favourite villain, and one of my favourite characters outright, of all time. Shame I never see him discussed or bright up anywhere. He was my favourite part of an extremely good movie.
Excellent example
Perfect example... I don't know why he wasn't even on my radar. His self-introduction essentially screams, "I'm an anti-villain".
Severus Snape is my favorite
Love Snape, hate snape, Alan Rickman was PERFECTLY cast for the roll! R.I.P
@@MrNoucfeanorRickman was almost too good. People who have only seen the movies often don't understand why fans of the books often hate Snape. From the beginning, Movie Snape is a much softer and more sympathetic character
I love the character but the snapes writing felt messy and contrived
Spike on Buffy the Vampire Slayer was a great anti-villain. Even without a soul, he had a strict code to 'keep his word'. You could see it in his eyes. He tried to be bad but his past good nature was always there. He did terrible things, he was a villain but I always wanted to see more of him.
That’s a great shout. The most compelling thing about him was that, even in his first appearance you could see genuine human compassion for Drusilla. He was unusual in that he always retained a level of humanity, even before he regained his soul. He was unquestionably a villain and a monster but there were many layers to him, that other villains and vampires (Angelus) lacked, to make him interesting.
Vampires and other monsters were confused on Buffy, & that's why she took them out: the damned in that show were anti-villians.
Great choice. BTVS also gave us Faith, another superb anti-villain, who offered us an insight into what Buffy could become.
Favorite anti villain is Silco from Arcane. He'a ruthless drug kingpin who kills and threatens to keep his status, but his goals aren't selfish. He't trying to build up his city to be strong enough to gain independence from the oppressive state occupying it. He doesn't want fame or glory, he wants his people out of slavery. He genuinely doesn't see a better way of doing it as every other attempt has ended in horrible bloodshed. 😊
Arcane has the best character arcs of any screen media to come out in the last few years. Truly brilliant piece of storytelling
Damn straight.
Hero: selfless for selfless reasons
Anti-hero: selfless for selfish reasons
Anti-villain: selfish for selfless reasons
Villain: selfish for selfish reasons
It's as simple as that folks
I'd say a better example would be:
Hero: Good for the greater good
Anti-hero: good for their own gain
Anti-villain: evil for the greater good
Villian: evil for their own gain
I feel like your descriptions narrows what constitutes an anti-hero or anti-villain, so some broader terminology helps.
@@roguebarbarian9133 I'd argue that selfishness is the simplest definition of evil
I think there’s a little more to an anti-villain than that. Anti-villains are villains that do heroic acts and possibly join the hero’s side. Sometimes, the anti-villain can only be on the villain’s side because the villain manipulated them. For example, Karyl from “Princess Connect: Re Dive” starts on the villain’s side because Mana, the villain, is the only one that treats her nicely. That is, until she meets the heroines, Pecorine and Kokkoro (and Yuuki). Later in the TV show adaptation of “Princess Connect: Re Dive,” Karyl realizes that she is on the wrong side. As she grows a bond with then heroines, she eventually joins the side of the heroines. I would consider Karyl an anti-villain because she starts on the side of the villain because Mana is the only one that treated her nicely before the heroines came along.
Hey Brandon. Here's something I can't find anyone else talking about: what are some writing tips for Femme Fatales?
I touched on FFs briefly in my "Best Villain Tropes" video, but I'd be happy to devote a full video to them. I'll add this to my list
And thanks!
@@WriterBrandonMcNulty Thanks! One more thing...I have a story I've been writing because I want to try to make it into a film (I actually found your channel when I first started writing and I was looking for tips and I've been subscribed ever since because I just love the way you format your videos)...but the issue is I can't stop procrastinating now. I have not sat down to work on it for months now and it makes me feel bad because I really do want to bring it to life. I don't know if you'd ever make a video on this but I guess what I'm wondering is what are some tips you'd give when you're struggling to get back to work on your stories?
Can you do how to write characters that have a rivalry with each other?
Absolutely. I'll add it to my list
Thanks, Mr. McNulty.
My favorite anti-villain is Svidrigailov from Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment".
I feel one who is either under appreciated or not known as an anti-villain is Shishiō Tsukasa from Doctor Stone. He is, in my opinion, a great example of an Anti-Villain.
He has a tragic backstory, understandable and even somewhat good or decent motives, and even kills as quickly and painlessly as possible and, in the case of killing lions in self-defense, made sure to eat them so they have more purpose even after life.
Magneto is my favorite anti villian
Adrian Veidt/Ozymandias from Watchmen (not the TV series) is a great example of an anti-villain.
Agreed. Very well written
Great character hands down. However you would have a hard time convincing me he is not a villain.
I hate that guy.
@@evgenykungurov8613I've only watched the movie, but there his actions are to save the world from nuclear destruction. I would say that is a noble cause.
@@ZartaxtheWise The declared cause might be noble but there are some disturbing nuances. First of all Ozzy is not a reliable narrator. If Putin told you he invaded Ukraine to prevent larger war, would you believe him even for a second? Secondly there is no hard evidence the master plan is going to work and neither there is any evidence that nuclear war is otherwise inevitable. If you are about to take millions of lifes, you better have something more substantial than a guess work within your own head. Have I also mentioned that indiscriminately murdering millions of civilians is a war crime in itself regardless how noble your motives are?
Favorite Anti-Villian is Vegita during the Namek Saga of Dragonball Z. He’s still a villain at this point but he acts as a disgruntled employee dishing out vengeance against is former boss who is the real big bad.
Vegita in general goes through the best villain to hero turn in anime.
Saiyan Saga- Villian.
Namek Saga- Anti-villian.
Android Saga- Anti-hero.
Buu Saga- relapse to villian followed by to full blown turn to hero.
Dragonball super- Hero.
Hey Brandon, can make a video on how to create an effective final battle between the Protagonist and Antagonist? I find that a lot if the time the final battle just feels unsatisfying in a small percentage of stories. Btw, great videos as always!
Kreia, from the game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II - The Sith Lords. There are many anti-villains and anti-heroes in that story, and they are all amazing.
I certainly did not expect to see her name here, but I am glad I did.
My mum, who taught English and wrote her Masters thesis on The Role of the Heroinne in English Literature, used to explain this to me as 'Good Goodies, Bad Baddies, Bad Goodies and Good Baddies.' So anti-heroes are good baddies. Like Jamie Lannister. I couldn't help but cheer for Jamie, even though he tried to kill an innocent little boy! How crazy is that? Circe Lannister, on the other hand was a straight up bad baddie!
Prince Zuko. Practically the greatest redemption story in all of modern storytelling. I can't even tell if he is an anti-hero or an anti-villain because depending on the point of view, he encompasses both.
This.
Ivan Drago, Hannibal Lecter, and Loki - I can't choose, but great video.
I'm a more recent writer, and Harry Potter is my biggest inspiration. So Snape is my favorite Anti-Villain! In fact, in the end of my 23 Ch novel, the 'final boss/dark lord' of my story was inspired by Snape.
Zuko from ATLA is a perfect Anti-Villain. Starts off seeming like the main villain, but there's moral complexities surrounding him and his actions are based on a setting of attaining a noble title that was cruelly revoked from him. He does have a solid redemption arc, but has villainous traits that were instilled in him, even when he's trying to become good and better.
It isn’t obvious to distinguish between the types. You did a good job explaining it. I like the graph in the beginning.
This reminds me of quote from Poetics by Aristotle: “Some characters are all good, some are all bad and some are in between”
I love your videos Brandon I hope you keep making these!
Your videos are always make me want to drop what I'm doing and write. Thank you for sharing your tips!
Nebula from guardians of the galaxy fits this role from anti villain to hero
Thanks for your super helpful videos. And congrats on Bad Parts being on the bestseller list. Think that was ghost suspense category I saw this morning 😁👌
One of my all time favorite anti-villains is the assassin Joubert (Max von Sydow) from 3 Days of the Condor. MAN is he chilling! Polite, genteel, even understanding at times. But VERY chilling!
Great one. Not sure he's so much an anti-villain as a punch-clock villain, but he's great and more "likeable", or at least worthy of respect, as the villains of the story. The whole CIA in the film is depicted as anti-villainous.
I have never heard this term before, I love it!
Another amazing video. I’d never heard of an anti-villain before, although I’ve written stories my entire life. Thanks for teaching me something totally new.
Who's your favorite anti-villain? Let us know!
Godzilla is a good one, and The Hulk is at his best as an anti-villain.
For me it's gotta be Wammu from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. He is evil, but he does have a sense of honor. He respects his opponents as noble warriors, and he is paired with the evil villains Kars and Eisidisi, his masters. While he is siding with his masters and even kills one of the main characters, it's easy to understand why he is this way. At a young age, he was saved by them and now he has that sense of loyalty. He fights the main protagonist and dies in that fight. I really felt sympathetic for him.
Can you do videos on pragmatic heroes?
I’m not sure he qualifies, but Magneto from X-men is one of my favorites.
Long John Silver from Treasure Planet
Love Killmonger as an anti-villain. It's rare to see the bad guy win the philosophical argument but lose the physical fight
Eh... He lost both, imo.
Your videos are great, they've helped me a lot. looking to buy a copy of bad parts soon
Hey Brandon! I recently subscribe to your channel. I have watch all videos about storytelling, and want to say thank you. I preparing to write a script for my short film. I think my favorite anti-villain is Donkey from War Of The Planet Of The Apes. He saves Caesar in the end.
It's more about comic book character, but I think the Red Hood character depicted in animated movie Batman: Under the Red Hood is one of the best anti-villian characters I've ever seen. His tragic past made him cruel in pursuing a goal that was right but pursued in the wrong way. His motivation, action style and final interaction with Batman make him a great and memorable but also sad character.
I dunno, I think he's more right than Batman. Psychopaths cannot be reformed. Batman letting Joker live is a massive moral failure.
These videos are awesome. Genuinely learn a lot from you Mr. McNulty
One of my favourites is Haytham Kenway from Assassin’s Creed III. You play as him for the first few chapters of the game and are deliberately misled into believing that he is the hero, only for him to suddenly be revealed as a villain. When you meet Haytham and the other villains later in the game, you can empathise with them more because you already got to know them while playing as Haytham.
I totally feel you. To be honest, i loved Haytham always more than Connor. Our Main Charakter feels like a leaf in the Wind, without an own motivation, spineless running into any direction, people point him to. While Haytham has his beliefs, his Codex, and would do anything for it. The Boss fight against him was one of the hardest things, i ever had to do. I really didn't want to kill him, and I hated the game for forcing me to do so.
Great video as always.
I just wanna make a suggestion for your next video. Can you please make a video about diction? It would be really helpful for new writers like me.
Murtagh from Eragon is my favorite. I'm just now reading his book (Murtagh) but I loved his arc in Eragon. He really has no choice but to be bad. I hope the new book does him justice.
Thanks Brandon! Great advice as always!
Congrats on 100K subscribers!
"I have no regrets! From the bottom of my heart, I am grateful for have witnessed your growth"
-Wammu
love Wham.
I don't have anything to add to this video, but Bad Parts is amazing and I highly recommend!
I'm not sure at what point this video flicked a switch in my brain but this is the video that finally had me figuring out a character I couldn't unlock for almost 10 years. I can't believe it lol, thank you so much!
I love Jaime, I adore Snape, and I admire a character many people haven't even heard of, who spends almost two books in a thilogy as supposed villain, then is upgraded to an anti-villain, and eventually - into a hero. Akkarin from "The Black Magician" trilogy by Trudi Canvan. I guess, Lelouch Lamperouge (Code Geass R1) also counts? As well as Ciel Phantomhive?
Glad to see you mention my favorite book (American phycho)
One of my favorites is Brigadier General Francis X. Hummel, played by Ed Harris on _The Rock._
Boyd Crowder from Justified comes to mind as well.
Have you ever made a video on how to turn a goody-two-shoe MC into something a bit darker? How can I write a character that used to think every life mattered in the beginning and now thinks the opposite without it feeling out of place?
@@Saul_G00damm Could not have mentioned a better example
@@Saul_G00damm Thanks! I've been meaning to watch that anime too.
hey brandon! could you do a video on how to make nonviolent conflict in a story?
i tend to always introduce guns or some kind of weapon into my story, and situations are life or death.
but eventually, i wanna make stories about let’s say a struggling artist or a gambling addict. i want to be able to have intense stories that are nonviolent
hope that makes sense!
That makes a lot of sense. What you are looking at is a classic “man vs. himself” story where the main character’s biggest conflict and even the antagonist is themself with whatever negative thoughts, feelings, or addictions they are battling. Which is something I think everyone can relate to in some way.
I think early Game of Thrones has some great examples of nonviolent conflict, by weaponizing words and information in various ways... things like revelation of secrets, characters gaining/trading information, betrayal, slander, public insults/humiliation are all great ways to introduce conflict and tension without physical violence...
My favorite anti-villain is Rumplestiltskin from the show Once Upon a Time. Heart-breaking past, occasionally helps the heroes, does bad things sometimes for good reasons, and had 2 big redemptions arcs
You should really watch Avatar: The Last Airbender, and even its sequel The Legend of Korra. They have a lot of the tropes you discuss in your videos, and are overall great storytelling. Prince Zuko, Amon, Zaheer and Kuvira for example would fit this trope very well
Totally agreed! Avatar consistently had good villains (minus the Water Tribe prick in season 2). The ones you listed were captivating to watch any time they were on screen.
Hey, Anti-villains! Thanks for this! Great to see my request 😃!
Edit: Anti-villains that I can think of: Deathstroke from DC and Magneto from Marvel.
Honestly what I hate the most is when the author makes the anti-villain too relatable/morally grey, and then chickens out and has the villain commit some hysterically evil act so that the author doesn't have to wrestle with more complex motives/characterization and just stick with an easy "Me evil, BWAHAHA!!" villain for the rest of the plot.
MCU 101. To me the best example of this is in Falcon and the Winter Soldier, you have a "terrorist" group stealing food and medicine to give to the refugees across the world, to the point where they were clearly the heroes of the story, then they end up killing someone in an accident and get pretty messed up, and yet still clearly redemable, but we cant have superheroes pummeling good people into a paste so obviously one chapter latter their leader goes full psycho for no reason betraying every single piece of the established core identity she had to basivally rampage and kill dozens of people out of nowhere.
Basically any interesting MCU villain goes through the same process, have a valid criticism of the system that makes the heroes look bad, make a mistake, the use the sky beam to murder hundreads of peoples so the heroes can put an end to the villain and everyone can forget about the very vallid points and criticisms made in act 1 because now in act 3 they clearly have to deal with a monster.
Perhaps the MCU sucks at creating anti-villains, political thriller stories, and psychological thrillers.@@Democlis
Great food for thought
Jorg Ancrath. He's a testament to how a brutal world creates equally brutal people.
He's a genuine monster, but even he had some good in him that was buried deep inside due to his traumas and environment.
Call me a basic bitch, but my favourite anti-villain has to be Prince Zuko from ATLA. Second place is a tie between Kokichi Ouma and Nagito Komaeda from Danganronpa. Third place goes to Paul Dano's Riddler from The Batman.
I’ve been thinking of adding an anti-hero/villain to my story, but not there yet.
Btw, I just got Bad Parts a day ago and already almost done! Such a good read!
Fav: Pain from Naruto Shippuden
My favourite anti Villain has to be Sir Huillam D'Averc from Michael Moorcock's Hawkmoon series. A quirky and ruthless enemy who is a cultured neat-freak, hypochondriac, and near-peerless swordsman. He almost kills Hawkmoon on more than one occasion, but can't quite get the job done due to twists in fate. He finally decides (in something of a "ah, f***-it" moment) to turn on his former villainous allies and joins Hawkmoon despite the odds because Hawkmoon always seems to have the best of luck at all times. I always thought that was an interesting redemption arc of sorts.
Oh, look, someone who doesn't conflate anti-villains and anti-heroes. Thank you for existing, good sir.
Askeladd from Vinland Saga, that story has tons of amazing characters
Jamie Lannister is my personal favorite. Though I'd argue that in the books, he's definitely heading towards hero status, and he might even be Azor Ahai, too.
Spoiler alert: Hot Pie is the Azor Ahai.
Except that the books will never be finished.
Curious to hear your take on Villian protagonists now
Vegeta shifted from pure villain to anti hero best character for me ❤
Great video as always. - I immediately had to think of "The Lives of Others" (Das Leben der Anderen), the excellent 2006 foreign language Oscar winner that is set in 1980s communist East Berlin. What defines a good person is one of the central questions the movie asks, so if you are interested in this anti-villain/anti-hero topic I can only recommend watching it if you haven't already. It is about Stasi officer Gerd Wiesler who starts as an ideologically convinced, stone-cold secret police agent who won't hesitate a second to destroy someone's life, but then comes to question his cold and empty existence during a surveillence project where he taps into the appartment of writer Georg Dreymann and his girlfriend. He goes through the whole process from villain over anti-villain to anti-hero and, in the end, a true hero when he puts himself into great personal danger to save other people without ever taking credit for it.
The characters in this movie offer the whole spectrum of good and evil: You have Dreymann's writer friend Hauser who is "100 percent good": he knows he has to do the right thing, no matter the consequences. You have communist big shot politician Bruno Hempf who is portrayed as "100 percent bad" with no redeeming qualities: fat, repugnant and corrupt to the bones, he abuses his political position to press sexual favors out of women ecc. Between those two extremes, you have all kind of people - those who collaborate with the system because they are weak and blackmailable, the opportunists who primarily use the system to further their personal careers without thinking too much about ethical questions, but then either do or do not decide to change course. The story as such is not necessarily very realistic (there is no such recorded case), but it sets a tremendously impressive and authentic atmosphere and asks a lot of interesting questions.
Lily from The Kind Worth Killing
Mason Hargreaves from Wrath of Man (Jason Statham’s character)
Loki
Most of my favorite characters are anti-hero’s. Hard to come up with a list of anti-villains but will think about it.
I didn’t know what an anti villain was until I saw this video so I think this character is an anti villain: John Kreese from the karate kid movies/cobra Kai. In the tv show cobra Kai it is shown that kreese still has some good inside of him and in season 3 of the show we get is backstory and it makes you feel sympathetic for him. And in his backstory we see that he was very heroic. But after he was in the Vietnam war that’s when he became a villain. And in season 4 and 5 of the show we can really see how he isn’t completely evil, especially at the end of season 4 when he was framed for attempted murder. So yeah John kreese is my favourite anti villain.
Somehow I'm thinking of one of the characters in the phantom liberty dlc of cyberpunk 2077. It's a ripperdoc who decides fate of those who needs help but if the patient is dead or death is inevitable he uses their implants to help others
I see Brandon upload. I watch.
Definitely either Kirschtaria Wodime and Morgan from Fate/Grand Order.
Both are well-crafted characters with noble motives. Although the latter had been disillusioned by immortality that they went on to conquer the world and rule it with an iron grip.
There's also Douma from Demon Slayer. Arguably one of the fan favorites of that show. He's well-crafted and his backstory is down-to-earth. His skills and actions are literally littered with tons of foreshadowing that makes sense after you see his backstory.
My favorite anti-villain is Zuko from The Last Airbender.
What's interesting about Jaime Lannister is that he initially was supposed to be the main villain of the saga. Hence his dark presentation in first book. However, Martin scrapped the idea and has basically rewritten him in later books.
Can you do a video on writing a protagonist who is the villain? Or turning your hero into a villain?
Recently I've been rewatching the TV show Gargoyles, and David Xanatos is a well written Anti-Villain.
My favorite anti-villain is Solieri in Amadeus (the movie).
Hero- Good Methods, Good Goal
Anti-Hero- Bad Methods, Good Goal
Anti-Villain- Good Methods, Bad Goal
Villain- Bad Method, Bad Goal
My favorite is Detective Miller form the leviathan wakes.
I've always thought Brian de Bois-Guilbert from Ivanhoe is an anti-villain. He genuinely loves Rebecca while still working for Prince John and changes his moral stance because of it.
Another not alredy mentioned is Dinobot from Transformers Beast Wars. He betrays Megatron, try to take the leadership of the Maximals, ends up joining them, but still keeps plotting. But when he realize what Megatron wanted tond do, he sacrifices himself.
Oh, and Blackaradnia started as a female fatal, but changed to the side ofnthe Maximals. Heck, she literally learned more about betrayal from the ghost of Starscream.
Favourite Anti-Villains:
Movies: Darth Vader
TV Series: Ignacio Varga (Better Call Saul)
Cartoons: Zuko (Avatar: The Last Airbender) and Viggo Grimborne (DreamWorks Dragons)
Literature: Luke Castellan (Percy Jackson)
Anime: Satsuki Kiryuin (Kill La Kill)
@@Saul_G00damm I mean, among many, MANY others.
Are you suggesting being a fan of Huey Lewis and the News is not a redeeming quality?
I always think of Delita Heiral from Final Fantasy Tactics as a top-tier antivillain: He's the childhood friend of the hero who is more ambitious and less morally grounded - The hero's goal and Delita's goal are not the same, but they don't contradict eachother. Dissimilarly, the "real" antagonists plans get in the way of both the protagonist's goals AND the antivillain's goals, so the sympathy card works really well in Delita's favor as he does terrible things, since hero+antivillain have common problems, if not common goals.
He uses the hero's nostalgia as a safety net for his evil deeds, which allows him to work inside of a sort of "moral blind spot" away from the narrative, which makes it difficult to see how bad he is, since the hero is mostly just excited to see an old friend whenever he pops up - very manipulative and charismatic. Great antivillain!
I always liked the idea of the pro and antagonist flip. Like the hero breaks and goes bad, the bad guy sees it and says no.
I’m trying to write an anti-villain in my story I’m writing and this video has really helped me to understand what makes an anti-villain an anti-villain:)
Dutch Van Der Linde, from Red Dead Redemption 2. Idk if he matches the definition, but that's what I love about him. It's so hard to put him in a box. And the voice acting is just 100/10.
Favorite anti-villain? Without a doubt, Death from Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.
The ONLY thing that makes him villainous is his decision to claim Puss's last life early. And that's all that was needed to give us, not just one of animation's greatest villains, but one of the coolest, toughest and most menacing characters in history.
Wow that's true, with pie guy being the full out villain of the story of course. Well spotted
Good choice 😊
Yeah, that’s an excellent one.
My favorite anti-villains are: Hector Barbossa (Pirates ot the Caribbean), Spike (Buffy - The Vampire Slayer)
My favourite anti-villain is actually a protagonist: Alex in A Clockwork Orange. He's an amoral teenage criminal, but given that the story is about free will, he's been given some positive qualities, his love of music being the most important one. What the state does to him is depicted as dehumanising and there's no character in the story who can claim moral high ground over him: the police force is a bunch of sadistic thugs, the state is authoritarian, the opposition is scheming, etc. Oh and again, Michael Corleone in The Godfather: he becomes a monster, but for his family.
Good example, I always thought of him as a victim of the state, both the mental programming and as a general example of forgotten society.
and thanks for being the only person on here who doesn't reference some video game or comic book movie, I can tell by your name you;re a big fan.
If you like Alex Delarge, I feel like you'd also like Jorg Ancrath, the protagonist from the Broken Empire trilogy who evolved from villain to anti-villain.
Like Alex, he was driven to evil because of the nature of his post-apocalyptic, war-torn world, as well as the traumas of his childhood.
Because of his lust for revenge, he grew an appetite for violence which drove him to do some unspeakable things.
He raped, pillaged, and burned an entire town on the first chapter alone, and he chalks up the villagers' cruel fate to them being foolish enough to not yield when he asked them. But even so, he still has some sort of code where he wouldn't attack anyone if he didn't have to. Not exactly a moral code, but it only serves to show that he is a professional mercenary, rather than an unhinged barbarian.
The author even mentions that Jorg was inspired by Alex, and it shows in the way he speaks and carries himself.
Despite having done much worse things than Alex, Jorg earned more of my sympathy, not just because I understood the traumas and manipulations that made him this way, how a brutal world makes equally brutal people, but because there was still some good in him he locked away due to his hate.
Good that manifested when he showed genuine care for his mercenary band, and how even he had it in him to comfort a dying child (though it was mostly because her parents saved his life).
In the end, he managed to regain some of the empathy he lost because of his savage lifestyle, and in the end, even managed to weed out some monsters who are even worse than him.
My favorite moment from him is when one of his comrades were beaten, robbed, and implied to have been raped by thugs. So he went on a roaring rampage of revenge to burn those asshats who wronged one of his "brothers".
My favorite is Eric Northman from True Blood :)
I like Tywin Lannister. He's ruthless and has many villainous traits, but he also respects good qualities in others such as bravery, integrity, or intelligence, and he despises poor qualities such as stupidity, pointless cruelty, or cowardice. We saw this side of him during his interactions with Arya Stark at Harrenhall.
Jamie Lannister is my favorite fiction character of all time, so easy choice for favorite anti-villain
omgg i love this vid!!! i want to get into writing books... but ive not read any fiction books since i was like 12. im turning 18 this year and idk where to start 😭😭.
My favorite by far has to be Zuko from The Last Airbender
Lorraine Lyon and Danish Graves from the latest season of Fargo 🔥
Doug Judy from Brooklyn-99. A notorious car thief, who crosses the main character many times trough the series, but keeps coming back, treating Jake as a friend, claiming to be changed, helping to catch other crooks etc, but always ends up getting away with something selfish
My favorite anti-villain is Askeladd from Vinland Saga