“ | The protagonist doesn't have to be likable or moral or a good guy... He just has to be interesting! | „ |
~ George R. R. Martin |
“ | The era of games has begun. It's time to start a game where I am the main character. Where I will unify my soon-to-be empire. A game that will bring me a glorious ending. | „ |
~ Kuroto Dan |
A villainous protagonist, or protagonistic villain is a character who is the central focus of a story but isn’t the hero of its story. In short, these villains are the main characters of their own stories. Due to them being the protagonists of the story (and in many cases, knowing their motives) the audience commonly and mistakenly nickname them "Anti-Heroes".
Light Yagami, Zim, Trevor Philips, Eren Yeager, Walter White, Milton's Satan, The Crusader, Thomas Shelby, Arthur Fleck, Tony Soprano, Sasuke Uchiha, Saul Goodman, Tony Montana and Michael Corleone are prime examples of villain protagonists.
Villainous deuteragonists and tritagonists fall under this category too.
There can be more than one villainous protagonist in a same story, but each one has to share the same amount of screen time in order to qualify. In video games, any playable character(s) can qualify (e.g. Michael De Santa, Franklin Clinton, and Trevor Philips, who are the protagonists of Grand Theft Auto V and Daniel Lamb and Leo Kasper, who are the protagonists of Manhunt 2). Also, former protagonists who became antagonistic villains (usually due to a tragic event in their life) can also be included, given that they played a large part in the story, even if they no longer function as heroes. (e.g. Darth Vader, Rex Dangervest, Nolanverse's Two-Face). The same applies to antagonists that protagonize their own stories (Joker, Yoshikage Kira, Poison Ivy ); reedmed or on-off villains who used to oppose the heroes but later joined the heroic cause (Zuko, Vegeta, Plaknton , Omni-Man, Beerus and Bowser) and even in more rarer cases overreaching protagonists who were planning everything from behind. (Calypso, Leo Kasper and Shinigami King)
Such characters can be found in almost every work of fiction, however, they are quite uncommon in works aimed for children, as these protagonists are usually meant to convey moral values. Examples of children's entertainment protagonist villains are: Wario, Megamind, Mr. Krabs, Brain, The Grinch, Felonius Gru and The Once-Ler.
Some can be falsely seen as the "protagonist hero" as they are seen on the cover of the movie/book and there for the reader/watcher are being lured to believe that the character is the main hero of the story, while they are in fact the main antagonists. One example is Chip Hazard from Small Soldiers.
These characters are rarely Pure Evil, because it is very unlikely and odd for a leading character to actually be that evil, due to most protagonists being anti-villains , grey zoned , villains by proxy, redeemed, sympathetic, and/or On & Off. (e.g Ainz Ooal Gown, Dexter Morgan, John Wade, Alucard etc).
In addition, protagonists that are villainous usually set the villainy standards in their story. However, protagonists can still be Pure Evil if they have no redeeming or sympathetic qualities, know right from wrong, and the surrounding characters are visibly distressed or repulsed by their actions, thus meaning that they meet the criteria (e.g. Patrick Bateman, Louis Bloom, Frank Underwood, Light Yagami, Kurt Kunkle, King Richard III, Quentin McNeil and Henry). In addition, horror works and exploitative medias often feature purely evil protagonists who are meant to be feared as mascots of their own franchise (e.g. Chucky, Michael Myers, Sweet Tooth and Alan Yates).
They are the exact inverted opposite of heroic antagonists.
All items (5408)
- Beerus
- Beetle
- Beetlejuice (Beetlejuice)
- Beetlejuice (Teen Titans Go!)
- Beilert Valance
- Belial Bradley
- Belkar Bitterleaf
- Belle Fontiere
- Bellina
- Ben (Man Bites Dog)
- Ben (Willard)
- Ben Chang
- Ben Hopkins
- Ben Mitchell
- Ben Wade
- Benares
- Bender Bending Rodríguez
- Bene Gesserit
- Benjamin Cameron
- Benjamin Krupp
- Benjamin Linus
- Benjamin Tobin
- Benjamín García
- Bennett the Sage
- Benny (Benny Loves You)
- Benny (Black Lagoon)
- Benny (I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream)
- Benny Lopez
- Benson Dunwoody
- Berlin
- Bernard Black
- Bernard Wiseman
-
- Bernice Woodall
- Berry the Ice Monster
- Bert (Cobra Kai)
- Besargar
- Beth Salinger
- Beth Wallace
- Betty La Bomba
- Beverly Hope
- Beverly Sutphin
- BFF Empire
- Bi Ki
- Bia Urquiza
- Bibi Perigosa
- Bible Dude
- Bicine
-
- Big Boss (Metal Gear)
- Bigby Wolf
- Biker (Hotline Miami)
- Bill (Bill The Demon)
- Bill (Eltingville)
- Bill Boss
- Bill Cipher
- Bill Compton
- Bill O'Neil (Judas and the Black Messiah)
- Bill Williamson (Rampage)
- Billie Lurk
- Billy (Egg Kevin's House)
- Billy (Feed Me Billy)
- Billy (Hide)
- Billy Bickle
- Billy Butcher (comics)
- Billy Butcher (TV Series)
- Billy Chapman
- Billy Flynn (Chicago)
- Billy Halleck
- Billy Handsome
- Billy Jacobs
- Billy Mitchell
- Billy Ray Stillwell
- Billy the Kid (Popeye the Sailor Man)
- Billy Walker
- Bingo (The Banana Splits)
- Bioids
- Birdo
- Birthday Boy Blam
- Bismuth
- Bitch Puddin'
- BK
- Black (Twisted Metal)
- Black Adam (DC Extended Universe)
- Black Adam (DC)
- Black Adam (Injustice)
- Black Bolt (Marvel Zombies)
- Black Bomberman
- Black Cat (Spider-Man: Web of Shadows)
- Black Cuervo
- Black Hat (Villainous)
- Black Mage
- Black Mom 1
- Black Pearl Cookie
- Black Widow (Marvel)
- Black Widow (Ultimate Marvel)
- Blackarachnia (Beast Wars)
- Blackarachnia (Transformers: Animated)
- Blackfire (DC)
- Blackfire (Titans)
- Blackmailer (Town of Salem)
- Blackrabbit
- Blackstar
- Blair Waldorf
- Blaire Lily
- Blanche DuBois
- Blaster-Tron
- Bletch
- Blinky (BlinkyTM)
- Blitzo
- Blocky
- Blood Freak
-
- Blood Red Sandman
- Bloodsport (DC Extended Universe)
- Bloody Mary (Twisted Metal)
- Bloody Queen
- BLU
- Blue Aardvark
- Blue Bomberman
- Blue Laser Commander
- Bluey
- Blutarch Mann
- Bo-Katan Kryze
- Bob Berdella
-
- Bob the Bulldog
- Bob the Zombie
- Boba Fett (Angry Birds Star Wars)
- Boba Fett (Star Wars)
- Bobby "The Blade" Galletta
- Boby Psicótico
- Bodhi
- Boingo (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure)
- BoJack Horseman
- Bok-Nam Kim
- Bomberman Gang
- Bon
- Boneraiser
- Bonkers
- Bonne Family
- Bonnie (Bonnie's Bakery)
- Bonnie (The Walking Dead)
- Bonnie and Clyde
- Boogeyman (WWE)
- Boog
- Boomerang
- Borat Sagdiyev
- Boris (Tales of Halloween)
- Boris Badenov
- Boss (Rape Day)
- Bowser (Super Mario)
- Bowser Jr.
- Box Assassin
- Brad Armstrong
- Brad Buttowski
- Brad Snider
- Bradley Martin
- Brain (Animaniacs)
- Brain Freeze
- Brain Roidmude
- Brak
- Brandish μ
- Brandon Shaw
- Bratishka
- Braxton (SML)
- Braxton Wolff
- Bree Tanner
- Brendan Lawlor
- Brent and Kendall Ryan
- Brian Griffin
- Brian Heidik
- Brickleberry National Park
- Bridget Gregory
- Brigade
- Brightburn
- Brit (Spring Breakers)
- Brittnay Matthews
- Brittney Havers
- Brock Lesnar
- Broly (Dragon Ball Super)
- Broly (Dragon Ball)
- Bronze Tiger
- Bronze Tiger (Arkhamverse)
- Brooke Davis
- Brother Brax
- Brotherhood of Nod
- The Brown Ferret (Ferrets)
- Bruce Irvin
- Bruce Robertson
- Brundlefly
- Brutaka
- Bryan Fury (Film Series)
- Bryce Tankthrust (Brandon Rogers)
- Bryce Tankthrust (Bryce)
- Bryce Walker
- Buddy (Animaniacs)
- Buddy Armstrong
- Buddy Love
- Buff Frog