There are many archetypes for characters that exist out there, and there are also many types of moral systems that some characters have that differentiate them from the traditional ideas of morality. There are certainly characters that are morally gray, complex, and memorable for doing things in ways that are often considered unconventional or possibly controversial. Two types of characters that are often associated with such behavioral traits are the anti-hero and the villain. Although at face value they seem to sound like they mean the same exact thing, the anti-hero and the villain aren’t really the same. Today’s post will cover the anti-hero vs the villain and what makes the two character types so different.
What is an Anti-Hero?
An anti-hero is a character that strays from the traditional path of being a hero, lacking qualities like idealism, morality, selflessness, courage, and more. The anti-hero will often display quite negative traits like selfishness, cynicism, ambiguous morals, potentially even a lack of empathy or something similar. An anti-hero would be like Blide Stevens from my book, Malware. He’s not exactly a villain, but he’s most certainly lacking in heroic traits and is more than willing and able to do terrible things to achieve what he believes is a good end-result.
The anti-hero is a flawed character and makes decisions that most heroes would possibly stay away from. Furthermore, the anti-hero justifies the means to an end so long as the end is something they perceive to be good. They may have complex motivations, like being quite selfish but still possessing a sense of purpose that they believe they must achieve, thus justifying to themselves their actions.
Additionally, anti-heroes tend to get a lot of sympathy from readers due to their complexity, and even if they do quite terrible things, readers seem to overlook this in favor of rooting for the character’s arc.
What is a Villain?
Unlike the anti-hero, the villain is a person who is essentially evil and embodies the traits of evil and the ends and the means are often intentionally malicious. Villains are driven by a desire for power, revenge, chaos, destruction, etc… and they are willing to do terrible things for the terrible ends. Their motivations can be complex, as you can have things like a tragic villain, but the idea of the villain is to be a point of conflict for the hero. Furthermore, the villain does not tend to have moral ambiguity, as it is pretty clear that they are evil people willing to do evil things. In addition to this, villains do not have redemption arcs and tend to remain evil until the very end. There are always exceptions to the rule, but the idea of a villain is pretty clear: They’re really evil.
For instance, there are plenty of villains present in The Fallen Age Saga, such as Akala and the other demonic creatures that are pulling strings across the galaxy. These villains are obviously villains, and they are willing to destroy entire planets to achieve their desire for ultimate power. Although the ones standing in opposition to them are very morally gray themselves, they are still not even as evil as these villains are.
There are other really popular examples of villains like the Joker from Batman or Voldemort from Harry Potter.
Anti-Hero vs Villain
The anti-hero is often written as the protagonist or central character in the story and they tend to have a complex, multi-faceted journey. Their nature is flawed as-is, but they discover things along the way that help them possibly redeem themselves. Redemption is not necessary for an anti-hero though, but you pretty much find that the anti-hero is a character that can have weaknesses, tends to have a soft-spot for something out there, and can do good–they just have bad actions most of the time.
The villain, on the other hand, tends to be written in stories as the antagonist, or the opposition to the main character/protagonist. The villain tends to exhibit very evil behaviors, with their methods and motivations being quite different from the anti-hero. Their actions are often highly destructive and they intend to cause as much destruction as possible. The means and the end are evil with a villain and they do not care how much is destroyed in the process of achieving their goal.
Furthermore, anti-heroes tend to have very complex motivations. Although it seems like they tend to be driven by their own personal interests and they have a personal stake in the entire conflict, they also tend to have a sort of idea that their purpose is to do more. Something about the anti-hero is not entirely evil and something about them allows for them to do right, even when they’re also doing wrong.
Meanwhile, the motivations of the villain tend to be things like power or chaos. Their intentions are quite clear and they are there to cause a disruption to the status quo. They force themselves as direct challenges to the hero and will stand in the way of prosperity when they can.
What Makes Anti-Heroes Great Characters?
If an anti-hero isn’t really a “good” guy, then what makes these types of characters appealing to readers? Well, firstly, the anti-hero tends to feel a little more realistic to readers and thus more relatable. Real people are not perfect and real people are not totally righteous, so having a morally gray anti-hero tends to feel more close to a real person.
The anti-hero also tends to be a complex character, which is something that helps make the character significantly more memorable to readers. It adds depth and it adds more to the characterization of the anti-hero.
Finally, many people like the anti-hero because in a lot of media and literature, the anti-hero gets a sort of redemption arc and growth in their personality that allows them to become more of a sympathetic character.
What Makes Villains Great Characters?
They may be villains, but many villains out there are some of the most memorable characters that you find in many shows, movies, and books. The villain tends to leave quite a lasting impact on both the characters and the people reading the story.
Villains are great because they create conflict for the story and allow for there to be things like suspense, tension, and high-stakes present in the overall narrative. Furthermore, many villains are written in a way that makes them charismatic. Charisma is something that draws people to a person, even if that person is morally reprehensible and completely evil.
Finally, the villain is often written in a way that presents a genuine challenge, and you constantly want to know how the hero will overcome the challenge of dealing with this villain. Basically, villains are very memorable.
Cross-Overs?
Sometimes, there seems to be a sort of cross-over between the anti-hero and the villain, and there are characters that tend to fit within both groups. For instance, yes, Blide Stevens from my book is an anti-hero, but he’s also quite villainous. He often talks about how he enjoys sowing the seeds of chaos and how he constantly desires revenge. His actions and his personality allow him to do terrible things to innocent people, and he doesn’t really care if anyone gets hurt. However, his drive towards completing his mission and stopping the forces behind all the true chaos in the world pushes him more in the direction of the anti-hero character.
In a way, you can blend the two character types into a more complex and interesting form as a singular character. However, this doesn’t always work and you need to ensure that it makes sense in the context of your story.
Although anti-heroes and villains are different character types, they are quite popular in most literature and media today. People love to see characters that are different, have complex personalities, and are unique. You tend to find a lot of anti-hero characters in things like grimdark books as well as dark fantasy, and you tend to find villains across most genres. You can add any character type you want, but at the end of the day, crafting this character should be a lot of fun no matter what genre you pick.
If you want more information writing villains specifically, check out these posts:
- How to Create a Villain Your Readers Will Love!
- Top 12 BEST Villain Archetypes Found in Literature
- How to Write a Compelling Villain!
- How to Write a Realistic Pure Evil Villain
Before you head on out, check out my series, The Fallen Age Saga, and don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter so you can get updates on all my latest posts, WIPs, book releases and more!