I mentioned briefly in one of my earlier posts about anti-heroes, so I thought I would write a little more about anti-heroes.
For me, I think my view on antiheroes has evolved over the years. It may be because of my religious upbringing and evolution of my spiritual ideology, or something else. I don't know. I do remember, however, that I have not always taken such a liking to antiheroes.
If you don't know what an antihero is, it is basically a bad guy that is put in a hero position. At least, that is how I define it. Dictionary.com defines it as a protagonist who lacks the attributes that make a heroic figure, as nobility of mind and spirit, a life or attitude marked by action or purpose, and the like. Collinsdictionary.com defines it as: An antihero is the main character in a novel, play, or film who is not morally good and does not behave like a typical hero.
When I was younger, I remember watching oceans 11 (and others like it). I remember thinking how I didn't really like "rooting for the bad guy". I mean, think about it - thieves and villains. Then there is Riddick, a cold-blooded killer who will just as quick slit your throat if you get in his way as save you from the other bad guys. We have a plethora of movies about bank robbers, and we always end up rooting for them to get away with it. There are plenty of more examples, but these few, I think, are enough to get my point across. I never really liked rooting for the bad guy when I was younger, but recently, it seems, antiheroes have become more agreeable to me.
So, a few things about antiheroes to consider when writing them - at least from a Christian perspective. First, are we glorifying the "evil" of the man? This is the thought that I used to struggle with (a little - as it still never stopped me from enjoying and rooting for the bad guys) when I was younger. Am I glorifying or accepting the evil of the bad guys? As I have said before, it is all about your conscience as a writer - are you okay with writing bad guy main characters? A second thing to consider is what we might want our audience to receive from the "villain good guy"? Are we trying to teach a moral lesson, or is it just for fun, having a bad guy who does evil things, but does right in the end? Some would argue that it is okay to have a bad guy as the main character if there is a moral story behind it or he/she eventually becomes good. Some would say it is always okay, no matter what. I would probably fall in the latter of the two, but for no particular reason. I have come to enjoy the antihero, for some reason. Maybe my moral compass has been slightly skewed because of all of the antiheroes I watch, maybe not. Maybe it is because I have grown out of the more legalistic mindset that I grew up in, maybe not. Either way, it doesn't really bother me anymore.
Now that you know a little about my opinion on antiheroes let me tell you how I write antiheroes, or will.....when I eventually get around to writing the particular story. So in the specific novel, I plan to write containing antiheroes as main characters, I am having them evolve into less evil characters and into more neutral in alignment. Let me explain, I don't think there is anything wrong with an antihero who stays just as evil as he starts out, but I enjoy evolving characters, so that is why I will be writing their slight "change of heart". They will still be quick to kill someone who is in their way of accomplishing their goals; however, their goals morph from completely bad, such as assassinating a specific person or kidnapping a certain someone to protecting a particular person that they have come to care for. In short, that is the antihero evolution of my characters. They are really cool characters that are "changed" because they start to care for someone.
So, what I am saying is that it is up to the author's conscience as to what is acceptable - like I say in many of these posts, I have noticed. There is nothing necessarily wrong with a bad guy being the "good guy". If it is a good story, it is a good story, despite having a "moral lesson" or not.
Hope you enjoyed this post, Next time I will be discussing having demons as main characters and the game Dungeons and Dragons.