History Main / ClassicalAntihero

* ''Film/ScottPilgrimVsTheWorld'' brings us Scott Pilgrim, a 22-year-old man living in Toronto with no job and no signs of pursuing higher education, who owns almost nothing in the apartment he lives in, has a bad history of emotionally hurting his exes, isn't dedicated or good enough for his mediocre garage band, and has lies to his high school girlfriend so he can stalk another girl. His only "heroic" quality is that he can put up a good fight against the Seven Evil Exes of the other girl, but over the course of the movie realizes that he should be fighting for himself instead of the other girl.

* ''Film/ScottPilgrimVsTheWorld'' brings us Scott Pilgrim, a 22-year-old man living in Toronto with no job and no signs of pursuing higher education, who owns almost nothing in the apartment he crashes at, has a bad history of emotionally hurting his exes, isn't dedicated or good enough for his mediocre garage band, and has lies to his high school girlfriend so he can stalk another girl. His only "heroic" quality is that he can put up a good fight against the Seven Evil Exes of the other girl, but over the course of the movie realizes that he should be fighting for himself instead of the other girl.

As time has gone on, this portrayal has become increasingly popular, as readers enjoy the increased depth of story that comes from a flawed and conflicted character. Hence, the classical antihero has to some extent replaced the traditional hero in the minds of readers as the idea of what a hero should be. It is nowadays rare to find a hero who does not have at least a little of the classical antihero in him.

-->-- '''Joe Lamb''' in response to a DistressedDamsel, ''Film/Super8''

* ''VideoGame/LesterTheUnlikely'' from the SNES game of the same name starts out as such a wimp that even turtles scare him. He does become more heroic about halfway through the game, however.

* Though he more commonly plays the part of {{Sidekick}} than TheHero, [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Luigi]] could fit the bill insofar as being a LovableCoward whose flaws are made more prominent than those of his IdealHero brother, Mario. In particular, [[VideoGame/LuigisMansion the times he has]] [[VideoGame/LuigisMansionDarkMoon to go it alone]] portray him without the series' trademark [[StockSuperpowers superpowers]] (which in his case are usually better than Mario's).

* Though he more commonly plays the part of {{Sidekick}} than TheHero, [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Luigi]] could fit the bill insofar as being a LovableCoward whose flaws are made more prominent than those of his IdealHero brother, Mario. In particular, [[VideoGame/LuigisMansion the times he has]] [[VideoGame/LuigisMansionDarkMoon to go it alone]] portray him without the series' trademark StockSuperpowers (which in his case are usually better than Mario's).

* The "Knights of Good" from ''WebVideo/TheGuild'', except [[TokenEvilTeammate Tinkerballa]].

* ''Webcomic/MegaTokyo'''s Piro probably fits. He's getting better, though.

* Raimi and Kamimura from ''WebAnimation/BrokenSaints''.

* Raiden is largely considered to be this in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'', though he becomes more of a JerkAss Antihero in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots''.

* Almaz from ''VideoGame/Disgaea3AbsenceOfJustice''.
* Cloud Strife of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', although he pretends to be a prick.
* Captain Martin Walker for most of the beginning of ''VideoGame/SpecOpsTheLine'' comes off as one of these his actions only cause disaster for both him and the people of Dubai. [[spoiler: As the game goes on though it becomes more and more clear that he is actually a delusional VillainProtagonist desperately trying to be the hero of a situation far out of his control.]]
* James Sunderland of ''VideoGame/SilentHill2'' easily meets the criteria.
* Iji of ''VideoGame/{{Iji}}'', especially in the earlier parts of the game.

* Travis Touchdown, of ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes'', a porn-obsessed Otaku without anything resembling a social life. He's also a NominalHero, however, eagerly slaughtering opponents and rarely showing any remorse for his killings.

* Woyzeck from the [[Theatre/{{Woyzeck}} eponymous play]] is considered the first true Antihero, as opposed to the classic tragic hero.
* Everyone but Ricky Roma in ''Theatre/GlengarryGlenRoss'' qualifies, but with particular attention paid to Shelly Levene.

* In the context of science-fiction TV history, ''Series/DoctorWho'' was originally one of these. Pre-''Who'', space travel on TV featured handsome, youthful spacemen aligned with heroic, paramilitary forces. But the Doctor, at his core, is Jack Kerouac in space and time--a dropout from his own people who now just travels around like the '60s never ended. Also, in the William Hartnell days, Ian Chesterton was the male lead, and the Doc was a selfish anti-hero.

* ''Series/{{Scandal}}'': Quinn is more this, as opposed to an AntiHero.

** ''Every'' Discworld protagonist is one in one way or another. Even ''Death'' is one.
* The narrator of Creator/FyodorDostoevsky's ''Literature/NotesFromUnderground'' is one of these, as is Creator/FranzKafka's Josef K. (of ''The Trial'').

* [[HeroicWannabe David Levin]] of ''Literature/{{Everworld}}''. He improves as time goes on.
* Mr. Rochester of Literature/JaneEyre.

* Peter Keating of ''Literature/TheFountainhead'' is [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation either this, a deconstruction of this or a Woobie AntiVillain]]

** The next reboot, ''Film/SpiderManHomecoming,'' has him make mistakes so constantly that half his heroic actions in the film seem to be damage control for crises he himself created.

* Most of the protagonists in Creator/KevinSmith's Film/TheViewAskewniverse qualify.
* Sgt. Neil Howie in the original version of ''Film/TheWickerMan1973''.

* The eponymous character of ''Film/MontyPythonsLifeOfBrian'', which makes all the funnier the fact that he is repeatedly mistaken for a MessianicArchetype.

after accidentally injuring her sister with them, she becomes overwhelmed with angst about accidentally hurting people. Combined with the fact that negative emotions like fear and anxiety cause her to [[PowerIncontinence lose control of her powers]], her difficulties overcoming this angst end up being a main driving force in the plot.

* Queen Elsa of ''Franchise/{{Frozen}}''. She was born with godlike ice powers, but after accidentally injuring her sister with them, she becomes overwhelmed with angst about accidentally hurting people. Combined with the fact that negative emotions like fear and anxiety cause her to [[PowerIncontinence lose control of her powers]], her difficulties overcoming this angst end up being a main driving force in the plot.

[[folder:Comedy]]
* Creator/RodneyDangerfield's entire shtick.
[[/folder]]

* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' is loaded with these, being an homage to American super hero comics with more manga-esque character focus, though its most obvious with its protagonist Izuku Midoriya; he's helplessly neurotic, socially awkward and at the constant receiving ending of bullying due to his FictionalDisability of not having a superpower in a world where EveryoneIsASuper, yet is so obsessed with heroes and the idea of being one that this sheer passion and determination alone gives him the opening he needs to receive his CallToAdventure. It surprised absolutely nobody when the author revealed that his favorite superhero was Spider-man.

* Renton Thurston in ''Anime/EurekaSeven'', who eventually graduated into a proper hero.

* Usopp from ''Manga/OnePiece'' is pretty much this in the beginning and mostly in the Water 7/Enies Lobby arc.

* In ''Manga/TwentiethCenturyBoys'', Kenji starts as this.

* Early on, Vincent Law of ''Anime/ErgoProxy'' is very poor material for a traditional protagonist; he's shy, awkward, holds little social standing, and works doing a very dangerous job. He considerably bulks up his credentials as the series progresses.

* Kei Kurono from ''Manga/{{Gantz}}''. [[TookALevelInBadass He gets better]].

* Liu Kang in the ''Film/MortalKombat'' movie. In the games, Liu Kang was a Shaolin monk who entered the Mortal Kombat tournament to for no other reason than to save Earthrealm. In the movie, Liu had left the Shaolin prior to the events of the story and only entered the tournament to avenge the death of his younger brother Chan at the hands of Shang Tsung. Liu is plagued by the guilt of not protecting Chan from Shang Tsung and doubts that he is worthy of being Earthrealm's champion (the latter flaw is what caused him to leave the Shaolin in the first place). His character arc has him overcoming both these obstacles to defeat Shang.

* Heidi Turner from ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark''. She is a NiceGirl, but is very {{pride}}ful and lacks self confidence, letting lots of people manipulate her, especially her boyfriend Eric Cartman. [[spoiler: Heidi eventually realizes this and learns not to rely on others influencing her choices, leading to her dumping Cartman.]]

Nowadays, an AntiHero is usually thought of as ([[CommonlyMisusedWords when people don't confuse the term as synonymous with villain]]) an [[HairTriggerTemper angry]], [[SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids bitter]], [[HatesEveryoneEqually misanthropic]], [[BloodKnight violent]], [[SociopathicHero sociopathic]] badass, but this is a recent enough development to be known as a NinetiesAntiHero. For much of history, the term ''antihero'' referred to a character type that is in many ways the opposite of this.

Nowadays, an AntiHero is usually thought of as an [[HairTriggerTemper angry]], [[SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids bitter]], [[HatesEveryoneEqually misanthropic]], [[BloodKnight violent]], [[SociopathicHero sociopathic]] badass, but this is a recent enough development to be known as a NinetiesAntiHero. For much of history, the term ''antihero'' referred to a character type that is in many ways the opposite of this.