Your protagonist can be the vilest person imaginable so long
as empathy exists. But there's a big difference between Hero and Anti-Hero, as
well Anti-Hero and Villain.
Here we'll focus on the latter two
because Anti-Heroes walk that fine line between Hero and Villain as the complicated
conglomeration of both, neither black nor white but shades of gray.
The Anti-Hero can lie, cheat, steal,
and be unpleasant to everyone they interact with, same as the Villain, but we
root for the Anti-Hero while condemning the Villain.
Why so?
Two simple words containing a whole
planet's worth of gravity: potential redemption.
As well the lovable quality of the
stubborn Anti-Hero is telling them they cannot or shouldn’t do something feeds
their tenacious drive for doing it all the more if only out of spite.
Anti-Heroes are flawed same as us.
Their moral complexities mirror our own. And just like us they learn and grow
while moving upon their tortured path of life. Their mistakes make us think of
our mistakes, and the reason why we root for their redemption is the reflection
of ourselves rooting for our own.
The contrast between Anti-Hero and
Villain is simple. We embrace and relate to the Anti-Hero, while we despise and
detach from the Villain. Both are driven by selfish motivations, but our
emotional response differs between them because the Anti-Hero possesses two
distinct traits the Villain lacks:
1. a glimmer of humanity
2. a noticeable vulnerability
These two distinct traits allow us
to truly connect with the Anti-Hero so that we forgive them when they are
unethical and admire them when they are noble. This allows them to be angry,
cowardly, and greedy, but also cheerful, brave, and empathetic.
Unlike the clean-cut, golden-haired
virtuous Hero of mainstream culture, as well the unshaven, mustache-twirling
sinister Villain, the Anti-Hero is not only more realistic but far more likely
to resonate with the reader despite often being abrasive, rude, and miserable
grumps. They resemble ourselves, and not only remind us of the ambiguous
morality of existence but also the possibility of redemptive change.
With Anti-Heroes, we may not have
walked the same tortured story in their shoes through first-hand experience (murder,
addiction, physical abuse and/or psychological torment, etc ...), but we can
relate to the adversity that comes with it.
Considering the incredible
magnitude of their individual story's plight, the Anti-Hero reaches a crossroad
moment in life where one side offers the possibility of hope and redemption,
the other side the outright guarantee of despair and forfeiture.
Much like the Villain, the central
component of the Anti-Hero is that they possess the singular desire to
accomplish their goal to which the end justifies all means. Yet this desire
stems from their scars of vulnerability they carry round as their defensive antisocial
shield.
Most often the Anti-Hero displays
rare acts of selflessness to the benefit of vulnerable others while at the
detriment to themselves, declaring they care nothing for the vulnerable other
yet showing they actually do, proving this conflict of paradoxical truth
harbored within them through their sacrificial Glimmer of Humanity.
As example, they may spend most of
their story arguing with and saying outright that they hate a specific ally
they're forced to work with, but when this ally becomes trapped inside a
burning building the Anti-Hero rushes to the rescue without care or consequence
to him/herself and drags the hated ally outside to safety—then punches them in
the face after saving their life after no others dared risk their own life in
such a brave manner.
Also the Anti-Hero displays rare
acts of kindness to animals or nature over the people they have disassociated
themselves from through antisocial defense, perhaps burning an entire forest
down while fighting the Villain yet risking their life during their harrowing
escape from the raging inferno to rescue a baby bunny (reminding them of their
childhood pet) or a rare flower (reminding them of a dead loved one lost during
childhood) from the encroaching flames while their stunned allies look on in
surprised though also admiring wonder at this fleeting reveal of the Anti-Hero's
usually guarded interior tenderness hidden beneath their rough protective
exterior.
An Anti-Hero's actions throughout
the course of their life are so drastic and single-minded that they only ever
lead to salvation or destruction. Their final decision is always dictated by
what they've learned and how they've changed throughout the course of their
story same as any good protagonist, but its conclusion hides nestled in mystery
until the climactic reveal because the Anti-Hero is a living paradox of extremes,
whereas presented with a same dire situation one can accurately predict the
conventional Hero's or Villain's response.
I’ll use the ‘bare bones basics’ of
my Master Plot Formula as example:
-ACT 1-
Old World Stasis: (protagonist
living their ordinary life until it’s disrupted by the Inciting Incident that
presents them their main story goal; the miserable antisocial Anti-Hero
perceives the Inciting Incident as a Major Problem though it’s really a Big
Opportunity for them to begin their potential redemption)
New World Flux: (protagonist
debating then acting on what to do about the Inciting Incident disrupter of
their ordinary life; the Anti-Hero rejects, ignores, debates then decides to do
something about the permanent disrupter of the Inciting Incident)
-ACT 2A-
Things Come Together: (protagonist
striving to achieve their main story goal, earning more successes than failures
while gaining and learning from new allies of the new world; the Anti-Hero
rejects then reluctantly accepts help from new allies in the new world though
views them more hindrance than help)
False Victory: (protagonist
achieving a big success toward resolving their main story goal though not the actual
goal itself, while gaining the full attentions of the antagonist; same here, as
well the Anti-Hero admits to him/herself they are actually beginning to care
about the others involved and hates admitting it)
-ACT 2B-
Things Fall Apart: (protagonist’s continuing
plans and team of allies fall apart through more failures than successes while
internal dissensions surmount and antagonist external enemies close in; the
Anti-Hero regresses behind their defensive antisocial shield, removing from
their potential redemption)
False Defeat: (protagonist at their
lowest point thus far, a.k.a. the Villain’s False Victory, while tools are
stolen or broken and allies are captured or killed; the Anti-Hero further
retreats behind their defensive antisocial shield . . . though now they
recognize its heavy burden because they actually care about others)
-ACT 3-
False Solution: (protagonist’s final
try against the antagonist while all subplots outside of protagonist are
resolved; the Anti-Hero reaches an ultimatum fork in the road of either forfeiture
or redemption)
True Resolution: (protagonist vs.
antagonist showdown; *)
*NOTE that the True Resolution is
where Hero, Anti-Hero, and Villain plots differ the most. Typically the Hero survives
while earning their triumphant victory over the Villain, whereas the Anti-Hero
dies while or shortly after defeating the Villain, completing their redemption
while their ultimate sacrifice ensures a better future for those they’ve grown
to care about.
Most often the antisocial
Anti-Hero's moral epiphany of story is learning to care about another person
then committing some great personal sacrifice for the betterment of that person
at story's end while at story's contrasting beginning they wouldn't have spat
on them if they were on fire.
A perfect example is the movie 'Logan Logan 's
Glimmer of Humanity and Noticeable Vulnerability tugs at our feels while
excusing all of his contemptible behavior.
Then Logan
discovers a little girl needs his help. He wants nothing to do with her, of
course, because the Anti-Hero's initial natural response is selfish rejection,
but outside circumstances as well his discovery of her being his female genetic
clone and thus essentially his daughter instigates him into action. And there
between them blossoms a relationship he wanted no part of though cannot deny while
providing Logan his potential redemption, the hopeful closure to his otherwise
miserable life we the audience crave most for him.
Ultimately Logan
sacrifices his life to ensure a bunch of innocent mutant children into safer
living across the Canadian border, because sacrifice defines the Anti-Hero, and
often at the cost of their own life. This selfless sacrifice earns the
Anti-Hero their redemption despite being a reluctant curmudgeon throughout most
of their story. And we admire them for it because their sacrifice
cuts us deep and makes us care.
But too late.
Because they died for the cause
they spurned then eventually took up.
And that makes us grieve all the
more.
Because, sadly, the dead hero is
the remembered hero.
Happy writing!