Why Antiheroes aren't Villains

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You know antiheroes, you love antiheroes, but chances are it's hard for you to say what an antihero actually is. Where's the line between violence and villainy? Where does hero end, where does villain begin, and where does antihero sit between them?

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[arkauthor]

Heroes range from Lawful good to Neutral Good. Villains range from Neutral evil to chaotic evil, anti heroes range from chaotic good to lawful evil.

[SilentZieth]

I actually played a character in dnd that was described as an antihero. Thing is: in his backstory he’s very much a villain, but it was his moral code that made him more of an antihero. His greatest desire was to see the good guys win, because he never saw them win in his home. In the end, he was willing to give up his soul in order to save his party. And for those who are wondering, his code is the following: “Put the needs of your allies above your own”, “Always give respect to those of good hearts and nature”, “Never break a promise unless it contradicts with the codes”.

[RecoveringLoLAddict]

Always liked anti-heroes more, they are usually more practical and pragmatic.
That's their biggest failling however, putting an end to the villains means there's no continuity to the story. The villain is slain, the beast is no more, the anti-hero fades away.

The tale is finished, the sales stop and the executives are mad they can't milk the character like they do with Batman.

[johnwebb]

I always thought what separates a Hero from an Anti-Hero is whether they are idealistic or pragmatic. If a hero is meant to represent something, an idea of what a person should be, and their heroism revolves around their ability to do good by following that ideal, than an anti hero would be someone who wants to do good but not because of some romantic ideal but because they objectively think they should.

[-Mushroom_Kid-]

Punishers speech to daredevil calling him a “half measure” tells you more about frank castle than any long winded convoluted backstory ever could
But it should also be noted that frank might be an anti hero but in his mind he’s the villain of his story which in a weird way justifies everything to him.
He can be just as a bad if not worse to villains because he’s the bad guy not them.
“I’m not crazy I know what I did, I’d do it again”
And I’m the end of the day the only guy hurting frank is himself
I know this because I lived Frank’s life without all the killing but no matter how much you hate the people who took your family you hate yourself for living without them
It’s a slap in the face to them to be happy it’s wrong to love again and you’re responsible for their deaths and you failed to save them.
You’re not the hero you can’t be because when it mattered most you couldn’t save everything you had. You’re not a god or a paragon or a hero. You’re dying and angry and you want those people to feel it with you because they have no remorse and no punishment for what they did.
You watch the whole world be more concerned with drug addicts and homeless people and watch people treat them like criminals while uplifting the ones in charge the ones at fault for your pain.
You’re a wounded dog lashing out at the light peeking through.
But none of that it’s true. You’re not a monster you’re not the bad guy and you’re not why they died. You couldn’t save them, not because you were weak but because those men who hurt you do this sort of thing everyday.
If you can relate to this or even read all this I hope you know there is light at the end of the darkness no matter how blinding it is. Vengeance is a torch that burns away but light is a kindness that heals whether it’s your god, your family or your career or purpose you’ve carved out gif yourself or even just the will to survive you will make it.

[christopherlee]

I absolutely would like to see a video on antivillains. People talk way more about antiheros than they do antivillains, to the point where people call antivillains antiheros because they don't know the difference because they don't know what an antivillain is.

[a-blivvy-yus]

On a topic related to antiheroes, I quite like villain protagonist stories. Often stories blur the lines between the two, or have characters crossing the line from one to the other as they develop. A protagonist who starts out villain and never quite becomes a *traditional* hero, but slowly shifts into a more antihero role, or an antihero whose road starts blurring the lines until they become a villain... but remain the protagonist of the story. Or even someone like Darth Bane, who spends a significant portion of his story bouncing back and forth across that hazy boundary between villain and antihero.

[ShiningDawn]

I've watched both this and the anti-villain video and it made me think about Light Yagami from Death Note. It seems to me like Light transitions from an Anti-Hero to an Anti-Villain through the story's progression. He sets out with the goal of making the world better by ridding it of criminals, but he goes through the process of changing what it means to be a criminal, making more minute things punishable by death and finally transitions into a mode where he thinks of himself as a god.

What interests me the most about Death Note is that there are many individuals who honestly wish Kira was real. People who wish that all felonies against the law would be punishable by death. This is very interesting considering the last part in this video where you discuss how to figure the role of a character in a story. It truly goes to show that we should judge by the story's point of view rather than our own moral compass.

[Spacecookie-]

How do anti-heroes relate to vigilantes? Could all vigilantes be considered to be anti-heroes too? That's also a really nice animated opening. It's lovely.

[rami_ungar_writer]

You're right about antiheroes bordering on villains. Lelouch from Code Geass starts as an antihero, but by the end of the series, the line is extremely blurred.

[lokmister]

It’s an easy explanation, guys.
A hero does good things for the greater good.
A villain does bad things with no interest of civilians.
A anti-hero does bad things for the greater good.

[jackmafo]

The perfect example of this is the 2nd, 4th, and 5th iterations of Grendel. The second one is a mother who wanted revenge by murdering who was in her way, the fourth who wanted to consolidate his power and created a authoritarian form of world peace, and the fifth being one of his soldiers protecting his leader's son from assassins. It's a really good series that needs more attention.

[tomasrolter]

In general, it is interesting how popular it has become in recent years to present characters in the "gray zone" of morality. And that it also affects characters who, if they were presented in this way a hundred years ago, the author would never be able to show up at any serious thematic meeting (let's say writers).

[dylanzlol]

Yknow, something curious is, anti-heroes could end up being seen differently depending on the story's point of view, like, when the anti-hero is the protagonist, we just naturally side with him, and are more understanding of his reasonings as to why he does the stuff he does, but when someone else is the protagonist, you may think of the anti-hero character differently, so, yknow.

[NOTADEVILWORSHIPER]

He had the audacity to make the crispest intro without any warning

[Dabenscows]

'Where is that line for you?' Is the most impactful question anyone can ask. Some people change from it, because nothing else could bring their attention more then someone they may become.

[The_Attorney]

I love this channel. I’m dyslexic and can’t read very well but, watching his videos has inspired me to try to pick up books again. Thank you for reintroducing me to the world of literature!

[nidohime]

This is my conclusion on what is the difference between a hero, a villain and a antihero: A heroe of a story is a character who encourages you to be better, a villain discourages you of becoming your own worse, a antiheroe is a character of a story where you get to understand or even like said character, but you don´t want to become like them.

[barakingplayz]

Can we just take a moment to appriciate this intro? It's sooo good!!! I really like your art style

[alonxd]

I was making the third book of my school comics saga and for this one, I wanted something different, since I wasn’t using the formula of book 1 and 2. I created a character called Phi, with a preatty cool backstory, which I thought it was the villain, I actually told my friends that he was going to be the villain. With this video, I have discovered that Phi is not a villain, its the anti-hero, that wants to get revenge of the real villain of the story, the villain that I discovered was the true one after 3 books. Thank you!