History VillainProtagonist / Literature

* To at least one other protagonist's surprise, Clem's motives for assembling the ''Literature/HandOfMercy'' are only a part the problem- as a Fallen angel, he's the villain by default. To a lesser extent, Nana Sophie and Salve aren't loyalists either, so it could be argued that most of the main characters are, at the very least, officially morally grubby.

* Creator/RobertReed's short story "The Hoplite" has the protagonist being a thoroughly brutal warrior of UsefulNotes/AlexanderTheGreat's army, who was ResurrectedForAJob - subjugating rebellious countries through use of massive firepower and a suit of PoweredArmor. The protagonist murders several innocent people and children in revenge for being betrayed.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}}'s'' ''I, Strahd'', is a novel about the history of - who else? - Strahd, a vampire overlord who was cursed after killing his brother to take his bride, forcing the woman into suicide to escape him.

* Grenouille of Patrick Susskind's ''Literature/{{Perfume}}''. He's (probably) a sociopath who feels no emotion for other humans and his greatest ambition is to create the world's most beautiful perfume - by murdering young women to harvest their scent.

* ''Literature/ThePyatQuartet'' by Creator/MichaelMoorcock. Colonel Pyat - a cocaine-addicted, self-aggrandising, violently anti-semitic [[BoomerangBigot Jewish engineer]] who worships Fascism and may or may not be a rapist. He's also the narrator of his series of novels, [[UnreliableNarrator despite being an outrageous liar]].

* In ''Literature/RabbitRun,'' Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom, the protagonist, does things like abandoning his wife and son on a whim, but the reader wants to see what Rabbit will do next to make a mess of his life and of the lifes of people around him.

* Creator/MercedesLackey, in one of her ''The SERRAted Edge'' stories featuring fantasy elves in the real world, had a cold-hearted, ruthless bitch of an antagonist who was quite willing to kill children if the job required it. The only problem was that she was going after a family that were protected by those same, very powerful, elves acting in secret to protect them. The sheer magnitude of her hapless floundering around as she was constantly thwarted in one long HumiliationConga would make you feel sorry for her if you didn't remind yourself that she was a murderous sociopath.

* ''Touching Spirit Bear'': Cole Matthews started off as a villain. [[HeKnowsTooMuch He attacked someone because that person did what any sane man would do if someone raided a building.]] Flashbacks show that he probably would've not been this this hadn't his father been so [[AbusiveParents abusive]].

** Poe was quite fond of this trope, in fact. The protagonist in ''Literature/TheTelltaleHeart'' is a complete sociopath who murdered his roommate for extremely arbitrary reasons (though his guilt caught up to him, if that's how you chose to interpret it) and Prince Prospero in ''Literature/TheMasqueOfTheRedDeath'' is perfectly fine with letting the peasantry die while he and his friends party up a storm.
* Manfred, the lord of ''Literature/TheCastleOfOtranto'', who tries to forcibly marry his own son's fiancee in order to avert the destruction of his line.

* ''Literature/AChristmasCarol'': Ebeneezer Scrooge is the villain of the story. He's introduced as a crotchety RichBitch and spends the story being persuaded to make a HeelFaceTurn.

** Specifically, his progression goes thusly- in the first two books, he's the flat-out [[TheDragon Dragon]] to [[EvilOverlord Lord Xar]], and though his backstory makes him sympathetic, there's no real doubt that he's a bad guy. Then, in books 3 and 4, he starts getting pitted against people ''much'' worse than he is, moving to more of a Type V AntiHero. [[spoiler: From the fifth book onward, Haplo has reevaluated his purpose and place in the universe, and though he never loses his ruthlessness or hard edges, he softens up enough to settle in as a Type III AntiHero]].

* Baron Harkonen from ''Literature/{{Dune}}'' during his POV segments. You ''so'' want him dead for his crimes and perversions, but while waiting for his comeuppance, you can't help but admire his brilliant political maneuvering and epic-level scheming.

* Unlike his [[WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}} more known movie counterpart]], [[Literature/{{Shrek}} the original book]] has Shrek as a gleeful {{Jerkass}} who enjoys causing misery with his horrific ugliness and his powers, from stealing lighting from clouds by eating them to eating a peasant's pheasant.

* Cersei Lannister in ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', when she's the POV character. Victarion fills this role as well. Jaime and Theon start out as this, but undergo a FaceHeelTurn.

* ''Literature/{{Victoria}}'' is written from the point of view of a repressive, racist, mass-murdering officer in a dictatorship.

* Alex from ''Literature/AClockworkOrange''. During the first part of the book, he just wants to have fun. For him, this "fun" includes riding out with his ''droogs'' to brutally beat up elderly hobos, run over animals, rape and ultimately murder. Once he's given the Ludovico Treatment, the tables are turned and he becomes a helpless victim at the mercy of others, including his former victims. Alex ultimately [[RetiredMonster retires at the end of the book]].

* Alex from ''Literature/AClockworkOrange'' at the first part of the book who just wants to have fun. For him this fun includes riding out with his ''droogs'' to brutally beat up elderly hobos, run over animals, rape and ultimately murder. Once he's given the Ludovico Treatment, the tables are turned and he becomes a helpless victim at the mercy of others including his former victims. Alex ultimately [[RetiredMonster retires at the end of the book]].

* ''Literature/You2015'' is told from the perspective of [[{{Yandere}} Joe]] and it revolves around his unhealthy obsession with Beck.

* ''Literature/OneHundredPercentMatch'' is told from the perspective of Bart Bartley, a fast-food empployee longing to start a relationship. He's also a man who commits multiple homicides and poisons the food he cooks at his restaurant just because he can.

* In ''Literature/BloodMeridian'' the protagonist is an [[NoNameGiven unnamed]] [[TeensAreMonsters teenage]] runaway and TheSociopath with no regard for life (including his own), WalkingTheEarth and killing people over minor inconveniences. The story revolves around him joining a gang of {{Psycho For Hire}}s that slaughter Native Americans ([[EqualOpportunityEvil with some of their members ironically being them]]) for profit.

* ''Literature/{{You2015}}'' is told from the perspective of [[{{Yandere}} Joe]] and it revolves around his unhealthy obsession with Beck.

* In ''Literature/BloodMeridian'' the protagonist is an [[NoNameGiven unnamed]] [[TeensAreMonsters teenage]] runaway and TheSociopath with no regard for life (including his own), WalkingTheEarth and killing people over minor inconveniences.

* An interesting [[Literature/TheBible Biblical]] example is the prophet Jonah (although he can also be seen as a very unpleasant sort of AntiHero). God has a plan to push the entire city of Nineveh into a HeelFaceTurn and He wants Jonah's help, but Jonah refuses. Eventually God convinces him to play along and the city does indeed get saved - but Jonah is explicitly noted to be "angry enough to die" about it. He ''wanted'' the city to remain evil. In particular, he appears to have been hoping that they would remain evil and dangerous enough for God to have no choice but to destroy them, which kinda implies the prophet was a closeted BloodKnight. While not the only Biblical protagonist to ''start off'' by opposing God, he is the only one who doesn't seem to learn the error of his ways. The narrative ends with God giving him a WhatTheHellHero speech before apparently leaving him alone.

* ''Slappy's Nightmare'', the 23rd book of ''Literature/{{Goosebumps}} [[SequelSeries Series 2000]]'', features recurring villain Slappy as the protagonist. He's still a Jerkass and thinks about (but never does end up) killing a pre teen girl but he's also suffering from a curse that forces him to do good deeds in order to keep on living. He'll likely be one in the Dummy Meets the Mummy as well.

* An interesting [[Literature/TheBible Biblical]] example is the prophet Jonah (although he can also be seen as a very unpleasant sort of AntiHero). God has a plan to push the entire city of Nineveh into a HeelFaceTurn and he wants Jonah's help, but Jonah refuses. Eventually God convinces him to play along and the city does indeed get saved - but Jonah is explicitly noted to be "angry enough to die" about it. He ''wanted'' the city to remain evil. In particular, he appears to have been hoping that they would remain evil and dangerous enough for God to have no choice but to destroy them, which kinda implies the prophet was a closeted BloodKnight. While not the only Biblical protagonist to ''start off'' by opposing God, he is the only one who doesn't seem to learn the error of his ways. The narrative ends with God giving him a WhatTheHellHero speech before apparently leaving him alone.

* Creator/EdgarAllanPoe's ''Literature/TheCaskOfAmontillado'': Montresor intentionally leads his friend Fortunato to a horrific, slow, terrifying end, all because said friend insulted him (note that the friend doesn't even seem aware that he offended Montresor at all).

* Agent Six of ''Literature/CombatantsWillBeDispatched'' zigzags this. He's part of a group called Kisaragi, who are a self-styled evil organization with the goal to TakeOverTheWorld. They pretty much already have, so they send Six to a new world to take that one over, too. Six, for his part, is a complete pervert, a sexual deviant, and a huge jerk. But he's also a JerkWithAHeartOfGold, and Kisaragi really sent him to this world because [[spoiler:he's just too nice deep down, and they're hoping that he earns enough Evil Points to really become a despicable bad guy]]. In spite of that, his CombatPragmatist tendencies and desire for pretty much every woman around him earns him no small amount of disdain in the new world. That being said, the "good guys" prove that [[GreyAndGrayMorality they're not exactly paragons of virtue, either]], nor are the Demon Lord and his army really all that bad.

* In Kim Newman's ''Literature/TheHoundOfTheDurbervilles'', Colonel Moran and Professor Moriarty are the main characters, with Moran being the narrator. Moran is a thief, misanthrope, cheat, thrill-junkie who kills animals for sport and men for pay. As a protagonist, he's somewhat sympathetic due to being kind of funny, and even though he's very capable, Moriarty often manipulates him for his own reasons. Likewise, Moriarty is shown as taking joy in solving problems (either scientific ones or seemingly impossible crimes), but he has very little in the way of positive emotions or impulses. Both have {{Freudian Excuse}}s, Moran had a mean angry dad so he became a mean angry man, and Moriarty's father was even worse.

* ''Literature/JohannesCabalTheNecromancer'': The title character is a [[TheSoulless soulless]] {{Necromancer}} trying to [[YourSoulIsMine collect a hundred souls]] for {{Satan}} via a demonic carnival, and even his own brother comes to believe he's irredeemable. To Johannes' own surprise, in later books he becomes more of an AntiHero and [[spoiler:even wins the grudging respect of ''Necromancer'''s HeroAntagonist]].

* Max Dembo from ''Literature/NoBeastSoFierce'' initially subverts this; while he's a virulently racist, short-tempered ex-con with a warped moral code, he is genuinely trying to reform in spite of pretty much everything being stacked against him. After he snaps [[ThenLetMeBeEvil and decides to embrace being a criminal]], however, he embraces being one wholesale.

* Momonga/Ainz Ooal Gown from ''Literature/Overlord2012'', upon entering the New World, finds himself with basically limitless power, no rivals or higher authorities, and a large group of even eviler minions about as strong as he is that assume he wants to take over the world and take achieving it as their mission. While Ainz himself is mostly uninterested in world domination, he doesn't shy away from cold-blooded murder, torture, slaughtering the innocent, blackmail, running crime organizations from behind the scenes, and letting the truly reprehensible Demiurge do whatever he pleases. As time goes by, his morals slip more and more and his crimes are mostly kept at manageable levels by the fact that he's incompetent, bad at planning ahead, and severely lacking in ambition. The anime downplays this as much as possible to make him look like an antihero, so when later story arcs came around that made it impossible to hide, some viewers were shocked that the story had been following the bad guy the whole time.

* In ''Literature/PleaseDontTellMyParentsImASupervillain'', Penny and her friends accidentally end up as supervillains rather than superheroes due to a run in with a particularly bitchy apprentice hero. Penny tries desperately to correct misconceptions and become a hero, but her friends clearly enjoy being villains. After they continuously foil villainous plots and rescue innocents and are ''still'' seen as villains, she pretty much just gives up and rolls with it.

* The protagonist in ''Literature/TheWolvesOfParis'' is [[SavageWolves a bloodthirsty, power-hungry wolf-dog]] who has no slouch on killing livestock animals for food, and even delve deep into his canine savagery as he starts eating human flesh.

* Beyond Birthday from ''LightNovel/AnotherNote''.

* Agent Six of ''LightNovel/CombatantsWillBeDispatched'' zigzags this. He's part of a group called Kisaragi, who are a self-styled evil organization with the goal to TakeOverTheWorld. They pretty much already have, so they send Six to a new world to take that one over, too. Six, for his part, is a complete pervert, a sexual deviant, and a huge jerk. But he's also a JerkWithAHeartOfGold, and Kisaragi really sent him to this world because [[spoiler:he's just too nice deep down, and they're hoping that he earns enough Evil Points to really become a despicable bad guy]]. In spite of that, his CombatPragmatist tendencies and desire for pretty much every woman around him earns him no small amount of disdain in the new world. That being said, the "good guys" prove that [[GreyAndGrayMorality they're not exactly paragons of virtue, either]], nor are the Demon Lord and his army really all that bad.

* The very end of ''LightNovel/{{Katanagatari}}'' shows that [[spoiler:Togame]] ''always'' intended to sacrifice people, swords, friends, even her own feelings in a mindless pursuit for revenge. Period, end of story. She still genuinely loves Shichika, and she has [[DarkAndTroubledPast a very good reason for her behavior]], but she never managed to let go of her desire for RevengeBeforeReason, to the point where she often goes against her very nature in order to achieve it.

* Keyaru from ''Literature/RedoOfHealer'', after being put through absolute hell and getting another shot at life, becomes a SerialRapist and a truly vicious bastard whose first and foremost motivation is revenge for himself and those he gathers for his party, and the way that he carries out this revenge is just as vile as what was initially done to him. He murders, rapes, and steals, rampaging across the land, seeing the law as little more than a "guideline", and the fact that this revenge actually helps the helpless and protects the innocent is a happy byproduct.

* Prince Honorous Jorg Ancrath, from ''Literature/ThePrinceOfThorns'', by Mark Lawrence. The main protagonist of the Broken Empires series, Jorg endures many emotional and physical traumas throughout the series leaving him deeply damaged, resulting in his largely being unfeeling to the suffering of others. Willing to hurt or kill anyone in his quest to ascend to the throne of the Broken empire. Jorg runs away from his father and his home, after the brutal murder of his mother and younger brother, coming to lead a band of vicious outlaws known as the Brotherhood. As the series progresses, Jorg commits atrocities, often with incredible cruelty, causing pain to others purposefully, even when other means of obtaining his goals seem more likely to succeed. Why be kind when you can twist the knife deeper? Sure you've just killed a farmer, but why not taunt him about how worthless his life was, and explain how your men will find his daughters entertaining before they are killed as well. Truly, if ever a character deserved the villain protagonist title, it is this one. The first chapter shows that. And that is before developing (and stealing) dark and terrible powers of his own. While his actions by the end of the series could ultimately redeem his, the "ends justify the means" has seldom had a more dubious application.