Anti-heroes > heroes

[Patricio Swayze 17,058]

I know I am not the only one who feels this way. Anyone up for discussing this? Or just list your favorite anti-heroes (or heroes of you are a wimp).

 

Some favorites:

 

The man with no name

Elliot from Mr. Robot

Billy the kid (obviously the fictionalized version)

[Jerry Callo 8,698]

Ferris Bueller

Vincent Laguardia Gambini

Edited January 9, 2023 by Jerry Callo

[Patricio Swayze 17,058]

Ferris Bueller

That’s a good one that I wouldn’t have thought of because the movie is lighthearted.

[ztejas 43,411]

The lead in the new Star Wars show - Andor - Cassian. 

Deadpool

Ryan Gosling in Drive

Boondock Saints

Hellboy

 

Off the top of my head. 

[Patricio Swayze 17,058]

Good additions, although I might be the only person left that hasn’t watched boondock saints.

I find the idea of a true hero to be absurd. They seem god like, with few if any flaws. Completely unrealistic.

[shadow_operative 15,932]

Heisenberg

Rick Sanchez

Frank Gallagher 

Edited January 9, 2023 by shadow_operative

[kingkoopa6 8,345]

Robin Hood?

 

i dont know what we are yelling about 

[shadow_operative 15,932]

not to toot my own horn, but thinking about it frank gallagher might be the ultimate answer. probably the most morally corrupt protagonist i can think of. 

[kingkoopa6 8,345]

5 minutes ago, Patricio Swayze said:

I might be the only person left that hasn’t watched boondock saints.

spoiler.. but when the boys were praying before cappin someone, and the old man walks in about to cap the boys.. oooOoo loved it.

 

 

defoe was an acting machine in that one... 

[abuelo gringo 321]

Cleaver Greene in Rake.

[Da Fino 2,774]

 Léon

[Patricio Swayze 17,058]

not to toot my own horn, but thinking about it frank gallagher might be the ultimate answer. probably the most morally corrupt protagonist i can think of. 

I’ve been told by a few people I need to watch that show. Still haven’t got around to it.

 Léon

I’m gonna assume you mean Leon from Curb?

[South Austin 52,448]

John Rambo

Tyler Durden

[strangulation! 1,714]

35 minutes ago, shadow_operative said:

not to toot my own horn, but thinking about it frank gallagher might be the ultimate answer. probably the most morally corrupt protagonist i can think of. 

tony soprano

[shadow_operative 15,932]

6 minutes ago, strangulation! said:

tony soprano

yeah that's a good shout too. i just think of all of the terrible things that frank did to his own family and kids just so that he could benefit in some small way, and it's like GOT DAMN bro! worst. dad. ever.

[ztejas 43,411]

25 minutes ago, strangulation! said:

tony soprano

Where do you draw the line between anti-hero and villain? Or is it even a spectrum. Anti-hero to me means a morally questionable agent of good. Characters like Tony or Walter White are more like villain protagonists in my book.

It's obviously up for debate. 

Edited January 9, 2023 by ztejas

[mchookem 16,321]

1 hour ago, Da Fino said:

 Léon

 

54 minutes ago, Patricio Swayze said:

I’m gonna assume you mean Leon from Curb?

pretty sure it's this one, which is a great choice. 

i submit this guy...

 

Edited January 9, 2023 by mchookem

[Patricio Swayze 17,058]

Where do you draw the line between anti-hero and villain? Or is it even a spectrum. Anti-hero to me means a morally questionable agent of good. Characters like Tony or Walter White are more like villain protagonists in my book.
It's obviously up for debate. 

Good question and part of why I started the thread. And I think Walter White is about as close to a. Villain as an anti hero can get. Like toes over the line. But he does a few things that ultimately don’t make him the villain, in my opinion at least, such as giving Jesse his money and ultimately saving jesse (even though he initially went there to kill him and all the neo Nazis.

pretty sure it's this one, which is a great choice. 

i submit this guy...
 

I always forget about that movie. Yeah, Léon fits.

[Helobious 9,450]

Godzilla

[smuggs 9,352]

 

[Parliament 14,239]

 

 

Edited January 9, 2023 by Parliament

[Incredulity 11,650]

Michael Corleone

 

[henrygandorf 29,189]

[Reese Bennett 3,608]

Dexter.

[HamsterHookah 112]

"Superman didn't become Superman. Superman was born Superman. When Superman wakes up in the morning, he's Superman. His alter ego is Clark Kent. His outfit with the big red "S", that's the blanket he was wrapped in as a baby when the Kents found him. Those are his clothes. What Kent wears - the glasses, the business suit - that's the costume. That's the costume Superman wears to blend in with us. Clark Kent is how Superman views us. And what are the characteristics of Clark Kent. He's weak... he's unsure of himself... he's a coward. Clark Kent is Superman's critique on the whole human race.”

[WhatTheBuck 28,775]

2 hours ago, kingkoopa6 said:

Robin Hood?

Robin was loyal to King Richard. He was a hero. He fought on the side of good. Sir John was the villain, a traitor to his brother, to his country, and to the crown. 

 

[Don Johnson 4,752]

It's me, Hi..

[Chet Steadman 940]

[hayden_horn 11,362]

lulz, stole my idea with tay-tay.

so i was just thinking about this the other day, about how i'm getting a little tired of the "guy who alone can solve all the problems besetting his family and will stop at nothing to accomplish...something."

he believes that he alone can solve all the problems, and he's our protagonist who is going to break all the rules to solve those problems. we know he's the protagonist because the show is named after him or his gang. he's going to break all the fucking rules because winning is the most important thing in his world. because for him, it's win or die. he's got an addict sibling/spouse, and because of this he tends to distance himself from those to whom he should be closest. but also, he has an underlying sense of unrealized empathy that keeps the audience at arm's length but close enough to want him to do the right thing because you want him to be pg013, but he doesn't do the right thing because he's the rated fucking r antihero and fuck you that's why. just like everyone else in his orbit, right when he lets you closer emotionally, he lets you down again by doing some heinous shit. 

it's all the shows now, and it's driving me a little fucking crazy.

[Guadaloopy 10,958]

- H.I. McDunnough

- Ulysses Everett McGill

- Rooster Cogburn

- The Dude

- Llewelyn Moss

Coen Brothers love them some anti-heroes.

[Planet Houston 4,930]

[mchookem 16,321]

yes!^ and also...

[Deej 76,754]

Clint Eastwood in Unforgiven

 

[ztejas 43,411]

17 minutes ago, Deej said:

Clint Eastwood in Unforgiven

 

Yeah this crossed my mind after I posted. 

Honestly I think Westerns in general are full of anti-heroes. Butch and Sundance. Rooster Cogburn mentioned already. Doc Holliday in Tombstone. 

[Patricio Swayze 17,058]

Good addition. Selfish, unlikeable, addict. Ultimately is moral compass gets going in the right direction.

[Guest]

3 hours ago, henrygandorf said:

In a series chockfull of great soundbites and quotes, that one will always resonate with me.  I've used it at work and after a funny look, you can just see the reality blast their preconceived notions.  It's sheer truth like a dagger to the heart.

[Guest]

Anti-hero:

Han Solo

Hero:

Tommy Callahan

[futureman 22,443]

20 minutes ago, slorch said:

In a series chockfull of great soundbites and quotes, that one will always resonate with me.  I've used it at work and after a funny look, you can just see the reality blast their preconceived notions.  It's sheer truth like a dagger to the heart.

I never watched the show.  provide some context?

[ztejas 43,411]

Just now, futureman said:

I never watched the show.  provide some context?

Jon Hamm is a high-profile agent and is seen here addressing one of his clients - a gay porn star who has just received a particularly grim AIDS diagnosis. 

[futureman 22,443]

1 minute ago, ztejas said:

Jon Hamm is a high-profile agent and is seen here addressing one of his clients - a gay porn star who has just received a particularly grim AIDS diagnosis. 

the money is for AIDS treatment?

[Guest]

1 minute ago, futureman said:

I never watched the show.  provide some context?

 

[ztejas 43,411]

Just now, futureman said:

the money is for AIDS treatment?

First - I'm kidding. Second - no, he means that the profession, despite being lucrative, has its risks. 

[futureman 22,443]

33 minutes ago, ztejas said:

First - I'm kidding. Second - no, he means that the profession, despite being lucrative, has its risks. 

first - I was kidding.  second - thanks for the clarification.

[ztejas 43,411]

Just now, futureman said:

first - I was kidding.  second - thanks for the clarification.

Hoisted by my own petard. I still have much to learn. That is clear. 

[GhostOfTomJoad 9,323]

[Neonmoon 38,129]

[Guest]

[closetojumping 62,549]

How this can be a thread and go on this long with JR Ewing and Darth Vader being mentioned makes the whole discussion seem ludicrous. Multiple characters already mentioned in this thread are derivative of JR in the first place.

I guess we can debate whether or not Vader is a villain versus an antihero, but he's a far more redeeming character than Walter White, who is inescapably nothing but a villain. I was cheering for his death and an end to the show from the middle of the second season onward, but I binged it and apparently that impacts how one views him and that show. 

 

[Patricio Swayze 17,058]

I’m not sure I agree about Darth Vader. I see him as a villain that in the end remembers what he used to be. Maybe if throughout the various films he did some good things, even if for selfish reasons, then I would say anti-hero.

[Bateshorn 9,927]

On 1/9/2023 at 6:17 PM, Deej said:

Clint Eastwood in Unforgiven

 

I'm not sure William Munny is an anti-hero. I've always interpreted Unforgiven that all the characters, beyond possibly the cut up prostitute, are villain's at some level.  His actions in the bar are absolutely morally wrong, even if they are deeply satisfying to watch.  He's engaged in murder, and should be pursued.  Shooting up the posse before they can track him down is not the action of an anti-hero, it's the behavior of a man unable to control his temper when drunk. 

Eastwood's point with Unforgiven is nobody was noble in the west, even as the wild part of it faded into the modern era. There were no good guys.  Eastwood's career is all about the anti-hero.  Unforgiven is his way of burying it. 

Edited January 11, 2023 by Bateshorn