The difference between an anti-hero and a villain protagonist is that the anti-hero often has the role of a hero but with darker sides.

This list is meant to help list books with characters that have the role of what would normally be considered an antagonist, someone you normally wouldn't cheer for. Maybe they have sympathetic sides, maybe they don't but the important thing is that it's the main character of the story.
1

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4.46 avg rating — 1,141,890 ratings
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2

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4.18 avg rating — 318,330 ratings
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3

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4.01 avg rating — 1,704,922 ratings
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4

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3.83 avg rating — 122,990 ratings
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5

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4.13 avg rating — 1,855,367 ratings
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6

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3.86 avg rating — 142,710 ratings
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7

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4.57 avg rating — 762,765 ratings
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8

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3.86 avg rating — 561,313 ratings
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9

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4.18 avg rating — 70,471 ratings
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10

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4.15 avg rating — 3,420,780 ratings
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11

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3.89 avg rating — 1,013,440 ratings
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12

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3.94 avg rating — 154,248 ratings
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13

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4.09 avg rating — 254,632 ratings
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14

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3.81 avg rating — 53,158 ratings
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15

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3.80 avg rating — 359,392 ratings
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16

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4.10 avg rating — 48,309 ratings
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17

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4.02 avg rating — 1,463,705 ratings
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18

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4.25 avg rating — 821,413 ratings
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19

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3.90 avg rating — 1,861,733 ratings
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20

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 766,021 ratings
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21

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4.01 avg rating — 69,250 ratings
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22

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4.18 avg rating — 186,030 ratings
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22

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3.89 avg rating — 191,779 ratings
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24

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3.87 avg rating — 939,412 ratings
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25

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4.22 avg rating — 57,427 ratings
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26

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4.12 avg rating — 127,876 ratings
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27

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3.90 avg rating — 217,891 ratings
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28

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4.26 avg rating — 586,321 ratings
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29

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4.45 avg rating — 663,986 ratings
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30

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4.04 avg rating — 548,088 ratings
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31

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4.11 avg rating — 164,142 ratings
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32

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4.03 avg rating — 111,695 ratings
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33

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3.96 avg rating — 290,477 ratings
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34

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3.89 avg rating — 21,756 ratings
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35

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3.87 avg rating — 126,265 ratings
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36

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3.84 avg rating — 1,206,271 ratings
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37

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4.60 avg rating — 10,393 ratings
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38

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4.13 avg rating — 16,003 ratings
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39

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4.24 avg rating — 101,198 ratings
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40

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4.09 avg rating — 922,275 ratings
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41

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4.38 avg rating — 445,181 ratings
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42

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3.95 avg rating — 115,761 ratings
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43

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4.43 avg rating — 150 ratings
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44

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3.52 avg rating — 1,109 ratings
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45

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4.29 avg rating — 1,067,357 ratings
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46

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4.10 avg rating — 750,724 ratings
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47

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3.99 avg rating — 838,827 ratings
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48

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3.51 avg rating — 680,917 ratings
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49

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3.97 avg rating — 92,766 ratings
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50

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4.22 avg rating — 307,619 ratings
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51

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4.64 avg rating — 3,133,137 ratings
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52

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4.18 avg rating — 2,350,183 ratings
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53

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4.31 avg rating — 1,253,904 ratings
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54

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3.85 avg rating — 181,534 ratings
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55

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3.88 avg rating — 728 ratings
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56

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4.17 avg rating — 3,783 ratings
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57

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4.26 avg rating — 341,829 ratings
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58

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4.02 avg rating — 13,624 ratings
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59

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3.79 avg rating — 41,831 ratings
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60

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3.94 avg rating — 833,869 ratings
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61

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4.42 avg rating — 1,015,891 ratings
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62

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4.24 avg rating — 122,713 ratings
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63

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3.95 avg rating — 352,890 ratings
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64

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4.38 avg rating — 16,621 ratings
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65

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 26,558 ratings
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66

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4.05 avg rating — 140,608 ratings
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67

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4.16 avg rating — 469,205 ratings
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68

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3.96 avg rating — 159,816 ratings
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69

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4.14 avg rating — 410,061 ratings
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70

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3.64 avg rating — 1,481 ratings
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71

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3.94 avg rating — 1,324 ratings
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72

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3.86 avg rating — 357,235 ratings
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73

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4.23 avg rating — 12,369 ratings
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74

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4.19 avg rating — 1,846 ratings
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75

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4.22 avg rating — 113,899 ratings
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76

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4.19 avg rating — 395,414 ratings
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77

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3.96 avg rating — 275,389 ratings
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78

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3.64 avg rating — 959 ratings
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79

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4.62 avg rating — 58 ratings
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80

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3.85 avg rating — 18,429 ratings
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81

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4.28 avg rating — 164,517 ratings
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82

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4.02 avg rating — 108,585 ratings
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83

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3.76 avg rating — 29,409 ratings
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84

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3.80 avg rating — 27,798 ratings
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85

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3.66 avg rating — 52,531 ratings
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85

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4.11 avg rating — 15,265 ratings
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87

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3.51 avg rating — 6,266 ratings
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88

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4.51 avg rating — 353 ratings
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89

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4.34 avg rating — 54,755 ratings
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90

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3.93 avg rating — 19,451 ratings
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91

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4.24 avg rating — 110,226 ratings
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92

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3.96 avg rating — 16,823 ratings
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93

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4.07 avg rating — 22,871 ratings
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94

by
3.97 avg rating — 239,697 ratings
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95

by
4.04 avg rating — 108,705 ratings
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96

by
4.48 avg rating — 968 ratings
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96

by
4.48 avg rating — 23 ratings
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98

by
4.13 avg rating — 56,030 ratings
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99

by
4.39 avg rating — 429 ratings
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99

by
4.35 avg rating — 212,993 ratings
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384 books · 643 voters · list created December 29th, 2013 by Otto (votes) .
287 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Otto 4156 books
53 friends
Shelly 932 books
16 friends
Tora 90 books
6 friends
Ann 356 books
552 friends
Brandi 141 books
531 friends
Stella 85 books
385 friends
Mel 60 books
1 friend
Nathalie 407 books
0 friends

More voters…


Comments Showing 1-19 of 19 (19 new)

dateUp arrow    newest »

message 1: by Emily (new)

Emily Annnnd there seem to be no female MC's.......


message 2: by Nati (new)

Nati Emily wrote: "Annnnd there seem to be no female MC's......."

The protagonist from Plague of Angels is female.


message 3: by Otto (new)

Otto What's an MC?


message 4: by autumn (new)

autumn Main character, I believe


message 5: by Zakle (last edited Mar 10, 2015 06:29AM) (new)

Zakle Otto wrote: "What's an MC?"

M stands for main and C stands for character. A lot of people, both online and off, will sometimes use that instead of actually saying or writing it.


message 6: by Otto (new)

Otto Ah, thanks.


message 7: by Otto (new)

Otto And yes the MC of Plauge of Angels is an awesome female as is the MC of Subtle Beuty, Lady Susan and numerous MCs in the short story collections.


message 8: by Otto (new)

Otto You can head over to the Female Anti-heroine list if you like. :)


Erin *Proud Book Hoarder* Dracula isn't the protagonist of Dracula


message 10: by Amu (new)

Amu Emily wrote: "Annnnd there seem to be no female MC's......."

There are several, although most weren't released when you posted this. I'd really recommend The Young Elites by Marie Lu.


message 11: by [deleted user] (new)

Adelina in The Young Elites was more anti hero than villain tbh


Angry_Tree_Hugger Fellow wrote: "Adelina in The Young Elites was more anti hero than villain tbh"

In book 2 she killes a girl and her family because the girl disrespect her by spitting on her shoe. That is more than just an anti hero.


message 13: by [deleted user] (new)

Mastersheep wrote: "Fellow wrote: "Adelina in The Young Elites was more anti hero than villain tbh"

In book 2 she killes a girl and her family because the girl disrespect her by spitting on her shoe. That is more tha..."


It's been a while since I last read the Young Elites but I definitely remember some stuff about it. In my opinion she's an anti hero because she is constantly debating against her own mind and her "good consciousness" sometimes pulls her back from doing something evil. Sometimes she even does good things voluntarily (view spoiler) Now she is definitely the villain of the story to other people who oppose her, but to us readers she is definitely an anti hero as she is struggling as to whether or not to do good or evil. A villain would be someone like Jorg who literally gives no shits about the people he kills and never cares about doing something good.


Alyzzp: MG Explorer How is Kaz a villain lmfao. Just bc he's greedy doesn't mean he's a villain.


message 15: by Stefan (new)

Stefan Putting Gone Girl on this list is quite a major spoiler.


message 16: by Sabrina (last edited Feb 21, 2021 07:04PM) (new)

Sabrina Lady Awesome: MG Explorer wrote: "How is Kaz a villain lmfao. Just bc he's greedy doesn't mean he's a villain."

Kaz murdered people. He killed that one guy who betrayed his gang. He ripped someone's eye out of their socket. But yeah, in the end it was for money.


message 17: by Megan (new)

Megan what books are good in this list for a mature young adult?


message 18: by Abby (new)

Abby Megan wrote: "what books are good in this list for a mature young adult?"

SIX OF CROWS AND THE CRUEL PRINCE, they are so good!


message 19: by Cindy (last edited Dec 04, 2023 08:27AM) (new)

Cindy Huskey I'm pretty sure nonfiction books about the KKK and Emmett Till don't actually qualify in a list of antiheroes as fictional characters (check the last page).


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