Just as I’m a sucker for darker areas of cinema (like zombie movies, apocalyptic movies, and post apocalyptic movies), I’m a sucker for a good anti-hero. If I have a choice between an anti-hero and a regular hero, I’ll take the anti-hero any day of the week because I think they are inherently more interesting characters than their truly noble counterparts.
The definition of an anti-hero as a character who performs acts that are generally deemed or thought to be heroic, but he/she will do so with methods, actions, manners, and intentions that are not so. I also tend to add that there is a touch of darkness surrounding anti-heroes, a sense of danger that doesn’t go away. With that definition, who are the ten best to ever grace the cinema screen?
10. Erik Draven (the Crow) The Crow (1994)
This is a modern classic. Some people would argue that the crow is more of a hero, but there’s tons of darkness around this character, more than a hint of insanity, and he will kill anyone who gets in between him and his revenge. That’s where the difference is. If he just killed the murderers, fine, but he kills the whole gang, works his way up the chain, and kills anyone in collusion. Just? Sure, but still an anti-hero.
9. “Mad” Max Rockatansky Mad Max & Sequels (1979)
Mad Max is a great example of an anti-hero. He walks away from being a cop to wage a war of vengeance, and as the world falls apart, he re-appears, always thinking about himself first, and willing to help survivors only if they had something to offer him. By the third movie he’s just a shell, who refuses to go with people who would care for him, love him, because he goes alone. He only helps others when he has something to lose by not doing so, making Mad Max one of the most beloved anti-heroes of all time.
8. Snake Plissken Escape from New York (1981)
Snake Plissken is the epitome of a bad boy “hero.” He is a convict, he hates the government, wants to drink and smoke, and doesn’t give a crud about authority. He is a bad guy, but mostly because his need to be self-serving contradicts with the government and authorities. Put in situations to do good, he does, even if coerced, and he often seems to have more morals than the “good guys” that he’s working for. That being said, he doesn’t do good for anyone unless he gets something out of it. Snake has darkness all around him, and his “me first” attitude and ability to fight off (or fit in with) the worst scum make him a futuristic anti-hero.
7. Harry Callahan Dirty Harry (1971)
“Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?” This is now one of the most famous lines in all of cinema. Harry Callahan, nicknamed “Dirty Harry,” is known as a renegade cop who doesn’t care about breaking the law (specifically the rights of the criminal) to get the job done. Dirty Harry has a very clear sense of right, but he is a “the ends justify the means” type of guy, which keeps him in the doghouse and puts him on this list.
6. Tyler Durden Fight Club (1999)
Tyler Durden is the modern anti-hero! Anti-capitalism, anti-credit card, he’s against being made into a zombie and he hates big brother. This film delves into a modern society, always broken, always needing a fix. He is the strong, independent, “alive” man that most men want to be, fighting against obvious wrongs we feel powerless against, but for no good moral reason, but because he can. He does what he does because he wants to, and if some of us want to join a fight club and see him as heroic, that’s just part of the ride.
5. The Man With No Name / ”Blondie” The Dollars Trilogy (1964, 65, 66)
Clint Eastwood makes this list twice, but it’s hard to beat his “man with no name” from the Westerns. A man with a dark past, no future, and he knows how to kill and how to move on after killing. He’s not kind, but he is righteous. He’s a killer and he knows it, but he will only kill other killers. He has no name because he has no future, but he has a true code of honor. Not good, not bad, but honorable: the perfect anti-hero.
4. The MacManus Brothers (Connor & Murphy) The Boondock Saints (1999)
Troy Duffy’s cult classic follows two Irish brothers who are deeply devoted to their faith, yet fully accepting of the idea of being “the vengeful hand of God.” These two brothers cuss like Quentin Tarantino, drink like a bad Irish joke, and shoot without remorse…but they will ONLY shoot bad guys. They won’t even go after the FBI agent trying to nail them.
This story starts as self defense against a couple Russian thugs from the Russian mafia, and evolves following the brothers as they decide that doing nothing with evil all around is far worse a sin than killing evil men. This study in vigilantism creates the brothers as great anti-heroes, even as they murder bad guy after bad guy, and the last scene, where a bad guy is executed in front of his family (mom, wife, and all) makes it clear that they may be likable, but as Agent Smecker says in the film “They are not superheroes triumphing over evil.” But they are amazing anti-heroes.
3. D-Fens Falling Down (1993)
This is a true cult classic. Many people love this movie, or they hate it. Michael Douglas plays the part of “D-Fens,” a normal man who has a terrible day during an unusually hot Los Angeles summer day. He tries to get home to his daughter’s birthday party, but is accosted time after time by a society that isn’t fair—and like many of us has thought about, he fights back, becoming a vigilante and getting increasingly violent as his sanity is obviously going out the window.
From an Asian grocer overcharging badly, to crap fast food that doesn’t look like the picture, to two gang members trying to rob him, to a Neo-Nazi who breaks his snow globe…he faces the daily things that piss every person off, and even though he certainly is not “good.” How he tries to fix what’s broken is poetic, but by the end he’s cracked and a killer, but one who is easy to sympathize with because he just got pushed too far.
2. Leon Leon: The Professional (1994)
There have been few movies so beautifully woven, few characters like Leon, played by Jean Reno. Leon is a professional assassin who lives in a shady part of New York City. He lives next door to a 13 year old Matilda, who is part of a dysfunctional family. When the family is killed by a corrupt DEA agent, Leon reluctantly agrees to take care of the young girl.
She asks questions that are unnerving, asking Leon to be her first lover (thankfully he refuses) and asking personal questions along that nature. In the extended version there is a suggestion that there is more than a father daughter relationship, and while he “protects” her, he teaches her how to be a killer. Leon never appears as a warm figure. Even in a “heroic suicide,” he is still a murderer and without remorse, but it was in defense of another.
1. Travis Bickle Taxi Driver (1976)
No matter what list you look at of top anti-heroes in movies, Robert De Niro’s portrayal of a cab driver gone vigilante is right at the top of everyone’s list. This is especially amazing considering how many good anti-heroes are out there in movies, and there is wide disagreement on top ten lists, but Travis Bickle is a great example of how the darkness can seep in.
First off, we as the audience tend to sympathize with him, but his motives remain unknown throughout the film which makes it hard to stay with his actions, especially as it becomes clear that he’s not completely all there, and then the assassination attempt of a political candidate seems straight out evil until he saves a child prostitute, but his head is so messed up you don’t know why he’s doing anything any more, making even heroic actions seem, well, really creepy.
Contributor: Shane Dayton
No. 8, And what makes Snake Plissken even more special is that he is a recipient of the Congressional Medal Of Honor. And No.3, “D-Fens” don’t forget the golf course scene where he starts shooting his gun and the elder man playing golf is having a heart attack. D-Fens : “NOW YOU’RE GONNA DIE, WITH THAT FUNNY LITTLE HAT ON !!”
first!
taxi driver — travis (wow what a choice)
Good list, I haven’t seen most of these. I will never argue with The Man with No Name being on this or any similar lists. Clint Eastwood rocks!
Cool list. I wasn’t expecting Tyler Durden, The MacManus Brothers, D-Fens, and Leon but they all belong here. But what about Al Simmons, aka Spawn?
I just saw Falling Down a couple days ago, and that movie was excellent. I fully recommend it.
I’m afraid to say I’ve never seen any of these films… I need to get around to seeing ‘The Crow’, even if just because RATM wrote a song for the soundtrack.
Isn’t the ‘Dirty Harry’ quote “Well you gotta ask yourself one question. ‘Do I feel lucky?’ Well, do ya, punk?”
I love thr Crow and snake pisken good choices wht about the punisher he is kinda an ani hero
dangorironhide: you are correct – it has been corrected
*The
*Plissken
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dam keyboard
Mickey from Snatch – Yalike daags?
As a matter of fact you could pick just about anybody from those first two Ritchie movies.
Jules and Vince from Pulp Fiction
The crow was great if you like dark fantasy/revenge. This is a wonderful list, all are deserving.
Mystern; the spawn guy is definitely an honorable mention
and the original batman from the comics
and my absolute favorite,,,DEXTER MORGAN, from yup Dexter…
by the way
Happy Valentines Day!
can’t fault it,
very cool list, great site. Spike in Buffy was a cool anti-hero
I would’ve left off the Boondock Saints and had Frank Castle a.k.a. The Punisher on the list. At least as a notable omission if not a bonus. How you could leave him off the list of anti-heroes is beyond me.
A couple more notables would include the character of Sanjuro from both Yojimbo and Sanjuro, Frank Leone from Lock Up, and Master Sergeant Thomas Beckett from Sniper.
colin; yer right, I forgot about spike. Very cool, he channeled Billy Idol better ‘n’ billy..
FREAKING YAY for Boondock Saints being on this list. I LOVE Sean Patrick Flannery and Norman Reedus as Connor and Murphy. (Rocco is really great, too). This is my favorite movie of all time. You gotta love that the old guy from the Muppets (with the dog) plays the Tourette’s affected bar keeper. Whenever I watch this movie, I suddenly get even more Irish. Much love to the Boondock fans.
Also, I love anything with Jean Reno in it so I’m glad Leon is up here.
Here’s a Honorable Mention: Richard B. Riddick (Pitch Black). He probably would of made the list if they hadn’t mad the crappy sequal.
slipstick… You can’t leave off Boondock Saints!! The MacManus Brothers are brilliant… who else can go after someone and actually make use of “Charlie Bronson’s rope”??
I love Boondock Saints… I have to watch it every few months. “He was serial crushed by some huge fricken guy..”
slipstick: I have to disagree. The Punisher would be kind of a hokey choice, and if the MacManus Bros. were left off, we would have 100+ posts from Boondock Saint nerds *****ing about it. (Plus…come on….a list about anti-heros and you leave of those two wisecracking, hard-drinking, murderin’ sons-a-*****es?) Also….I agree with you about Sanjuro, however the The Man with No Name is essentially the American counterpart. A lot of people don’t realize that A Fistfull of Dollars is, almost shot for shot, the same movie as Yojimbo. Even some of the lines are the same.
Very happy to see Leon on the list, D-Fens as well. Two of my must have films.
Mom424 I’m with ya about Dexter. I love that show!!
edit: by “American” I actually meant “Western”….seeing as how the trilogy was filmed in Italy.
Another great “white male” list…
How about the Bride from Kill Bill?
Jodie Foster in The Brave One?
If you’re including Dirty Harry, why not Shaft?
Jfrater: Oh yeah! *Great* pull on D-fens….God, it’s been so long since I saw that movie, but you just brought it all flooding back. That movie was great! Some uptight business man going postal for the whole movie….Mike Douglas is the quintessential geeky badass.
copperdragon: These “all white males” lists are not misogynistic or racist on the part of the people who put the lists together…these lists are essentially symptomatic of what’s wrong with popular media in this country. It’s not Jamie’s fault that most of the greatest movie anti-heros are white males….it’s just that, historically in popular film, there have vastly more white male anti-heros than female or black ones…..or any other race or ethnic group for that matter. If you really feel that these lists are racist or misogynistic, feel free to pen your own that satisfies your desire for diversity. Just be sure to pick a topic where you don’t have to make a stretch in the name of diversity. Otherwise it will be a poor quality list.
anti-hero(ine) =
a good guy (girl) gone bad out of frustration or vengeance;
a traditional role model (cop, fireman) with mixed morals;
a bad guy (girl) gone good out of pity, love or sense of duty.
Hi
You must include Gabbar Singh of Bollywood film Sholay.
I was really expecting to see El Mariachi on there but I didn’t…gasp.
SlickWilly: I understand that point on the part of the poster, as these “top 10″ usually equate to “my favorite”. That person may not have a wide range of experience to call upon.
But…
It seems as though the responders have the same problem. And if these “white male” lists all came from the same person, I could understand it, but they’re not.
So far, virtually ALL posters of “people” lists suffer from the same “media disease” – that only white males could be in the top 10.
I might also add Shuya, Noriko and Kawada from Battle Royale. I wasn’t expecting them though.
Great idea for a list. Good list except the Boondock Saints? And they are #4? C’mon.
copperdragon: Well, it’s like I said….historically speaking, particularly in our racist and phallocentric society, the majority of popular lead characters have been white men. When you have a media-based list (particularly when the list is really just a popular-choice list) it is inevitable that most if not all will be white males. This is especially true when most of the posters are themselves white males….it’s not that they intentionally leave out the women and non-white ethnic groups…its just the white male leads are the first that come to mind. Diversity should never be precluded but, IMHO, it should never precede the point of the list either.
I saw a similar post you made not too long ago about how all the “top 10″ character lists were white males, and then expressing disappointment that minorities are instead regulated to “top 10 black (blank)” or “top 10 female (blank).” I agree with you on this point. However, I just feel that, given the state of the media in this country, it is understandable (if not justifiable) that most of these lists will naturally feature white males over non-whites or females. Not saying it should be that way, but unfortunately it is.
A few characters from Pulp Fiction should have been considered, as well as (somebody mentioned before) Spawn….
I think Wolverine from X-Men is another good example.
How about Thelma & Louise? Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid? The cast of “Reservoir Dogs”?
Great List…I know that we are talking about movies, but as far as anti-hero’s go, i dont know if you can overlook Vic Mackey from The Shield. He spends his days putting the bad guys behind bars, but everything he does, he does for his own good.
How about these for honorable mention:
Jules Winnfield from Pulp Fiction – “***** negro, that’s all you had to say…”
Rhett Butler from Gone with the Wind – “I’m very drunk and I intend on getting still drunker before this evening’s over.” I bet Jfrater is having flashbacks…
And maybe a bit of a reach but:
Darth Vader from Star Wars – Although he blew up entire planets, there was good still left in him in the end!
Goin’ back to the fifties, another notable mention would be John Wayne’s portrayal of Ethan Edwards(The Searchers) as a racist and psychotic Civil War veteran caught in a fury of righteous and ugly revenge.
Cameron Poe says put the bunny back in the box.
How about V in V for Vendetta, sure he’s fighting a corrupt and evil government but he doesn’t hesitate to kill, even the woman who was truly sorry about what she did to him he killed anyway. His motives are as much about his own vendetta as anything else.
I LOVE the Boondock Saints. That should also be on the “Box Office bombs You should see” list! I just watched it last night! Sean Patrick Flannery + Irish accent = My husband having a good time courtesy of my imagination
Soooo glad to see the Saints on here
mmmmmm, Brad Pitt
and I have to agree with mom424: Dexter is my absolute fave, haven’t missed an episode yet and I had to download the second season even though its not out yet. Love the Dex
Yeah MacManus Brothers! I love that movie! Awesome list anyways.
very surprised about V and Boondock Saints being omitted
the macmannus bros. are the boondock saints….
oops didnt read enough to see boondock, glad its here
desperado
Kowalski from Vanishing Point definately deserves at least an HM. He practically defines anti-hero.
And on a much cheesier note, what about Burt Reynolds in Smokey and the Bandit? At the very least his ‘stache should make the cut.
I also agree that V should be in here somewhere.
The other one that I’m very surprised you missed was Popeye Doyle. Where’s the love?
What about “V” from V for Vendetta? Also, as much as I hate the movies, John McLane from the Die Hard movies…I think I would put them right up there over some of the other ones (if for no other reason but that they are more popular movies and better known)-all in all, really great list! Gave me some ideas for movies that I should see!
Agree about V from v for vendetta.
Leon – one of the best films and best characters. I would also add Nikita from La Femme Nikita. Besson has such a great way of creating the sympathetic anti-hero.
Shabab: I have done as you suggested – I have also removed your mention of it from your comment which would have had the same effect as a spoiler
These movies are bad.
POST 42-SLICKWILLY-
Also, the amount of roles that are out there for women and black persons are far less than the roles for white men. There just aren’t any parts for these two minorities in these types of roles. It’s hard to list something that unfortunately, doesn’t exist. There is a definite lack of roles for these women/black persons in Hollywood. That’s also a big reason (beyond the “white men coming to mind first”)-they come to mind first because there are an abundance more roles cast for these parts for white men than any other segement of the population. I think that one of Jet Li’s characters could have been included on here-or the girl in “Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon”.
Sorry that was post 32
Matt: May I ask where you are posting from? We seem to have a very large number of comments from your IP but your recent complaints are the first three under the nickname Matt. Also, as you don’t like this list either, what types of list would you like to see here? I am happy to accommodate – but people need to say more than “this list sucks” and similar
V or Kill Bill’s “the Bride” would’ve been good, but maybe they dont have as much an impact like the others on this list. It’s super awesome Tyler Durden made it, I love that film! Renton from Trainspotting is a pretty good anti-hero too, but maybe for another list.
I was really wanting to see Michael Corleone on this though.. what happened??
ps. I love this site.
I’m really glad to see Leon in the list.
Some of my recommendations:
Kaneda, and/or the Colonel from AKIRA
Donnie Darko (?)
Shinji Ikari from Evangelion
Matt Damon’s character from The Departed
George & Dim from A Clockwork Orange (bad guys hired as police recruits to crack down on crime)
What wasn’t mentioned about Leon that makes him a great anti-hero is his own code of ethics. Yes he’s an assassin, but he teaches Mathilda the golden rule: “No women, no children.” I think that adds much to his anti-hero persona.
I think characters like Travis Bickle and “D-Fens” are awful. Any character that turns bad only because something doesn’t go their way is an instant sucky character. You’re not an anti-hero if you snap because you’re a whiny ***** about how life treats you. There are people out there who put up with it, they don’t shoot people up or beat people down , they just deal with it, and because Travis Bickle and D-Fens refused to take it anymore and start firing guns because of it, they lose any respect I may have had for them before. When you turn crazy, you immediately lose your good qualities. Bickle and D-Fens are bad guys, not anti-heroes.
I wouldn’t include V from V for Vendetta as an anti-hero. He was all good. He never hurt the innocent and his intentions were always good (overthrowing a corrupt government that simultaneously restricts the rights of the innocent AND caused V’s disfigurement).
If I could include a character in the list, I’d choose Henry Hill from Goodfellas. I know he’s based on a real life guy of the same name, but the movie version is notable in my opinion. He’s a true anti-hero. He’s likable and charming, providing and caring for his wife and kids, but, he does so while working for a mafia crime syndicate, dealing weapons, selling stolen goods, and mixing and selling drugs like cocaine. However, because of his likable personality, you want to root for him, while you hate him for his crimes. Henry Hill is the perfect anti-hero.
hmm.. Good point about V, Maxx. There’s a fine line between hero and anti-hero in defiance of authority. I guess Tyler Durden made the list because he was much more pointlessly destructive and his objective less than virtuous.
What about… Rochester from the Libertine? Although, he is more of a “tragic hero”. Oh oh, jfrater, can you do a list of greatest tragic heroes?? That’s be super!!