Hmm.. This is a great question.
Snow Flower writes:
Dear Kfangurl,
I like reading your witty and thoughtful musings on dramas and their fans. I would like to read your take on one of the most popular drama tropes, the anti-hero (or heroine).
I admit that I am fascinated with conflicted characters because I think that inside each of them is hidden the possibility for redemption. And redemption and character growth are the bread and butter of good storytelling.
So if and when you are able, please share your insights about what makes a good anti-hero and why do the drama fans like them.
Sincerely,
Snow Flower
I just couldn’t help but be drawn.. to this badassery. π€©
Dear Snow Flower,
You ask a fascinating question. I have to admit that I only gave it specific thought because you asked the question, heh.
Prior to this, I simply enjoyed anti-heroes on my screen as a matter of instinct, but after some soul-searching, here are my thoughts on what qualifies a character as an anti-hero (or -heroine), and why we might enjoy these characters.
Because I haven’t watched all the dramas out there, I won’t be able to mention all the anti-heroes out there either.
If I missed out your favorite, or if you have insights, perspectives &/or experiences to share, please tell us all about it in the comments below! β€
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A HERO AND AN ANTI-HERO?
Let’s unmask the anti-hero, shall we? π
I thought it might be useful to start with establishing some key differences between a hero and an anti-hero.
Generally speaking, a hero tends to have all the good characteristics that we’ve come to associate with traditionally good main characters.
They tend to be good-looking, morally upright, law-abiding, well-mannered and well-spoken, selfless, and brave, among other positive traits. Kinda like Superman.
So an anti-hero would tend to be the opposite of this, in at least some key ways.
An anti-hero may or may not be good-looking, but they do tend to be morally ambiguous, and are more than likely to break the law in order to achieve their goals.
They might be rude, and they’re more likely to be selfish. Kinda like Deadpool.
What separates an anti-hero from a villain, however, is that an anti-hero has their own principles and rules that they live by, and there’s often an element of justice about their actions.
For example, Robin Hood steals from the rich to give to the poor, and thereby helps to even out social injustice, and therefore would not steal from a poor person.
A villain wouldn’t do that. They’d just steal because they want the money for themselves, and mostly likely, they wouldn’t care if they stole from rich or poor. And a villain wouldn’t care if their actions had any impact on social order either.
Granted, the element of justice in an anti-hero’s agenda isn’t necessarily societal. In fact, it’s often personal, like when they’re seeking revenge or justice for a wrong that’s been done to them, or to people close to them.
Edit: Just for added clarity, an anti-hero, by definition, is a protagonist or main character of a story.
WHY MIGHT WE BE DRAWN TO ANTI-HEROES?
I feel like we might all have different reasons for being drawn to anti-heroes.
Some people like the complexity of the characterization, ie, a person isn’t good or bad in such a straightforward sort of way, and that makes the watch experience more interesting.
Others might also feel like the anti-hero is easier to identify with, since they don’t see themselves as being hero types either.
For me personally, the following are the top 3 reasons that I might feel drawn to an anti-hero.
1. They’re usually unapologetic badass bad boys – or girls
I tend to be quite thrilled by badassery, and anti-heroes do tend to be badasses in their own ways. This often translates into – but is not limited to – impressive fight skillz. Badassery can be displayed in non-fight ways too, like in how a character might conduct themselves in a corporate setting.
Plus, I do tend to have a bit of a weakness for bad boys on my screen; there’s something quite alluring about their disregard for things like social norms and the opinion or approval of others.
There’s also often an element of unpredictability that goes with that, that I find quite exciting to watch onscreen.
2. They’re often misunderstood
.. and then I just want them to be understood. This lends a bit of an underdog quality to the story, I feel, because our anti-hero is subject to inaccurate and unfair judgment. It makes me feel sorry for them, and want to root for them.
3. Even though they might be morally grey, there is an inner core of good
Essentially, our anti-heroes aren’t evil. They might break the law and they might be violent, but there is an inner core of good in them that we can see.
It might take the form of rogue justice, ie, our anti-hero taking things into their own hands because the law has failed them, or it might take the form of them helping the weak and powerless.
I think it’s that good inner core that bridges our conscience and the anti-hero. That inner good makes us feel that we can root for the anti-hero, despite their moral ambiguity.
ANTI-HEROES: A SMALL COLLECTION
Here’s a collection of anti-heroes, and the quick spotlight on why I consider them anti-heroes, and also, why they’re my favorites – or not my favorites.
Note that due to the nature of this section, where I need to touch on why these characters would be counted as anti-heroes rather than heroes, this will be somewhat SPOILERY.
MY FAVORITE ANTI-HEROES
KOREA
Lee Dae Gil, Chuno
Anti-hero cred: He hunts runaway slaves for a living, and therefore, the poor and oppressed slaves live in fear of him.
But, he also quietly helps the runaway slaves, enabling many of them to live new and better lives.
Works for me because:Β Jang Hyuk‘s badassery is through the roof, in this show! π€© Also, Dae Gil is a character that’s often misunderstood, so when we see his inner pain, my heart can’t help but bleed for him.
Also, he may live as a rogue, but his loyalty to those that he cares about, is deep, enduring and utterly moving.
Review is here.
Jung Shi Hyun, Heartless City
Anti-hero cred: He lives a cold and calculated existence as a drug lord, and is as sharp, precise and ruthless in his business dealings, as he is with his lethal ninja-esque fight moves.
Works for me because: He’s emotionally invested even when he isn’t supposed to be, and he’s deeply loyal to those who are close to him.
He’s also a pawn in a sprawling system that he’s working to fight, and that surprising underdog angle really got to me. Plus, his lethal fight moves are truly quite mesmerizing. π€©
Flash Review is here.
Kang Pil Joo, Money Flower
Anti-hero cred: He’s a highly intelligent and capable lawyer, who subjects himself to being treated like high-class dirt by the Cheong A group, while carefully scheming to take them down.
He’s crafty and morally ambiguous, and I was completely mesmerized.
Works for me because:Β His entire life was utterly ruined by the Cheong A group, and with no other legal recourse available to him, I can understand his burning desire to take the law into his own hands.
Plus, the villains in this story are so despicable that it’s easy to root for him to succeed.
Review is here.
Seo Jung Hoo, Healer
Anti-hero cred: He breaks the law for a living, accepting large sums of money for executing various illegal tasks.
His entire existence is antisocial; he lives in a secret hideout with no human contact unless absolutely necessary.
Works for me because: He has his own moral code, and will not kill for money.Β And his antisocial ways are a result of circumstance rather than personal choice. He’s misunderstood, which makes me want him to receive understanding.
Plus, he’s so darn cool every time he casually parkours off a building. π€©
Review is here.
Ha Rip, When The Devil Calls Your Name
Anti-hero cred: He’s sold his soul to the devil in exchange for fame and success, and now, he’s trying to trick someone else into selling their pure, top-grade soul to the devil, in order to prevent his own soul from being taken.
Works for me because: He’s not an evil person and he does have a conscience. Even at his most self-centered, I found him understandable.
Plus, his humanity often wins out over his vanity, and that made me want to root for him.
Flash Review is here.
Baek Hee Seong, Flower Of Evil
Anti-hero cred: He’s wanted for murder, and is living a brand new life with an assumed identity, where his wife and child have no idea of his questionable past.
He doesn’t hesitate to break the law – breaking and entering, kidnapping and intimidation – in order to protect his past, and his present.
Works for me because:Β He doesn’t come across as the killing type, despite his antisocial behaviors and his sociopathic leanings. Plus, in his own way, he seems to care for the people who are in his close orbit.
Also, it seems that he didn’t commit the murder that he’s wanted for, so that makes me want him to clear his name, and stop being misunderstood.
Update: Review is here!
All the bad guys, Bad Guys
Anti-hero cred: They’ve all been incarcerated for various (mostly violent) crimes, and have nowΒ been harnessed as a team of top criminals, to catch other criminals.
Works for me because:Β I love the idea of bad guys being caught by badder guys, and there’s lots of badassery to go around, with our top criminals unleashing casually sharp and lethal fight moves, in the course of their work.
It helps that in the midst of it all, Show makes time to humanize our top criminals to make them more sympathetic. The reluctant teamwork and gruff friendship is pretty great too.
Review is here.
Lee Kang To, Gaksital [Bridal Mask]
Anti-hero cred: He’s widely considered a traitor, for choosing to work for the Japanese as a police officer and being violent and cruel to his fellow Koreans.
He’s unapologetic about his choice and doesn’t even flinch at the general hatred thrown his way because of it.
Works for me because: His journey is one of redemption. He eventually dons the mask to become the elusive “Bridal Mask” rebel, and secretly fights against the very regime that he officially serves.
His trajectory is a deeply emotional one, and he loses a great deal in order to serve his greater goals. And by the end of our story, he manages to go from anti-hero to full-blown hero.
Review is here.
Ji Sun Woo, A Couple’s World
Anti-hero cred: She does things which are morally questionable – and sometimes, just plain wrong and illegal – in order to achieve her goal.
Works for me because: She’s not a bad person, and only starts doing the bad things because she’s pushed into a corner by the awful people who set themselves against her.
The way Show presents it, she has little choice but to play dirty, because everyone around her is playing dirty against her. It becomes easier to accept her moral ambiguity when it becomes a matter of survival.
Review is here.
Ko Moon Young, It’s Okay To Not Be Okay
Anti-hero cred: She’s self-centered, casually cruel and treats people like objects.
A lot of her behavior leans disturbing and even somewhat murderous.
Works for me because: She does have her own rules and code of conduct that she lives by, and we do see her helping others, even in Show’s early episodes. This tells me that she’s not a bad person, at heart.
Additionally, her journey is one of growth, which means that she sheds a lot of her disturbing behavior, and becomes more overtly caring towards others, as we get deeper into our story.
Review is here.
Edited to add: Lee Ji An, My Mister (thanks to MC, for the reminder!)
Anti-hero cred: She is willing to do morally questionable things in order to survive.
For a good stretch of our story, she’s literally spying on our protagonist, in exchange for money.
Works for me because:Β She is not a bad person, and clearly feels forced by her circumstances to compromise on her morals.
Her conscience does eventually triumph, and she is earnest in wanting to be a better person.
Review is here.
CHINA
Zhang Xiaojing, The Longest Day in Chang’an
Anti-hero cred: He’s a prisoner on death row, convicted of multiple murders.
And in the course of our story, we see him engage in some disturbing behaviors, including the betrayal of people who’ve been close to him.
Works for me because: He’s clearly conflicted when he betrays others, and it’s obvious that he does it while keeping the greater good in mind, since his assignment is to save the city of Chang’an from a terrorist plot.
Meaning, if he doesn’t succeed, everybody dies. That makes his darker deeds look like lesser evils.
Also, it becomes clear that he’s a good man who’s been framed for many things, so I soon found myself rooting for him to (a) save everyone, and (b) clear his name.
Flash Review is here.
Mei Changsu, Nirvana In Fire
Anti-hero cred: This is a tough one, because I hadn’t thought of him as an anti-hero before making this post. But he’s plotting to replace the king with a person of his own choosing.
That’s technically treason, yes? (Let me know if you see this differently!)
Works for me because: He’s not seeking revenge so much as he’s pursuing justice. His family’s been wronged in a big way, and this is his way of righting the wrongs.
Also, he’s clearly a good man at heart, who’s deeply loyal to the people who are important to him.
Flash Review is here. Open Threads are listed here.
ANTI-HEROES WHO WEREN’T MY FAVORITES
Yoo Jung, Cheese In The Trap
Anti-hero cred: He’s pretty sociopathic, and a lot of his behavior leans cold, cruel and disturbing.
He also appears highly manipulative, and importantly, his intentions appear dark.
Not my favorite because: Show doesn’t give us the chance to witness a journey of growth or redemption for him, and only implies in the last episode, that he’s changed.
All of that change happens off-screen, and therefore alienates the viewer from his journey.
Weird choice, really.
Flash Review is here.
Kang Ma Ru, Nice Guy
Anti-hero cred: He’s cold, angry and manipulative, and out for revenge, and he gets involved with our female lead purely in order to use her in his revenge plans.
Not my favorite because: Our characters – including our anti-hero – can be very unlikable, even though they are interesting.
Mostly, I found Show poorly written, with logic lapses and stretches that challenged how far my eyes could roll into the back of my head.
Flash Review is here.
Kim Moo Young, The Smile Has Left Your Eyes
Anti-hero cred: He’s got a mysterious, dangerous sort of flavor, and people even suspect him of murder.
He comes across as casually manipulative, wowing ladies with his calculated moves, and then holding their hearts for ransom.
Not my favorite because: I found his journey of redemption and change too simplistic and convenient.
Also, I did not like how Show handled the ending of our story.
Flash Review is here.
Kim Tae Hyun, Yong Pal
Anti-hero cred: He’s a brilliant surgeon who moonlights as a mercenary doctor to the corrupt and the criminal.
Not my favorite because:Β Show seems to forget that our rogue surgeon is its protagonist, and gives the lion’s share of the spotlight to his love interest instead.
Also, Show becomes very messy and illogical in its second half, and serves up an ending that is spectacularly underwhelming.
Flash Review is here.
Jung Geum Ja, Hyena
Anti-hero cred: She’s a street-smart lawyer who doesn’t mind playing dirty in order to achieve her goals.
Not my favorite because: With lots of rationalization and context, I managed to come around to Geum Ja’s appeal by the end of my watch, but I must admit that sometimes it was a struggle to like her.
I found some of her actions mean-spirited and unnecessary, and these things admittedly niggled at me, even though I could feel that Show was selling her to be a queen.
Review is here.
IN CLOSING
I hope you guys found this exploration of anti-heroes useful in helping you figure out why you might be drawn to an anti-hero, and hopefully, you might’ve even found a new anti-hero or two, to acquaint yourself with, from this list!
As always, if you guys have other shows featuring anti-heroes to recommend, or insights to share, please tell us about it in the comments! π
Oh! And Yi Bang Won in Six Flying Dragons totally counts as an anti-hero, I believe?
I never finished Six Flying Dragons (I know! I tried! Twice!), and so couldn’t include him in either section of this post, but I’ve heard enough about the show from other drama fans, to feel confident saying that he belongs in the anti-hero category, with his desire to overthrow the king, and his lashings of darkness and cruelty.
I hope this helps!
Love!Β β€
~kfangurl
Behold the morally ambiguous Yi Bang Won.
POST-SCRIPT:
1. If you feel that I missed anything, or if you have your own insights that youβd like to share with the rest of us, do tell us about it in the comments!
2. Do you have a question of your own? Drop me a comment here or on theΒ Dear kfangurlΒ page, or send me an email!
