History AntiVillain / Literature

* Many examples in ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', considering the rampant moral ambiguity, but especially Jaime Lannister (when not wearing his JerkAss mask.)
** Stannis walks a fine line between this and AntiHero. His two main advisors each represent one of these aspects, Davos the heroic side of him and Melisandre the villainous (though Melisandre is an AntiVillain herself and Davos is a bit of an AntiHero, what with being a smuggler and all that).

** Professor Demitrio Aristides is one of the conspirators who murdered Chloe Halford in the series' DistantPrologue, [[spoiler:and is on her son Oliver Horn's EnemiesList as a result]]. He did this because he thought her ideals would lead to TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: he genuinely believes, not without reason, that the horrible things he sometimes has to do are necessary to protect this world from the gods of other worlds, starting from a SympatheticMurderBackstory where he had been living in a nonmagical village as a helpful mage beloved by its children, only to have to exterminate the entire village when it became infected by an Apostle that turned them into {{Plague Zombie}}s. Furthermore, he is [[AffablyEvil unfailingly polite and respectful]] even to people he disagrees with. [[spoiler:He is also {{apologetic|Attacker}} for the TraumaCongaLine that Chloe's murder put her son Oliver through, and even tries to [[LotusEaterMachine create an illusory happy life for Oliver]] so that he doesn't suffer when Demitrio finishes him off. After Oliver spots AGlitchInTheMatrix, [[ShatteringTheIllusion escapes the illusion]], and mortally wounds him, they have a sort of DeathbedReconciliation and Demitrio does his best to warn Oliver about Esmeralda's powers.]]

* ''Literature/ReignOfTheSevenSpellblades'': In volume 7, upperclassman Cyrus Rivermoore, always considered a man to avoid, is revealed to have been attacking other students and stealing their bones. In volume 8 these attacks turn out to have been for the purpose of constructing a new body for Fau, the ghost of an ancient necromancer his family has been keeping preserved for centuries, so that she can pass on her otherwise lost knowledge in a way that he can recreate it. Once the posse hunting him figures this out, they make a deal with him to let him finish in exchange for him returning Alvin Godfrey's sternum afterwards (TheGrimReaper will inevitably come to claim her because [[AllDeathsFinal resurrection was forbidden by the dead god]]).

* Lestat in ''Literature/TheVampireChronicles'', ''Interview with the Vampire''. He's controlling, egotistic, selfish, and proud; he also proves to be Claudia's main obstacle to freedom and Louis goes between tolerating him and flat-out hating him. But at the same time, he's easily the most fascinating character in the story and his attitude sets him apart from other actual antagonists encountered later.
** Lestat's is an interesting case actually. He later states multiple times that Louis had a completely twisted view of him in ''Interview with the Vampire'' while a couple of his actions are debatable and others downright evil. Still everyone knows he's very childish, mischievous and just a [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold good guy at heart.]] So, it's hard to say if he is an AntiVillain, an AntiHero, a mix or something completely different.

* ''Literature/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents'': The Baudelaires themselves in later books through the methods they take to survive, and among actual antagonists, Fernald seems to fall into this category at times.