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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4.18 avg rating — 335,817 ratings
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3

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1,816,685 ratings
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3.82 avg rating — 125,418 ratings
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5

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4.13 avg rating — 1,953,151 ratings
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6

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3.86 avg rating — 144,123 ratings
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7

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4.56 avg rating — 792,960 ratings
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8

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3.86 avg rating — 564,872 ratings
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9

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4.17 avg rating — 71,516 ratings
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10

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4.15 avg rating — 3,514,747 ratings
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11

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3.89 avg rating — 1,043,618 ratings
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12

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3.94 avg rating — 157,654 ratings
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13

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4.08 avg rating — 272,054 ratings
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14

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3.81 avg rating — 53,497 ratings
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15

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3.80 avg rating — 374,311 ratings
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16

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4.10 avg rating — 49,014 ratings
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17

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4.03 avg rating — 1,516,658 ratings
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18

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4.25 avg rating — 836,916 ratings
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19

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3.92 avg rating — 1,963,224 ratings
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20

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 784,440 ratings
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21

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3.87 avg rating — 966,652 ratings
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22

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4.01 avg rating — 70,101 ratings
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23

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4.18 avg rating — 191,141 ratings
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23

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3.89 avg rating — 201,445 ratings
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25

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4.22 avg rating — 58,447 ratings
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26

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4.11 avg rating — 135,547 ratings
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27

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3.90 avg rating — 224,287 ratings
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28

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4.26 avg rating — 596,239 ratings
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29

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4.03 avg rating — 113,725 ratings
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30

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4.44 avg rating — 704,511 ratings
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31

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4.04 avg rating — 573,548 ratings
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32

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4.11 avg rating — 168,853 ratings
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33

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3.96 avg rating — 297,728 ratings
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34

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3.86 avg rating — 133,129 ratings
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35

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3.89 avg rating — 22,006 ratings
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36

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3.84 avg rating — 1,278,502 ratings
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37

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4.60 avg rating — 10,705 ratings
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38

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4.13 avg rating — 16,414 ratings
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39

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4.24 avg rating — 104,538 ratings
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40

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4.09 avg rating — 954,745 ratings
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41

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4.39 avg rating — 452,869 ratings
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42

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3.96 avg rating — 124,381 ratings
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43

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4.41 avg rating — 153 ratings
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44

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3.51 avg rating — 1,110 ratings
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45

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4.29 avg rating — 1,126,439 ratings
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46

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4.09 avg rating — 795,067 ratings
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47

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3.99 avg rating — 868,853 ratings
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48

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3.50 avg rating — 693,288 ratings
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49

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it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 15 ratings
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50

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3.87 avg rating — 895 ratings
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51

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3.97 avg rating — 99,257 ratings
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52

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4.22 avg rating — 326,909 ratings
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53

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4.63 avg rating — 3,371,698 ratings
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54

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4.18 avg rating — 2,584,775 ratings
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55

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4.31 avg rating — 1,266,098 ratings
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56

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3.86 avg rating — 186,174 ratings
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57

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4.26 avg rating — 363,933 ratings
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58

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3.79 avg rating — 42,620 ratings
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59

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4.17 avg rating — 3,805 ratings
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60

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4.01 avg rating — 13,765 ratings
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61

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3.94 avg rating — 857,230 ratings
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62

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4.42 avg rating — 1,039,491 ratings
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63

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4.24 avg rating — 129,020 ratings
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64

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3.94 avg rating — 374,278 ratings
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65

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4.37 avg rating — 17,015 ratings
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66

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 27,858 ratings
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67

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3.83 avg rating — 22,090 ratings
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68

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4.05 avg rating — 141,802 ratings
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69

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4.15 avg rating — 525,886 ratings
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70

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3.96 avg rating — 161,208 ratings
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71

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4.13 avg rating — 440,969 ratings
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72

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4.19 avg rating — 425,210 ratings
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73

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3.64 avg rating — 1,488 ratings
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74

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3.93 avg rating — 1,328 ratings
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75

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3.86 avg rating — 368,208 ratings
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76

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4.23 avg rating — 12,565 ratings
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76

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4.15 avg rating — 3,514,747 ratings
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78

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3.52 avg rating — 6,299 ratings
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79

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4.19 avg rating — 1,870 ratings
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80

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4.22 avg rating — 118,512 ratings
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81

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3.96 avg rating — 284,832 ratings
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82

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3.65 avg rating — 959 ratings
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83

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4.62 avg rating — 58 ratings
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84

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4.33 avg rating — 239,838 ratings
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85

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4.27 avg rating — 186,054 ratings
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86

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4.01 avg rating — 112,978 ratings
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87

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3.76 avg rating — 30,382 ratings
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88

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3.80 avg rating — 28,202 ratings
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89

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3.67 avg rating — 54,914 ratings
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89

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4.11 avg rating — 15,490 ratings
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91

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4.49 avg rating — 374 ratings
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92

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4.34 avg rating — 56,949 ratings
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93

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3.93 avg rating — 19,650 ratings
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94

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4.25 avg rating — 116,112 ratings
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95

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3.95 avg rating — 17,020 ratings
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96

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4.07 avg rating — 23,046 ratings
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97

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3.96 avg rating — 250,927 ratings
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98

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4.03 avg rating — 116,757 ratings
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99

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4.48 avg rating — 1,030 ratings
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99

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4.31 avg rating — 26 ratings
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392 books · 663 voters · list created December 29th, 2013 by Otto (votes) .
288 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Otto 4190 books
53 friends
Shelly 932 books
16 friends
Tora 90 books
6 friends
Ann 356 books
551 friends
Brandi 141 books
530 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).


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