Hello it’s Saturday! I’m doing a Top 5 Wednesday today because classes this week kicked my ass! 😀 (let this be a lesson to me to schedule posts from now on) Today’s theme is Anti-heroes and I’m really excited for this one. So excited that I couldn’t let this one pass without posting something, even it if was three days late. Today I’m going to divide my top five into two lists – books/manga and tv/movies. I couldn’t neglect my anti-heroes on the screen so they’re getting their own list. Heeeere we go~
(TFW created by gingerreadslainey, full list of posters found here)
Books/manga
5. Rorschach from Watchmen
Rorschach is a very interesting character. If you’ve never read Watchmen, I highly suggest it. It’s pretty damn good. Rorschach is this person who wheres a constantly changing mask that looks like, you guessed it, a Rorschach pattern. When I first read this graphic novel, I was attending school for psychology, so I was immediately drawn to the very idea of him. He’s one of the Watchmen, but honestly, the phrase ‘Who watches the Watchmen’ could not be more made specifically for him. He’s a messed up guy, and I love it.
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4. Vegeta from Dragon Ball Z
Vegeta I think is one of my all time favorite characters, period. He’s just such an asshole, but at the same time, redeemable. His character development over the course of Dragon Ball Z is astounding. (I know ‘top 5 character dev’ is coming up in February. Spoilers for one person that will be on the list…) Vegeta is a character that doesn’t realize he’s not ‘the bad guy’ for as long as he thinks he is. When he first appears in the series, he tries to destroy the earth (obviously his ‘bad guy’ phase) but very shortly after he starts to show hints of a conscience. I don’t want to go into too much detail here due to spoilers, so I’ll end it there. He’s just such a wonderful character though. I highly suggest you check out Dbz if you’re into anime or manga, particularly if you don’t mind a lot of yelling and long fight scenes.
How long does it take a Dbz character to change a light bulb? Three episodes! A-hawhawhaw.
3. Sesshoumaru from Inuyasha
I have to admit, when I was a 15 year old girl and had just discovered this manga (anime pictured right, obviously) I had such a crush on this guy. On the exterior, he’s a powerful demon lord, ruthless, cold-blooded, would kill his own brother (wants to kill his own brother, even). And on the inside, he’s probably the same.
And then he came across a small child, all alone in the woods. And boom, character development. And I don’t know about you, but I have a feeling that he has a rather great sense of humor. Anyone who has read/watched Inuyasha knows all about the rocks that somehow always seem to find Jaken’s head. Wah, I love this character. Go watch Inuyasha, or go read Inuyasha. It’s super good, man.
2. Severus Snape from Harry Potter
If you don’t know why Snape is an anti-hero, I’m not going to tell you. You need to read the books. Go, shoo shoo.
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1. Scar from Fullmetal Alchemist
There’s nothing better than a bad guy who thinks he’s a good guy. And Scar is the one that sticks out most in my mind. He is a strong-willed character on a mission with a holy cause, but unfortunately, that cause includes exploding the brains of other people. Scar I feel could have a series written about him on his own. There’s just so much more I want to know about him, situations that I want to see how he would handle.
Lucky for me, fanfiction exists, I guess. Haha
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Tv/Movies
5. Sawyer from Lost
Sawyer is that character you love to hate to love. And on top of that, he’s easy on the eyes. ;D If you have never watched Lost, I say watch it. The first season is amazing. From then on, you’ll either continue to love it, or you’ll hate it. But it’s definitely worth watching at least season 1. And then hey, more pop culture knowledge, yay. There were so many times that I wanted to sock Sawyer in that gorgeous face of his, but at the same time, he’s a strong character that is definitely one of the more virtuous characters in the show. Just watch it. Go go go.
4. Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl
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At this point if you haven’t watched this movie yet, GET ON IT. This is such a good movie! (the second and third movies… and fourth movie… are debatable) Jack is such a good bad guy. Good guy? Bad guy? Honestly it’s hard to tell sometimes what his intentions are. Johnny Depp does a wonderful job with the character and mannerisms of Jack Sparrow. Go watch this movie, seriously.
3 V from V for Vendetta
This is one of my favorite movies ever. On my flickchart, I think it’s currently sitting at number 3 out of 800+. I love this movie, loved it since the first time I ever watched it. I’ve seen it probably over 20 times now and I still can’t help but be completely consumed by it every time I see it. I know this one is technically cheating, since it originated as a graphic novel, but while I own the graphic novel, I have yet to read it. So I’m using V as a movie character instead. V is again, a character with a mission. A good bad guy technically. His character in the movie is played by Hugo Weaving, and I feel like that’s the main reason why he sticks out to me so much. Everything V says throughout the movie is rather poignant and because it’s delivered in Hugo Weaving’s sharply articulate voice, the words stick in my mind long after the movie is over. If you have not seen this movie, and you feel like I say ‘go see/watch this’ too much, then ignore all my other suggestions and go watch this one. If you’re only going to listen to me once ever in your life, listen now. Go watch. o:<
2. Sherlock from BBC’s Sherlock
Specifically this Sherlock. I haven’t read or watched any other Sherlock Holmes (I know, I know. For shame!) Benedict Cumberbatch just makes the perfect ‘I’m rooting for you but seriously, shut the hell up’ character. You want him to succeed, but at the same time, his lack of… I don’t know, morals, is disturbing at times. Other times it’s hilarious. I can’t wait for season 4, though I’m going to have to for a while still (when’s it coming out, 2016? 2017? Buh). .
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1 Castiel from Supernatural
Supernatural is my favorite television show ever, so it’s fitting it contains my favorite anti-hero ever. If you’re a fan of X-Files, horror movies or classic rock music, I suggest checking this show out. Carry On My Wayward Son will never be the same for you again.
THE FOLLOWING CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR SUPERNATURAL SEASONS 4-7.
I can’t talk about why Castiel is my favorite anti-hero unless I reveal some major spoilers, so I’m sorry about that. If you’re still reading this after ignoring my big red warning and you haven’t watched that far into the show, don’t yell at me for spoiling you. I warned you.
Castiel first appears at the beginning of Season 4, but doesn’t really become an anti-hero until season 6 or so. He’s my favorite character in the series, followed closely by Bobby. I particularly love him in seasons 4-5. And then, he goes bad. I mean bad, man. Sucking up leviathans and becoming a fake ‘god’, falling from grace, basically everything bad an angel can do, Castiel does at one point or another. But at the same time, it’s soul-crushingly sad, because all you want to do is hug him and tell him it’ll okay because he thinks he’s doing good. SIGH.
END SPOILERS
So those are my lists! Hope you enjoyed this (long) post!
Embuhleeliest 