antihero

See also: anti-hero

English

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):

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• Audio (US):

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• Audio (General Australian):

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Noun

antihero (plural antiheroes)

1. (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.

   • 2020 July 29, Jessie Yeung, “Australia names new species after Deadpool, Thor, and other Marvel favorites”, in CNN‎^[1]:

     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^[2]:

     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

• antiheroic
• antiheroics
• antiheroine
• antiheroism

Related terms

• anti-villain
• counterhero
• false protagonist
• false hero

Translations

protagonist who proceeds in an unheroic manner

• Afrikaans: antiheld m
• Albanian: antiheroi m
• 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 f
• Esperanto: kontraŭheroo
• Estonian: antikangelane
• Finnish: antisankari (fi), pahis (fi)
• French: antihéros (fr) m, anti-héros (fr) m
• Galician: antiheroe 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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