Once upon a time, heroes were brave and true. They always did the right thing. They protected the weak. They never had any doubt about the difference between right and wrong. In fact, they always, always did the right thing. They were modern knights in shining armor.

In other words, they were boring.

Then, as if rising from the ashes, a new hero emerged. He wasn’t perfect. He wasn’t always good (heck, sometimes, he’d been downright evil in his past). There was something dark about this guy. Something dangerous.

This man, this guy who doesn’t always do the right thing, he’s the Anti-Hero. The villain turned hero. He doesn’t want to save the day. He just wants to be left alone to do whatever it is that he does. But somehow, someway, he’s pushed into the limelight and becomes more than just a knight (because there are tons of those guys). He becomes a man you can care about–a man who lures you into his world, and doesn’t let go.

Spike’s an Anti-Hero. He spent decades killing and terrorizing the countryside. Then he met good old Buffy, and, because of her, Spike changed. The killer became a protector, and he became a whole hell of a lot more interesting (in my humble little opinion) than his nemesis Angel.

Another good Anti-Hero is Riddick from Pitch Black. (Wow–Vin Diesel did an excellent job playing this guy.) Riddick is a murderer who becomes the unlikely savior of a ragtag band of survivors on a planet that’s been thrown into darkness. The cool thing about Riddick is that you never really know if he’s on your side…he leaves you guessing, he leaves you on edge.

Definitely not boring. So, give me more Anti-Heroes. They make life interesting. And keep the good guys at home.

What about those of you out there in cyberland? Do you have a favorite Anti-Hero?

This entry was posted on Monday, February 13th, 2006 at 7:42 pm and is filed under Romance. You can follow any comments to this entry through the RSS feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.