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** Then there's Shun. A survivor of the aforementioned genocide, all he wants to do is rescue his captured sister and comrades. Like Reiji, he has very few limits when striving for this goal. He's killed not only enemy soldiers but also innocent people when he thought it might help him capture an extremely valuable hostage, once tried beating an enemy to death, and he's a general {{Jerkass}} loner.
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** Then there's Shun.Kurosaki. A survivor of the aforementioned genocide, all he wants to do is rescue his captured sister and comrades. Like Reiji, he has very few limits when striving for this goal. He's killed not only enemy soldiers but also innocent people when he thought it might help him capture an extremely valuable hostage, once tried beating an enemy to death, and he's a general {{Jerkass}} loner.
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Copied from character page.
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** According to Creator/AkiraToriyama, Goku in of the [[Manga/DragonBall early series]] was originally supposed to be a selfish hero to the point that one wondered if he was actually a good person since he only grew stronger to fight strong people, not to protect anyone. Some of Goku's more heroic qualities were [[AdaptationalHeroism heightened]] in the ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' anime adaptation. This is {{Downplayed}} since, even in the original manga, Goku experienced a subtle MessiahCreep where he showed more concern for the world, a willingness to [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifice himself]], and worried about people [[CrutchCharacter depending on him too much]] to the point that he boarders on being an IdealHero and is treated like a [[HopeBringer messiah]] among those who knows him. It's only his BloodKnight tendencies that can override his common sense that makes him remotely closed to being an anti-hero.
to:
** According to Creator/AkiraToriyama, Goku in of the [[Manga/DragonBall early series]] was originally supposed to be a selfish hero to the point that one wondered if he was actually a good person since he only grew stronger to fight strong people, not to protect anyone. Some of Goku's more heroic qualities were [[AdaptationalHeroism heightened]] in the ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' anime adaptation. This is {{Downplayed}} since, even in the original manga, Goku experienced a subtle MessiahCreep where he showed more concern for the world, a willingness to [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifice himself]], and worried about people [[CrutchCharacter depending on him too much]] to the point that he boarders on being an IdealHero and is treated like a [[HopeBringer messiah]] among those who knows him. It's only his BloodKnight tendencies that can override his common sense that makes him remotely closed to being an anti-hero.
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* Katsuki Bakugo from ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' is one:
** An UnscrupulousHero leaning towards NominalHero. This is the reason why the League of Villains kidnapped him. After the event, his violent attitude is even lampshaded by the media. It's often mentioned by others that his behavior is very un-heroic and more befitting of a villain. Though he is firmly on the side of good, rejecting the League's offer to join them straight to their face while held hostage in their base all alone.
** Later deconstructed. His jerkish, irreverent behavior is exactly what everyone considers to be the only thing hampering him from becoming an amazing hero. To his peers, he has the skill, intelligence, and drive, but they can't find in themselves to respect him as a hero due to acting like a villain. He fails the provisional hero license exam exactly because he couldn't show a more caring (or at least, less abrasive) side and despite winning the U.A. Sports Festival, heroes seem to be wary of working with such a temperamental person, though it didn't stop him from getting a lot of internship opportunities. In fact, Best Jeanist compared Bakugo to a wild animal that needed to be tamed and thus the emphasis was on that for Bakugo during his internship. He failed utterly.
** An UnscrupulousHero leaning towards NominalHero. This is the reason why the League of Villains kidnapped him. After the event, his violent attitude is even lampshaded by the media. It's often mentioned by others that his behavior is very un-heroic and more befitting of a villain. Though he is firmly on the side of good, rejecting the League's offer to join them straight to their face while held hostage in their base all alone.
** Later deconstructed. His jerkish, irreverent behavior is exactly what everyone considers to be the only thing hampering him from becoming an amazing hero. To his peers, he has the skill, intelligence, and drive, but they can't find in themselves to respect him as a hero due to acting like a villain. He fails the provisional hero license exam exactly because he couldn't show a more caring (or at least, less abrasive) side and despite winning the U.A. Sports Festival, heroes seem to be wary of working with such a temperamental person, though it didn't stop him from getting a lot of internship opportunities. In fact, Best Jeanist compared Bakugo to a wild animal that needed to be tamed and thus the emphasis was on that for Bakugo during his internship. He failed utterly.
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** The Straw Hat Pirates' navigator, [[FieryRedhead Nami, starts off as a thief not willing to kill, but fine with putting pirates in situations where they are certain to die due to her past with the Arlong Pirates. After joining officially the Straw Hats, she still has the habits to steal and has remained quite greedy.
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** The Straw Hat Pirates' navigator, [[FieryRedhead Nami, Nami]], starts off as a thief not willing to kill, but fine with putting pirates in situations where they are certain to die due to her past with the Arlong Pirates. After joining officially the Straw Hats, she still has the habits to steal and has remained quite greedy.
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Added a lot of One Piece examples. Copied from the character pages.
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* The Straw Hat Pirates from ''Manga/OnePiece''. While they almost always do end up saving the day, it's usually because some villain on the island they're on [[ItsPersonal happened to do something to piss them off]] rather than them acting out of selfless heroism. [[TheCaptain Luffy]] himself has made the point that he's not altruistic enough to be considered a hero, and he's clearly ''more'' altruistic than many of his crew.
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* The Straw Hat Pirates from ''Manga/OnePiece''. While they almost always do end up saving ''Manga/OnePiece'' has a ton of examples, given the day, it's usually because some villain on the island they're on [[ItsPersonal happened to do something to piss them off]] rather than them acting out of selfless heroism. [[TheCaptain [[CrapsaccharineWorld world it takes place in]]:
** [[TheHero Luffy]] himself is a huge example out of everyone else:
*** At the beginning of the series, he is [[ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything a criminal in name only]]. He's sometimes [[InnocentlyInsensitive a bit rude]], and beat up [[VillainWithGoodPublicity "good]] [[TheSocialDarwinist guys"]] who really deserves it, but that is all.
*** Luffy hasmade admitted that he ''doesn't want'' to be a hero. He'll help people if he deems that he "likes them", would rather die than leave a comrade behind, and [[ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything doesn't do typical pirate things like rape and pillage]], but he doesn't necessarily care what people think of him, and if the point situation calls for it, he [[CombatPragmatist fights dirty]] and uses his enemies as human shields or even human weapons (on one occasion) and destroys public property freely in his many battles.
*** However, he does admire heroes enormously. His reasons for not wanting to be one is among the lines of him viewing heroes as ''completely'' selfless. In which case, his refusal stems from the expectations he, as a hero, would have to do that would bother him, i.e. sharing meat. He immediately agrees to be one after [[spoiler:Jimbei promises he would get his meat rather than having to divide among the people. Seriously, ItMakesSenseInContext.]]
*** During ''Anime/OnePieceFilmZ'', all the Straw Hats are determined to stop Z from blowing up the Grand Line (and everything and everyone on it) with his bombs. Except Luffy, who just wants his hat back.
*** Veers more into TheHero status in recent chapters, as his reasons to stop Doflamingo go from being pragmatic to genuinely sincere, and there's the time in Wano where he secured a ship of food just for the starving citizens, [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness not for himself.]]
** His swordsman, Roronoa Zoro, can be particularly murderous, as he's a BloodKnight. He is even described by other pirates as being capable of exuding a massive killing intent. Zoro has also stated several times of his willingness to kill, and said he's not a friend to pirates or marines.
** The Straw Hat Pirates' navigator, [[FieryRedhead Nami, starts off as a thief not willing to kill, but fine with putting pirates in situations where they are certain to die due to her past with the Arlong Pirates. After joining officially the Straw Hats, she still has the habits to steal and has remained quite greedy.
** The Straw Hats' archaeologist, Nico Robin, is the only Straw Hat who is initially introduced as a full-on villain, only to become a Straw Hat. At first, she only joins to have somewhere to go and her morality is still ambiguous, but becomes fully good after being saved in Enies Lobby. She still remain one of the most ruthless members of the crew, with arguably the cruelest method of defeating the enemies.
** Koza of the Alabasta arc leads the Alabasta rebellion movement, supposedly for bettering the country.
** Wyper "The Berserker" of the Skypiea Saga acts rather coldly, especially towards strangers, but there's no denying his noble motives.
** Chief Guard Sadi of the Impel Down arc is rare antagonistic example. While she's guarding a prison full of evil pirates, she enjoys whipping the prisoners a bit too much.
** Trafalgar [[spoiler:D. Water]] Law is considered as one. Despite the fact that Law has some similarities with ''a lot'' of the Straw Hats' enemies -- in the sense that he'snot altruistic enough a cold, cruel, and sadistic man who finds pleasure in torturing others and sowing chaos in the world -- he nonetheless has a neutral alignment (relative to the Straw Hats) at worst and, as their ally, has been on the side of "good" since the timeskip, has standards and morals, is pretty decent towards his allies, and deeply loves his crew, his biological family, and [[MoralityPet Corazon.]] Furthermore, while Law certainly has a noble goal in wanting to avenge Corazon, the methods he uses -- and is willing to use -- to achieve it are pretty reprehensible: being willing to [[spoiler:leave behind sick children who were poisoned [[LackOfEmpathy despite the fact that he suffered the exact same fate as a child]] and only saving them as a favor to the Straw Hats; sending 100 still-beating pirate hearts to the World Government, allowing the government to kill them or hold their lives in their literal hands (though, admittedly, it is possible that these pirates were AssholeVictims, but it's still pretty disturbing); being prepared to possibly sacrifice the lives of thousands of innocent Dressrosan civilians by having a plan in which Kaido would rampage through the island to kill Doflamingo; and stating that he was willing to destroy the whole world if it meant he could achieve Corazon's wish]].
** Hyogoro "The Flower" introduced in the Wano arc. He's a good elderly man who was beloved by everyone when he was in charge, but is still [[spoiler:a Yakuza boss]]. Therefore, his methods can be extreme sometimes, like [[spoiler:ordering a simple thug to beconsidered a hero, and he's clearly ''more'' altruistic than many of his crew.flayed alive]].
** [[TheHero Luffy]] himself is a huge example out of everyone else:
*** At the beginning of the series, he is [[ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything a criminal in name only]]. He's sometimes [[InnocentlyInsensitive a bit rude]], and beat up [[VillainWithGoodPublicity "good]] [[TheSocialDarwinist guys"]] who really deserves it, but that is all.
*** Luffy has
*** However, he does admire heroes enormously. His reasons for not wanting to be one is among the lines of him viewing heroes as ''completely'' selfless. In which case, his refusal stems from the expectations he, as a hero, would have to do that would bother him, i.e. sharing meat. He immediately agrees to be one after [[spoiler:Jimbei promises he would get his meat rather than having to divide among the people. Seriously, ItMakesSenseInContext.]]
*** During ''Anime/OnePieceFilmZ'', all the Straw Hats are determined to stop Z from blowing up the Grand Line (and everything and everyone on it) with his bombs. Except Luffy, who just wants his hat back.
*** Veers more into TheHero status in recent chapters, as his reasons to stop Doflamingo go from being pragmatic to genuinely sincere, and there's the time in Wano where he secured a ship of food just for the starving citizens, [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness not for himself.]]
** His swordsman, Roronoa Zoro, can be particularly murderous, as he's a BloodKnight. He is even described by other pirates as being capable of exuding a massive killing intent. Zoro has also stated several times of his willingness to kill, and said he's not a friend to pirates or marines.
** The Straw Hat Pirates' navigator, [[FieryRedhead Nami, starts off as a thief not willing to kill, but fine with putting pirates in situations where they are certain to die due to her past with the Arlong Pirates. After joining officially the Straw Hats, she still has the habits to steal and has remained quite greedy.
** The Straw Hats' archaeologist, Nico Robin, is the only Straw Hat who is initially introduced as a full-on villain, only to become a Straw Hat. At first, she only joins to have somewhere to go and her morality is still ambiguous, but becomes fully good after being saved in Enies Lobby. She still remain one of the most ruthless members of the crew, with arguably the cruelest method of defeating the enemies.
** Koza of the Alabasta arc leads the Alabasta rebellion movement, supposedly for bettering the country.
** Wyper "The Berserker" of the Skypiea Saga acts rather coldly, especially towards strangers, but there's no denying his noble motives.
** Chief Guard Sadi of the Impel Down arc is rare antagonistic example. While she's guarding a prison full of evil pirates, she enjoys whipping the prisoners a bit too much.
** Trafalgar [[spoiler:D. Water]] Law is considered as one. Despite the fact that Law has some similarities with ''a lot'' of the Straw Hats' enemies -- in the sense that he's
** Hyogoro "The Flower" introduced in the Wano arc. He's a good elderly man who was beloved by everyone when he was in charge, but is still [[spoiler:a Yakuza boss]]. Therefore, his methods can be extreme sometimes, like [[spoiler:ordering a simple thug to be
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** According to Creator/AkiraToriyama, in of the [[Manga/DragonBall early series]] was originally supposed to be a selfish hero to the point that one wondered if he was actually a good person since he only grew stronger to fight strong people, not to protect anyone. Some of Goku's more heroic qualities were [[AdaptationalHeroism heightened]] in the ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' anime adaptation. This is {{Downplayed}} since, even in the original manga, Goku experienced a subtle MessiahCreep where he showed more concern for the world, a willingness to [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifice himself]], and worried about people [[CrutchCharacter depending on him too much]] to the point that he boarders on being an IdealHero and is treated like a [[HopeBringer messiah]] among those who knows him. It's only his BloodKnight tendencies that can override his common sense that makes him remotely closed to being an anti-hero.
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** According to Creator/AkiraToriyama, Goku in of the [[Manga/DragonBall early series]] was originally supposed to be a selfish hero to the point that one wondered if he was actually a good person since he only grew stronger to fight strong people, not to protect anyone. Some of Goku's more heroic qualities were [[AdaptationalHeroism heightened]] in the ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' anime adaptation. This is {{Downplayed}} since, even in the original manga, Goku experienced a subtle MessiahCreep where he showed more concern for the world, a willingness to [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifice himself]], and worried about people [[CrutchCharacter depending on him too much]] to the point that he boarders on being an IdealHero and is treated like a [[HopeBringer messiah]] among those who knows him. It's only his BloodKnight tendencies that can override his common sense that makes him remotely closed to being an anti-hero.
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** Sesshomaru fights against [[BigBad the Big Bad Naraku]], occasionally helps people who're not related to him, helps [[TheHero his half-brother]] [[SiblingRivalry whom he officially hates]] and his brother's friends many times, displays protective attitude towards [[{{Protectorate}} his followers]] and great [[WellDoneSonGuy filial respect towards his father]]. He has a high sense of honor and principle (obviously values honor and principles [[HonorBeforeReason above his own life]]). On the other hand, he has many extremely ruthless moments, has willingly joined up with Naraku on two occasions (the first contributed to his decision to hunt Naraku as an enemy, the second he was actually using Naraku as a DieOrFly test for Inuyasha to prove his worth once and for all) and used questionable methods, also went through a period of trying to [[CainAndAbel kill his brother]] who had obtained the heirloom sword he'd been after for years which [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou eventually]] [[IWasJustPassingThrough softened]] into AloofBigBrother as he worked out his [[TheUnfavourite issues]]. In the [[GrandFinale final battle against Naraku]], his status as an antihero is highlighted by this [[ShutUpHannibal antiheroes signature move]].
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** Sesshomaru fights against [[BigBad the Big Bad Naraku]], occasionally helps people who're not related to him, helps [[TheHero his half-brother]] [[SiblingRivalry whom he officially hates]] and his brother's friends many times, displays protective attitude towards [[{{Protectorate}} his followers]] and great [[WellDoneSonGuy filial respect towards his father]]. He has a high sense of honor and principle (obviously values honor and principles [[HonorBeforeReason above his own life]]). On the other hand, he has many extremely ruthless moments, has willingly joined up with Naraku on two occasions (the first contributed to his decision to hunt Naraku as an enemy, the second he was actually using Naraku as a DieOrFly test for Inuyasha to prove his worth once and for all) and used questionable methods, also went through a period of trying to [[CainAndAbel kill his brother]] who had obtained the heirloom sword he'd been after for years which [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou eventually]] [[IWasJustPassingThrough softened]] into AloofBigBrother as he worked out his [[TheUnfavourite issues]]. In the [[GrandFinale final battle against Naraku]], his status as an antihero anti hero is highlighted by this [[ShutUpHannibal antiheroes signature move]].
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* The eponymous Nadia from ''Anime/NadiaTheSecretOfBlueWater'' is an antihero. Due to an unhappy childhood and ParentalAbandonment, she's grown to be gloomy and depressed, somewhat self-centered and very judgmental. She has an empathic connection to animals and is thus a vegetarian, but can't stand the idea of anyone else eating meat either and constantly berates them for it. Her negative persona is lampshaded in one of the omakes, a character profile, where the narrator just keeps rattling off various flaws ("There has probably never been such a selfish heroine.") and expresses incredulity at how anyone can stand her. However, she is still a fundamentally good, caring person, capable of great self-sacrifice and aware of her flaws. (She even feels bad for occasionally taking her rage out on Jean, to the point where she does something apologetic e.g. begging forgiveness, going on a walk, playing a game of cards, cooking for him, etc.) By the time of the WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue, she seems to have matured into a more sympathetic individual.
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* The eponymous Nadia from ''Anime/NadiaTheSecretOfBlueWater'' is an antihero.anti hero. Due to an unhappy childhood and ParentalAbandonment, she's grown to be gloomy and depressed, somewhat self-centered and very judgmental. She has an empathic connection to animals and is thus a vegetarian, but can't stand the idea of anyone else eating meat either and constantly berates them for it. Her negative persona is lampshaded in one of the omakes, a character profile, where the narrator just keeps rattling off various flaws ("There has probably never been such a selfish heroine.") and expresses incredulity at how anyone can stand her. However, she is still a fundamentally good, caring person, capable of great self-sacrifice and aware of her flaws. (She even feels bad for occasionally taking her rage out on Jean, to the point where she does something apologetic e.g. begging forgiveness, going on a walk, playing a game of cards, cooking for him, etc.) By the time of the WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue, she seems to have matured into a more sympathetic individual.
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* A classic example is Raven in ''Anime/ZoidsChaoticCentury'' Once you get to the last episode, he's screaming antihero.
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* A classic example is Raven in ''Anime/ZoidsChaoticCentury'' Once you get to the last episode, he's screaming antihero.
anti hero.
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In truth they are good, but have some issues which makes them be antiheroes.
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* Madoka and Mami are the only entirely good characters in ''[[Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica Madoka Magica]]'' (and Mami gets her creepy moments). Homura is a straight up Anti-Hero, with a more-or-less good goal and amoral ways of pursuing it. Kyouko is trying to ignore morality entirely, but is having difficulty doing so. Sayaka wants to be an ally of justice, but is bad at it [[spoiler:and eventually goes off the deep end and ends up a witch]].
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* Madoka and Mami are the only entirely good characters in ''[[Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica Madoka Magica]]'' who don't have antiheroic qualities (and Mami gets her creepy moments). Homura is a straight up Anti-Hero, with a more-or-less good goal and amoral ways of pursuing it. [[spoiler:who just wants to protect Madoka at any cost]]. Kyouko is trying to ignore morality entirely, but is having difficulty doing so.so and actually reveals to have this behaviour because of her past. She [[spoiler:makes her HeroicSacrifice to protect Madoka and Homura from Sayaka who turned into a witch and generates an explosion]]. Sayaka wants to be an ally of justice, but is bad at it [[spoiler:and eventually goes off the deep end and ends up a witch]].
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** According to Creator/AkiraToriyama, in of the [[Manga/DragonBall early series]] was originally supposed to be a selfish hero to the point that one wondered if he was actually a good person since he only grew stronger to fight strong people, not to protect anyone. Some of Goku's more heroic qualities were [[AdaptationalHeroism heightened]] in the ''Anine/DragonBallZ'' anime adaptation. This is {{Downplayed}} since, even in the original manga, Goku experienced a subtle MessiahCreep where he showed more concern for the world, a willingness to [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifice himself]], and worried about people [[CrutchCharacter depending on him too much]] to the point that he boarders on being an IdealHero and is treated like a [[HopeBringer messiah]] among those who knows him. It's only his BloodKnight tendencies that can override his common sense that makes him remotely closed to being an anti-hero.
to:
** According to Creator/AkiraToriyama, in of the [[Manga/DragonBall early series]] was originally supposed to be a selfish hero to the point that one wondered if he was actually a good person since he only grew stronger to fight strong people, not to protect anyone. Some of Goku's more heroic qualities were [[AdaptationalHeroism heightened]] in the ''Anine/DragonBallZ'' ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' anime adaptation. This is {{Downplayed}} since, even in the original manga, Goku experienced a subtle MessiahCreep where he showed more concern for the world, a willingness to [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifice himself]], and worried about people [[CrutchCharacter depending on him too much]] to the point that he boarders on being an IdealHero and is treated like a [[HopeBringer messiah]] among those who knows him. It's only his BloodKnight tendencies that can override his common sense that makes him remotely closed to being an anti-hero.
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* ''Anime/DragonBallZ''
** According to Toriyama, Goku was originally supposed to be a selfish hero to the point that one wondered if he was actually a good person since he only grew stronger to fight strong people, not to protect anyone. Some of Goku's more heroic qualities were [[AdaptationalHeroism heightened]] in the ''Z'' anime. This is {{Downplayed}} since, even in the original manga, Goku experienced a subtle MessiahCreep where he showed more concern for the world, a willingness to [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifice himself]], and worried about people [[CrutchCharacter depending on him too much]] to the point that he boarders on being an IdealHero and is treated like a [[HopeBringer messiah]] among those who knows him. It's only his BloodKnight tendencies that can override his common sense that makes him remotely closed to being an anti-hero.
** According to Toriyama, Goku was originally supposed to be a selfish hero to the point that one wondered if he was actually a good person since he only grew stronger to fight strong people, not to protect anyone. Some of Goku's more heroic qualities were [[AdaptationalHeroism heightened]] in the ''Z'' anime. This is {{Downplayed}} since, even in the original manga, Goku experienced a subtle MessiahCreep where he showed more concern for the world, a willingness to [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifice himself]], and worried about people [[CrutchCharacter depending on him too much]] to the point that he boarders on being an IdealHero and is treated like a [[HopeBringer messiah]] among those who knows him. It's only his BloodKnight tendencies that can override his common sense that makes him remotely closed to being an anti-hero.
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* ''Anime/DragonBallZ''
''Franchise/DragonBall''
** According toToriyama, Goku Creator/AkiraToriyama, in of the [[Manga/DragonBall early series]] was originally supposed to be a selfish hero to the point that one wondered if he was actually a good person since he only grew stronger to fight strong people, not to protect anyone. Some of Goku's more heroic qualities were [[AdaptationalHeroism heightened]] in the ''Z'' anime.''Anine/DragonBallZ'' anime adaptation. This is {{Downplayed}} since, even in the original manga, Goku experienced a subtle MessiahCreep where he showed more concern for the world, a willingness to [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifice himself]], and worried about people [[CrutchCharacter depending on him too much]] to the point that he boarders on being an IdealHero and is treated like a [[HopeBringer messiah]] among those who knows him. It's only his BloodKnight tendencies that can override his common sense that makes him remotely closed to being an anti-hero.
** According to
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%%* The core four in ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'', all to varying degrees -- [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Kuwabara]] being the least so, Hiei being the most.
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* A classic example is Raven in ''Anime/ZoidsChaoticCentury'' Once you get to the last episode, he's screaming antihero.
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* Scar from ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' starts out as a villain and gradually transforms into one of these. Second Greed as well. Also Olivier Mira Armstrong.
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* ''Anime/{{Hyouka}}'': [[GoodIsNotSoft Houtarou Oreki]]. He's a MagnificentBastard, after all.
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* Ciel and Sebastian of ''Manga/BlackButler''.
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* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': Freaking everyone, in one way or another.
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* Accelerator from ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'' becomes this in the Last Order arc.
* Lelouch and (to a lesser extent) the [[LaResistance Black Knights]] of ''Anime/CodeGeass''.
* Lelouch and (to a lesser extent) the [[LaResistance Black Knights]] of ''Anime/CodeGeass''.
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* Agito and Aptom in ''Manga/{{Guyver}}''.
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* Inner Moka from ''Manga/RosarioToVampire'', until she starts {{defrosting|IceQueen}}.
* Saito Hajime from ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'' is the very epitome of this trope.
* Saito Hajime from ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'' is the very epitome of this trope.
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*
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* ''Manga/VinlandSaga'''s. Thorfinn and Thorkel. Many of the other characters of the manga are villains in one way or another.
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* The core four in ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'', all to varying degrees -- [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Kuwabara]] being the least so, Hiei being the most.
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* ''Anime/{{Hyouka}}: [[GoodIsNotSoft Houtarou Oreki]]. He's a MagnificentBastard, after all.
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* ''Anime/{{Hyouka}}: ''Anime/{{Hyouka}}'': [[GoodIsNotSoft Houtarou Oreki]]. He's a MagnificentBastard, after all.
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* {{Manga/Gon}} is an intensely unlikable protagonist in the original manga. Early escapades include destroying a forest to make a tree mound for himself, and beaching a shark that has swallowed him and feeding it a small piece of banana as it suffocates to death.
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* {{Manga/Gon}} is an intensely unlikable protagonist in the original manga. Early escapades include destroying a forest to make a tree mound for himself, and beaching a shark that has swallowed him and feeding it a small piece of banana as it suffocates to death.
** ''Anime/{{Hyouka}}: [[GoodIsNotSoft Houtarou Oreki]]. He's a MagnificentBastard, after all.
** ''Anime/{{Hyouka}}: [[GoodIsNotSoft Houtarou Oreki]]. He's a MagnificentBastard, after all.
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* {{Manga/Gon}} is an intensely unlikable protagonist in the original manga. Early escapades include destroying a forest to make a tree mound for himself, and beaching a shark that has swallowed him and feeding it a small piece of banana as it suffocates to death.
**''Anime/{{Hyouka}}: [[GoodIsNotSoft Houtarou Oreki]]. He's a MagnificentBastard, after all.
**
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** ''Anime/{{Hyouka}}: [[GoodIsNotSoft Houtarou Oreki]]. He's a MagnificentBastard, after all.
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The Team Rocket trio being disgusted with Paul sound more like Even Evil Has Standards rather than explaining why Paul is an Anti hero
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* Lampshaded in an episode of ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}''. {{Anti Villain}}s Jessie, James, and Meowth are disgusted by how Anti-Hero Paul mistreats his Pokemon, given the fact that they're ''far nicer'' people than he is, and they're ''criminals''!
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** According to Toriyama, Goku was originally supposed to be a selfish hero to the point that one wondered if he was actually a good person since he only grew stronger to fight strong people, not to protect anyone. Some of Goku's more heroic qualities were [[AdaptationalHeroism heightened]] in the ''Z'' anime. This is {{Downplayed}} since, even in the original manga, Goku experienced a subtle MessiahCreep where he showed more concern for the world, a willingness to [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifice himself]], and worried about people [[CrutchCharacter depending on him too much]] to the point that he boarders on being an IdealHero and is treated like a [[HopeBringer messiah]] among those who knows him. It's only his BloodKnight tendencies that can override his common sense that makes him remotely closed to being an anti-hero.
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* In ''Manga/Brave10'', the Braves are a RagtagBunchOfMisfits composed almost entirely of anti-heroes. Kamanosuke is the TokenEvilTeammate [[spoiler:and in the sequel even the BigBad Hanzo joins the heroes' side as a second one]]. Anastasia is [[spoiler:TheMole who then does a HeelFaceTurn but feels unbearably guilty and wants to be condemned by the team.]] Kakei, Rokuro and Sasuke all follow the MyMasterRightOrWrong school of heroism. Even the protagonist, Saizo, who is AJerkWithAHeartOfGold, is still firmly enough on the merciless jerk with a substantial bodycount side to be counted here.
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* In ''Manga/Brave10'', the Braves are a RagtagBunchOfMisfits composed almost entirely of anti-heroes. Kamanosuke is the TokenEvilTeammate [[spoiler:and in the sequel even the BigBad Hanzo joins the heroes' side as a second one]]. Anastasia is [[spoiler:TheMole who then does a HeelFaceTurn but feels unbearably guilty and wants to be condemned by the team.]] Kakei, Rokuro and Sasuke all follow the MyMasterRightOrWrong school of heroism. Even the protagonist, Saizo, who is AJerkWithAHeartOfGold, a JerkWithAHeartOfGold, is still firmly enough on the merciless jerk with a substantial bodycount side to be counted here.
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* In ''Manga/Brave10'', the Braves are a RagtagBunchOfMisfits composed almost entirely of anti-heroes. Kamanosuke is the TokenEvilTeammate [[spoiler:and in the sequel even the BigBad Hanzo joins the heroes' side as a second one]]. Anastasia is [[spoiler:TheMole who then does a HeelFaceTurn but feels unbearably guilty and wants to be condemned by the team.]] Kakei, Rokuro and Sasuke all follow the MyMasterRightOrWrong school of heroism. Even the protagonist, Saizo, who is AJerkWithAHeartOfGold, is still firmly enough on the merciless jerk with a substantial bodycount side to be counted here.
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** Likewise, Minene Uryu is one of the craftiest and most resourceful diary owners, and she is not above blowing up a middle school full of kids in order to win the survival game and become God. However, unlike some diary owners, she wants to become god in order to make the world a better place and it's heavily implied that she will revive everyone she kills. [[spoiler:Unfortunately for her, in the world of ''Manga/MiraiNikki'', not even God can do that.]] One has trouble not sympathizing with her when you find out [[spoiler:that she's a refugee from an unnamed war-torn country]] and that she's fighting against serial killers, [[OmnicidalManiac people that want to become God in order to destroy the world]] as well as people that want the position just so that they can [[TakeOverTheWorld rule the world.]] [[spoiler:She also works with Yuki to SaveTheWorld in the end, too.]]
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** Likewise, Minene Uryu is one of the craftiest and most resourceful diary owners, and she is not above blowing up a middle school full of kids in order to win the survival game and become God. However, unlike some diary owners, she wants to become god in order to make the world a better place and it's heavily implied that she will revive everyone she kills. [[spoiler:Unfortunately for her, in the world of ''Manga/MiraiNikki'', ''Future Diary'', not even God can do that.]] One has trouble not sympathizing with her when you find out [[spoiler:that she's a refugee from an unnamed war-torn country]] and that she's fighting against serial killers, [[OmnicidalManiac people that want to become God in order to destroy the world]] as well as people that want the position just so that they can [[TakeOverTheWorld rule the world.]] [[spoiler:She also works with Yuki to SaveTheWorld in the end, too.]]
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** Her personality flaws are ridiculously exacerbated in episodes 23-34, turning her character from a NotGoodWithPeople sort of character to an unlikable, obnoxious JerkAss. [[ExecutiveMeddling Then again, those episodes were hardly meant to be part of the story in the first place, as they were added on after the show proved more popular than expected.]]
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** Her personality flaws are ridiculously exacerbated in episodes 23-34, turning her character from a NotGoodWithPeople sort of character to an unlikable, obnoxious JerkAss. [[ExecutiveMeddling Then again, those episodes were hardly meant to be part of the story in the first place, as [[ExecutiveMeddling they were added on after the show proved more popular than expected.]]
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** First there's the rival, who despite being a Kaiba expy is actually firmly planted on the protagonists side, but uses extremely dubious tactics. He's planning to wage war against a tyrant ([[AntagonisticOffspring who happens to be his father]]) who uses card games and ChildSoldiers to conquer dimensions, and in the process has willingly [[LaserGuidedAmnesia wiped the memories of his subordinates]], recruits child soldiers using war propaganda, lies and manipulates the protagonist in order to better understand his mysterious supernatural powers, apparently experiments on children ([[spoiler: although that one he only talks about doing so to Sora, and appears to genuinely care about Reira]]), lies and manipulates ''everybody'', and spies on everyone. He's mostly a LighterShadeOfGrey because a) he didn't start the war, he's just trying to end it, and b) unlike his enemy he's never tried to commit genocide.
** Then there's Shun. A survivor of the aforementioned genocide, all he wants to do is rescue his captured sister and comrades. Like Reiji, he has very few limits when striving for this goal. He's killed not only enemy soldiers but also innocent people when he thought it might help him capture an extremely valuable hostage, he once tried beating an enemy to death, and he's a general {{Jerkass}} loner.
** Then there's Shun. A survivor of the aforementioned genocide, all he wants to do is rescue his captured sister and comrades. Like Reiji, he has very few limits when striving for this goal. He's killed not only enemy soldiers but also innocent people when he thought it might help him capture an extremely valuable hostage, he once tried beating an enemy to death, and he's a general {{Jerkass}} loner.
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** First there's the rival, who despite being a Kaiba expy is actually firmly planted on the protagonists side, but uses extremely dubious tactics. He's planning to wage war against a tyrant ([[AntagonisticOffspring who happens to be his father]]) who uses card games and ChildSoldiers to conquer dimensions, and in the process has willingly [[LaserGuidedAmnesia wiped the memories of his subordinates]], recruits child soldiers using war propaganda, lies and manipulates the protagonist in order to better understand his mysterious supernatural powers, apparently experiments on children ([[spoiler: although that one he only talks about doing so to Sora, and appears to genuinely care about Reira]]), lies and manipulates ''everybody'', and spies on everyone. He's mostly a LighterShadeOfGrey ALighterShadeOfGrey because a) he didn't start the war, he's just trying to end it, and b) unlike his enemy father he's never tried to commit genocide.
** Then there's Shun. A survivor of the aforementioned genocide, all he wants to do is rescue his captured sister and comrades. Like Reiji, he has very few limits when striving for this goal. He's killed not only enemy soldiers but also innocent people when he thought it might help him capture an extremely valuable hostage,he once tried beating an enemy to death, and he's a general {{Jerkass}} loner.
** Then there's Shun. A survivor of the aforementioned genocide, all he wants to do is rescue his captured sister and comrades. Like Reiji, he has very few limits when striving for this goal. He's killed not only enemy soldiers but also innocent people when he thought it might help him capture an extremely valuable hostage,
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* ''Anime/YuGiOhArcV'' has a couple.
** First there's the rival, who despite being a Kaiba expy is actually firmly planted on the protagonists side, but uses extremely dubious tactics. He's planning to wage war against a tyrant ([[AntagonisticOffspring who happens to be his father]]) who uses card games and ChildSoldiers to conquer dimensions, and in the process has willingly [[LaserGuidedAmnesia wiped the memories of his subordinates]], recruits child soldiers using war propaganda, lies and manipulates the protagonist in order to better understand his mysterious supernatural powers, apparently experiments on children ([[spoiler: although that one he only talks about doing so to Sora, and appears to genuinely care about Reira]]), lies and manipulates ''everybody'', and spies on everyone. He's mostly a LighterShadeOfGrey because a) he didn't start the war, he's just trying to end it, and b) unlike his enemy he's never tried to commit genocide.
** Then there's Shun. A survivor of the aforementioned genocide, all he wants to do is rescue his captured sister and comrades. Like Reiji, he has very few limits when striving for this goal. He's killed not only enemy soldiers but also innocent people when he thought it might help him capture an extremely valuable hostage, he once tried beating an enemy to death, and he's a general {{Jerkass}} loner.
** First there's the rival, who despite being a Kaiba expy is actually firmly planted on the protagonists side, but uses extremely dubious tactics. He's planning to wage war against a tyrant ([[AntagonisticOffspring who happens to be his father]]) who uses card games and ChildSoldiers to conquer dimensions, and in the process has willingly [[LaserGuidedAmnesia wiped the memories of his subordinates]], recruits child soldiers using war propaganda, lies and manipulates the protagonist in order to better understand his mysterious supernatural powers, apparently experiments on children ([[spoiler: although that one he only talks about doing so to Sora, and appears to genuinely care about Reira]]), lies and manipulates ''everybody'', and spies on everyone. He's mostly a LighterShadeOfGrey because a) he didn't start the war, he's just trying to end it, and b) unlike his enemy he's never tried to commit genocide.
** Then there's Shun. A survivor of the aforementioned genocide, all he wants to do is rescue his captured sister and comrades. Like Reiji, he has very few limits when striving for this goal. He's killed not only enemy soldiers but also innocent people when he thought it might help him capture an extremely valuable hostage, he once tried beating an enemy to death, and he's a general {{Jerkass}} loner.
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* In ''Manga/OnePunchMan'', Saitama fights villains simply because he's looking for a WorthyOpponent--that is, someone who won't go down with simply one punch. He chooses to fight villains specifically because of the added bonus of saving the day (which he genuinely enjoys), and he's a pretty decent guy when not fighting.
** Another one is Tatsumaki. Although refusing to cooperate with others, she does have the power to back it up. And naturally she acts like a jerk even if she has good goals
** Another one is Tatsumaki. Although refusing to cooperate with others, she does have the power to back it up. And naturally she acts like a jerk even if she has good goals
* Ciel and Sebastian of ''Manga/BlackButler''.
* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': Freaking everyone, in one way or another.
* Likewise, [[ClassyCatBurglar the Kisugi sisters]] of ''Manga/CatsEye''. They often go out of their way to take down worse criminals, but they still find themselves at odds with the cops, and sometimes victimize innocent people (usually by [[BoundAndGagged gagging]] / [[KnockOutgas drugging]] and [[MuggedForDisguise impersonating them]]).
* Accelerator from ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'' becomes this in the Last Order arc.
* Likewise, [[ClassyCatBurglar the Kisugi sisters]] of ''Manga/CatsEye''. They often go out of their way to take down worse criminals, but they still find themselves at odds with the cops, and sometimes victimize innocent people (usually by [[BoundAndGagged gagging]] / [[KnockOutgas drugging]] and [[MuggedForDisguise impersonating them]]).
* Accelerator from ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'' becomes this in the Last Order arc.
* Hei from ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack''. A hitman for TheSyndicate who doesn't really bother to question the morality (or, more often, lack thereof) of his assignments, with no compunctions about [[CombatPragmatist cheating]], killing, or [[JackBauerInterrogationTechnique torture]] if he feels it's necessary.
* ''Manga/FairyTail'': Phantom Lord, being a legal guild that more or less acts like a dark one, is a NominalHero before their attack on Fairy Tail. [[spoiler:Jellal, Ultear, and Merudy are {{Unscrupulous Hero}}es (PayEvilUntoEvil) after their HeelFaceTurn.]]
* Sagara Sousuke from ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic'' fits this trope's description pretty well. Somewhat of a SociopathicHero, all that really matters to him is Kaname's safety and completing his missions. Empathy and strict moral principles aren't really qualities that fit in to his personality. He is ''definitely'' against [[SaveTheVillain saving villains]], has a naturally violent nature and [[ThouShaltNotKill sees absolutely nothing wrong in offing people]] or [[ShootTheDog Shooting The Dog]], ''tries'' to be a [[IneffectualLoner loner]] (though he tends to [[MagneticHero fail at that]]), is both ''very'' {{chaste|Hero}} and {{celibate|Hero}}, and has [[CombatPragmatist rather dubious combat methods]]. For example, would a normal person turn a theme park mascot into powered armor designed for police use (and lament that he "lost out on one of his investments" when the police doesn't buy it)?
* Yukiteru from ''Manga/FutureDiary'', after [[spoiler:his parents are killed]] and he [[TookALevelInBadass takes a level in badass]]. Later in the series he [[spoiler:massacres orphans]] in the name of becoming God. However, his goal is to [[spoiler:bring everyone who died back to life once he becomes god]] (keeping him from outright villainy).
** Likewise, Minene Uryu is one of the craftiest and most resourceful diary owners, and she is not above blowing up a middle school full of kids in order to win the survival game and become God. However, unlike some diary owners, she wants to become god in order to make the world a better place and it's heavily implied that she will revive everyone she kills. [[spoiler:Unfortunately for her, in the world of ''Manga/MiraiNikki'', not even God can do that.]] One has trouble not sympathizing with her when you find out [[spoiler:that she's a refugee from an unnamed war-torn country]] and that she's fighting against serial killers, [[OmnicidalManiac people that want to become God in order to destroy the world]] as well as people that want the position just so that they can [[TakeOverTheWorld rule the world.]] [[spoiler:She also works with Yuki to SaveTheWorld in the end, too.]]
* Yukiteru from ''Manga/FutureDiary'', after [[spoiler:his parents are killed]] and he [[TookALevelInBadass takes a level in badass]]. Later in the series he [[spoiler:massacres orphans]] in the name of becoming God. However, his goal is to [[spoiler:bring everyone who died back to life once he becomes god]] (keeping him from outright villainy).
** Likewise, Minene Uryu is one of the craftiest and most resourceful diary owners, and she is not above blowing up a middle school full of kids in order to win the survival game and become God. However, unlike some diary owners, she wants to become god in order to make the world a better place and it's heavily implied that she will revive everyone she kills. [[spoiler:Unfortunately for her, in the world of ''Manga/MiraiNikki'', not even God can do that.]] One has trouble not sympathizing with her when you find out [[spoiler:that she's a refugee from an unnamed war-torn country]] and that she's fighting against serial killers, [[OmnicidalManiac people that want to become God in order to destroy the world]] as well as people that want the position just so that they can [[TakeOverTheWorld rule the world.]] [[spoiler:She also works with Yuki to SaveTheWorld in the end, too.]]
* Agito and Aptom in ''Manga/{{Guyver}}''.
* Mashiba from ''Manga/HajimeNoIppo'' is this on his good days. Otherwise he's just a SociopathicHero. He protects his sister, but overall is a very scary and sadistic boxer. You get to see his ''[[http://media.onemanga.com/mangas/00000016/00000693/04.jpg really]]'' [[http://media.onemanga.com/mangas/00000016/00000697/03.jpg bad side]]. However, he [[CharacterDevelopment gets better]] later and refrains from cheating.
* Mashiba from ''Manga/HajimeNoIppo'' is this on his good days. Otherwise he's just a SociopathicHero. He protects his sister, but overall is a very scary and sadistic boxer. You get to see his ''[[http://media.onemanga.com/mangas/00000016/00000693/04.jpg really]]'' [[http://media.onemanga.com/mangas/00000016/00000697/03.jpg bad side]]. However, he [[CharacterDevelopment gets better]] later and refrains from cheating.
* ''Characters/LupinIII'' and his gang go to great lengths to stop evil people from taking over the world, help capture or kill criminals, and even [[PetTheDog save little kittens]]. But they're still ''not'' heroes. They are usually motivated out of self-interest, and are always criminals.
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* Yukiteru from ''Manga/FutureDiary'', after [[spoiler:his parents are killed]] and he [[TookALevelInBadass takes a level in badass]]. Later in the series he [[spoiler:massacres orphans]] in the name of becoming God. However, his goal is to [[spoiler:bring everyone who died back to life once he becomes god]] (keeping him from outright villainy).
** Likewise, Minene Uryu is one of the craftiest and most resourceful diary owners, and she is not above blowing up a middle school full of kids in order to win the survival game and become God. However, unlike some diary owners, she wants to become god in order to make the world a better place and it's heavily implied that she will revive everyone she kills. [[spoiler:Unfortunately for her, in the world of ''Manga/MiraiNikki'', not even God can do that.]] One has trouble not sympathizing with her when you find out [[spoiler:that she's a refugee from an unnamed wartorn country]] and that she's fighting against serial killers, [[OmnicidalManiac people that want to become God in order to destroy the world]] as well as people that want the position just so that they can [[TakeOverTheWorld rule the world.]] [[spoiler:She also works with Yuki to SaveTheWorld in the end, too.]]
** Likewise, Minene Uryu is one of the craftiest and most resourceful diary owners, and she is not above blowing up a middle school full of kids in order to win the survival game and become God. However, unlike some diary owners, she wants to become god in order to make the world a better place and it's heavily implied that she will revive everyone she kills. [[spoiler:Unfortunately for her, in the world of ''Manga/MiraiNikki'', not even God can do that.]] One has trouble not sympathizing with her when you find out [[spoiler:that she's a refugee from an unnamed wartorn country]] and that she's fighting against serial killers, [[OmnicidalManiac people that want to become God in order to destroy the world]] as well as people that want the position just so that they can [[TakeOverTheWorld rule the world.]] [[spoiler:She also works with Yuki to SaveTheWorld in the end, too.]]
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* Yukiteru Setsuna F. Seiei and the Celestial Being start as this type of characters in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam00'', of {{byronic|Hero}} variant. Later, however, Setsuna would develop into an [[AllLovingHero entirely good hero]].
* Hatou from''Manga/FutureDiary'', after [[spoiler:his parents are killed]] and he [[TookALevelInBadass takes a level in badass]]. Later in the series he [[spoiler:massacres orphans]] in the name of becoming God. However, his goal ''Manga/MurasakiiroNoQualia'' is slowly but surely starting to [[spoiler:bring everyone who died back to life once he becomes god]] (keeping him fall into this trope.
* The eponymous Nadia fromoutright villainy).
** Likewise, Minene Uryu''Anime/NadiaTheSecretOfBlueWater'' is an antihero. Due to an unhappy childhood and ParentalAbandonment, she's grown to be gloomy and depressed, somewhat self-centered and very judgmental. She has an empathic connection to animals and is thus a vegetarian, but can't stand the idea of anyone else eating meat either and constantly berates them for it. Her negative persona is lampshaded in one of the craftiest omakes, a character profile, where the narrator just keeps rattling off various flaws ("There has probably never been such a selfish heroine.") and most resourceful diary owners, and she is not above blowing up a middle school full of kids in order to win the survival game and become God. expresses incredulity at how anyone can stand her. However, unlike some diary owners, she wants is still a fundamentally good, caring person, capable of great self-sacrifice and aware of her flaws. (She even feels bad for occasionally taking her rage out on Jean, to become god in order to make the world a better place and it's heavily implied that point where she will revive everyone does something apologetic e.g. begging forgiveness, going on a walk, playing a game of cards, cooking for him, etc.) By the time of the WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue, she kills. [[spoiler:Unfortunately for her, seems to have matured into a more sympathetic individual.
** Her personality flaws are ridiculously exacerbated in episodes 23-34, turning her character from a NotGoodWithPeople sort of character to an unlikable, obnoxious JerkAss. [[ExecutiveMeddling Then again, those episodes were hardly meant to be part of the story in theworld of ''Manga/MiraiNikki'', not even God can do that.]] One has trouble not sympathizing with her when you find out [[spoiler:that she's a refugee from an unnamed wartorn country]] and that she's fighting against serial killers, [[OmnicidalManiac people that want to become God in order to destroy the world]] first place, as well as people that want the position just so that they can [[TakeOverTheWorld rule were added on after the world.]] [[spoiler:She also works with Yuki to SaveTheWorld in the end, too.show proved more popular than expected.]]
* Hatou from
* The eponymous Nadia from
** Likewise, Minene Uryu
** Her personality flaws are ridiculously exacerbated in episodes 23-34, turning her character from a NotGoodWithPeople sort of character to an unlikable, obnoxious JerkAss. [[ExecutiveMeddling Then again, those episodes were hardly meant to be part of the story in the
* The Straw Hat Pirates from ''Manga/OnePiece''. While they almost always do end up saving the day, it's usually because some villain on the island they're on [[ItsPersonal happened to do something to piss them off]] rather than them acting out of selfless heroism. [[TheCaptain Luffy]] himself has made the point that he's not altruistic enough to be considered a hero, and he's clearly ''more'' altruistic than many of his crew.
* In ''Manga/OnePunchMan'', Saitama fights villains simply because he's looking for a WorthyOpponent -- that is, someone who won't go down with simply one punch. He chooses to fight villains specifically because of the added bonus of saving the day (which he genuinely enjoys), and he's a pretty decent guy when not fighting.
** Another one is Tatsumaki. Although refusing to cooperate with others, she does have the power to back it up. And naturally she acts like a jerk even if she has good goals.
* In ''Manga/OnePunchMan'', Saitama fights villains simply because he's looking for a WorthyOpponent -- that is, someone who won't go down with simply one punch. He chooses to fight villains specifically because of the added bonus of saving the day (which he genuinely enjoys), and he's a pretty decent guy when not fighting.
** Another one is Tatsumaki. Although refusing to cooperate with others, she does have the power to back it up. And naturally she acts like a jerk even if she has good goals.
* Madoka and Mami are the only entirely good characters in ''[[Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica Madoka Magica]]'' (and Mami gets her creepy moments). Homura is a straight up Anti-Hero, with a more-or-less good goal and amoral ways of pursuing it. Kyouko is trying to ignore morality entirely, but is having difficulty doing so. Sayaka wants to be an ally of justice, but is bad at it [[spoiler:and eventually goes off the deep end and ends up a witch]].
* Inner Moka from ''Manga/RosarioToVampire'', until she starts {{defrosting|IceQueen}}.
* Inner Moka from ''Manga/RosarioToVampire'', until she starts {{defrosting|IceQueen}}.
* The core protagonists of ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'', which makes the show as intriguing as it is -- Lina Inverse is a well-reputed slayer of bandits and has saved the world, but she's only done the latter if the danger she and her companions were in had reached that point. Otherwise, she slays bandits for personal wealth, has no concern for the welfare of innocents (and entire villages for that matter), and will occasionally go to [[ComedicSociopathy sociopathic]] levels to get what she wants, even if it includes hurting her friends. Zelgadis is similar to Lina in those aspects, with the exception being that he's more than willing to either murder or flat-out [[FaceHeelTurn abandon]] those he cares about entirely.
** Princess Amelia is not as much of this as it warrants, but her [[BlackAndWhiteMorality naiveté on peoples' motives]] inadvertently make her this -- she often relies on stereotypes (such as outward appearances) to determine who is and isn't noble. Gourry the good-natured swordsman would wholly avert this trope if he weren't apathetic to certain worldly events, but that's possibly due to his [[TheDitz lack of intelligence]]. The only protagonist that joins Lina that isn't this trope completely is Sylphiel.
** Princess Amelia is not as much of this as it warrants, but her [[BlackAndWhiteMorality naiveté on peoples' motives]] inadvertently make her this -- she often relies on stereotypes (such as outward appearances) to determine who is and isn't noble. Gourry the good-natured swordsman would wholly avert this trope if he weren't apathetic to certain worldly events, but that's possibly due to his [[TheDitz lack of intelligence]]. The only protagonist that joins Lina that isn't this trope completely is Sylphiel.
* Miyu from ''Manga/VampirePrincessMiyu''. She banishes the Shinma because it's her fate to do so, not because she cares about the human race. She even uses humans for her personal amusement, just like the Shinma, but arguably not with the same cruelty of the Shinma.
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* Mashiba from ''Manga/HajimeNoIppo'' is this on his good days. Otherwise he's just a SociopathicHero. He protects his sister, but overall is a very scary and sadistic boxer. You get to see his ''[[http://media.onemanga.com/mangas/00000016/00000693/04.jpg really]]'' [[http://media.onemanga.com/mangas/00000016/00000697/03.jpg bad side]]. However, he [[CharacterDevelopment gets better]] later and refrains from cheating.
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* Sagara Sousuke from ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic'' fits this trope's description pretty well. Somewhat of a SociopathicHero, all that really matters to him is Kaname's safety and completing his missions. Empathy and strict moral principles aren't really qualities that fit in to his personality. He is ''definitely'' against [[SaveTheVillain saving villains]], has a naturally violent nature and [[ThouShaltNotKill sees absolutely nothing wrong in offing people]] or [[ShootTheDog Shooting The Dog]], ''tries'' to be a [[IneffectualLoner loner]] (though he tends to [[MagneticHero fail at that]]), is both ''very'' {{chaste|Hero}} and {{celibate|Hero}}, and has [[CombatPragmatist rather dubious combat methods]]. For example, would a normal person turn a theme park mascot into powered armor designed for police use (and lament that he "lost out on one of his investments" when the police doesn't buy it)?
* Accelerator from ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'' becomes this in the Last Order arc.
* The eponymous Nadia from ''Anime/NadiaTheSecretOfBlueWater'' is an antihero. Due to an unhappy childhood and ParentalAbandonment, she's grown to be gloomy and depressed, somewhat self-centered and very judgemental. She has an empathic connection to animals and is thus a vegetarian, but can't stand the idea of anyone else eating meat either and constantly berates them for it. Her negative persona is lampshaded in one of the omakes, a character profile, where the narrator just keeps rattling off various flaws ("There has probably never been such a selfish heroine.") and expresses incredulity at how anyone can stand her. However, she is still a fundamentally good, caring person, capable of great self-sacrifice and aware of her flaws. (She even feels bad for occasionally taking her rage out on Jean, to the point where she does something apologetic e.g. begging forgiveness, going on a walk, playing a game of cards, cooking for him, etc.) By the time of the WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue, she seems to have matured into a more sympathetic individual.
** Her personality flaws are ridiculously exacerbated in episodes 23-34, turning her character from a NotGoodWithPeople sort of character to an unlikeable, obnoxious JerkAss. [[ExecutiveMeddling Then again, those episodes were hardly meant to be part of the story in the first place, as they were added on after the show proved more popular than expected.]]
* Hei from ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack''. A hitman for TheSyndicate who doesn't really bother to question the morality (or, more often, lack thereof) of his assignments, with no compunctions about [[CombatPragmatist cheating]], killing, or [[JackBauerInterrogationTechnique torture]] if he feels it's necessary.
* The core protagonists of ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'', which makes the show as intriguing as it is - Lina Inverse is a well-reputed slayer of bandits and has saved the world, but she's only done the latter if the danger she and her companions were in had reached that point. Otherwise, she slays bandits for personal wealth, has no concern for the welfare of innocents (and entire villages for that matter), and will occasionally go to [[ComedicSociopathy sociopathic]] levels to get what she wants, even if it includes hurting her friends. Zelgadis is similar to Lina in those aspects, with the exception being that he's more than willing to either murder or flat-out [[FaceHeelTurn abandon]] those he cares about entirely.
** Princess Amelia is not as much of this as it warrants, but her [[BlackAndWhiteMorality naiveté on peoples' motives]] inadvertently make her this - she often relies on stereotypes (such as outward appearances) to determine who is and isn't noble. Gourry the good-natured swordsman would wholly avert this trope if he weren't apathetic to certain worldly events, but that's possibly due to his [[TheDitz lack of intelligence]]. The only protagonist that joins Lina that isn't this trope completely is Sylphiel.
* The core four in ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'', all to varying degrees - [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Kuwabara]] being the least so, Hiei being the most.
* Ciel and Sebastian of ''Manga/BlackButler''.
* Madoka and Mami are the only entirely good characters in ''[[Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica Madoka Magica]]'' (and Mami gets her creepy moments). Homura is a straight up Anti-Hero, with a more-or-less good goal and amoral ways of pursuing it. Kyouko is trying to ignore morality entirely, but is having difficulty doing so. Sayaka wants to be an ally of justice, but is bad at it [[spoiler:and eventually goes off the deep end and ends up a witch]].
* Agito and Aptom in ''Manga/{{Guyver}}''.
* Miyu from ''Manga/VampirePrincessMiyu'' - She banishes the Shinma because it's her fate to do so, not because she cares about the human race. She even uses humans for her personal amusement, just like the Shinma, but arguably not with the same cruelty of the Shinma.
* Inner Moka from ''Manga/RosarioToVampire'', until she starts {{defrosting|IceQueen}}.
* Setsuna F. Seiei and the Celestial Being start as this type of characters in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam00'', of {{byronic|Hero}} variant. Later, however, Setsuna would develop into an [[AllLovingHero entirely good hero]].
* Chirico Cuvie in ''Anime/ArmoredTrooperVotoms''.
* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': Freaking everyone, in one way or another.
* The Straw Hat Pirates from ''Manga/OnePiece''. While they almost always do end up saving the day, it's usually because some villain on the island they're on [[ItsPersonal happened to do something to piss them off]] rather than them acting out of selfless heroism. [[TheCaptain Luffy]] himself has made the point that he's not altruistic enough to be considered a hero, and he's clearly ''more'' altruistic than many of his crew.
* Hatou from ''Manga/MurasakiiroNoQualia'' is slowly but surely starting to fall into this trope.
* ''Characters/LupinIII'' and his gang go to great lengths to stop evil people from taking over the world, help capture or kill criminals, and even [[PetTheDog save little kittens]]. But they're still ''not'' heroes. They are usually motivated out of self-interest, and are always criminals.
* Likewise, [[ClassyCatBurglar the Kisugi sisters]] of ''Manga/CatsEye''. They often go out of their way to take down worse criminals, but they still find themselves at odds with the cops, and sometimes victimize innocent people (usually by [[BoundAndGagged gagging]] / [[KnockOutgas drugging]] and [[MuggedForDisguise impersonating them]]).
* ''Manga/FairyTail'': Phantom Lord, being a legal guild that more or less acts like a dark one, is a NominalHero before their attack on Fairy Tail. [[spoiler:Jellal, Ultear, and Merudy are {{Unscrupulous Hero}}es (PayEvilUntoEvil) after their HeelFaceTurn.]]
* Accelerator from ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'' becomes this in the Last Order arc.
* The eponymous Nadia from ''Anime/NadiaTheSecretOfBlueWater'' is an antihero. Due to an unhappy childhood and ParentalAbandonment, she's grown to be gloomy and depressed, somewhat self-centered and very judgemental. She has an empathic connection to animals and is thus a vegetarian, but can't stand the idea of anyone else eating meat either and constantly berates them for it. Her negative persona is lampshaded in one of the omakes, a character profile, where the narrator just keeps rattling off various flaws ("There has probably never been such a selfish heroine.") and expresses incredulity at how anyone can stand her. However, she is still a fundamentally good, caring person, capable of great self-sacrifice and aware of her flaws. (She even feels bad for occasionally taking her rage out on Jean, to the point where she does something apologetic e.g. begging forgiveness, going on a walk, playing a game of cards, cooking for him, etc.) By the time of the WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue, she seems to have matured into a more sympathetic individual.
** Her personality flaws are ridiculously exacerbated in episodes 23-34, turning her character from a NotGoodWithPeople sort of character to an unlikeable, obnoxious JerkAss. [[ExecutiveMeddling Then again, those episodes were hardly meant to be part of the story in the first place, as they were added on after the show proved more popular than expected.]]
* Hei from ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack''. A hitman for TheSyndicate who doesn't really bother to question the morality (or, more often, lack thereof) of his assignments, with no compunctions about [[CombatPragmatist cheating]], killing, or [[JackBauerInterrogationTechnique torture]] if he feels it's necessary.
* The core protagonists of ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'', which makes the show as intriguing as it is - Lina Inverse is a well-reputed slayer of bandits and has saved the world, but she's only done the latter if the danger she and her companions were in had reached that point. Otherwise, she slays bandits for personal wealth, has no concern for the welfare of innocents (and entire villages for that matter), and will occasionally go to [[ComedicSociopathy sociopathic]] levels to get what she wants, even if it includes hurting her friends. Zelgadis is similar to Lina in those aspects, with the exception being that he's more than willing to either murder or flat-out [[FaceHeelTurn abandon]] those he cares about entirely.
** Princess Amelia is not as much of this as it warrants, but her [[BlackAndWhiteMorality naiveté on peoples' motives]] inadvertently make her this - she often relies on stereotypes (such as outward appearances) to determine who is and isn't noble. Gourry the good-natured swordsman would wholly avert this trope if he weren't apathetic to certain worldly events, but that's possibly due to his [[TheDitz lack of intelligence]]. The only protagonist that joins Lina that isn't this trope completely is Sylphiel.
* The core four in ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'', all to varying degrees - [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Kuwabara]] being the least so, Hiei being the most.
* Ciel and Sebastian of ''Manga/BlackButler''.
* Madoka and Mami are the only entirely good characters in ''[[Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica Madoka Magica]]'' (and Mami gets her creepy moments). Homura is a straight up Anti-Hero, with a more-or-less good goal and amoral ways of pursuing it. Kyouko is trying to ignore morality entirely, but is having difficulty doing so. Sayaka wants to be an ally of justice, but is bad at it [[spoiler:and eventually goes off the deep end and ends up a witch]].
* Agito and Aptom in ''Manga/{{Guyver}}''.
* Miyu from ''Manga/VampirePrincessMiyu'' - She banishes the Shinma because it's her fate to do so, not because she cares about the human race. She even uses humans for her personal amusement, just like the Shinma, but arguably not with the same cruelty of the Shinma.
* Inner Moka from ''Manga/RosarioToVampire'', until she starts {{defrosting|IceQueen}}.
* Setsuna F. Seiei and the Celestial Being start as this type of characters in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam00'', of {{byronic|Hero}} variant. Later, however, Setsuna would develop into an [[AllLovingHero entirely good hero]].
* Chirico Cuvie in ''Anime/ArmoredTrooperVotoms''.
* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': Freaking everyone, in one way or another.
* The Straw Hat Pirates from ''Manga/OnePiece''. While they almost always do end up saving the day, it's usually because some villain on the island they're on [[ItsPersonal happened to do something to piss them off]] rather than them acting out of selfless heroism. [[TheCaptain Luffy]] himself has made the point that he's not altruistic enough to be considered a hero, and he's clearly ''more'' altruistic than many of his crew.
* Hatou from ''Manga/MurasakiiroNoQualia'' is slowly but surely starting to fall into this trope.
* ''Characters/LupinIII'' and his gang go to great lengths to stop evil people from taking over the world, help capture or kill criminals, and even [[PetTheDog save little kittens]]. But they're still ''not'' heroes. They are usually motivated out of self-interest, and are always criminals.
* Likewise, [[ClassyCatBurglar the Kisugi sisters]] of ''Manga/CatsEye''. They often go out of their way to take down worse criminals, but they still find themselves at odds with the cops, and sometimes victimize innocent people (usually by [[BoundAndGagged gagging]] / [[KnockOutgas drugging]] and [[MuggedForDisguise impersonating them]]).
* ''Manga/FairyTail'': Phantom Lord, being a legal guild that more or less acts like a dark one, is a NominalHero before their attack on Fairy Tail. [[spoiler:Jellal, Ultear, and Merudy are {{Unscrupulous Hero}}es (PayEvilUntoEvil) after their HeelFaceTurn.]]
to:
* Accelerator from ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'' becomes this in the Last Order arc.
* The eponymous Nadia from ''Anime/NadiaTheSecretOfBlueWater'' is an antihero. Due to an unhappy childhood and ParentalAbandonment, she's grown to be gloomy and depressed, somewhat self-centered and very judgemental. She has an empathic connection to animals and is thus a vegetarian, but can't stand the idea of anyone else eating meat either and constantly berates them for it. Her negative persona is lampshaded in one of the omakes, a character profile, where the narrator just keeps rattling off various flaws ("There has probably never been such a selfish heroine.") and expresses incredulity at how anyone can stand her. However, she is still a fundamentally good, caring person, capable of great self-sacrifice and aware of her flaws. (She even feels bad for occasionally taking her rage out on Jean, to the point where she does something apologetic e.g. begging forgiveness, going on a walk, playing a game of cards, cooking for him, etc.) By the time of the WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue, she seems to have matured into a more sympathetic individual.
** Her personality flaws are ridiculously exacerbated in episodes 23-34, turning her character from a NotGoodWithPeople sort of character to an unlikeable, obnoxious JerkAss. [[ExecutiveMeddling Then again, those episodes were hardly meant to be part of the story in the first place, as they were added on after the show proved more popular than expected.]]
* Hei from ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack''. A hitman for TheSyndicate who doesn't really bother to question the morality (or, more often, lack thereof) of his assignments, with no compunctions about [[CombatPragmatist cheating]], killing, or [[JackBauerInterrogationTechnique torture]] if he feels it's necessary.
* The core protagonists of ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'', which makes the show as intriguing as it is - Lina Inverse is a well-reputed slayer of bandits and has saved the world, but she's only done the latter if the danger she and her companions were in had reached that point. Otherwise, she slays bandits for personal wealth, has no concern for the welfare of innocents (and entire villages for that matter), and will occasionally go to [[ComedicSociopathy sociopathic]] levels to get what she wants, even if it includes hurting her friends. Zelgadis is similar to Lina in those aspects, with the exception being that he's more than willing to either murder or flat-out [[FaceHeelTurn abandon]] those he cares about entirely.
** Princess Amelia is not as much of this as it warrants, but her [[BlackAndWhiteMorality naiveté on peoples' motives]] inadvertently make her this - she often relies on stereotypes (such as outward appearances) to determine who is and isn't noble. Gourry the good-natured swordsman would wholly avert this trope if he weren't apathetic to certain worldly events, but that's possibly due to his [[TheDitz lack of intelligence]]. The only protagonist that joins Lina that isn't this trope completely is Sylphiel.
* Madoka and Mami are the only entirely good characters in ''[[Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica Madoka Magica]]'' (and Mami gets her creepy moments). Homura is a straight up Anti-Hero, with a more-or-less good goal and amoral ways of pursuing it. Kyouko is trying to ignore morality entirely, but is having difficulty doing so. Sayaka wants to be an ally of justice, but is bad at it [[spoiler:and eventually goes off the deep end and ends up a witch]].
* Agito and Aptom in ''Manga/{{Guyver}}''.
* Miyu from ''Manga/VampirePrincessMiyu'' - She banishes the Shinma because it's her fate to do so, not because she cares about the human race. She even uses humans for her personal amusement, just like the Shinma, but arguably not with the same cruelty of the Shinma.
* Inner Moka from ''Manga/RosarioToVampire'', until she starts {{defrosting|IceQueen}}.
* Setsuna F. Seiei and the Celestial Being start as this type of characters in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam00'', of {{byronic|Hero}} variant. Later, however, Setsuna would develop into an [[AllLovingHero entirely good hero]].
* Chirico Cuvie in ''Anime/ArmoredTrooperVotoms''.
* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': Freaking everyone, in one way or another.
* The Straw Hat Pirates from ''Manga/OnePiece''. While they almost always do end up saving the day, it's usually because some villain on the island they're on [[ItsPersonal happened to do something to piss them off]] rather than them acting out of selfless heroism. [[TheCaptain Luffy]] himself has made the point that he's not altruistic enough to be considered a hero, and he's clearly ''more'' altruistic than many of his crew.
* Hatou from ''Manga/MurasakiiroNoQualia'' is slowly but surely starting to fall into this trope.
* ''Characters/LupinIII'' and his gang go to great lengths to stop evil people from taking over the world, help capture or kill criminals, and even [[PetTheDog save little kittens]]. But they're still ''not'' heroes. They are usually motivated out of self-interest, and are always criminals.
* Likewise, [[ClassyCatBurglar the Kisugi sisters]] of ''Manga/CatsEye''. They often go out of their way to take down worse criminals, but they still find themselves at odds with the cops, and sometimes victimize innocent people (usually by [[BoundAndGagged gagging]] / [[KnockOutgas drugging]] and [[MuggedForDisguise impersonating them]]).
* ''Manga/FairyTail'': Phantom Lord, being a legal guild that more or less acts like a dark one, is a NominalHero before their attack on Fairy Tail. [[spoiler:Jellal, Ultear, and Merudy are {{Unscrupulous Hero}}es (PayEvilUntoEvil) after their HeelFaceTurn.]]
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* ''Manga/FairyTail'': Phantom Lord, being a legal guild that more or less acts like a dark one, is a [[DesignatedHero Type V]] before their attack on Fairy Tail. [[spoiler:Jellal, Ultear, and Merudy are Type [=IVs=] (PayEvilUntoEvil) after their HeelFaceTurn.]]
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* ''Manga/FairyTail'': Phantom Lord, being a legal guild that more or less acts like a dark one, is a [[DesignatedHero Type V]] NominalHero before their attack on Fairy Tail. [[spoiler:Jellal, Ultear, and Merudy are Type [=IVs=] {{Unscrupulous Hero}}es (PayEvilUntoEvil) after their HeelFaceTurn.]]
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* ''Manga/FairyTail'': Phantom Lord, being a legal guild that more or less acts like a dark one, is a [[DesignatedHero Type V]] before their attack on Fairy Tail. [[spoiler:Jellal, Ultear, and Merudy are Type [=IVs=] (PayEvilUntoEvil) after their HeelFaceTurn.]]
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[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
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[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'': Eren Yeager is an idealist in a cynical world, he wants the best for humanity, and his gift is stated to be his HeroicResolve. What muddies up his status as a straight-up hero is that he's fueled by [[ThePowerOfHate his hatred for all Titans]] and his UnstoppableRage can be absolutely ''terrifying'' to behold.
* In ''Manga/OnePunchMan'', Saitama fights villains simply because he's looking for a WorthyOpponent--that is, someone who won't go down with simply one punch. He chooses to fight villains specifically because of the added bonus of saving the day (which he genuinely enjoys), and he's a pretty decent guy when not fighting.
** Another one is Tatsumaki. Although refusing to cooperate with others, she does have the power to back it up. And naturally she acts like a jerk even if she has good goals
* [[spoiler:Claire Stanfield (a.k.a. Vino)]] of LightNovel/{{Baccano}} personifies the Unscrupulous of this.
* Guts from ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'' has one goal in life: making his former ally Griffith pay in blood for what's happened to him. A childhood spent as a mercenary and an adult life spent being attacked by demons has left him with few moral precepts. He thinks nothing of cutting people in half, although he ''does'' prefer not to take out bystanders (still a bad idea to stand in his way, though). On the other hand, he cares deeply for Casca and has given some thought to what he really wants to do with his life once he's gotten his revenge; he doesn't have an answer for that one yet. Pre-Eclipse Guts is more of a ByronicHero.
* You could say that the main cast of ''Manga/BlackLagoon'' could count as Anti Heroes, but [[VillainProtagonist that would be a misnomer]].
* Lelouch and (to a lesser extent) the [[LaResistance Black Knights]] of ''Anime/CodeGeass''.
* ''Manga/DeathNote''
** Mello is solely dedicated to being the one to stop Kira and is more than willing to become a mob boss, kidnap innocent girls, and in the manga, even threaten the President to sabotage his rival so said rival can't catch Kira.
** Light's [[TheRival rival]], L, is an Anti Hero and The Anti-{{Bishonen}}. He dresses like a bum (he doesn't even wear shoes!), his [[MessyHair black hair is shaggy and unkempt]], he [[LooksLikeCesare looks permanently hungover]], he strongly detests physical contact with anyone and is close to emotionally dead. As far as his morality is concerned, he is willing to achieve the good goal of capturing Kira (Light) with evil means, such as kidnapping, not preventing murder, invasion of privacy and torture.
* ''Anime/DragonBallZ''
** Vegeta. In his first appearance, he's the BigBad, but in the ongoing series, in his effort to beat Goku, he keeps saving the day. He also often unnecessarily endangers the situation by letting his enemies reach their full potential, so he can have a honorable fight.
** To a lesser extent, Piccolo could also be seen to possess some Anti-Hero qualities. Though he essentially became one of the good guys after his sacrifice for Gohan, Piccolo was still somewhat aloof, anti-social, and soft-spoken (save for when he launched himself into battle). And though he became one of the Z Fighters, there were still a few instances where Piccolo didn't really view the human members of the team including [[HardWorkHardlyWorks Yamcha]], Chaotzu, and occasionally [[OverShadowedByAwesome Krillin]] (mostly for his cowardly behavior in some situations)as being in his league (though not to the same extent as Vegeta viewed them). He would regularly come into conflict with both of them talking down to each other. The only ones that he generally showed respect to among the big 8 were Goku (Although he gave him one [[WhatTheHellHero talking to]]), [[MoralityPet Gohan]], [[KidFromTheFuture Trunks]], and, to a lesser extent [[AwesomenessByAnalysis Tienshinhan]]. In ''Anime/TheTreeOfMight'' movie, Oolong compared Gohan's new pet dragon to Piccolo, saying neither of them let their guard down around anyone except Gohan.
* Scar from ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' starts out as a villain and gradually transforms into one of these. Second Greed as well. Also Olivier Mira Armstrong.
* ''Manga/GetterRobo'' combines the old {{Super Robot|Genre}} ideals like {{Hot Blooded}}ness with anti-hero main characters. Ryoma is rowdy and an asshole, Hayato's pragmatism in decision making borders on (and sometimes [[CrossesTheLineTwice goes beyond]]) cruelty and so on.
* The only good guys in ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'' are anti-heroes or vampire fodder. And then there's Alucard. The only thing that keeps him from being a villain is the fact he is fighting vampire Nazis, although the first anime adaptation definitely plays up the anti-hero side.
** Well, Alucard does have his UndyingLoyalty to Integra and hates traitors. Plus, he hates vampires that kill needlessly, though not so much because they're killing innocent humans, but more because of the perceived lack of honor involved.
* {{Manga/Gon}} is an intensely unlikable protagonist in the original manga. Early escapades include destroying a forest to make a tree mound for himself, and beaching a shark that has swallowed him and feeding it a small piece of banana as it suffocates to death.
* ''Manga/InuYasha''
** Kikyo was originally a very kind and giving {{miko}}. She and Inuyasha had a pact for her to give up her miko duties and for him to become fully human so that they could get married. However, Naraku disguised himself as Inuyasha and killed her. She was later resurrected against her will by dark magic that left her suffering from the hatred and betrayal for Inuyasha that she had felt at the moment of her death. This changed over time from trying to kill Inuyasha to trying to kill them both so they could be together in death then to surviving long enough to destroy Naraku for what he had done to her. Despite her rivalry with Kagome for Inuyasha's affections, she was eventually able to live long enough achieve a redemptive death at peace with herself, Inuyasha and Kagome.
** Sesshomaru fights against [[BigBad the Big Bad Naraku]], occasionally helps people who're not related to him, helps [[TheHero his half-brother]] [[SiblingRivalry whom he officially hates]] and his brother's friends many times, displays protective attitude towards [[{{Protectorate}} his followers]] and great [[WellDoneSonGuy filial respect towards his father]]. He has a high sense of honor and principle (obviously values honor and principles [[HonorBeforeReason above his own life]]). On the other hand, he has many extremely ruthless moments, has willingly joined up with Naraku on two occasions (the first contributed to his decision to hunt Naraku as an enemy, the second he was actually using Naraku as a DieOrFly test for Inuyasha to prove his worth once and for all) and used questionable methods, also went through a period of trying to [[CainAndAbel kill his brother]] who had obtained the heirloom sword he'd been after for years which [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou eventually]] [[IWasJustPassingThrough softened]] into AloofBigBrother as he worked out his [[TheUnfavourite issues]]. In the [[GrandFinale final battle against Naraku]], his status as an antihero is highlighted by this [[ShutUpHannibal antiheroes signature move]].
** Kagura was created by Naraku out of one of the youkai that had been trapped inside himself for at least 50 years. In return for the hope of freedom in the future, she was forced to work as a slave for him, her life bound because he held her beating heart captive in his position and could therefore destroy at any moment. Despite her position, her [[ImpliedLoveInterest growing feelings]] for [[NobleDemon Sesshoumaru]], coupled with her growing [[{{Protectorate}} protective instinct]] for [[DesignatedVictim Kohaku]] all combined to make her increasingly helpful of both Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha's causes. In the end, she was feeding information to both Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha's groups to help them fight Naraku and ended up dying in an HeroicSacrifice to save Kohaku's life from Mouryoumaru and Naraku's machinations.
** Koga, leader of the eastern wolf-demon tribe. Seeking vengeance against Naraku, he becomes a reluctant ally (while maintaining rivalry) to [[TheHero Inuyasha]]. Thanks to his romantic interest in Kagome, he and his men give up eating human. Koga, Kikyo, Sesshomaru and his followers are described as "Those who, at times will fight, and other times have the same intentions." in Inuyasha Zusetsutaizen Ougikaiden.
* Nao Yuuki from ''Anime/MaiHime'' is an arguable case; bent on vengeance for her mother, who was severely wounded in a robbery, she uses herself as bait to trap paedophiles, who she proceeds to rob. It's never made clear if her victims receive punishment under a proper judicial system. In fact, she seems to enjoy going after her victims a bit too much.
* Yukiteru from ''Manga/FutureDiary'', after [[spoiler:his parents are killed]] and he [[TookALevelInBadass takes a level in badass]]. Later in the series he [[spoiler:massacres orphans]] in the name of becoming God. However, his goal is to [[spoiler:bring everyone who died back to life once he becomes god]] (keeping him from outright villainy).
** Likewise, Minene Uryu is one of the craftiest and most resourceful diary owners, and she is not above blowing up a middle school full of kids in order to win the survival game and become God. However, unlike some diary owners, she wants to become god in order to make the world a better place and it's heavily implied that she will revive everyone she kills. [[spoiler:Unfortunately for her, in the world of ''Manga/MiraiNikki'', not even God can do that.]] One has trouble not sympathizing with her when you find out [[spoiler:that she's a refugee from an unnamed wartorn country]] and that she's fighting against serial killers, [[OmnicidalManiac people that want to become God in order to destroy the world]] as well as people that want the position just so that they can [[TakeOverTheWorld rule the world.]] [[spoiler:She also works with Yuki to SaveTheWorld in the end, too.]]
* Shinji Ikari of ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' is a deeply neurotic protagonist who is withdrawn, socially awkward, and completely lacking in self-confidence, but is shown to be a good person under his many psychological problems, all of which stem from him being the series' resident ButtMonkey. Asuka, too, fits the role of Anti-Hero, as her only reason for piloting her Evangelion isn't to protect mankind, but to show everyone how talented she is. Somewhat mitigated by the fact that when she was around 4 her mother lost her mind and thought that a doll was Asuka. And her father started to have an affair with the head nurse in charge of Asuka's mother. So at age four, who cares about Asuka? That's right, nobody. So she works around her abandonment issues by trying to get everyone to need her. Because she doesn't want to be alone. Shinji has the same kind of childhood, but works around it by trying not to have to make any decisions, because he thinks ''he'' is in the wrong about most things. This show messes up the background history of every character.
* Mirielle and Kirika in ''Anime/{{Noir}}'' are assassins, more or less, ruthless, cold-blooded killers. Kirika is saddened, not by killing, but by the fact she isn't saddened by killing, and Mirielle, not even that much, sometimes joking about their kills off-handedly. In this anime, they are the protagonists. There are no traditional heroes in ''Anime/{{Noir}}''. Except maybe [[spoiler: [[DeceasedParentsAreTheBest Mirielle's parents]]]].
** Who were key figures in the Corsican mob, so their hands weren't exactly clean, either. They set the events of the story (And get themselves killed) by declaring that EvenEvilHasStandards.
* Lampshaded in an episode of ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}''. {{Anti Villain}}s Jessie, James, and Meowth are disgusted by how Anti-Hero Paul mistreats his Pokemon, given the fact that they're ''far nicer'' people than he is, and they're ''criminals''!
* Saito Hajime from ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'' is the very epitome of this trope.
** Shinomori Aoshi counts if anyone else does. [[spoiler:After he became more of a villain; he started off as an AntiVillain.]] Most of the male characters can be: Kenshin himself lapses into this and Sanosuke, who is not afraid to fight against his nation's government. It seems Saitou has an effect on everyone, so it could be said this quality rubbed off nearly as well as anything from Kenshin (Sano in particular).
* Ikki Phoenix from ''Manga/SaintSeiya'' starts out like this. It took some time before he stopped horribly killing every opponent.
* Nicholas D. Wolfwood of ''Manga/TriGun'' is not amoral by any means, but his harsh "no matter the cost" martialism copied from [[DisproportionateRetribution Knives]] and [[CorruptChurch Chapel]] and his sense of fashion screams Anti-Hero, especially when compared with [[ThouShaltNotKill Vash]].
* ''Manga/VinlandSaga'''s. Thorfinn and Thorkel. Many of the other characters of the manga are villains in one way or another.
** Though after [[spoiler: being sold into slavery, Thorfinn eventually develops into a straight up hero.]]
* Mashiba from ''Manga/HajimeNoIppo'' is this on his good days. Otherwise he's just a SociopathicHero. He protects his sister, but overall is a very scary and sadistic boxer. You get to see his ''[[http://media.onemanga.com/mangas/00000016/00000693/04.jpg really]]'' [[http://media.onemanga.com/mangas/00000016/00000697/03.jpg bad side]]. However, he [[CharacterDevelopment gets better]] later and refrains from cheating.
* ''Franchise/YuGiOh''
** Yami Yuugi from [[Manga/YuGiOh the early manga]]. Example: A guy steals a playing card from Yuugi. Yami Yuugi comes out to drive him permanently stark raving mad. Whenever he gets out, someone is gonna die or go nuts. He is ''smiling'' as he lights people on fire, condemns them to insanity, etc.
** Seto Kaiba in [[Anime/YuGiOh the anime]], certainly. First he's a villain. Then Yami Yugi does some freaky shit to his mind and he becomes a sympathetic villain who's just trying to save his brother (and his company), and admits to respecting Yugi. Then he gets kidnapped and Yugi and his friends save him and they team up to beat the bad guys. Then he's a kind of antagonist again but he keeps helping Yugi beat the bad guys. Then they all have to team up to beat ''more'' bad guys. Then in the movie he seems to be a bad guy but he's actually a puppet for the BigBad and helps Yugi to defeat said Big Bad when he's freed from its control. Then he opens a school to help young people learn to duel. [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor Make up your mind, man]]! He's been on one side since day one. [[WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries The side where he can screw the most rules.]]
--> ''He's more like an Anti-Hero, the worst kind of hero there is! They give us villains a good name!''
* Sagara Sousuke from ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic'' fits this trope's description pretty well. Somewhat of a SociopathicHero, all that really matters to him is Kaname's safety and completing his missions. Empathy and strict moral principles aren't really qualities that fit in to his personality. He is ''definitely'' against [[SaveTheVillain saving villains]], has a naturally violent nature and [[ThouShaltNotKill sees absolutely nothing wrong in offing people]] or [[ShootTheDog Shooting The Dog]], ''tries'' to be a [[IneffectualLoner loner]] (though he tends to [[MagneticHero fail at that]]), is both ''very'' {{chaste|Hero}} and {{celibate|Hero}}, and has [[CombatPragmatist rather dubious combat methods]]. For example, would a normal person turn a theme park mascot into powered armor designed for police use (and lament that he "lost out on one of his investments" when the police doesn't buy it)?
* Accelerator from ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'' becomes this in the Last Order arc.
* The eponymous Nadia from ''Anime/NadiaTheSecretOfBlueWater'' is an antihero. Due to an unhappy childhood and ParentalAbandonment, she's grown to be gloomy and depressed, somewhat self-centered and very judgemental. She has an empathic connection to animals and is thus a vegetarian, but can't stand the idea of anyone else eating meat either and constantly berates them for it. Her negative persona is lampshaded in one of the omakes, a character profile, where the narrator just keeps rattling off various flaws ("There has probably never been such a selfish heroine.") and expresses incredulity at how anyone can stand her. However, she is still a fundamentally good, caring person, capable of great self-sacrifice and aware of her flaws. (She even feels bad for occasionally taking her rage out on Jean, to the point where she does something apologetic e.g. begging forgiveness, going on a walk, playing a game of cards, cooking for him, etc.) By the time of the WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue, she seems to have matured into a more sympathetic individual.
** Her personality flaws are ridiculously exacerbated in episodes 23-34, turning her character from a NotGoodWithPeople sort of character to an unlikeable, obnoxious JerkAss. [[ExecutiveMeddling Then again, those episodes were hardly meant to be part of the story in the first place, as they were added on after the show proved more popular than expected.]]
* Hei from ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack''. A hitman for TheSyndicate who doesn't really bother to question the morality (or, more often, lack thereof) of his assignments, with no compunctions about [[CombatPragmatist cheating]], killing, or [[JackBauerInterrogationTechnique torture]] if he feels it's necessary.
* The core protagonists of ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'', which makes the show as intriguing as it is - Lina Inverse is a well-reputed slayer of bandits and has saved the world, but she's only done the latter if the danger she and her companions were in had reached that point. Otherwise, she slays bandits for personal wealth, has no concern for the welfare of innocents (and entire villages for that matter), and will occasionally go to [[ComedicSociopathy sociopathic]] levels to get what she wants, even if it includes hurting her friends. Zelgadis is similar to Lina in those aspects, with the exception being that he's more than willing to either murder or flat-out [[FaceHeelTurn abandon]] those he cares about entirely.
** Princess Amelia is not as much of this as it warrants, but her [[BlackAndWhiteMorality naiveté on peoples' motives]] inadvertently make her this - she often relies on stereotypes (such as outward appearances) to determine who is and isn't noble. Gourry the good-natured swordsman would wholly avert this trope if he weren't apathetic to certain worldly events, but that's possibly due to his [[TheDitz lack of intelligence]]. The only protagonist that joins Lina that isn't this trope completely is Sylphiel.
* The core four in ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'', all to varying degrees - [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Kuwabara]] being the least so, Hiei being the most.
* Ciel and Sebastian of ''Manga/BlackButler''.
* Madoka and Mami are the only entirely good characters in ''[[Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica Madoka Magica]]'' (and Mami gets her creepy moments). Homura is a straight up Anti-Hero, with a more-or-less good goal and amoral ways of pursuing it. Kyouko is trying to ignore morality entirely, but is having difficulty doing so. Sayaka wants to be an ally of justice, but is bad at it [[spoiler:and eventually goes off the deep end and ends up a witch]].
* Agito and Aptom in ''Manga/{{Guyver}}''.
* Miyu from ''Manga/VampirePrincessMiyu'' - She banishes the Shinma because it's her fate to do so, not because she cares about the human race. She even uses humans for her personal amusement, just like the Shinma, but arguably not with the same cruelty of the Shinma.
* Inner Moka from ''Manga/RosarioToVampire'', until she starts {{defrosting|IceQueen}}.
* Setsuna F. Seiei and the Celestial Being start as this type of characters in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam00'', of {{byronic|Hero}} variant. Later, however, Setsuna would develop into an [[AllLovingHero entirely good hero]].
* Chirico Cuvie in ''Anime/ArmoredTrooperVotoms''.
* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': Freaking everyone, in one way or another.
* The Straw Hat Pirates from ''Manga/OnePiece''. While they almost always do end up saving the day, it's usually because some villain on the island they're on [[ItsPersonal happened to do something to piss them off]] rather than them acting out of selfless heroism. [[TheCaptain Luffy]] himself has made the point that he's not altruistic enough to be considered a hero, and he's clearly ''more'' altruistic than many of his crew.
* Hatou from ''Manga/MurasakiiroNoQualia'' is slowly but surely starting to fall into this trope.
* ''Characters/LupinIII'' and his gang go to great lengths to stop evil people from taking over the world, help capture or kill criminals, and even [[PetTheDog save little kittens]]. But they're still ''not'' heroes. They are usually motivated out of self-interest, and are always criminals.
* Likewise, [[ClassyCatBurglar the Kisugi sisters]] of ''Manga/CatsEye''. They often go out of their way to take down worse criminals, but they still find themselves at odds with the cops, and sometimes victimize innocent people (usually by [[BoundAndGagged gagging]] / [[KnockOutgas drugging]] and [[MuggedForDisguise impersonating them]]).
----
* ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'': Eren Yeager is an idealist in a cynical world, he wants the best for humanity, and his gift is stated to be his HeroicResolve. What muddies up his status as a straight-up hero is that he's fueled by [[ThePowerOfHate his hatred for all Titans]] and his UnstoppableRage can be absolutely ''terrifying'' to behold.
* In ''Manga/OnePunchMan'', Saitama fights villains simply because he's looking for a WorthyOpponent--that is, someone who won't go down with simply one punch. He chooses to fight villains specifically because of the added bonus of saving the day (which he genuinely enjoys), and he's a pretty decent guy when not fighting.
** Another one is Tatsumaki. Although refusing to cooperate with others, she does have the power to back it up. And naturally she acts like a jerk even if she has good goals
* [[spoiler:Claire Stanfield (a.k.a. Vino)]] of LightNovel/{{Baccano}} personifies the Unscrupulous of this.
* Guts from ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'' has one goal in life: making his former ally Griffith pay in blood for what's happened to him. A childhood spent as a mercenary and an adult life spent being attacked by demons has left him with few moral precepts. He thinks nothing of cutting people in half, although he ''does'' prefer not to take out bystanders (still a bad idea to stand in his way, though). On the other hand, he cares deeply for Casca and has given some thought to what he really wants to do with his life once he's gotten his revenge; he doesn't have an answer for that one yet. Pre-Eclipse Guts is more of a ByronicHero.
* You could say that the main cast of ''Manga/BlackLagoon'' could count as Anti Heroes, but [[VillainProtagonist that would be a misnomer]].
* Lelouch and (to a lesser extent) the [[LaResistance Black Knights]] of ''Anime/CodeGeass''.
* ''Manga/DeathNote''
** Mello is solely dedicated to being the one to stop Kira and is more than willing to become a mob boss, kidnap innocent girls, and in the manga, even threaten the President to sabotage his rival so said rival can't catch Kira.
** Light's [[TheRival rival]], L, is an Anti Hero and The Anti-{{Bishonen}}. He dresses like a bum (he doesn't even wear shoes!), his [[MessyHair black hair is shaggy and unkempt]], he [[LooksLikeCesare looks permanently hungover]], he strongly detests physical contact with anyone and is close to emotionally dead. As far as his morality is concerned, he is willing to achieve the good goal of capturing Kira (Light) with evil means, such as kidnapping, not preventing murder, invasion of privacy and torture.
* ''Anime/DragonBallZ''
** Vegeta. In his first appearance, he's the BigBad, but in the ongoing series, in his effort to beat Goku, he keeps saving the day. He also often unnecessarily endangers the situation by letting his enemies reach their full potential, so he can have a honorable fight.
** To a lesser extent, Piccolo could also be seen to possess some Anti-Hero qualities. Though he essentially became one of the good guys after his sacrifice for Gohan, Piccolo was still somewhat aloof, anti-social, and soft-spoken (save for when he launched himself into battle). And though he became one of the Z Fighters, there were still a few instances where Piccolo didn't really view the human members of the team including [[HardWorkHardlyWorks Yamcha]], Chaotzu, and occasionally [[OverShadowedByAwesome Krillin]] (mostly for his cowardly behavior in some situations)as being in his league (though not to the same extent as Vegeta viewed them). He would regularly come into conflict with both of them talking down to each other. The only ones that he generally showed respect to among the big 8 were Goku (Although he gave him one [[WhatTheHellHero talking to]]), [[MoralityPet Gohan]], [[KidFromTheFuture Trunks]], and, to a lesser extent [[AwesomenessByAnalysis Tienshinhan]]. In ''Anime/TheTreeOfMight'' movie, Oolong compared Gohan's new pet dragon to Piccolo, saying neither of them let their guard down around anyone except Gohan.
* Scar from ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' starts out as a villain and gradually transforms into one of these. Second Greed as well. Also Olivier Mira Armstrong.
* ''Manga/GetterRobo'' combines the old {{Super Robot|Genre}} ideals like {{Hot Blooded}}ness with anti-hero main characters. Ryoma is rowdy and an asshole, Hayato's pragmatism in decision making borders on (and sometimes [[CrossesTheLineTwice goes beyond]]) cruelty and so on.
* The only good guys in ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'' are anti-heroes or vampire fodder. And then there's Alucard. The only thing that keeps him from being a villain is the fact he is fighting vampire Nazis, although the first anime adaptation definitely plays up the anti-hero side.
** Well, Alucard does have his UndyingLoyalty to Integra and hates traitors. Plus, he hates vampires that kill needlessly, though not so much because they're killing innocent humans, but more because of the perceived lack of honor involved.
* {{Manga/Gon}} is an intensely unlikable protagonist in the original manga. Early escapades include destroying a forest to make a tree mound for himself, and beaching a shark that has swallowed him and feeding it a small piece of banana as it suffocates to death.
* ''Manga/InuYasha''
** Kikyo was originally a very kind and giving {{miko}}. She and Inuyasha had a pact for her to give up her miko duties and for him to become fully human so that they could get married. However, Naraku disguised himself as Inuyasha and killed her. She was later resurrected against her will by dark magic that left her suffering from the hatred and betrayal for Inuyasha that she had felt at the moment of her death. This changed over time from trying to kill Inuyasha to trying to kill them both so they could be together in death then to surviving long enough to destroy Naraku for what he had done to her. Despite her rivalry with Kagome for Inuyasha's affections, she was eventually able to live long enough achieve a redemptive death at peace with herself, Inuyasha and Kagome.
** Sesshomaru fights against [[BigBad the Big Bad Naraku]], occasionally helps people who're not related to him, helps [[TheHero his half-brother]] [[SiblingRivalry whom he officially hates]] and his brother's friends many times, displays protective attitude towards [[{{Protectorate}} his followers]] and great [[WellDoneSonGuy filial respect towards his father]]. He has a high sense of honor and principle (obviously values honor and principles [[HonorBeforeReason above his own life]]). On the other hand, he has many extremely ruthless moments, has willingly joined up with Naraku on two occasions (the first contributed to his decision to hunt Naraku as an enemy, the second he was actually using Naraku as a DieOrFly test for Inuyasha to prove his worth once and for all) and used questionable methods, also went through a period of trying to [[CainAndAbel kill his brother]] who had obtained the heirloom sword he'd been after for years which [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou eventually]] [[IWasJustPassingThrough softened]] into AloofBigBrother as he worked out his [[TheUnfavourite issues]]. In the [[GrandFinale final battle against Naraku]], his status as an antihero is highlighted by this [[ShutUpHannibal antiheroes signature move]].
** Kagura was created by Naraku out of one of the youkai that had been trapped inside himself for at least 50 years. In return for the hope of freedom in the future, she was forced to work as a slave for him, her life bound because he held her beating heart captive in his position and could therefore destroy at any moment. Despite her position, her [[ImpliedLoveInterest growing feelings]] for [[NobleDemon Sesshoumaru]], coupled with her growing [[{{Protectorate}} protective instinct]] for [[DesignatedVictim Kohaku]] all combined to make her increasingly helpful of both Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha's causes. In the end, she was feeding information to both Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha's groups to help them fight Naraku and ended up dying in an HeroicSacrifice to save Kohaku's life from Mouryoumaru and Naraku's machinations.
** Koga, leader of the eastern wolf-demon tribe. Seeking vengeance against Naraku, he becomes a reluctant ally (while maintaining rivalry) to [[TheHero Inuyasha]]. Thanks to his romantic interest in Kagome, he and his men give up eating human. Koga, Kikyo, Sesshomaru and his followers are described as "Those who, at times will fight, and other times have the same intentions." in Inuyasha Zusetsutaizen Ougikaiden.
* Nao Yuuki from ''Anime/MaiHime'' is an arguable case; bent on vengeance for her mother, who was severely wounded in a robbery, she uses herself as bait to trap paedophiles, who she proceeds to rob. It's never made clear if her victims receive punishment under a proper judicial system. In fact, she seems to enjoy going after her victims a bit too much.
* Yukiteru from ''Manga/FutureDiary'', after [[spoiler:his parents are killed]] and he [[TookALevelInBadass takes a level in badass]]. Later in the series he [[spoiler:massacres orphans]] in the name of becoming God. However, his goal is to [[spoiler:bring everyone who died back to life once he becomes god]] (keeping him from outright villainy).
** Likewise, Minene Uryu is one of the craftiest and most resourceful diary owners, and she is not above blowing up a middle school full of kids in order to win the survival game and become God. However, unlike some diary owners, she wants to become god in order to make the world a better place and it's heavily implied that she will revive everyone she kills. [[spoiler:Unfortunately for her, in the world of ''Manga/MiraiNikki'', not even God can do that.]] One has trouble not sympathizing with her when you find out [[spoiler:that she's a refugee from an unnamed wartorn country]] and that she's fighting against serial killers, [[OmnicidalManiac people that want to become God in order to destroy the world]] as well as people that want the position just so that they can [[TakeOverTheWorld rule the world.]] [[spoiler:She also works with Yuki to SaveTheWorld in the end, too.]]
* Shinji Ikari of ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' is a deeply neurotic protagonist who is withdrawn, socially awkward, and completely lacking in self-confidence, but is shown to be a good person under his many psychological problems, all of which stem from him being the series' resident ButtMonkey. Asuka, too, fits the role of Anti-Hero, as her only reason for piloting her Evangelion isn't to protect mankind, but to show everyone how talented she is. Somewhat mitigated by the fact that when she was around 4 her mother lost her mind and thought that a doll was Asuka. And her father started to have an affair with the head nurse in charge of Asuka's mother. So at age four, who cares about Asuka? That's right, nobody. So she works around her abandonment issues by trying to get everyone to need her. Because she doesn't want to be alone. Shinji has the same kind of childhood, but works around it by trying not to have to make any decisions, because he thinks ''he'' is in the wrong about most things. This show messes up the background history of every character.
* Mirielle and Kirika in ''Anime/{{Noir}}'' are assassins, more or less, ruthless, cold-blooded killers. Kirika is saddened, not by killing, but by the fact she isn't saddened by killing, and Mirielle, not even that much, sometimes joking about their kills off-handedly. In this anime, they are the protagonists. There are no traditional heroes in ''Anime/{{Noir}}''. Except maybe [[spoiler: [[DeceasedParentsAreTheBest Mirielle's parents]]]].
** Who were key figures in the Corsican mob, so their hands weren't exactly clean, either. They set the events of the story (And get themselves killed) by declaring that EvenEvilHasStandards.
* Lampshaded in an episode of ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}''. {{Anti Villain}}s Jessie, James, and Meowth are disgusted by how Anti-Hero Paul mistreats his Pokemon, given the fact that they're ''far nicer'' people than he is, and they're ''criminals''!
* Saito Hajime from ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'' is the very epitome of this trope.
** Shinomori Aoshi counts if anyone else does. [[spoiler:After he became more of a villain; he started off as an AntiVillain.]] Most of the male characters can be: Kenshin himself lapses into this and Sanosuke, who is not afraid to fight against his nation's government. It seems Saitou has an effect on everyone, so it could be said this quality rubbed off nearly as well as anything from Kenshin (Sano in particular).
* Ikki Phoenix from ''Manga/SaintSeiya'' starts out like this. It took some time before he stopped horribly killing every opponent.
* Nicholas D. Wolfwood of ''Manga/TriGun'' is not amoral by any means, but his harsh "no matter the cost" martialism copied from [[DisproportionateRetribution Knives]] and [[CorruptChurch Chapel]] and his sense of fashion screams Anti-Hero, especially when compared with [[ThouShaltNotKill Vash]].
* ''Manga/VinlandSaga'''s. Thorfinn and Thorkel. Many of the other characters of the manga are villains in one way or another.
** Though after [[spoiler: being sold into slavery, Thorfinn eventually develops into a straight up hero.]]
* Mashiba from ''Manga/HajimeNoIppo'' is this on his good days. Otherwise he's just a SociopathicHero. He protects his sister, but overall is a very scary and sadistic boxer. You get to see his ''[[http://media.onemanga.com/mangas/00000016/00000693/04.jpg really]]'' [[http://media.onemanga.com/mangas/00000016/00000697/03.jpg bad side]]. However, he [[CharacterDevelopment gets better]] later and refrains from cheating.
* ''Franchise/YuGiOh''
** Yami Yuugi from [[Manga/YuGiOh the early manga]]. Example: A guy steals a playing card from Yuugi. Yami Yuugi comes out to drive him permanently stark raving mad. Whenever he gets out, someone is gonna die or go nuts. He is ''smiling'' as he lights people on fire, condemns them to insanity, etc.
** Seto Kaiba in [[Anime/YuGiOh the anime]], certainly. First he's a villain. Then Yami Yugi does some freaky shit to his mind and he becomes a sympathetic villain who's just trying to save his brother (and his company), and admits to respecting Yugi. Then he gets kidnapped and Yugi and his friends save him and they team up to beat the bad guys. Then he's a kind of antagonist again but he keeps helping Yugi beat the bad guys. Then they all have to team up to beat ''more'' bad guys. Then in the movie he seems to be a bad guy but he's actually a puppet for the BigBad and helps Yugi to defeat said Big Bad when he's freed from its control. Then he opens a school to help young people learn to duel. [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor Make up your mind, man]]! He's been on one side since day one. [[WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries The side where he can screw the most rules.]]
--> ''He's more like an Anti-Hero, the worst kind of hero there is! They give us villains a good name!''
* Sagara Sousuke from ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic'' fits this trope's description pretty well. Somewhat of a SociopathicHero, all that really matters to him is Kaname's safety and completing his missions. Empathy and strict moral principles aren't really qualities that fit in to his personality. He is ''definitely'' against [[SaveTheVillain saving villains]], has a naturally violent nature and [[ThouShaltNotKill sees absolutely nothing wrong in offing people]] or [[ShootTheDog Shooting The Dog]], ''tries'' to be a [[IneffectualLoner loner]] (though he tends to [[MagneticHero fail at that]]), is both ''very'' {{chaste|Hero}} and {{celibate|Hero}}, and has [[CombatPragmatist rather dubious combat methods]]. For example, would a normal person turn a theme park mascot into powered armor designed for police use (and lament that he "lost out on one of his investments" when the police doesn't buy it)?
* Accelerator from ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'' becomes this in the Last Order arc.
* The eponymous Nadia from ''Anime/NadiaTheSecretOfBlueWater'' is an antihero. Due to an unhappy childhood and ParentalAbandonment, she's grown to be gloomy and depressed, somewhat self-centered and very judgemental. She has an empathic connection to animals and is thus a vegetarian, but can't stand the idea of anyone else eating meat either and constantly berates them for it. Her negative persona is lampshaded in one of the omakes, a character profile, where the narrator just keeps rattling off various flaws ("There has probably never been such a selfish heroine.") and expresses incredulity at how anyone can stand her. However, she is still a fundamentally good, caring person, capable of great self-sacrifice and aware of her flaws. (She even feels bad for occasionally taking her rage out on Jean, to the point where she does something apologetic e.g. begging forgiveness, going on a walk, playing a game of cards, cooking for him, etc.) By the time of the WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue, she seems to have matured into a more sympathetic individual.
** Her personality flaws are ridiculously exacerbated in episodes 23-34, turning her character from a NotGoodWithPeople sort of character to an unlikeable, obnoxious JerkAss. [[ExecutiveMeddling Then again, those episodes were hardly meant to be part of the story in the first place, as they were added on after the show proved more popular than expected.]]
* Hei from ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack''. A hitman for TheSyndicate who doesn't really bother to question the morality (or, more often, lack thereof) of his assignments, with no compunctions about [[CombatPragmatist cheating]], killing, or [[JackBauerInterrogationTechnique torture]] if he feels it's necessary.
* The core protagonists of ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'', which makes the show as intriguing as it is - Lina Inverse is a well-reputed slayer of bandits and has saved the world, but she's only done the latter if the danger she and her companions were in had reached that point. Otherwise, she slays bandits for personal wealth, has no concern for the welfare of innocents (and entire villages for that matter), and will occasionally go to [[ComedicSociopathy sociopathic]] levels to get what she wants, even if it includes hurting her friends. Zelgadis is similar to Lina in those aspects, with the exception being that he's more than willing to either murder or flat-out [[FaceHeelTurn abandon]] those he cares about entirely.
** Princess Amelia is not as much of this as it warrants, but her [[BlackAndWhiteMorality naiveté on peoples' motives]] inadvertently make her this - she often relies on stereotypes (such as outward appearances) to determine who is and isn't noble. Gourry the good-natured swordsman would wholly avert this trope if he weren't apathetic to certain worldly events, but that's possibly due to his [[TheDitz lack of intelligence]]. The only protagonist that joins Lina that isn't this trope completely is Sylphiel.
* The core four in ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'', all to varying degrees - [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Kuwabara]] being the least so, Hiei being the most.
* Ciel and Sebastian of ''Manga/BlackButler''.
* Madoka and Mami are the only entirely good characters in ''[[Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica Madoka Magica]]'' (and Mami gets her creepy moments). Homura is a straight up Anti-Hero, with a more-or-less good goal and amoral ways of pursuing it. Kyouko is trying to ignore morality entirely, but is having difficulty doing so. Sayaka wants to be an ally of justice, but is bad at it [[spoiler:and eventually goes off the deep end and ends up a witch]].
* Agito and Aptom in ''Manga/{{Guyver}}''.
* Miyu from ''Manga/VampirePrincessMiyu'' - She banishes the Shinma because it's her fate to do so, not because she cares about the human race. She even uses humans for her personal amusement, just like the Shinma, but arguably not with the same cruelty of the Shinma.
* Inner Moka from ''Manga/RosarioToVampire'', until she starts {{defrosting|IceQueen}}.
* Setsuna F. Seiei and the Celestial Being start as this type of characters in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam00'', of {{byronic|Hero}} variant. Later, however, Setsuna would develop into an [[AllLovingHero entirely good hero]].
* Chirico Cuvie in ''Anime/ArmoredTrooperVotoms''.
* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': Freaking everyone, in one way or another.
* The Straw Hat Pirates from ''Manga/OnePiece''. While they almost always do end up saving the day, it's usually because some villain on the island they're on [[ItsPersonal happened to do something to piss them off]] rather than them acting out of selfless heroism. [[TheCaptain Luffy]] himself has made the point that he's not altruistic enough to be considered a hero, and he's clearly ''more'' altruistic than many of his crew.
* Hatou from ''Manga/MurasakiiroNoQualia'' is slowly but surely starting to fall into this trope.
* ''Characters/LupinIII'' and his gang go to great lengths to stop evil people from taking over the world, help capture or kill criminals, and even [[PetTheDog save little kittens]]. But they're still ''not'' heroes. They are usually motivated out of self-interest, and are always criminals.
* Likewise, [[ClassyCatBurglar the Kisugi sisters]] of ''Manga/CatsEye''. They often go out of their way to take down worse criminals, but they still find themselves at odds with the cops, and sometimes victimize innocent people (usually by [[BoundAndGagged gagging]] / [[KnockOutgas drugging]] and [[MuggedForDisguise impersonating them]]).
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