Overview
The Antihero is a useful character archetype to add to your arsenal as a writer. It's often misunderstood, so in this article, we'll shed light on what this term means.
We'll also learn how to implement this archetype in our story, and the benefits and drawbacks of doing so.
What is an Antihero?
A character is an Antihero when they are the story's protagonist, but lack the conventional, positive qualities associated with heroes.
For example, they may display:
- A complex and flawed moral code, where their choices and actions verge into morally gray areas.
- Questionable personality traits, goals, and motivations.
- Anti-social and selfish behavior.
Like a Hero, an Antihero might find themselves in a protagonist role by chance, luck, or necessity.
They are the opposite of an Anti Villain, who is:
A character with heroic goals, personality traits, and/or virtues who is ultimately the villain.
Should I write an Antihero?
Making your protagonist an Antihero can give your story a non-conventional and original perspective.
Some other benefits include:
- Enhancing the depth and complexity of your protagonist's emotions.
- It can make for compelling character development, where your character may grow from an Antihero into a Hero by the end of the story.
- It can provide a unique spin on your genre, seen through the eyes of a morally questionable character.
- Having your protagonist verge towards the dark side provides a fantastic opportunity to create compelling conflict.
- Relatability and psychological appeal: it's easier to relate to a flawed character than a polished, perfect one.
You may also use an Antihero to represent a particular social attitude or issue. This is an excellent way to convey a message you care about to your audience.
However, there are significant drawbacks you should be aware of when including an Antihero in your story. Let's look at a few in the following sections.
Genre Conventions
If you're writing Heroic Fantasy or a genre with a strong convention of having morally sound protagonists, your readers will likely expect them to be a Hero.
You may intentionally break this convention by subverting your protagonist and making them an Antihero. However, this comes with a few drawbacks:
- Rebalancing morality: if your protagonist is an Antihero, you may need to give your villain or other characters some good intentions — else who will be the good guy?
- Breaking promises and expectations: your readers bought a Heroic Fantasy book to read about a Hero. Breaking this convention may entice some readers to read further, but cause others to put your book down.
Balance of Morality
As hinted above, every good story needs a balance of good and evil. Even if you write morally gray characters, there can still be a personal struggle within them: an internal balance of good and evil.
However, from a broader perspective, when writing an Antihero, your story may benefit from writing good side characters, or perhaps giving your villains positive traits.
Empathy
In a typical storyline, the protagonist tries to resolve a conflict. They may sacrifice themselves to achieve this, dying or changing permanently. They often display honorable qualities that they may either possess at the beginning of the story, such as is the case with Aragorn in The Lord of The Rings, or learn them along the way. These are just a few examples of what makes a protagonist a Hero. In these kinds of stories, we can expect your readers to root for your protagonist based on their morality and goodness.
However, when your protagonist is an Antihero, some readers may root against them. Even worse, they could be confused as to who they should root for altogether. Other readers may instead develop closeness to them as the story progresses, and perhaps relate to their flaws. And others may be drawn to their dark side and feel enticed by it. Nonetheless, you're asking your readers to spend a significant amount of time following a morally gray character who lacks honorable and heroic traits. Some readers will be put off by that.
If this drawback concerns you as a writer, one technique to ensure readers still relate to your protagonist is to include growth throughout your story, such as them picking up some morally good traits along the way. In addition, you should give signals at the beginning of the story that there is hope for your protagonist to become a better person. By doing so, you are making a promise to your readers that your protagonist will change for the better.
Conclusion
Antiheroes are a useful literary tool that can give your story a unique perspective. They should be placed intentionally within a story, and there are some drawbacks to consider, such as the need to balance good and evil, and their reliability to wider audiences.
Ultimately, this character archetype can make for an original and fun storyline with lots of potential for conflict, growth, and establishing a deep connection with your readers.
The next time you brainstorm a storyline or reflect on an existing one, think about the following:
- What would this story look like if the protagonist were an Antihero?
- What questionable goals and traits would I find relatable in a character?
- If the story contains a typical Hero and a Villain, which one do I relate to more, and why?