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

by
4.46 avg rating — 1,166,937 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
2

by
4.18 avg rating — 327,292 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
3

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1,762,256 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
4

by
3.83 avg rating — 124,188 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
5

by
4.14 avg rating — 1,907,843 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
6

by
3.86 avg rating — 143,422 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
7

by
4.57 avg rating — 778,240 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
8

by
3.86 avg rating — 563,020 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
9

by
4.18 avg rating — 70,981 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
10

by
4.15 avg rating — 3,472,999 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
11

by
3.89 avg rating — 1,029,297 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
12

by
3.94 avg rating — 155,898 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
13

by
4.09 avg rating — 262,905 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
14

by
3.81 avg rating — 53,339 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
15

by
3.80 avg rating — 366,738 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
16

by
4.10 avg rating — 48,678 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
17

by
4.02 avg rating — 1,492,314 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
18

by
4.25 avg rating — 829,266 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
19

by
3.91 avg rating — 1,920,999 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
20

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 775,370 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
21

by
3.87 avg rating — 953,714 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
22

by
4.01 avg rating — 69,686 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
23

by
4.18 avg rating — 188,612 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
23

by
3.89 avg rating — 197,000 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
25

by
4.22 avg rating — 57,954 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
26

by
4.12 avg rating — 131,689 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
27

by
3.90 avg rating — 220,930 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
28

by
4.26 avg rating — 591,241 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
29

by
4.03 avg rating — 112,684 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
30

by
4.45 avg rating — 684,684 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
31

by
4.04 avg rating — 561,283 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
32

by
4.11 avg rating — 166,545 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
33

by
3.96 avg rating — 294,493 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
34

by
3.86 avg rating — 129,957 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
35

by
3.89 avg rating — 21,904 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
36

by
3.84 avg rating — 1,244,088 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
37

by
4.13 avg rating — 16,205 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
38

by
4.60 avg rating — 10,541 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
39

by
4.24 avg rating — 102,927 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
40

by
4.09 avg rating — 946,033 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
41

by
4.39 avg rating — 449,636 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
42

by
3.95 avg rating — 119,826 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
43

by
4.42 avg rating — 151 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
44

by
3.51 avg rating — 1,112 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
45

by
4.29 avg rating — 1,098,297 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
46

by
4.10 avg rating — 773,532 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
47

by
3.99 avg rating — 854,989 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
48

by
3.50 avg rating — 689,241 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
49

by
3.87 avg rating — 810 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
50

by
3.97 avg rating — 95,912 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
51

by
4.22 avg rating — 317,503 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
52

by
4.63 avg rating — 3,258,304 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
53

by
4.19 avg rating — 2,467,770 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
54

by
4.31 avg rating — 1,260,279 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
55

by
3.86 avg rating — 183,869 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
56

by
4.26 avg rating — 352,858 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
57

by
3.79 avg rating — 42,198 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
58

by
4.17 avg rating — 3,794 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
59

by
4.02 avg rating — 13,695 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
60

by
3.94 avg rating — 845,865 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
61

by
4.42 avg rating — 1,027,667 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
62

by
4.24 avg rating — 126,214 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
63

by
3.94 avg rating — 363,709 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
64

by
4.37 avg rating — 16,799 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
65

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 27,137 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
66

by
4.05 avg rating — 141,255 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
67

by
4.16 avg rating — 498,752 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
68

by
3.96 avg rating — 160,523 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
69

by
4.13 avg rating — 425,768 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
70

by
4.19 avg rating — 409,162 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
71

by
3.64 avg rating — 1,484 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
72

by
3.94 avg rating — 1,324 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
73

by
3.86 avg rating — 363,242 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
74

by
3.84 avg rating — 19,845 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
75

by
4.23 avg rating — 12,462 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
76

by
3.51 avg rating — 6,279 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
77

by
4.19 avg rating — 1,854 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
78

by
4.22 avg rating — 116,188 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
79

by
3.96 avg rating — 280,366 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
80

by
3.65 avg rating — 959 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
81

by
4.62 avg rating — 58 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
82

by
4.34 avg rating — 226,567 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
83

by
4.28 avg rating — 175,350 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
84

by
4.02 avg rating — 110,828 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
85

by
3.76 avg rating — 29,902 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
86

by
3.80 avg rating — 28,002 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
87

by
3.66 avg rating — 53,790 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
87

by
4.11 avg rating — 15,365 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
89

by
4.51 avg rating — 362 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
90

by
4.34 avg rating — 55,806 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
91

by
3.94 avg rating — 19,539 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
91

by
4.15 avg rating — 3,472,999 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
93

by
4.25 avg rating — 113,110 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
94

by
3.95 avg rating — 16,945 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
95

by
4.07 avg rating — 22,951 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
96

by
3.97 avg rating — 245,246 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
97

by
4.04 avg rating — 111,330 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
98

by
4.48 avg rating — 1,003 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
98

by
4.38 avg rating — 24 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
100

by
4.13 avg rating — 57,161 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
389 books · 651 voters · list created December 29th, 2013 by Otto (votes) .
288 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Otto 4183 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
384 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).


back to top



Related News

Need another excuse to treat yourself to a new book this week? We've got you covered with the buzziest new releases of the day, according to early...

Anyone can add books to this list.