Antagonists, Villains, and Antiheroes

Antagonists are usually thought of as villains, but that’s not always the case. In fact, antagonist, by definition, means opponent, and our opponents aren’t always evil. Villains, on the other hand, are always evil. Then we have the antihero, who for the most part is a good guy fighting bad guys by maybe questionable means. (Please note that I’m using “guy,” for gender simplicity. All references apply to females as well.) So let’s dissect these definitions and put faces to them.

I was just involved in a Facebook event for Kindle Scout winners, and one of the questions posed by the moderator asked who our favorite villain was. My answer, without hesitation, was Hannibal Lecter, from Thomas Harris's The Silence of the Lambs.

I read the books and always ask myself what it is about Lecter that draws readers and viewers. Part of the visual is Anthony Hopkins, the charismatic actor who plays him, part is the excellent suspense woven into the book/movie, but a big part is the way Lecter is written. We hate him, yet we’re as fascinated by him as is the young FBI agent, Clarisse Starling, played in the movie by Jodie Foster. We admire his brilliance, but we’re also repulsed by his "Hannibal the Cannibal" persona and his manipulation of the reluctant woman he nevertheless captivates. Few villains on the page or on the screen have had such a lasting effect. (An interesting addendum is that most of the other authors at our Facebook event also answered Lecter.)

There are many books with evil characters wielding plenty of blood and gore, American Psycho by Bret Eason Ellis, for one, but, in my opinion, nothing compares to the German SS officer in William Styron’s Sophie’s Choice, who commits the purest, most evil act I’ve ever read or witnessed.

He’s the villain who forces Sophie to choose which one of her children will live and which one is to die. No blood, no gore, just psychological trauma. That scene haunts me still and I imagine haunts every person, parent or not.

As I mentioned, antagonists don’t have to be villains. They’re opponents, backstabbers, traitors, but they aren’t necessarily evil. The Hollywood classic, All About Eve,

is a perfect example of an antagonist/opponent, Eve, a Broadway ingénue who worms and manipulates her way into the good graces of the star only to stab her in the back for the lead role. The movie is sixty-five years old and holds up to this day.

There’s a long line of antiheroes both in books and in movies. Some are good guys doing bad things for the sake of country, a lover, or himself. Rick Blaine in Casablanca is my idea of a perfect antihero. Hard on the outside, soft on the inside.

Steve McQueen (Bullitt, The Great Escape, The Thomas Crown Affair) and Paul Newman (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Cool Hand Luke, The Sting, The Hustler) epitomized the antiheroic characters who bucked the system in almost every role they played. Clint Eastwood’s Dirty Harry, James Garner as Maverick and in The Rockford Files, Sylvester Stalone as Rambo, and Hugh Laurie as House, all did creditable jobs as good guys willing to bend the rules, maybe even break them, maybe even kill. Those characters were antagonists to someone, whether the law, the military, or just “the man.”

Unfortunately, present-day equivalents are few. All the antiheroes these days, especially in movies, are comic book or dystopian characters come to life: Batman, Mad Max, Wolverine, Iron Man, and the characters of X-Men. The lack of originality in films and novels may be because producers and publishers feel safe regurgitating what’s worked in the recent past rather than take chances with something risky. It has fallen to indies, both in publishing and film making, to forge new paths.

Here are a few you might consider defining and where I believe the line starts to blur. Are the following antiheroes, Antagonists, or Downright Villains? Some are clearer than others.

Lisbeth Salander, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo—hacker extraordinaire, sociopath, but riveting. How would you define her?

Oskar Schindler: Nazi, war profiteer, complex and conflicted. Hero, villain, antihero?

Contrast Oskar with Amon Goeth in the same book. Definitely a villain.

Salieri vs. Mozart—Opponent/antagonist, or was he a villain too?

There’s no doubt we root for antiheroes. Why? Because they usually fight for the little guy. If they fight evil, they’re definitely heroes. If they take their quest too far, does that turn them into villains?

Who are your favorite villains, antagonists, or antiheroes in novels or on film/TV? Why? Have you written one you love? I have.

Polly Iyer is the author of seven novels: standalones Hooked, InSight, Murder Déjà Vu, Threads, and three books in the Diana Racine Psychic Suspense series, Mind Games, Goddess of the Moon, and Backlash. A Massachusetts native, she makes her home in the beautiful Piedmont region of South Carolina. You can visit her website for more on Polly and connect with her on Facebook and Twitter.