List of fictional antiheroes

This list is for characters in fictional works who exemplify the qualities of an anti-hero. Characteristics in protagonists that merit such a label include, but are not limited to:

• Imperfections that separate them from typically "heroic" characters (selfishness, ignorance, bigotry, etc.)
• Eventual redemption through love, friendship, duty, etc.
• Qualities normally belonging to villains (amorality, greed, violent tendencies, etc) that are tempered with more human, identifiable traits (confusion, self-hatred, etc.)
• Noble motives pursued by bending or breaking the law in the belief that "the ends justify the means."

Each of these examples has been identified by a critic as an anti-hero, although the classification is somewhat subjective matter. Some of the entries may be disputed by other sources.

Literature

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A Clockwork Orange's Alex, as portrayed by Malcolm McDowell in the film adaptation of Anthony Burgess' novel

• Alex, the narrator of Anthony Burgess' A Clockwork Orange [1]
• Patrick Bateman from Bret Easton Ellis' American Psycho [2] [3]
• Leopold Bloom from James Joyce's Ulysses [4]
• Pinkie Brown from Graham Greene's Brighton Rock [5]
• Holden Caulfield from J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye [6]
• Conan from the stories by Robert E. Howard, the archetypal "amoral swordsman" of the Sword and Sorcery genre [7] [8]
• Stephen Dedalus from Joyce's Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man [9]
• Arthur Dent from Douglas Adams' Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy series [10]
• Roland Deschain from Stephen King's Dark Tower series [11]
• Raoul Duke from Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas [12]
• Tyler Durden and the Narrator of Chuck Palahniuk's Fight Club [13] [14]
• Artemis Fowl II from the Artemis Fowl series.[15]
• Jay Gatsby from F. Scott Fitzgerald 's The Great Gatsby [16]
• Hamlet from William Shakespeare's play of the same name [17]
• Humbert Humbert from Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita [18]
• Iago from William Shakespeare's Othello.[19]

Dr. Hannibal Lecter as portrayed by Anthony Hopkins in one of several film incarnations of Thomas Harris' anti-hero.

• Hannibal Lecter from a series of novels by Thomas Harris [20] [21]
• Lestat de Lioncourt from Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles universe [22]
• Lucifer/Satan from John Milton's Paradise Lost [23] [24] [25]
• Macbeth from William Shakespeare's play of the same name.[26]
• Philip Marlowe from Raymond Chandler's The Big Sleep, Farewell, My Lovely, The High Window, The Lady in the Lake, Playback, The Little Sister, and Poodle Springs [27]
• Mephistopheles from Goethe's Faust and Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus.[28]
• Dexter Morgan from the novels Darkly Dreaming Dexter and Deeply Devoted Dexter, later made into a TV series.[29][30]
• Parker from a series of novels by Donald E. Westlake [31] [32]
• Alexander Portnoy from Philip Roth's Portnoy's Complaint [33]
• Raskolnikov from Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment [34]
• Mark Renton from Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting [35]
• Tom Ripley from Patricia Highsmith's "Ripliad" series [36]
• Rosencrantz and Guildenstern from Tom Stoppard's play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead [37]
• Shylock from Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice [38]
• Sam Spade from Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon [39]
• "The Underground Man", narrator of Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground [40]
• Yossarian from Joseph Heller's Catch-22 [41]
• Wei Xiaobao from Jinyong's The Deer and the Cauldron [42]

Film

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Robert De Niro portraying Travis Bickle in an often quoted scene from Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver

• Travis Bickle from Taxi Driver [43]
• Edmond Burke from Edmond [44]
• Lester Burnham from American Beauty [45]
• Harry Callahan from the Dirty Harry series [46]
• Chev Chelios from Crank [47]
• Michael Corleone from The Godfather trilogy [48]
• John Creasy from Man on Fire [49]
• The Dude from The Big Lebowski [50] [51]
• Dante Hicks, Randal Graves, and Jay & Silent Bob from Kevin Smith's "View Askewniverse" films [52]
• Jigsaw from Saw and its sequels Saw II and Saw III.[53][54][55]
• Charles Foster Kane from Citizen Kane [56]
• Beatrix Kiddo from Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill films [57]
• Mickey and Mallory Knox from Natural Born Killers [58] [59]
• Léon from Léon or The Professional [60]
• "The Man with No Name," a stock character in westerns popularized by Clint Eastwood in films such as For A Few Dollars More and The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly [61] [62]
• Tony Montana from Brian De Palma's Scarface [63]
• Snake Plissken from Escape From New York and Escape From L.A. [64]
• Richard B. Riddick from Pitch Black and The Chronicles of Riddick [65]
• Max Rockatansky from the Mad Max series [66]
• Anakin Skywalker from the Star Wars films [67]
• Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean [68]
• Napoleon Wilson from John Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13 [69][70]
• Yojimbo's nameless protagonist [71]

Television

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Archie Bunker on the cover of TV Guide

• Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell from Prison Break.[72]
• Edmund Blackadder from BBC's Blackadder series [73]
• David Brent from The Office [74]
• Archie Bunker from All in the Family [75]
• Al Bundy from Married... with Children [76]
• Larry David from Curb Your Enthusiasm [77]
• Eddie "Fitz" Fitzgerald from Cracker [78]
• Tommy Gavin from Rescue Me [79]
• Gregory House from House [80]
• Vic Mackey from The Shield [81]
• Ally McBeal from the eponymous series [82]
• Jimmy McNulty from The Wire [83]
• Malcolm Reynolds from Firefly and Serenity [84]
• Michael Scofield from Prison Break.[85]
• Michael Scott from The Office [86]
• Homer Simpson from The Simpsons [87]
• Bart Simpson from The Simpsons [88]
• Tony Soprano from The Sopranos [89] [90]
• Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel [91]
• Al Swearengen from Deadwood [92]

Comic books

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Marv and Dwight from Sin City:A Dame to Kill For. Art by Frank Miller.

• Batman [93]
• Johnny C from Johnny the Homicidal Maniac [94]
• Catwoman [95]
• John Constantine from Hellblazer [96]
• Jesse Custer from the Preacher series [97]
• Spider Jerusalem from Transmetropolitan [98]
• Magneto from the X-Men series. [99]
• Marv and Dwight from Frank Miller's Sin City [100]
• The Punisher [101]
• The Shadow [102]
• Spawn [103]
• "V" from V for Vendetta [104]
• Venom [105]
• Wolverine [106]

Video games

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Shadow the Hedgehog from the Sonic series.

• Carl "CJ" Johnson from Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas [107]
• Kratos from God of War and God of War 2. [108]
• Duke Nukem from Duke Nukem series [109]
• Max Payne from Max Payne and Max Payne 2 [110]
• Raziel and Kain from the Blood Omen and Legacy of Kain series. [111]
• Shadow the Hedgehog from the Sonic the Hedgehog series [112]
• Tommy Vercetti from Grand Theft Auto: Vice City [113]
• Roger Wilco from the Space Quest series. [114]
• Agent 47 from the Hitman series of games.