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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4.45 avg rating — 1,190,428 ratings
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2

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4.18 avg rating — 335,831 ratings
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3

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1,816,824 ratings
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4

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3.82 avg rating — 125,425 ratings
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5

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4.13 avg rating — 1,953,275 ratings
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6

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3.86 avg rating — 144,125 ratings
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7

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4.56 avg rating — 793,012 ratings
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8

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3.86 avg rating — 564,876 ratings
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9

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4.17 avg rating — 71,517 ratings
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10

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4.15 avg rating — 3,514,839 ratings
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11

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3.89 avg rating — 1,043,657 ratings
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12

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3.94 avg rating — 157,658 ratings
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13

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4.08 avg rating — 272,083 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 — 374,315 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 — 1,516,716 ratings
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18

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4.25 avg rating — 836,935 ratings
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19

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3.92 avg rating — 1,963,341 ratings
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20

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 784,464 ratings
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21

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3.87 avg rating — 966,668 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 — 191,145 ratings
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23

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3.89 avg rating — 201,458 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 — 135,553 ratings
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27

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3.90 avg rating — 224,294 ratings
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28

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4.26 avg rating — 596,248 ratings
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29

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4.03 avg rating — 113,727 ratings
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30

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4.44 avg rating — 704,576 ratings
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31

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4.04 avg rating — 573,579 ratings
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32

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4.11 avg rating — 168,860 ratings
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33

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3.96 avg rating — 297,740 ratings
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34

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3.86 avg rating — 133,140 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 — 1,278,595 ratings
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37

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4.60 avg rating — 10,707 ratings
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38

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4.13 avg rating — 16,415 ratings
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39

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4.24 avg rating — 104,546 ratings
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40

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4.09 avg rating — 954,771 ratings
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41

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4.39 avg rating — 452,873 ratings
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42

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3.96 avg rating — 124,392 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 — 1,126,506 ratings
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46

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4.09 avg rating — 795,137 ratings
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47

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3.99 avg rating — 868,881 ratings
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48

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3.50 avg rating — 693,296 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 — 99,266 ratings
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52

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4.22 avg rating — 326,929 ratings
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53

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4.63 avg rating — 3,371,956 ratings
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54

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4.18 avg rating — 2,585,046 ratings
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55

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4.31 avg rating — 1,266,116 ratings
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56

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3.86 avg rating — 186,176 ratings
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57

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4.26 avg rating — 363,957 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 — 857,258 ratings
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62

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4.42 avg rating — 1,039,526 ratings
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63

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4.24 avg rating — 129,033 ratings
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64

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3.94 avg rating — 374,302 ratings
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65

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4.37 avg rating — 17,016 ratings
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66

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 27,859 ratings
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67

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3.83 avg rating — 22,094 ratings
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68

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4.05 avg rating — 141,803 ratings
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69

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4.15 avg rating — 525,945 ratings
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70

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3.96 avg rating — 161,210 ratings
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71

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4.13 avg rating — 441,013 ratings
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72

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4.19 avg rating — 425,248 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 — 368,222 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 — 3,514,839 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 — 118,519 ratings
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81

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3.96 avg rating — 284,844 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 — 239,876 ratings
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85

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4.27 avg rating — 186,081 ratings
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86

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4.01 avg rating — 112,984 ratings
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87

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3.76 avg rating — 30,381 ratings
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88

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3.80 avg rating — 28,203 ratings
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89

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3.67 avg rating — 54,917 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 — 375 ratings
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92

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4.34 avg rating — 56,952 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 — 116,123 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 — 23,045 ratings
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97

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3.96 avg rating — 250,932 ratings
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98

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4.03 avg rating — 116,764 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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