Fifty More Horror Clichés That Should Be Left to Spoil

#30: The Definition of An Anti-Hero

Whenever typically someone thinks of the standard anti-hero, they think of a brooding, emo individual.  They probably have dark hair and if not that, the character in question will have some type of a mohawk or dye their hair a darker shade.  These characters think highly of themselves, believing friendship is for squares and the only person they should worry about is number one.  A lot of the time, anti-hero characters will wield some type of weapon, be it a crossbow or some type of edgy looking gun.  Their preferred mode of transportation is usually a motorcycle, which they use to ride around their dystopian city setting.  Anti-heroes never show any emotion, because like friendship, emotions are for the weak.  Unlike the "soft" main character, they will kill when needed to, always sitting with their rash actions on a very morally great line that can never be erased.

  Always, these characters have some type of tragic backstory, where a loved one they really cared about died in extremely tragic circumstances.  They are always brooding about this character, never healthily moving on through the multitudes of available emotional therapies out there.  Every action the anti-hero commits is because of this character, in their vengeance fueled drive to get revenge.  Always, the world revolves around this very character until the day this character dies way too young saving the world in a fiery explosion.

  Basically, whenever someone hears the word anti-hero, they think of either John Wick or Shadow the Hedgehog, if not both.  Because of the popularity resulting from well known characters such as these two, people believe anti-heroes are the most cliché of characters with writing only a third grader could have created.  People believe these types of characters to be complete jokes to writing a complex, well balanced character.  After all, they seemingly check off the list for most cliché character writing tropes as well as formulaic actions story after story.

  However, this is far from true.  An anti-hero is not supposed to be the emo, emotionless loner most of the public perceives them to be.  Instead, they are morally flawed characters whose actions do not fall into either that of a hero or that of a villain.  Anti-heroes are in the middle ground of morality, whose actions are up to the interpretation of those who witness their actions firsthand.  There is no right or wrong answer to interpret their actions in the fictional world.  It is totally up to the reader or viewer where this character's morality truly stands.

  Take the fictional character Dexter Morgan for instance, a true anti-hero in the sense.  In the TV series Dexter, the character of the same name met the requirements of a true neutral by killing a multitude of murderous criminals.  Dexter by committing these acts can be seen as either a true saint by viewers for killing the trash society creates or a true villain by ending the lives of dozens of people, even if they were criminals.  It is completely up to the viewer where Dexter truly stands on the morality line.  By being a true neutral, he is an extremely interesting character to analyze and far from the flat character most people would expect due to being an anti-hero. 

  Anti-heroes are supposed to be in design characters that are supposed to intrigue interest in the audience, allowing for a diverse character that is open for discussion above any other type of character.  By being neutral in morality, their actions as a character are made more interesting and diverse in execution.  Sometimes this character will commit actions that are entirely good, while other times their actions are entirely evil.  They are unpredictable in their actions, thus keeping the storyline free from being too formulaic.  These types of characters are supposed to be trope breakers in disguise, redefining the function of the typical fictional plot line.

  It is truly sad because of the popularity of particular anti-hero characters that everyone suddenly thinks all anti-heroes are predictable emotionless loners.  Just because a few characters act similar to each other does not mean all characters of their particular trope fall into the same exact characterization.  Even when it comes to the two characters I mentioned earlier, they are even more diverse than most people give them credit for.  Shadow is a character who is a tragic example of letting past grudges consume them that only a few people can truly understand fully once the situation they are going through is fully explained.  John Wick meanwhile is a character who tried so hard to let go of grudges from the past, only for the wrongful death of his dog to revive them and go on an iconic revenge killing spree.  No two anti-heroes are exactly the same, and that is pretty incredible for a typical character trope.

  In the future, think of anti-heroes as characters with depth that are meant to be analyzed for their morally gray ideologies.  They serve a very unique role in fiction that few people have truly come to fully appreciate.