Tropescilloscope: Anti-Hero

A hero who lacks the proper traits of The Hero. (read more at tvtropes.org)

More Tropes Dirty Coward Artistic License – Physics Oh, Crap! Wretched Hive The Power of Love Hong Kong Films In the Back Screw the Rules, I Have Money! Nice Guy Canadian Movies Scenery Gorn Aluminum Christmas Trees She's Got Legs Improbable Infant Survival aka: Infant Immortality Heel–Face Turn Shower Scene The Oner Adaptational Badass Offscreen Teleportation Major Injury Underreaction Fourth Date Marriage Toplessness from the Back The Ghost You Killed My Father Parental Incest Genre Throwback Extreme Doormat Plot Hole Adults Are Useless The Load The Cavalry Even Evil Has Standards The Remake Riddle for the Ages The Place Jerkass Has a Point Dwindling Party Military and Warfare Films Laser-Guided Karma Took a Level in Badass Ragtag Bunch of Misfits Card-Carrying Villain Sequel Escalation Love Triangle Black Dude Dies First Chekhov's Gunman Dark Is Not Evil Fingore Psychological Thriller Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique Shirtless Scene French Films Rated M for Manly Fanservice Badass Boast Dirty Old Man Unreliable Narrator Black Comedy Not So Above It All Evil-Detecting Dog No Celebrities Were Harmed Karma Houdini Cain and Abel Fantasy Films Bavarian Fire Drill Sealed Evil in a Can Decoy Protagonist Drill Sergeant Nasty Real Life Television Movie Index Boom, Headshot! Smug Snake La Résistance Skewed Priorities Due to the Dead Pay Evil unto Evil Ugly Guy, Hot Wife Sassy Black Woman Animal Motifs Comically Missing the Point The Film of the Book Ax-Crazy Insane Troll Logic Berserk Button I Just Shot Marvin in the Face Developing Doomed Characters Posthumous Character Shut Up, Hannibal! I Have Your Wife Deadpan Snarker Arc Words Crazy Jealous Guy Obfuscating Stupidity Rule of Funny Here We Go Again! Setting Update Diabolus ex Machina Book-Ends Red Right Hand Offscreen Moment of Awesome My Beloved Smother Redshirt Army Your Cheating Heart What Happened to the Mouse? Dramedy True Companions Rasputinian Death Disguised in Drag Improbable Weapon User Taking You with Me Credits Gag The Sociopath There Is No Kill Like Overkill Parental Abandonment Bloodier and Gorier Science Fiction Films Conspicuous CG Papa Wolf Hooker with a Heart of Gold Only in It for the Money Recap / RiffTrax aka: Riff Trax Movies Fire-Forged Friends Only a Flesh Wound Gorn Large Ham Hypocritical Humor Big-Bad Ensemble The Stoic Freeze-Frame Bonus The Alleged Car Distracted by the Sexy Madness Mantra Jerkass Big Eater Unspoken Plan Guarantee Pyrrhic Victory The Bully Genre Savvy I Did What I Had to Do Married to the Job Kill 'em All folderlabel The Stinger Silence Is Golden Nice Job Breaking It, Hero! Dies Wide Open Blood Knight Sequel Hook Didn't Think This Through Australian Movies Not Quite Dead Impaled with Extreme Prejudice Obviously Evil Take That! Woman Scorned Line-of-Sight Name Cool Old Guy Jerk Jock Dull Surprise Whole Plot Reference No-Holds-Barred Beatdown Stealth Hi/Bye Blood from the Mouth Visual Pun Villain with Good Publicity Narrator Anti-Villain Self-Deprecation The End... Or Is It? Took a Level in Jerkass Zombie Stories Artistic License – Law Abusive Parents It Will Never Catch On Why Did It Have to Be Snakes? Fun with Acronyms Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep" Reasonable Authority Figure Christmas Movies Index Kill It with Fire Enemy Mine Determinator aka: The Determinator The Lancer Black Best Friend Adapted Out Victoria's Secret Compartment Moment Killer Green-Eyed Monster Rich Bitch Camera Abuse Sanity Slippage Cold-Blooded Torture Better to Die than Be Killed Parental Substitute Famous Last Words Leaning on the Fourth Wall Ambiguous Ending Depraved Bisexual Anguished Declaration of Love Half the Man He Used to Be Chase Scene Retcon Historical-Domain Character The Atoner The Great Depression Not Even Bothering with the Accent Hollywood Law Auto Erotica One Steve Limit Dropped a Bridge on Him Undying Loyalty Heroes Want Redheads Flipping the Bird Red Herring Male Gaze Nice Hat Toilet Humour aka: Toilet Humor Cool Old Lady Domestic Abuse Betty and Veronica Mind Screw Dramatic Irony Crapsack World Superhero Gone Horribly Right Pretty Little Headshots Belligerent Sexual Tension Manic Pixie Dream Girl "Shaggy Dog" Story Hollywood Darkness What the Hell, Hero? Badass Bookworm Groin Attack Would Hurt a Child Tap on the Head Frame-Up Punny Name Batman Gambit Action Survivor Colour-Coded for Your Convenience aka: Color Coded For Your Convenience Intergenerational Friendship Camp Gay Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping Rule of Symbolism As Himself Love at First Sight Jump Scare Spanner in the Works For the Evulz Deal with the Devil Only Sane Man Straight Gay Revenge Too Dumb to Live An Arm and a Leg Getting Crap Past the Radar Bar Brawl Instant Death Bullet Death of a Child Big "NO!" Character Development Nothing Is Scarier BFG Random Events Plot He Who Fights Monsters Four-Temperament Ensemble Hero of Another Story Grievous Bottley Harm Award-Bait Song Danny Peary Cult Movies List Girl-on-Girl Is Hot He Knows Too Much Light Is Not Good Does This Remind You of Anything? The Casanova The X of Y Epic Fail Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy Children Are Innocent Martial Arts Movie Anachronic Order Off-into-the-Distance Ending She Cleans Up Nicely Driven to Suicide Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome Say My Name Romantic Comedy Eiffel Tower Effect Left the Background Music On Cassandra Truth No Good Deed Goes Unpunished Badass Normal Armor-Piercing Question Death by Irony An Axe to Grind Brutal Honesty Maybe Ever After Sole Survivor Based on a True Story Coming-of-Age Story As Long as It Sounds Foreign Cluster F-Bomb Soundtrack Dissonance Evil Laugh Actor Allusion All There in the Manual "The Reason You Suck" Speech Super Strength Neck Lift Calling the Old Man Out Animal Title Index Hidden Depths Stepford Smiler Rousing Speech Disney Villain Death Continuity Nod Same Language Dub The Chick Ripped from the Headlines Annoying Younger Sibling Catch-Phrase Death by Sex Even Evil Has Loved Ones Dogged Nice Guy Mistaken for Gay Easily Forgiven Flashback Woman in White Defiant to the End War Is Hell Sacrificial Lion Broken Bird Creator Cameo The Smurfette Principle German Films Market-Based Title Made of Explodium In Medias Res Video Credits Bond One-Liner Bittersweet Ending Race Against the Clock Would Hit a Girl Destination Defenestration Roger Ebert: Great Movies List Gender Flip From Bad to Worse Drugs Are Bad Naked People Are Funny Works Set in World War II Ironic Echo Happily Married Vomit Discretion Shot It's All About Me Motor Mouth Fatal Family Photo Canon Foreigner Villain Ball O.O.C. Is Serious Business Chekhov's Skill Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass Broken Pedestal Alpha Bitch Aside Glance No Ending Eldritch Abomination Amusing Injuries Men Are the Expendable Gender Pragmatic Villainy Cruel and Unusual Death Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas Bare Your Midriff Ominous Latin Chanting You Have Outlived Your Usefulness Logo Joke Disney Death Homage Big Damn Heroes Implacable Man Stuff Blowing Up Beware the Nice Ones Adaptation Dye-Job The Voiceless Cool Car Department of Redundancy Department Beta Couple Black and Gray Morality Cowboy Cop Together in Death Cool Shades Sinister Minister Abhorrent Admirer Badass Grandpa You Have Failed Me More Dakka Double-Meaning Title Gory Discretion Shot All There in the Script Rewatch Bonus "Awesome McCool" Name Affectionate Parody The '70s Be Careful What You Wish For Death by Adaptation Dark Reprise Anachronism Stew Crucified Hero Shot Grey and Gray Morality Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil Call-Back Alas, Poor Villain Intrepid Reporter British Films Russian Films Evil Is Petty Improvised Weapon Slap-Slap-Kiss Mercy Kill The Un-Favourite aka: The Un Favorite Sir Not-Appearing-in-This-Trailer Air-Vent Passageway Action Genre Serial Killer Index of Film Westerns Smoking Is Cool Author Avatar Everyone Has Standards Adaptation Expansion Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane Eagleland Fake Shemp In Name Only Bland-Name Product The '90s Mama Bear Race Lift Dramatic Gun Cock Disappeared Dad Expository Hairstyle Change Loads and Loads of Characters Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right! Foil Unwitting Instigator of Doom Big Brother Instinct Rule of Cool Star-Crossed Lovers Evil Counterpart Horror Comedy Evil Brit Big Applesauce Kick the Son of a Bitch Re-Cut Damsel in Distress Unresolved Sexual Tension Evil Sounds Deep Taking the Bullet The Starscream Epic Movie Corrupt Corporate Executive Mythology Gag Totally Radical Why Don't You Just Shoot Him? Bald of Evil Pragmatic Adaptation The Reveal Spell My Name with an "S" Evil Is Hammy B-Movie Manipulative Bastard Punch-Clock Villain Time Skip Death Seeker Silent Movie Not So Stoic Leitmotif The Alcoholic Break the Haughty Psycho for Hire Chekhov's Gun Beard of Evil A Date with Rosie Palms Manly Tears Never Found the Body After the End Tranquil Fury Guns Akimbo Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold Stock Footage Blackmail Police Brutality The Lost Lenore Imagine Spot Trailers Always Spoil Dark Action Girl And the Adventure Continues Car Fu Bad "Bad Acting" The '60s Evil vs. Evil Country Matters Hope Spot Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking One-Man Army Well-Intentioned Extremist Shown Their Work Reckless Gun Usage Wham Shot Fate Worse than Death Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds Dying Moment of Awesome Scare Chord Brainless Beauty Covers Always Lie Twist Ending Arranged Marriage Only One Name Amoral Attorney Overprotective Dad Very Loosely Based on a True Story Mexican Standoff Once More, with Clarity! Public Domain Feature Films Handicapped Badass Needs Wiki Magic Love Hate Sink Red Eyes, Take Warning The Un-Reveal Heroic BSoD Contrived Coincidence Gold Digger Almost Kiss Meaningful Background Event Dirty Cop The Stoner Fantastic Racism Wounded Gazelle Gambit All Girls Want Bad Boys I'm a Humanitarian Artistic License – Military Accidental Misnaming Bad Boss Mood Whiplash Nice Job Fixing It, Villain! Wham Line Wicked Cultured Villain Opening Scene A God Am I Scary Black Man Worthy Opponent Hero Antagonist Blonde, Brunette, Redhead Reality Ensues May–December Romance Bloodless Carnage MacGuffin Mr. Exposition Fish out of Water Biopic Match Cut Leave the Camera Running Dressing as the Enemy Show Within a Show Creative Closing Credits Mad Scientist Playing Gertrude Exact Words Only Known by Their Nickname The Brute Asshole Victim Stalker with a Crush Killed Mid-Sentence Humiliation Conga The Ditz Made of Iron Accidental Murder Does Not Like Shoes It Can Think Unusually Uninteresting Sight Take a Third Option Villainous Breakdown Not So Different Chuck Cunningham Syndrome Ms. Fanservice Greater-Scope Villain Heterosexual Life-Partners Composite Character Italian Films Reality Has No Subtitles Ship Tease Pretty in Mink Attempted Rape Broken Aesop Slasher Smile Humans Are Bastards Chiaroscuro Early Installment Weirdness Drowning My Sorrows Historical Hero Upgrade Sir Swears-a-Lot Deconstruction Roaring Rampage of Revenge Becoming the Mask Actually Pretty Funny Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism Adaptation Distillation Back from the Dead Outrun the Fireball Empathic Environment Five-Man Band Up to Eleven Fatal Flaw Faux Affably Evil Faking the Dead N-Word Privileges Gilligan Cut Sci-Fi Horror The Musical Central Theme Soft Glass Foreshadowing Parental Neglect Redemption Equals Death Daddy's Girl Animated Credits Opening Framing Device Suspiciously Similar Substitute Call-Forward Butt-Monkey Artistic License – Gun Safety Insult Backfire Red Shirt Badass Longcoat Evil Plan Brother–Sister Incest Fanservice Extra The Vamp Breaking the Fourth Wall Stealth Pun Dumb Blonde Shipper on Deck Dissonant Serenity Hair-Trigger Temper Poor Communication Kills Malevolent Masked Men Politically Incorrect Villain Chewing the Scenery Darker and Edgier Gratuitous English The Cameo Police are Useless Mr. Fanservice Alliterative Name Suddenly SHOUTING! How We Got Here Karmic Death Shoot the Shaggy Dog From Nobody to Nightmare Anti-Hero Rape as Drama Artistic License – Geography I Want My Beloved to Be Happy Vampire Fiction Curse Cut Short Deliberately Monochrome Expy Manchild Mundane Made Awesome Ghost Fiction Bullying a Dragon Failed a Spot Check Meet Cute Henpecked Husband Screw This, I'm Outta Here! Sexy Discretion Shot Black Comedy Rape Those Two Bad Guys Friend to All Children Token Minority Bi the Way Vomit Indiscretion Shot '80s Hair Protagonist Title Creepy Child Early-Bird Cameo Casting Gag Thriller Crazy-Prepared Mooks Improbable Aiming Skills Bond Villain Stupidity Throwing Your Sword Always Works Adaptational Attractiveness Hypocrite Let's Get Dangerous! Ambiguously Gay Bowdlerise Despair Event Horizon Neck Snap Cat Fight Drives Like Crazy Those Two Guys Film Noir Historical Villain Upgrade Training Montage The '80s Your Head A-Splode Truth in Television The Bad Guy Wins One-Word Title The Dog Bites Back The Faceless Stylistic Suck Every Car Is a Pinto Spared by the Adaptation Evil Cannot Comprehend Good Pre-Mortem One-Liner Our Vampires Are Different Interrupted Suicide Historical In-Joke Heel Realization Knife Nut The Big Guy An Aesop Apocalypse How Shell-Shocked Veteran Good Is Not Nice Deus ex Machina My Greatest Failure The Mafia "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue Hoist by His Own Petard Celebrity Paradox Vacation Films Double Entendre Never Trust a Trailer Cloudcuckoolander Brick Joke Blatant Lies Arch-Enemy Villain Protagonist Title Drop Make It Look Like an Accident Missing Mom The Mole I Need a Freaking Drink Pre-Asskicking One-Liner Not What It Looks Like Translation Convention Horror Doesn't Settle for Simple Tuesday Music Stories Face–Heel Turn Names to Run Away from Really Fast Kids Are Cruel Reality Is Unrealistic Psychopathic Manchild Authority Equals Asskicking Rule of Three Overly Long Gag timeperiod Determinator Cool Guns Meaningful Name Guile Hero Bolivian Army Ending Badass in a Nice Suit Funny Foreigner Our Zombies Are Different Face Death with Dignity Closed Circle Fan Disservice Off with His Head! Heroic Sacrifice Honor Before Reason And Starring Film Series Establishing Character Moment Bunny-Ears Lawyer Artistic License – Biology This Is Gonna Suck Retired Badass Foregone Conclusion NO INDOOR VOICE Bait-and-Switch Fiery Redhead Bilingual Bonus Irony Unusual Euphemism Beauty Is Never Tarnished No Antagonist Lock and Load Montage Tempting Fate All for Nothing Pet the Dog A.I. Is a Crapshoot Demoted to Extra Femme Fatale All Men Are Perverts Awesome, but Impractical Anyone Can Die The Dragon Break the Cutie 20 Minutes into the Future Tagline Freudian Excuse Romantic False Lead Eureka Moment Body Horror Eyepatch of Power A Father to His Men Morality Pet Earn Your Happy Ending Have a Gay Old Time Death Glare Bitch in Sheep's Clothing Suspiciously Specific Denial Extremely Short Timespan The Hero Big Fancy House Dual Wielding Put on a Bus Bury Your Gays Action Girl Never My Fault Red Oni, Blue Oni Catapult Nightmare Ambiguous Disorder Insistent Terminology Never Trust a Trailer aka: Trailers Always Lie Spiritual Successor Lampshade Hanging Affably Evil Refuge in Audacity Corpsing Mugging the Monster Antagonist Title Gainax Ending Older Than They Look Immune to Bullets Horror Films You Have Got to Be Kidding Me! Lighter and Softer Word of God Meaningful Echo Age Lift Action Prologue Precision F-Strike Advertised Extra Dutch Angle "Well Done, Son!" Guy Agony of the Feet Kick the Dog Disproportionate Retribution Adaptational Villainy Not Using the "Z" Word Laughing Mad Adaptation Name Change Peek-a-Boo Corpse Noodle Incident The Smart Guy Combat Pragmatist Product Placement Bottomless Magazines Defrosting Ice Queen Ascended Extra Deliberate Values Dissonance Those Wacky Nazis Daylight Horror Naïve Newcomer Bring My Brown Pants Non-Indicative Name Novelization Important Haircut What You Are in the Dark Captain Ersatz Japanese Films Serious Business Bound and Gagged Knight Templar Running Gag Action Film, Quiet Drama Scene Pimped-Out Dress Punctuated! For! Emphasis! Artistic License – History Idiot Ball And I Must Scream The '50s Costume Porn Mystery and Detective Films Big Bad Duumvirate As You Know Monumental Damage Slashed Throat It's Personal Downer Ending Real Life Writes the Plot Vitriolic Best Buds The Hero Dies Cat Scare No OSHA Compliance Aww, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other Pun aka: Incredibly Lame Pun Spiteful Spit Properly Paranoid The Ace Informed Ability Fainting Kubrick Stare Sadistic Choice Shout-Out Funny Background Event A Minor Kidroduction Yandere Author Appeal Recycled IN SPACE! Small Name, Big Ego Darkest Hour Storming the Castle Plucky Comic Relief Mighty Whitey Adorkable Retirony Bloody Hilarious Paper-Thin Disguise Final Girl Last-Name Basis Documentary Genre Shift Ass Shove My God, What Have I Done? Captain Obvious Obstructive Bureaucrat The Dreaded Get Out! Adaptational Heroism Demonic Possession Did Not Get the Girl Film Noir Index Jitter Cam For Want of a Nail Man on Fire Loophole Abuse No-Sell Wrong Genre Savvy Exactly What It Says on the Tin World of Ham Scenery Porn The Quiet One Room Full of Crazy Really Gets Around Jerk with a Heart of Gold Babies Ever After Hell Is That Noise As the Good Book Says... Male Frontal Nudity Facial Horror Villain Song The Chessmaster Slasher Movie No Name Given Ungrateful Bastard Eye Scream Dark and Troubled Past Curb-Stomp Battle Adult Fear All Just a Dream Big Bad Sports Stories Screw the Money, I Have Rules! Fat Bastard