What’s the difference between an anti-villain and an anti-hero?
“Hello! 👋 What’s the difference between Anti-Villain and Anti-Hero??”
Villains and heroes are two sides of the same coin. Every villain is the hero of their own story, but how the reader perceives them all comes down to how you present them.
Anti-heroes and anti-villains both occupy that fascinating space between good and evil, but they approach it from opposite directions. And if they’re the opposite of their respective tropes, is there really a difference?
The anti-hero
An anti-hero is a protagonist who lacks conventional heroic qualities. They’re the main character you’re meant to root for, despite their questionable morals, selfish motivations, or unheroic methods. Anti-heroes often have admirable goals but achieve them through morally questionable means, or they have noble traits buried beneath layers of cynicism and self-interest.
An example of an anti-hero might be Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights. His thirst for revenge makes him cruel and destructive, even as we understand the injustices that shaped him. Lisbeth Salander from The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo operates outside legal and moral boundaries, using hacking and violence to pursue her own brand of justice. What unites anti-heroes is that we root for them, despite their serious moral failings, questionable methods, or villainous traits.
The anti-villain
An anti-villain is an antagonist whose methods may be villainous, but whose motivations are sympathetic, understandable, or even noble. Anti-villains often believe they’re doing the right thing, and most times, have a point. Readers should feel sympathy for their cause, and while they may not sympathise with the methods, they should sympathise with the ‘why’ that got them there.
Erik Lehnsherr (Magneto) from the X-Men comics is a prime example of an anti-villain. His goal of protecting mutants from persecution is entirely sympathetic, especially given his backstory as a Holocaust survivor. His methods, however (terrorism, violence, and mutant supremacy, etc.), are not, which is what makes him the villain.
Severus Snape from Harry Potter is another great example. His antagonistic behaviour toward Harry is rooted both in genuine grief over Lily Potter’s death and in a complex, decades-long mission to protect Harry while maintaining his cover as a former Death Eater. Over the course of the novels, he is cruel, dismissive, and shows favouritism to other students against Harry. The series presents him as a villain right until the moment his sacrifice reveals the intentions beneath his behaviour. It doesn’t undo the harm his actions caused Harry, but it does mean the reader can re-contextualise it with sympathy.
The key difference
The fundamental distinction comes down to the narrative role each character plays and how readers will internalise their actions.
Anti-heroes are protagonists with villainous traits. We follow their story, experience their internal world, and generally want them to succeed (even when those goals or methods are questionable).
Anti-villains are antagonists with heroic traits. They oppose the protagonist, and while we might sympathise with their motivations or understand their perspective, they ultimately stand in the way of what the protagonist wants and act in a way that readers find difficult to justify.
Writing anti-heroes effectively
When writing an anti-hero, focus on making their flaws feel legitimate and their redeeming qualities genuine. Give them clear motivations that readers can understand, even if they won’t approve. The key is keeping readers invested. They need to care about what happens to your heroes and villains, even when they’re uncomfortable with their choices.
Anti-heroes work best when their narratives don’t excuse their behaviour but force both the character and reader to grapple with the moral weight of their decisions. Show the consequences of their actions and let them struggle with guilt, doubt, or the cost of their choices to create interesting character arcs.
Writing anti-villains effectively
Creating interesting anti-villains requires giving them legitimate grievances or noble goals. Their opposition to your protagonist should make sense from their worldview, and readers should be able to see how, from a different angle, this character’s actions might seem heroic.
Make their methods the problem, not their motivations. This creates moral complexity without making them purely evil. Have them challenge your protagonist meaningfully so they question their own assumptions and perhaps even change. An anti-hero should represent a genuine ideological threat to your protagonist, not just a physical one.
Avoid common pitfalls
For anti-heroes:
- Don’t make them so unlikeable that readers stop caring about their development.
- Avoid excusing their destructive behaviour with tragic backstories alone.
- Don’t confuse being edgy or cynical with being an anti-hero.
- Having flaws isn’t enough; they need to actually affect the story.
For anti-villains:
- Don’t let their good intentions erase the harm of their actions.
- Avoid strawmanning legitimate ideologies.
- Don’t let sympathy for their cause turn into endorsement of their methods.
- Remember, an anti-villain still needs to function as an effective antagonist.
The distinction between anti-heroes and anti-villains ultimately comes down to whose story you’re telling and whose side the narrative asks us to take. Both character types acknowledge that morality is complex and that good people can do terrible things while terrible actions can stem from understandable motivations.
