Everyone loves a classic hero: the noble knight, the chosen one, the caped crusader who saves the day without breaking a sweat. But let’s be honest — the shining knight can sometimes get a bit dull. The best anti-hero stories flip that script entirely. After all, the characters who linger in our minds aren’t always spotless paragons of virtue. They’re the ones who blur the line between right and wrong — the ones who make us ask: Wait… are they actually the bad guy? Or do they have a point?
That gray area is where anti-heroes and anti-villains thrive. And, if we’re being real, some of the greatest ones in gaming, film, and TV are far more relatable than the squeaky-clean good guys. Because deep down, a part of us understands them. Their motives make sense — even if their methods don’t.
So let’s dive into some of the top anti-heroes and anti-villains who were, in their own way, totally justified.
The Rise of the Anti-Hero
Before we get into specific characters, let’s talk about what makes someone an anti-hero. The term itself is almost paradoxical — a “hero anti,” if you will. Anti-heroes often do good things for selfish reasons, or they cross moral lines to achieve what they believe is right. They don’t fit the shining, Superman-style mold. They’re complicated, flawed, and, in a word, human.
On the flip side, anti-villains are characters who technically oppose the protagonist but whose goals we can genuinely sympathize with. Their motivations go beyond the flat clichés of greed or destruction; instead, they’re often driven by survival, revenge, justice, or even love. That’s what makes them some of the most compelling figures in pop culture — they make us question what it really means to be good or bad.
So, let’s take a look at some of the best.
Killmonger – Black Panther
Let’s start with one of Marvel’s most powerful anti-heroes. Erik Killmonger’s plan in Black Panther might have been ruthless, but can anyone really say he was completely wrong? He grew up in a world defined by systemic oppression and violence — realities Wakanda had the privilege to ignore. When he discovered the nation’s hidden wealth and advanced technology, his anger felt justified. Why shouldn’t Wakanda use its resources to empower and liberate oppressed people across the globe?
His methods were violent, yes, but his motivations came from a place of deep pain and righteous fury — the kind born from generations of injustice. Killmonger didn’t just want power; he wanted change. And that’s what makes him one of Marvel’s most unforgettable anti-heroes.
Joel – The Last of Us
When people talk about the greatest anti-heroes in gaming, Joel Miller is always near the top of the list. His journey in The Last of Us is filled with brutal choices, but none heavier than the one in the final act. [Spoiler alert:] Faced with sacrificing Ellie to save humanity, Joel chooses her life over everyone else’s.
On paper, it’s selfish. But emotionally? It makes perfect sense. After everything he’d lost, saving Ellie wasn’t just about her — it was about clinging to the last shred of love and purpose he had left. Some call it monstrous. Others call it human. That moral ambiguity — that tension between love and morality — is exactly what makes Joel one of the greatest anti-heroes in video game history.
Magneto – X-Men
Magneto is a masterclass in anti-heroic storytelling. Often framed as the villain to Charles Xavier’s dream of peaceful coexistence, Magneto’s perspective is born from unimaginable trauma. As a Holocaust survivor, he’s seen firsthand the depths of human cruelty — and he refuses to let history repeat itself with mutants as the victims.
When you look at it that way, his philosophy doesn’t seem so far-fetched. Magneto isn’t driven by a lust for power or destruction; he’s fighting to protect his people in a world that fears and hates them. That fierce conviction — and the painful truth behind it — is exactly what makes him one of the greatest anti-heroes in comic book history.
Kratos – God of War
Before his dad-arc softened him, Kratos was pure, unrelenting rage. But his war against the gods of Olympus wasn’t mindless destruction. The gods betrayed him, manipulated him, and tore his family apart. His revenge was merciless — but, as we’ve seen with so many great anti-heroes, it was also deeply human and painfully understandable.
In the newer God of War titles, Kratos evolves into something far more layered: a battle-worn warrior trying to break the very cycle of violence that once defined him, all while learning how to guide his son. That transformation cements him not just as one of gaming’s greatest anti-heroes, but as one of its most profoundly written characters.
Thanos – Avengers: Infinity War
Before Infinity War, it was easy to write Thanos off as just another galaxy-ending supervillain. But the film gave him a depth that caught many fans off guard. His mission to wipe out half of all life in the universe? Horrifying, absolutely — yet his reasoning, that overpopulation leads to inevitable suffering, is disturbingly logical (if fatally misguided).
That’s the brilliance of Thanos as a character. He’s not a cartoonish villain reveling in chaos; he’s calm, purposeful, and utterly convinced he’s saving the universe. It’s the purest form of an anti-villain: someone we know is wrong, yet can’t help but understand.
Geralt of Rivia – The Witcher
Not every anti-hero is driven by revenge or a vision of cosmic balance. Some, like Geralt of Rivia, just want to do their job and navigate the chaos around them. As a witcher, Geralt’s duty is simple: kill monsters for coin. He’s gruff, sarcastic, and more interested in staying neutral than playing the shining hero.
And yet, time and again, Geralt finds himself defending the vulnerable, standing up to corruption, and facing moral dilemmas with no clear “right” choice. He’s the embodiment of the anti-heroic archetype — someone who does the right thing not for glory or recognition, but because, deep down, it’s simply who he is.
Why We Love Them
What unites all these characters is their complexity. The best anti-heroes aren’t about perfect morality — they’re about showing us how messy real choices can be, how the real world is rarely black and white but full of gray areas. Anti-heroes mirror our own flaws, compromises, and justifications.
In a nutshell: heroes save the day. Anti-heroes and anti-villains make us question why the day is even worth saving.
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Looking for more character chaos and epic lore? Check out these picks from the Displate blog:
