History AntiVillain / Webcomics

** WordOfGod has it that Max is not a villain and never was; he is simply a nice guy (though a successful one). Only in the deranged protagonists’ mind is he evil.

* Fuschia in {{Sinfest}} has been undergoing massive CharacterDevelopment from ChaoticEvil HornyDevil to ChaoticNeutral NobleDemon post Crimeny influence.

* Wizard from ''Webcomic/{{AccursedDragon}}''. He is made out to be a villain, but is {{Neutral Evil}} at worst.

* Shadow the Hedgehog from the British ''SonicTheComic'' continuity (not the games) is a clear example of this, being Sonic's EvilCounterpart. ([[''SonicTheComicOnline'' This is in the unofficial online continuation of the original paper-and-ink comic book.]]) As such, where Sonic is arrogant, boastful, and hot tempered, Shadow is humble, polite, and focused, even managing to pull off a HeroicSacrifice against the heroes in his last scenes. Sonic has become a little less of an asshole lately, maybe realising that people are having trouble working out who's the good guy.

* Shadow the Hedgehog from the British ''SonicTheComic'' continuity (not the games) is a clear example of this, being Sonic's EvilCounterpart. ([[''SonicTheComicOnline'' This is in the unofficial online continuation of the original paper-and-ink comic book]].) As such, where Sonic is arrogant, boastful, and hot tempered, Shadow is humble, polite, and focused, even managing to pull off a HeroicSacrifice against the heroes in his last scenes. Sonic has become a little less of an asshole lately, maybe realising that people are having trouble working out who's the good guy.

* Shadow the Hedgehog from the British ''SonicTheComic'' continuity (not the games) is a clear example of this, being Sonic's EvilCounterpart. (This is in the unofficial online continuation of the original paper-and-ink comic book.) As such, where Sonic is arrogant, boastful, and hot tempered, Shadow is humble, polite, and focused, even managing to pull off a HeroicSacrifice against the heroes in his last scenes. Sonic has become a little less of an asshole lately, maybe realising that people are having trouble working out who's the good guy.

* The cast of ''TheLastDaysOfFoxhound'', excepting [[MagnificentBastard Ocelot]] and [[HeroicSociopath Mantis]], are partially or wholly anti-villainous. Raven would never be counted as a villain by anyone aside from his involvement with the group when it goes rogue, Wolf is at worst a PunchClockVillain and a genuinely decent human being away from her job, Octopus is often a bit slow on the draw but a laid back prankster who has never killed anyone, and while [[IdiotHero Liquid]] had a few KickTheDog moments in his past, his sheer [[PsychopathicManchild childlike dorkiness]] and deep seated complexes and neuroticisms tend to obscure that.
* Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus take on this role in ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance''. They never do anything evil (well, except for accidentally destroying Tokyo that one time), they just happen to be engaged in a long running feud with the strip's resident AntiHero and HeroicSociopath, Bun-Bun.

* Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus take on this role in ''SluggyFreelance''. They never do anything evil (well, except for accidentally destroying Tokyo that one time), they just happen to be engaged in a long running feud with the strip's resident AntiHero and HeroicSociopath, Bun-Bun.

* Matthis Quigley from ''{{Unsounded}}''. He's a PunchClockVillain working for the Red Berry Boys who's OnlyInItForTheMoney. While his boss, Starfish, is a monster who's willing to cut out childrens' organs to transport some kind of illegal pymaric substance in their bodies, Quigley flat out refuses to work with the man [[WouldNotHurtAChild unless all of the children are freed once their job is done]]. He also has a MoralityPet in his eight-year-old, blind son, Matty, a tragic backstory where Aldish nationalists murdered his wife for treason, and a few PetTheDog moments, such as when he refuses to execute the captive Crescian peaceguard captain, [[HeroAntagonist Toma]], despite the captain's efforts to arrest them.

* Matthis Quigley from ''{{Unsounded}}''. He's a PunchClockVillain working for the Red Berry Boys who's OnlyInItForTheMoney. While his boss, Starfish, is a monster who's willing to cut out childrens' organs to transport some kind of illegal pymaric substance in their bodies, Quigley flat out refuses to work with the man [[WouldNotHurtAChild unless all of the children are freed once their job is done]]. He also has a MoralityPet in his eight-year-old, blind son, Matty, a tragic backstory where Aldish nationalists murdered his wife for treason, and a few PetTheDog moments, such as when he refuses to execute the captive [[HeroAntagonist Crescian peaceguard captain, Toma,]] despite the captain's efforts to arrest them.

* Matthis Quigley from ''{{Unsounded}}''. He's a PunchClockVillain working for the Red Berry Boys who's OnlyInItForTheMoney. While his boss, Starfish, is a monster, willing to cut out childrens' organs to transport some kind of illegal pymaric substance in their bodies, Quigley flat out refuses to work with Starfish [[WouldNotHurtAChild unless all of the children are freed once their job is done]]. He also has a MoralityPet in his eight-year-old, blind son, Matty, a tragic backstory where Aldish nationalists murdered his wife for treason, and a few PetTheDog moments such as when he refuses to execute the captive [[HeroAntagonist Crescian peaceguard captain, Toma,]] despite the captain's efforts to arrest them.

* Matthis Quigley, a PunchClockVillain working for the Red Berry Boys who's OnlyInItForTheMoney. While his boss, Starfish, is a monster, willing to cut out childrens' organs to transport some kind of illegal pymaric substance in their bodies, Quigley flat out refuses to work with Starfish [[WouldNotHurtAChild unless all of the children are freed once their job is done]]. He also has a MoralityPet in his eight-year-old, blind son, Matty, a tragic backstory where Aldish nationalists murdered his wife for treason, and a few PetTheDog moments such as when he refuses to execute the captive [[HeroAntagonist Crescian peaceguard captain, Toma,]] despite the captain's efforts to arrest them.

** This basically leaves her along the lines of a WellIntentionedExtremist.

** Miko is an antivillain by WordOfGod - Rich Burlew actually used the word in a post on the Giant in the Playground forums: "In my mind, Miko is an antagonist, simply because she is an obstacle that the true protagonists of the story (the OOTS) must deal with/overcome. I think of her kind of as an 'anti-villain', a person in the villain's role who is not actually villainous." This sums up the trope quite nicely.

*** Klaus's method of dealing with minions involves letting them question his orders (the lackya, regarding Zulenna) and giving surrendered enemy soldiers a month's pay or the chance to join his own army. Gil terrorized Wooster (who'd been spying on him) but it's not clear whether he would actually boil England.
*** He gave the invading army a fair warning and a chance to shoot first, but after he opened his can of whoopass in the form of the lightning generator, he gave no quarter until they surrendered. Also, he is one of the most powerful Sparks in the series, so, yes, we can assume that he would boil England if he had a reason.
**** Klaus definitely takes the term "tyrant" back to its roots - any ruler who doesn't have royal blood. The whole conflict between him and Agatha is proven a SenselessWasteOfHumanLife when you realize that "the despotic, iron-fisted rule of the Wulfenbach Empire" only has ''two rules'' - don't start fights and turn over all SealedEvilInACan for proper disposal.
** Klaus and Gil aren't so much Anti-villains as subversions of villainhood. They have all the trappings of villainy, but not much of the substance. Gil mkes their predicament explicit in this strip ([[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20080303 link]]) and ever clearer on the following [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20080305 page.]] Add to that the fact that Klaus is [[spoiler:probably at least as capable of fighting the real Big Bad as the protagonist Agatha, if not more so; or at least, he was, until he got slaver-wasped]].
*** Most recently, Agatha has realized she MAY be a villain protagonist right about [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20090504 now]].

* Adina from ''Webcomic/{{Zoophobia}}'' is often seen as a villain, but in truth, is actually intending to do what she believes is the right thing, which is essentially [[spoiler: killing all those who she deems as "evil" or "sinners" (which includes a [[AntiAntiChrist main character]]...)]]

** Tangerine is an ObliviouslyEvil type.

*** The problem with the "all they can be" part is that when Sparks are involved, "people" really means ''Sparks only'', as their insane behavior and dangerous inventions tend to kill anyone else not a Spark around them, even if by accident. Klaus is the only thing keeping the Sparks in check and actually allowing normal people to live relatively calm and safe lives.
** Even more than Klaus, his son Gil fits this trope brilliantly. Klaus is still thrown into a villain's role even with his good qualities, but Gilgamesh spends most of his screentime acting as and alongside a good guy, and if not for the unfortunate fact that he is, in fact, loyal to his father, the villain, he'd fit in perfectly among the protagonists himself. He is in love with the protagonist and she had trouble not feeling the same way; it's tough to be both a legitimate enemy and a legitimate love interest. Foreshadowing says he will, in fact, eventually outright join the protagonists, but so far, he's still a functioning member of Team Antagonist. He does suffer from occasionally channeling his father's method of dealing with minions.

** Klaus and Gil aren't so much Anti-villains as subversions of villainhood. They have all the trappings of villainy, but not much of the substance. Gil makes their predicament explicit in this strip ([[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20080303 link]]) and ever clearer on the following [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20080305 page.]] Add to that the fact that Klaus is [[spoiler:probably at least as capable of fighting the real Big Bad as the protagonist Agatha, if not more so; or at least, he was, until he got slaver-wasped]].

* King Radical of ''Webcomic/TheAdventuresOfDrMcNinja'', as seen [[http://drmcninja.com/archives/comic/20p75 here.]] For those who don't know, King Radical is the one in the red and yellow suit. Yeah. ''That'' is the BigBad.

** It's definitely the latter: eventually, it is revealed that the sole reason Cole hates Max is that he's jealous that Max is a much better person than him.
*** *Ahem* That was a ''blatant'' {{Retcon}} (viz. Max's inability to see Skull as a sort of manifestation of impurity). After a while, readers realized that, apart from being a bit of an annoying douchebag, Max really hadn't done anything to earn the scathing hatred that Brent and Cole had for him, and Kurtz created a storyline involving gay rumors and eavesdropping specifically to rehabilitate Max as a character.
*** Wrongo. Ever since he was introduced, he seemed to be a pretty nice guy and never really did anything that bad. Cole's reason for hate seems pretty obvious from the beginning, but he simply refused to admit it. Brent never really hated Max either, until Jade [[LoveTriangle got involved]]. Also, the reason Max was unable to see Skull was just speculation done by the cast. Being impure wouldn't explain being able to see Skull after Shecky slugs Max in the face.
*** Max doesn't necessarily do anything villainous, but his overbearing personality is undoubtedly annoying and he sometimes lacks understanding of social convection. When his magazine merged with PvP and shifted into game development, he was approving of the idea that he could use the magazine to generate favorable reviews of the games his sister company produced. It is worth noting that, at one point, it is ''explicitly stated'' that Max can't see Skull because he is "not pure of heart". Commentary for an earlier comic even claims that Max is, in fact, the only character who has trouble seeing Skull outright, while others are more likely to perceive him as a fellow person or animal.
**** Still, Max can see Skull after his recent comeback to the strip, when he came back from a "self-discovery" trip, apparently a somewhat changed man.
**** Max Powers is a prime example of the SitcomArchNemesis in that he antagonizes the main characters without ever actually doing much wrong. Websnark even did a [[http://www.websnark.com/archives/2004/10/because_i_keep.html somewhat famous]] piece on him.

* Baron Klaus Wulfenbach from ''GirlGenius''. He doesn't want to rule most of Europe with an iron fist (in fact, he hates his job and wishes he could retire to his lab), but his empire is the only check against [[ScienceRelatedMemeticDisorder mad science]]-induced anarchy. If not for his [[PsychoForHire employees]] and his willingness to experiment on Othar Tryggvassen (GentlemanAdventurer!)'s brain, he wouldn't even be a recognizable villain.

* Fuschia in SinFest has been undergoing massive CharacterDevelopment from ChaoticEvil HornyDevil to ChaoticNeutral NobleDemon post Crimeny influence.

* Arguably, Max Powers of ''{{PvP}}'', although it's tough to pin down if he's a villain at all, or if Cole and Brent just take their frustrations out on him.

*** *Ahem* That was a ''blatant'' RetCon (viz. Max's inability to see Skull as a sort of manifestation of impurity). After a while, readers realized that, apart from being a bit of an annoying douchebag, Max really hadn't done anything to earn the scathing hatred that Brent and Cole had for him, and Kurtz created a storyline involving gay rumors and eavesdropping specifically to rehabilitate Max as a character.

* The cast of ''{{The Last Days of Foxhound}}'', excepting [[MagnificentBastard Ocelot]] and [[HeroicSociopath Mantis]], are partially or wholly anti-villainous. Raven would never be counted as a villain by anyone aside from his involvement with the group when it goes rogue, Wolf is at worst a PunchClockVillain and a genuinely decent human being away from her job, Octopus is often a bit slow on the draw but a laid back prankster who has never killed anyone, and while [[IdiotHero Liquid]] had a few KickTheDog moments in his past, his sheer [[PsychopathicManchild childlike dorkiness]] and deep seated complexes and neuroticisms tend to obscure that.

* Shadow the Hedgehog from the British ''{{Sonic the Comic}}'' continuity (not the games) is a clear example of this, being Sonic's EvilCounterpart. (This is in the unofficial online continuation of the original paper-and-ink comic book.) As such, where Sonic is arrogant, boastful, and hot tempered, Shadow is humble, polite, and focused, even managing to pull off a HeroicSacrifice against the heroes in his last scenes. Sonic has become a little less of an asshole lately, maybe realising that people are having trouble working out who's the good guy.

* Redcloak, TheDragon and resident WellIntentionedExtremist from ''{{Order of the Stick}}''. Redcloak and his entire species (goblins) are the victims of JerkassGods who created them for the sole purpose of being XP Fodder, and declared that [[AlwaysChaoticEvil all goblins are evil]] so that the followers of those gods could then slaughter goblins guilt free. Redcloak himself is the survivor of a raid by KnightsTemplar paladins that slaughtered most of his family and community, and is intelligent, well meaning, has [[EvenEvilHasStandards kept his standards]], is repulsed by acts of {{Card Carrying Villain}}y, and, as the spiritual leader of all goblins, is trying to improve their lot in a world where, most of the time, they are attacked or killed on sight (by committing an act of BlackMail against the gods by threatening to unleash a world destroying, god killing EldritchAbomination, as you do). To some degree, Redcloak even seems to have WordOfGod on his side, as author Rich Burlew has stated "Some people choose evil, and some are driven to it by what life has forced them to endure. [[BigBad Xykon]] is not one of these. Redcloak, however, might be."

** Even the "recognizable villain" bit can be debated, given that Othar is a homicidal genius, and Klaus's experiments were specifically about the nature of mad scientist-hood and how it might possibly be cured -- and Klaus ''let'' Othar escape after threatening him.
*** Of course, as with all characters of sufficient complexity, the villain-hood of Klaus is questionable, and all depends on what you believe is more important: a sort of forced world peace or people's right to be all that they can be.
**** The problem with the "all they can be" part is that when Sparks are involved, "people" really means ''Sparks only'', as their insane behavior and dangerous inventions tend to kill anyone else not a Spark around them, even if by accident. Klaus is the only thing keeping the Sparks in check and actually allowing normal people to live relatively calm and safe lives.
** Even more than Klaus, his son Gil fits this trope brilliantly. Klaus is still thrown into a villain's role even with his good qualities, but Gilgamesh spends most of his screentime acting as and alongside a good guy, and if not for the unfortunate fact that he is, in fact, loyal to his father, the villain, he'd fit in perfectly among the protagonists himself. He is in love with the protagonist and she had trouble not feeling the same way; it's tough to be both a legitimate enemy and a legitimate love interest. Foreshadowing says he will, in fact, eventually outright join the protagonists, but so far, he's still a functioning member of Team Antagonist. Of course, he does suffer from occasionally channeling his father's method of dealing with minions.
*** Klaus' method of dealing with minions involves letting them question his orders (the lackya, regarding Zulenna) and giving surrendered enemy soldiers a month's pay or the chance to join his own army. Gil terrorized Wooster (who'd been spying on him) but it's not clear whether he would actually boil England.

**** Klaus definitely takes the term "tyrant" back to its roots - basically, any ruler who doesn't have royal blood. The whole conflict between him and Agatha is proven a SenselessWasteOfHumanLife when you realize that "the despotic, iron-fisted rule of the Wulfenbach Empire" only has ''two rules'' - don't start fights and turn over all SealedEvilInACan for proper disposal.

* Just about the entire cast of ''{{The Last Days of Foxhound}}'', excepting [[MagnificentBastard Ocelot]] and [[HeroicSociopath Mantis]], are partially or wholly anti-villainous. Raven would never be counted as a villain by anyone aside from his involvement with the group when it goes rogue, Wolf is at worst a PunchClockVillain and a genuinely decent human being away from her job, Octopus is often a bit slow on the draw but a laid back prankster who has never killed anyone, and while [[IdiotHero Liquid]] had a few KickTheDog moments in his past, his sheer [[PsychopathicManchild childlike dorkiness]] and deep seated complexes and neuroticisms tend to obscure that.

* Shadow the Hedgehog from the British ''{{Sonic the Comic}}'' continuity (not the games) is a clear example of this, being pretty much Sonic's EvilCounterpart. (This is in the unofficial online continuation of the original paper-and-ink comic book.) As such, where Sonic is arrogant, boastful, and hot tempered, Shadow is humble, polite, and focused, even managing to pull off a HeroicSacrifice against the heroes in his last scenes. Sonic has become a little less of an asshole lately, maybe realising that people are having trouble working out who's the good guy.

* Grace's brothers from ''ElGoonishShive'', [[spoiler: [[HeelFaceTurn at first]]]]. Abraham, as well.

* Arguably, Max Powers of ''{{PvP}}'', although it's tough to pin down if he's at all a villain, or if Cole and Brent just take their frustrations out on him.
** It's definitely the latter: eventually it is revealed the sole reason Cole hates Max is that he's jealous that Max is a much better person than him.
*** * ahem* That was a ''blatant'' RetCon (viz. Max's inability to see Skull as a sort of manifestation of impurity). After a while, readers realized that apart from being a bit of an annoying douchebag, Max really hadn't done anything to earn the scathing hatred that Brent and Cole had for him, and Kurtz created a storyline involving gay rumors and eavesdropping specifically to rehabilitate Max as a character.
**** Wrongo. Ever since he was introduced, he seemed to be a pretty nice guy and never really did anything that bad. Cole's reason for hate seems pretty obvious from the beginning, but he simply refused to admit it. Brent never really hated Max either until Jade [[LoveTriangle got involved]]. Also, the reason Max was unable to see Skull was just speculation done by the cast. Being impure wouldn't explain being able to see Skull after Shecky slugs Max in the face.
**** Max doesn't necessarily do anything villainous, but his overbearing personality is undoubtedly annoying and he sometimes lacks understanding of social convection. When his magazine merged with PvP and shifted into game development, he was approving of the idea that he could use the magazine to generate favorable reviews of the games his sister company produced. It is worth noting that at one point, it is ''explicitly stated'' that Max can't see Skull because he is "not pure of heart". Commentary for an earlier comic even claims that Max is in fact the only character who has trouble seeing Skull outright, while others are more likely to perceive him and a fellow person or animal.

*** Of course, as with all characters of sufficient complexity, the villain-hood of Klaus is questionable, and all depends on what you believe is more important; a sort of forced world peace or people's right to be all that they can be.

** Even more than Klaus, his son Gil fits this trope brilliantly. Klaus is still thrown into a villain's role even with his good qualities, but Gilgamesh spends most of his screentime acting as and alongside a good guy, and if not for the unfortunate fact that he is, in fact, loyal to his father the villain, he'd fit in perfectly among the protagonists himself. He is in love with the protagonist and she had trouble not feeling the same way; it's tough to be both a legitimate enemy and a legitimate love interest. Foreshadowing says he will, in fact, eventually outright join the protagonists, but so far he's still a functioning member of Team Antagonist. Of course, he does suffer from occasionally channeling his father's method of dealing with minions.
*** Klaus's method of dealing with minions involves letting them question his orders (the lackya, regarding Zulenna) and giving surrendered enemy soldiers a month's pay or the chance to join his own army. Gil terrorized Wooster (who'd been spying on him) but it's not clear he actually would boil England.
*** He gave the invading army a fair warning and a chance to shoot first, but after he opened his can of whoopass in form of lightning generator, he gave no quarter until they surrendered. Also he is one of most powerful Sparks in the series, so yes. We can assume that he would boil England if he had a reason.
**** Klaus definitely takes the term "tyrant" back to its roots - basically any ruler who doesn't have royal blood. The whole conflict between him and Agatha is proven a SenselessWasteOfHumanLife when you realize that "the despotic, iron-fisted rule of the Wulfenbach Empire" only has ''two rules'' - don't start fights and turn over all SealedEvilInACan for proper disposal.
** Klaus and Gil aren't so much Anti-villains as subversions of villainhood. They have all the trappings of villainy, but not much of the substance. Gil makes their predicament explicit in this strip ([[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20080303 link]]) and ever more clear on the following [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20080305 page.]] Add to that the fact that Klaus is [[spoiler:probably at least as capable of fighting the real Big Bad as the protagonist Agatha, if not more so; or at least he was, until he got slaver-wasped]].

* The protagonists of ''{{Narbonic}}'' are prone to attempt (and sometimes succeed) murder on each other at a moment's notice.
* Just about the entire cast of ''{{The Last Days of Foxhound}}'', excepting [[MagnificentBastard Ocelot]] and [[HeroicSociopath Mantis]], are partially or wholly anti-villainous. Raven would never be counted as a villain by anyone aside from his involvement with the group when it goes rogue, Wolf is at worst a PunchClockVillain and a genuinely decent human being away from her job, Octopus is often a bit slow on the draw but a laid back prankster who has never killed anyone, and while [[IdiotHero Liquid]] has a few KickTheDog moments in his past, his sheer [[PsychopathicManchild childlike dorkiness]] and deep seated complexes and neuroticisms tend to obscure that.

* Shadow the Hedgehog from the British ''{{Sonic the Comic}}'' continuity (not the games) is a clear example of this, being pretty much Sonic's EvilCounterpart. (This is in the unofficial online continuation of the original paper-and-ink comic book.) As such, where Sonic is arrogant, boastful and hot tempered, Shadow is humble, polite and focused, even managing to pull off a HeroicSacrifice against the heroes in his last scenes. Sonic has become a little less of an asshole lately, maybe realising that people were having trouble working out who was the good guy.

* Redcloak, TheDragon and resident WellIntentionedExtremist from ''{{Order of the Stick}}''. Redcloak and his entire species (goblins) are the victims of JerkassGods who created for the sole purpose of being XP Fodder, and declared that [[AlwaysChaoticEvil all goblins are evil]] so that the followers of those gods could then slaughter goblins guilt free. Redcloak himself is the survivor of a raid by KnightsTemplar paladins that slaughtered most of his family and community, and is intelligent, well meaning, has [[EvenEvilHasStandards kept his standards]], is repulsed by acts of {{Card Carrying Villain}}y and as the spiritual leader of all goblins, is trying to improve their lot in a world where most of the time they are attacked or killed on sight. (By committing an act of BlackMail against the gods by threatening to unleash a world destroying, god killing EldritchAbomination. As you do). To some degree, Redcloak even seems to have WordOfGod on his side, as author Rich Burlew has stated "Some people choose evil, and some are driven to it by what life has forced them to endure. [[BigBad Xykon]] is not one of these. Redcloak, however, might be."

* Grace's brothers from ''ElGoonishShive'' [[spoiler: [[HeelFaceTurn at first]] ]]. Abraham as well.

* King Radical of DrMcNinja, as seen [[http://drmcninja.com/archives/comic/20p75 here.]] For those who don't know, King Radical is the one in the red and yellow suit. Yeah. ''That'' is the BigBad.

* Grace's brothers from ''ElGoonishShive'' [[spoiler: [[HeelFaceTurn at first]] ]]. Abraham as well.