antihero

See also: anti-hero

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:

antihero

WOTD – 26 October 2010, 26 October 2011, 26 October 2012, 26 October 2013, 26 October 2014

Examples
Han Solo in Star Wars Don Quixote in Don Quixote The Punisher & Deadpool in Marvel Comics Batman in DC Comics Spawn in Image Comics Prince Hamlet in Hamlet Alex in A Clockwork Orange Kratos in God of War The Man with No Name in Dollars Trilogy Walter White in Breaking Bad

Alternative forms

anti-hero

Etymology

From anti- +‎ hero.

Pronunciation

(UK) IPA^(key): /ˈæn.tɪˌhɪə.ɹəʊ/
(US) IPA^(key): /ˈænˌtaɪ.hiɹ.oʊ/, /ˈæn.tiˌhiɹ.oʊ/
Audio (US): (file)
Audio (US): (file)
Audio (General Australian): (file)

Noun

antihero (plural antiheroes)

(literature, roleplaying games) A protagonist who proceeds in an unheroic manner, such as by criminal means, via cowardly actions, or for mercenary goals.
Synonym: unhero
- 2006, James Bonnet, Stealing Fire from the Gods: The Complete Guide to Story for Writers and Filmmakers:
  Alienation: A stage on the downside of the passage wherein the holdfast and the antihero take actions which bring about a disintegration of personality.
- 2014 December 22, Alison Flood, “JK Rowling ‘unnerved’ by girls who fall for Hogwarts bully Draco Malfoy”, in The Guardian‎^[1], →ISSN:
  JK Rowling says that “girls are very apt to romanticise” the antihero, and reveals that she had been forced to pour “cold common sense” on the startling number of readers who fall for the arrogant, unscrupulous bully Draco Malfoy in her Harry Potter books.
- 2020 July 29, Jessie Yeung, “Australia names new species after Deadpool, Thor, and other Marvel favorites”, in CNN‎^[2]:
  The Deadpool fly is a species of Robber fly, which are “assassins of the insect world” – fitting for the mercenary antihero.
- 2021 August 11, Jacqui Palumbo, “Rosamund Pike in ‘I Care a Lot’ and six more recommendations if you love an antiheroine”, in CNN‎^[3]:
  Fictional male antiheroes like television’s crime patriarchs Tony Soprano and Walter White have reigned for some time, but the antiheroine has only more recently had the opportunity to rise up – and become the cause of her own downfall. […] Grayson serves as an archetype for a female antihero not driven by much except for her own ambition, and she’s quite fine with that.

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

protagonist who proceeds in an unheroic manner

Afrikaans: antiheld m
Albanian: antiheroi m
Arabic: بطل مزيف m (baṭal muzayyaf), بطلة مزيفة f (baṭala muzayyafa)
Armenian: հակահերոս (hy) (hakaheros)
Basque: antiheroi
Belarusian: антыгерой (antyhjerój)
Bengali: অ-নায়কোচিত নায়ক (o-naẏkōcito naẏok)
Bulgarian: антигеро́й (antigerój)
Catalan: antiheroi m
Chinese:
Mandarin: 反英雄 (zh) (fǎnyīngxióng)
Czech: antihrdina m
Dutch: antiheld (nl) m, antiheldin (nl) f
Esperanto: kontraŭheroo
Estonian: antikangelane
Finnish: antisankari (fi), pahis (fi)
French: antihéros (fr) m, anti-héros (fr) m
Galician: antiheroe (gl) m
German: Antiheld (de) m
Greek: αντιήρωας (el) m (antiíroas)
Ido: antiheroo
Irish: frith-laoch, ana-laoch
Italian: antieroe (it) m
Japanese: 反英雄 (はんえいゆう, han'eiyū), アンチヒーロー (anchihīrō), ダークヒーロー (dākuhīrō)
Kazakh: антиқаһарман (antiqaharman), анти-қаһарман (anti-qaharman)
Korean: 반영웅(反英雄) (ko) (banyeong'ung)
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: antîleheng
Latin: antiheros, contra heros
Latvian: antivaronis
Lithuanian: antiherojus
Macedonian: антихе́рој m (antihéroj), антихерои́на f (antiheroína)
Norwegian: antihelt m
Persian: ضدقهرمان (fa), ناقهرمان (fa)
Polish: antybohater (pl) m, antybohaterka f
Portuguese: anti-herói (pt) m
Romanian: antierou m, erou negativ m
Russian: антигеро́й (ru) m (antigerój)
Scottish Gaelic: ana-gaisgeach m
Spanish: antihéroe (es) m
Swahili: shujaa wa upande wa mbaya, shujaa hasi
Swedish: antihjälte (sv) c
Tagalog: kontrabayani, kontrabida
Tamil: எதிரானவீரன் (etirāṉavīraṉ), ஆண்டிஹீரோ (āṇṭihīrō)
Turkish: antikahraman
Ukrainian: антигеро́й (antyherój)
Urdu: انٹی ہیرو m
Vietnamese: phản anh hùng (vi) (反英雄)

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