Antiheroes

Well, I've been thinking about antiheroes frequently of recent, mostly because I'm realizing exactly how much I like to write them as well as how exactly and drastically I'd be one if I were a character in a story.

An antihero, according to TV Tropes, is "an archetypal character ... almost as common in modern fiction as the ideal hero ... [who] is a protagonist ... [and] has the opposite of most of the traditional attributes of a hero.  They may be bewildered, ineffectual, deluded, or merely apathetic.  More often, an antihero is just an amoral misfit."

In other words...

For example, some antiheroes (who also happen to be some of my favorite and most adored characters to ever enter fiction) are: Huckleberry Finn, Jay Gatsby, and Jace Lightwood.  In anime/movies, you'll find Batman, Han Solo, Jack Sparrow, Karma Akabane, and Izaya Orihara.

What makes a hero different from an antihero though?  According to this great chart by Anthony Ehlers, heroes tend to be idealists: classic handsome/pretty looks, high-ground morals (no blatant sins and a strong initiative against evil for the sake of justice and peace, etc.), and success (whether it be with the plot or with the princess girlfriend).  Meanwhile, antiheroes are realists, who are often scarred by the past, who believe that the end justifies the mean, and who tend to be driven by self-interest.

Why do I like antiheroes so much?  Here are a few reasons:

1.) Antiheroes raise the stakes of a plot.
A hero is only willing to sacrifice his own time and resources for any given goal.  However, when a hero can't acquire his goal by his own sacrifice, he is stuck (and must be saved by a Deus-Ex-Machina or an intervention or whatever plot device you have at hand).  Meanwhile, the antihero is willing to sacrifice basically anything for any given goal, including other people.  Therefore, when an antihero can't acquire his goal by his own sacrifice or by the sacrifice of other people/other people's things, things really get dicey.

2.) Most humans (eheh, including me) relate better to the antihero than to the hero.
Being dirty and more inclined to darkness, antiheroes depict a clear image of selfish, proud humankind.  Most people won't claim to own good motives and to do good constantly and passionately like a hero, but many people will claim to own good motives and to do evil occasionally and premeditatedly because they "gave it their best" or "did all they could."  There's desperation in an antihero, a desperation and a hopelessness that drives him through his valleys of sin.

3.) Let's just be honest.  You can do so much more with antiheroes.
Antiheroes have twisted, conflicted thought patterns; they leave the audience curious because, while they tend to do evil, they might have a really good heart inside.  In a crisis situation, it's a coin-flip as to whether they'll actually choose good or evil.  On the other hand, heroes are typical and predictable, being as that they'll save as many people as they can and act according to whatever is best for the world.  Boring, boring, boooring.

Anyway, now that I've convinced you to write an antihero (because they're basically all my soul mates), you'll probably need some help in the actual writing process.  Here's one more article that I really liked that might be useful in your word-filled adventures.

Write on!
Clove