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Anti-Hero vs Hero MC


Mazino

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Which one do you prefer as Main Character?

I personally think the amount of MC's with heroic, righteous traits are common to the point you could fill an ocean, whereas MC's with evil intentions and dark schemes can be counted in one's hand. Surprisingly, most of these MC's with a wicked, shrewd and evil personality tend to be loved by the crowd. Death Note, Code Geass and Saga of Tanya the Evil (Youjo Senki) are a few to name.

Why do you think is it so? Third and last question is, Why are there less anime with an evil MC? 

Any recommendations are warmly appreciated! If you know any Anti-Hero anime you think deserves praise, feel free to mention it.

Edited by Muco
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I think heroic characters can sometimes come across as being unrealistic/unrelateable since they are so cliche. And in some cases even self righteous. On the other hand making a character truly amoral or evil can make them unlikeable. 

For series with anti hero MCs,  Ains al Goown from  Overlord is the most extreme  example I can think of with the possible exception of Light from Death Note. I think Emiya Kiritsugu from Fate Zero might qualify, though he doesn’t seem all that bad compared to some of the characters.

Finally I’ll mention Askeladd from Vinlsnd Saga. While not the MC he’s by far the series’ most interesting character & definitely more likable than Thorfinn. He cones across as more of a cynical opportunist than a truly evil person.

Edited by Ohiotaku
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Heroes are easier to write. Their intentions, motivation, and morals are straightforward and typically not very complex. The story presents a problem and the hero is created to solve that problem. Anti heroes however are very different. 

 

An anti hero has intentions and motivations that are separate from the problem and that they will continue to pursue despite the presence of the problem. They aren't made to solve the problem but rather circumstances generally will force them to deal with it in their own way. This doesn't make all of them necessarily evil, but in my opinion preoccupied instead. Good or bad, they have other pursuits on the brain.

 

Evil characters however as a MC typically have to have "good" characters in their "party" (harem, friends, group, whatever) to tone them down enough for most people to like them and to make them more relatable to the masses. 

 

I like both heroes and anti-heroes. Some stories work better with one as opposed to the other. 

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Im more of a straightforward person myself, but do find that I enjoy the antihero archetype. Characters like Askellad (Vinland Saga) and Hisoka (HxH) intrigue me. I would like to watch more anime with these types of characters at the forefront. 

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On 11/13/2019 at 5:18 PM, Ohiotaku said:

On the other hand making a character truly amoral or evil can make them unlikeable. 

Agreed. Just imagine a MC who sets little children on fire just because they don't have anything else to do. I don't see how your average shmoe could relate to something like this. So any anti-hero cannot deviate too much from what we expect, otherwise people will probably dislike them. It might work out as 'something completely different' in one case but I don't see this as something that could become common.

But generally I think unusual MC just seem more interesting to the crowd because they are not your typical MC. Lelouch for example was quite different from your typical heroic MC, though I'm not sure if I'd call him an anti-hero.
Maybe it's just my impression, but it seems nowadays more MC are getting some darker background story than it used to be the case. For some reason I found Elias from Ancient Magus' Bride to be kinda anti-hero, but can't really say why 😂 

Edited by Illusion of Terra
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2 hours ago, Illusion of Terra said:

 For some reason I found Elias from Ancient Magus' Bride to be kinda anti-hero, but can't really say why 😂 

 

Elias is portrayed as a fae/human halfbreed, as a result he doesn’t really understand human ethics/morals. During one of the flashback scenes he candidly comments to his human mentor (Lindel)

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😱

His reasoning for buying  Chise was “I’ll teach you about magic and you’ll teach me about being human”. And even though he says she is his apprentice and potential bride, there were times he treated her more like a pet & was extremely possessive of her. And at another point he was seriously going to sacrifice a little girl to lift the curse on Chise. He doesn’t actually change his mind but Chise finds out and gives him an ear-full about it 😂


So yeah “heroic” doesn’t really seem to fit (though personally  I think Chise is supposed to be the actual protagonist).

Edited by Ohiotaku
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  • 2 weeks later...
Magase Ai from Babylon :
- She is extremly smart
- Manipulative
- A Villain
- She is self aware
- Does'nt shy away from killing
- Mysterious
 
Characters like her, Lelouch, Hisoka etc. are loved since they're so rare in anime. Not killing enemies when given the chance to is such bullshit, which a lot of shows do. Hence characters like Lelouch who kills his enemies is so great and popular.I assume the reason there're more heroic MC is to make animes more child friendly, as well as the fact that it's harder to write for them.
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