History AntiHero / LiveActionTV

* Being as it's set in a prison, most of the characters in ''Series/{{Oz}}'' are this when they aren't flat-out VillainProtagonist{{s}}.

* Brian Kinney from ''Series/QueerAsFolk'' is promiscuity personified. He's rude, uncouth, cynical and selfish. He drinks and smokes and uses drugs, he has gigantic [[FreudianExcuse daddy issues]], has trouble bonding with his son and regularly screws over the people that mean the most to him. But he does love them in his own way, and he makes sure they know that even though he's unable to tell them. And in the end, he's always ready to do what's right even if it won't benefit him specifically.

* Team Series/{{Leverage}}: Running down the list, we have an [[TheAlcoholic alco]][[OffTheWagon holic]] ex-insurance agent who [[TheChessmaster plans and runs cons]], a [[ConMan grifter]], a [[GeniusBruiser hitter]] with a ''[[TheAtoner very]]'' [[TheAtoner dark past]], a [[TheCracker computer hacker]], and a [[ImpossibleThief world-class cat burglar]]. TheyFightCrime and are heroes to many people, but their methods are less than legal, and have involved hurting some innocent folks, as well.

** In Kamen Rider Gaim, pretty much every rider except the titular protagonist is either an anti-hero or an anti-villain.
* Yaguruma Sou/Kick Hopper in ''Series/KamenRiderKabuto'', after [[TookALevelInBadass taking a level in badass]]. He's still a Kamen Rider, still kicks monster ass on a regular basis (except when he gets so nihilist that he chains himself to prevent himself acting on his impulses to fight said monsters, because that's seeking the light), but claims to be "a loser that walks in the darkness" and is in hell. Plus his hatred for the DesignatedHero... and acting on said hatred.

** As the series progresses, Rick Grimes becomes less LawfulGood and gradually becomes more pragmatic and unscrupulous, as he seems more and more willing to pull the trigger if it means keeping the group safe. It eventually gets to the point where he's exceedingly brutal with enemies and more than willing to kill someone or leave them for dead if he even considers it a possibility doing otherwise could threaten the group, and other characters often have to act as his MoralityChain. This being an exceedingly dark series though, he's still sometimes fallen to the point that he's nearly a VillainProtagonist. He remains sympathetic at these times only because his enemies are [[ALighterShadeOfBlack even worse]], most being monsters who happily KickTheDog and cross the MoralEventHorizon every chance they get. By the time they get their dues, you may be wishing Rick was crueler.

* Det. Crewes from ''Series/{{Life}}''. On the surface he practices Tao and is into self help materials. Underneath, he has a vengeful Count of Monte Cristo thing going on as he tracks down who was responsible for setting him up when he went to prison for 10 years. Moreover, despite all of his wisecracks during each episode, he always looks like he is going to snap (and sometimes he does).

** Not to mention [[WhatAnIdiot took drugs AND killed Magnussen in front of everyone, including Mycroft. Way to go, genius.]] No ''wonder'' you have [[OnlySaneMan John.]] You're [[TheWonka VERY weird.]] Ironically, John's [[TheLancer The Lancer]] since, even though ''his'' personality's more [[NiceGuy gentle]] he can (and will) [[BadassAdorable kill you if you're stupid enough to threaten his friend's life.]]

* ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'': Elliot [[FanNickname "Un"]] Stabler -- "If that's the guy that's questioning me, I definitely want my lawyer present.".

** Basically he's a [[GoodIsNotSoft Good Is Not Soft]] version whereas his friend is a [[GoodIsNotNice Good Is Not Nice]] version.

** By Season 10, both [[TookALevelInBadass Chloe Sullivan]] and [[HeelFaceTurn Tess Mercer]] have this air to them. Ironically, they're both MissionControl who have been noted to be NotSoDifferent.

** Sam has apparently [[TheHeart been trying]] to [[SamaritanSyndrome save people]] since he was twelve, but goes through a period where he's desperate to help ''everyone'' just to balance out the [[InTheBlood darkness inside him]]. He's usually [[HorribleJudgeOfCharacter not as clever]] [[UnwittingPawn as he thinks he is]], and his efforts to do something good (saving demon hosts and stopping the Apocalypse) tend to [[NiceJobBreakingItHero end in disaster]] because of how easily his lack of self-worth and approval is played upon and turned to {{Pride}} when [[PsychoSerum his inhibitions]] [[TheDarkSide are gone]].

** As the series progresses, Rick Grimes becomes less LawfulGood and gradually becomes more pragmatic and unscrupulous, as he seems more and more willing to pull the trigger if it means keeping the group safe. It eventually gets to the point where he's exceedingly brutal with enemies and more than willing to kill someone or leave them for dead if he even considers it a possibility doing otherwise could threaten the group, and other characters often have to act as his MoralityChain. This being an exceedingly dark series though, he's still sometimes fallen to the point that he's nearly a VillainProtagonist. He remains sympathetic at these times only because his enemies are [[ALighterShadeOfBlack even worse]], most being [[CompleteMonster Complete Monsters]] who happily KickTheDog and cross the MoralEventHorizon every chance they get. By the time they get their dues, you may be wishing Rick was crueler.

** Daenerys seems to be sitting at about PragmaticAntiHero at this point. As a whole, she has good morals but also a growing track record of treating her enemies with a brutality that would be hard to forgive if they weren't such colossal assholes. Depending on the viewer, this brutality can even push her into NominalHero territory.

* James Ford AKA Sawyer in the TV series ''Series/{{Lost}}''.

** Recent episodes have been painting Rick Grimes as Pragmatic with a hint of Unscrupulous, as he seems more and more willing to pull the trigger if it means keeping the group safe.

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* Walter White, the main character of ''Series/BreakingBad'' qualifies. A high-school chemistry teacher who is diagnosed with terminal cancer and only little time left. So he decides to start using his degree to make drugs and gather a tidy profit to provide for his family after he dies. By Season 4, [[spoiler:he becomes a NominalHero by virtue of Gus and Don Eladio's Cartel acting morally worse than him in that Season]]. Finally, by Season 5, [[spoiler:he becomes the BigBad of his own show, a position he only loses near the end of the series because one of the men he hired turns out to be even worse.]]

** Joy herself was quite dark in season 2. Having spent the entire first season away from the school, she returned being incredibly jealous over Nina's relationship with Fabian, and the closeness of the Sibuna gang. This lead to a streak of poor actions, such as using Mara's blogging alias Jack Jackal to slander Nina, later claiming to be Jack Jackal herself after Mara wrote about Jerome's parental issues, and then turning on all of her friends including Patricia for calling her out on it. However, when Nina fell into the pit during the Senet Game, Joy was more than willing to help Fabian and Sibuna get her back, proving a genuinely decent and compassionate side to her. Season 3 featured her going along with Mara's scheme to humiliate Jerome for revenge, even despite falling in love with him during the process, leading to her breaking his heart to be a good friend to Mara.

** Mike Weston will eagerly Torture and beat people to near death during the events of Season 2 & 3

** Castiel and [[spoiler: Gabriel (aka the trickster) ]] eschew conventional human morality, but Cas was almost always one of the [[BigDamnHeroes good guys]] while [[spoiler: Gabriel]] ultimately ends up behaving heroically. In seasons six and seven, [[spoiler:Cass slides down the Anti-Hero scale until he [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope slides]] [[MoralEventHorizon right off]]]].
** Bobby!! He might be the most level-headed of the team, but he has his share of flaws and inner demons, and in the rare episodes where the spotlight is on him, he doesn't behave any better than the Winchester boys. In general, The writers seem to love this trope, as most of the hunters and "good" guys fit it to some extent: John (if you [[KickTheDog aren't too disgusted]] at his [[AbusiveParents treatment of Dean]], Ellen, Crowley ( at the end of season five), The Ghostfacers, that tech wizard who slept on the pool table at Jo and Ellen's bar, Kubrick and Walker.

* Although the Doctor from ''Series/DoctorWho'' is traditionally a HeroicArchetype, some incarnations have been less merciful and more deceptive than others.

* Emil Behring in ''Series/{{Charite}}'' is an arrogant, socially conceited {{Jerkass}} who treats people who are less intelligent and educated than him with contempt, CantTakeCriticism, is unkind to his colleagues because he sees them as a threat, and throws some bad fits of anger. But he hold onto his honor and authenticity as a scientist, takes his diphtheria vaccine project very seriously and saves lives, even at his own detriment.

* Most versions of [[Characters/GodzillaTheGodzillas Godzilla]] either start this way or become so.

** And then there's Scorpius: Willing to torture, kill, make deals he has no intent on keeping, and is a MagnificentBastard of the highest order. However it's all for a reason: The Scarrans are something much, ''much'' worse and he's a NecessaryEvil willing to do whatever it takes to protect the rest of the galaxy from them.

** While he is mostly a good person at heart, in the most technical sense, Tyrion is loyal to, and furthers the goals of, the 'villainous' House Lannister. He recognizes that the family's path to power doesn't need to involve stepping on the heads of every other noble house in the realm, and that trying to do so will have consequences. In the simplest terms, Tyrion is a good man and a good ruler who fights for the Lannisters because they are his family, until his trial, where a mixture of not being defended by anyone for a crime he did not commit and being betrayed by Shae, the woman he loved, makes Tyrion finally snap after years of mental and emotional abuse. Once Tyrion escapes from his cell with the help on Jaime, he proceeds to kill Shae in self-defense as well as murder his father before fleeing Westeros.