Hero Antagonist: Difference between revisions

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Usually this character's main concern is that [[The Protagonist]], either intentionally or not, may bring up a scenario that would spell doom for the world or, depending on the scale of the narrative, a single person. How they come to this conclusion varies. They may be misinformed as to the [[Wrongly Accused|nature of their enemy]]. They could also be completely correct in their assertions simply because the main character is a [[Villain Protagonist]]. In any of these events, the [[Hero Antagonist]] is able to keep their good [[Character Alignment|alignment]] while still being the narrative's opposition.

Can be related to [[Rousseau Was Right]] depending on the type of [[Hero Antagonist]] in question, and often overlaps with [[Villainous Valor]]. Sometimes related to [[My Country Right or Wrong]]. [[Inspector Javert]] is often a [[Sub Trope]], as is his mentally healthier cousin, [[Sympathetic Inspector Antagonist]]. Similar to yet at the same time the opposite of [[Anti-Villain]]. May overlap with a [[Sliding Scale of Anti-Villains|Type IV]] [[Anti-Villain]]. If the protagonist is a [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]], his antagonist will often be a [[Knight in Sour Armor]]. Settings with [[White and Gray Morality]] or [[Good Versus Good]] will favor these.

Can be related to [[Rousseau Was Right]] depending on the type of [[Hero Antagonist]] in question, and often overlaps with [[Villainous Valor]]. Sometimes related to [[My Country, Right or Wrong]]. [[Inspector Javert]] is often a [[Sub-Trope]], as is his mentally healthier cousin, [[Sympathetic Inspector Antagonist]]. Similar to yet at the same time the opposite of [[Anti-Villain]]. May overlap with a [[Sliding Scale of Anti-Villains|Type IV]] [[Anti-Villain]]. If the protagonist is a [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]], his antagonist will often be a [[Knight in Sour Armor]]. Settings with [[White and Gray Morality]] or [[Good Versus Good]] will favor these.

Compare the [[Knight Templar]], whose devotion to 'good' ideals has become unreasoning fanaticism. Often (though not always, depending on how [[Morality Tropes|the morality is played]] in the work) will oppose his/her inverse, the [[Villain Protagonist]] and is the opposite of the [[Hero Protagonist]]. Contrast [[Designated Hero]], for when he's really ''not'' a nice guy.

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== Comic Books ==

* Finch from ''[[V for Vendetta]]'' in the sense of [[My Country Right or Wrong]].

* Finch from ''[[V for Vendetta]]'' in the sense of [[My Country, Right or Wrong]].

* Argent the Wolf of ''[[Grendel]]'', who's opposed to the [[Villain Protagonist]] Grendel (particularly Hunter Rose, but later on Christine Spar) as an [[Anti-Hero]] Werewolf who is compelled to take down what the series equates to the Devil.

* The U.S. military is usually portrayed this way in ''[[The Hulk]]'', as they usually genuinely believe that the Hulk is a dangerous monster that they need to stop. [[Stan Lee]] commented in an interview that portraying them that way allowed him to get around the [[Comics Code]] insistence that authority figures always be portrayed positively. Lately this has changed, there has been a trend to portray General Ross, who usually commands the anti-Hulk military forces, as a [[General Ripper]].

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== Fan Fiction ==

* [[Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni (Visual Novel)|Akasaka]] Miyuki in ''[[Kyon Big Damn Hero (Fanfic)|Kyon Big Damn Hero]]''.

* [[Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni (Visual Novel)|Akasaka]] Miyuki in ''[[Kyon: Big Damn Hero (Fanfic)|Kyon Big Damn Hero]]''.

* {{spoiler|Near}} reprises this role in [[Kira Is Justice (Fanfic)|Kira Is Justice]]. The new Task Force, especially David, better fits the definition, mostly because his own nephew is Kira.

* Strafe in [[Fan Fic/Fantendo Playing War|Fan Fic]] and [[Fan Fic/Fantendo Forgotten Legends|Fan Fic]] is basically the definition of this. He essentially kills his way through the entire 41 chapters, though it is necessary.

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'''Sam Gerard:''' I don't care! }}

** Gerard even functions as the [[Butt Monkey]] at some points in the story, but his status as [[The Determinator]] unquestionably makes him heroic.

** [[The Movie]]'s sequel is ''[[US Marshals]]'', ''actually starring Gerard''. It helps that Tommy Lee Jones is [[Made of Win]].

** [[The Movie]]'s sequel is ''[[US Marshals]]'', ''actually starring Gerard''. It helps that Tommy Lee Jones is [[TV Tropes Made of Win Archive]].

* Colin Farrel's FBI Agent brought in to investigate Pre-Crime in ''[[Minority Report]]''.

* Jack Valentine of the movie ''[[Lord of War]]''. He's a good, idealistic Interpol agent opposed to the amoral arms-dealer [[Villain Protagonist]].

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* In the second season of ''[[Dollhouse]]'', Senator Daniel Perrin is definitely this as he tries to expose the corrupt Rossum corporation, the Dollhouse's main benefactor. {{spoiler|Until it turns out that he's a Doll imprinted to investigate the Dollhouse so that he can "discover" convincing evidence that it doesn't exist and exonerate Rossum.}}

* Many of the antagonists in ''[[Merlin (TV)|Merlin]]'' are just working to bring down King Uther, who is undoubtably a tyrant.

** Arthur occasionally lapses into this. While he's undoubtedly [[The Hero]], he has been raised from birth to be distrustful of magic and will not hestitate to arrest anyone caught using it, even though the penalty is death. What seperates him from Uther is that he does this not out of maliciousness, but because [[My Master Right or Wrong|it is his Father's law]] and he's honour bound to obey it.

** Arthur occasionally lapses into this. While he's undoubtedly [[The Hero]], he has been raised from birth to be distrustful of magic and will not hestitate to arrest anyone caught using it, even though the penalty is death. What seperates him from Uther is that he does this not out of maliciousness, but because [[My Master, Right or Wrong|it is his Father's law]] and he's honour bound to obey it.

* Agent Hank Schrader of ''[[Breaking Bad]]''. Something of an interesting case in that he doesn't know the [[Villain Protagonist]] he's chasing is his own brother-in-law.

* Being a show about [[Villain Protagonist|an outlaw]] biker gang and heavy on [[Grey and Gray Morality|grey and gray morality]], [[Sons of Anarchy]] falls into this trope almost as often as it features its opposite, with examples ranging from the [[Wide Eyed Idealist|idealistic]] Deputy Hale to the [[Good Is Not Nice|cynical]] but [[My Country Right or Wrong|loyal]] Lieutenant Roosevelt.

* Being a show about [[Villain Protagonist|an outlaw]] biker gang and heavy on [[Grey and Gray Morality|grey and gray morality]], [[Sons of Anarchy]] falls into this trope almost as often as it features its opposite, with examples ranging from the [[Wide Eyed Idealist|idealistic]] Deputy Hale to the [[Good Is Not Nice|cynical]] but [[My Country, Right or Wrong|loyal]] Lieutenant Roosevelt.

* In the ''[[Angel (TV)|Angel]]'' episode "Sanctuary" [[Buffy]] becomes this. She wants to kill Faith, doesn't matter if Angel is in the way, she wants to kill him. The former lovers even come to blows because of it, and part on bad terms.

* Lee Jin Pyo in ''[[The City Hunter]]'': His entire black ops team was murdered by their own ''[[Government Conspiracy|government]],'' {{spoiler|who first denied their existence and then branded them as traitors. As he's a "[[Faking the Dead|dead man]]," he can't work/live in his native Korea. He just wants to expose their corruption and [[Grey and Gray Morality|get revenge on the ones]] who ordered his team's execution}}.

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* In ''[[Deus Ex (Video Game)|Deus Ex]]'', after {{spoiler|1=you defect from UNATCO, any cop or U.S. or UNATCO soldier }} that truly believes he is fighting for the greater good and is not flat out sadistic or {{spoiler|part of the conspiracy,}} fit this trope.

* Ash Crimson from ''[[The King of Fighters (Video Game)|The King of Fighters]]'' series. His actions make him a villain, but in the end, it's for the sake of stopping an even greater evil, who happens to be the final boss of ''KOF XIII''.

** This is actually an inversion. From the start, the POV of the "Tales of Ash" saga makes Ash ''appear'' like a [[Villain Protagonist]], thus painting the former protagonists (Kyo, Iori, Chizuru, and even K') as this trope. But, as ''XIII'' attests to, Ash was [[Good All Along]]. A [[Guile Hero|Guile]] [[Anti-Hero]] unmistakably, but [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|his actions were for a greater good]]. {{spoiler|And then he died in a [[Temporal Paradox]] [[Heroic Sacrifice]] that ''[[Ret Gone|erased him from history]]''. [[Wham Episode|Didn't see that one coming, huh?]]}}

** This is actually an inversion. From the start, the POV of the "Tales of Ash" saga makes Ash ''appear'' like a [[Villain Protagonist]], thus painting the former protagonists (Kyo, Iori, Chizuru, and even K') as this trope. But, as ''XIII'' attests to, Ash was [[Good All Along]]. A [[Guile Hero|Guile]] [[Anti-Hero]] unmistakably, but [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|his actions were for a greater good]]. {{spoiler|And then he died in a [[Temporal Paradox]] [[Heroic Sacrifice]] that ''[[Ret-Gone|erased him from history]]''. [[Wham! Episode|Didn't see that one coming, huh?]]}}

* Hakumen from ''[[Blaz Blue]]'', one of the Six Legendary Heroes who saved the world from the attack of The Black beast. He wants to prevent a rebirth of The Black Beast by killing Ragna. He is not open to [[Take a Third Option|alternative solutions]].

** {{spoiler|In the end of the sequel, the mantle of [[Hero Antagonist]] goes to [[Chinese Girl|Litchi Faye-Ling]]. She's still the same kind-hearted woman, but opposes Ragna because Ragna's opposition (NOL) took captive of her love interest, and a [[Complete Monster]] [[Troll]] convinced her thoroughly that they have a mean to restore said interest. To top it all off, she's dying because she was exposed to the same thing he was (dying is a better case, the worst case is, she turns into the same monster that her love interest becomes and consumes everything in her path, including the innocents she grew to love), and anyone who could help her refuses to. She's reluctant to fight for that evil organization, but she really didn't have a better option.}}

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[[Category:Goodness Tropes]]

[[Category:Hero Tropes]]

[[Category:Hero Antagonist]]

[[Category:Hero Antagonist]][[Category:Pages with comment tags]]

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