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== Anime and Manga ==
 
* ''[[Death Note (Manga)|Death Note]]''
** The Japanese police.
** Matsuda. He's your classic [[Idiot Hero]] -- impulsive, well-meaning, slightly self-centered everyman who's ultimately devoted to his [[True Companions]]. He spends the whole series opposing a serial killer, since he is a cop. He just so happens to be working against [[Villain Protagonist]] Light. If you rewrote the entire series to be from Matsuda and L's perspective instead of Light and Misa's, with only short ventures into their perspectives as L and Matsuda were given, the whole series would still mostly work, especially since Matsuda's behavior usually makes an interesting and vital contribution to the story, like {{spoiler|stumbling on Yotsuba and shooting Light}}.
** Soichiro {{spoiler|until towards the end}}, and he is described by the author as the only one-hundred-percent good character. However neither of them are Light's direct antagonist as such, while L {{spoiler|and Near}} are.
* Officer Kirihara of ''[[Darker Than Black]]''. She is good and hunting the protagonist for crimes he actually committed {{spoiler|but also [[Unwitting Pawn|being misled]] by her [[Conspiracy Redemption|evil superiors]]}}
* ''[[Afro Samurai (Anime)|Afro Samurai]]'': Due to Afro's [[Anti-Hero]] bordering [[Villain Protagonist]] status, and Shichigoro in ''Resurrection'' fit here.
* [[Colonel Badass|Col. Sergei Smirnov]], a.k.a. the "Wild Bear of Russia", is, far and away, the most sympathetic out of all of Celestial Being's antagonists in the first season of ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam 00]]''. A [[Reasonable Authority Figure]] who believes in upholding the law, flawed as it may be, against an organization of terrorists (albeit, [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|well intentioned ones]]), and helped give the first season its [[Grey and Gray Morality]].
* ''[[One Piece]]'':
** A few of the Marine Officers the main characters have to face are genuinely good guys who actually want to protect that public and don't view [[Moral Event Horizon|civilians]] and their own soldiers as being [[We Have Reserves|completely expendable]]. Notable examples are Smoker, Tashigi, T-Bone, Coby, Garp, and Aokiji.
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** Commander Jonathan of the G8 filler arc also provides an example. While he pursues the Straw Hats after they literally drop into the middle of his fortress, he offers mercy to the crewmembers that don't yet have bounties, refuses to treat his men as expendable, and has nothing but disdain for the visiting commanding officer that wants the Straw Hats captured no matter the cost.
** Also Magellan, the chief warden of Impel Down. His motives are basically to stop the prison break (which was initiated by Luffy) and keep order in the prison. Considering that most of the people in Impel Down deserve to be there (and would terrorize citizens if they escaped), you could make a very convincing argument that Luffy is more of a [[Villain Protagonist|villain]] during the Impel Down arc are than Magellan. After all, Luffy is putting his desire to save his brother over the well-being of the rest of the world.
* In ''[[Ghost in Thethe Shell]]: [[Stand Alone Complex]]'', there are the soldiers who {{spoiler|storm and arrest the members of Section 9}} - they're very much aware of what they're doing, so they're not [[Inspector Javert]], but they are approved by the city and they limit the use of lethal force. Heck, the {{spoiler|Laughing Man}} (SAC), {{spoiler|Hideo Kuze}} (2nd GIG), the {{spoiler|Puppeteer}} (Solid State Society) and the {{spoiler|Puppetmaster}} (1995 Movie) also qualify to some extend or for limited periods of time.
* {{spoiler|Chao Lingshen}} in ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]''. The only reason the main character opposes her in the end is, basically, to avoid the [[Cool and Unusual Punishment]] he would incur from the authorities if he didn't. And because she absolutely refuses to explain her actions, despite the fact that he'd agree with her if she did. Of course, it turns out [[Xanatos Gambit|winning was actually her Plan B. Plan A was for Negi to defeat her, proving he could handle the rest without her help]].
** {{spoiler|Cosmo Entelechia}} as well, though somewhat more dickish about it than necessary. {{spoiler|Ultimate plan? Save over a billion lives. Opposed by? First an idiot hero who doesn't know what he's really doing and twenty years later a child. To be fair to the idiot hero, Nagi, a lot of what they were doing just doesn't make sense when considering their ultimate goal.}}
* The Wolkenritter in ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha As (Anime)|Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha As]]''. So here we have a group of "villains" whose malicious goal for filling up the [[Artifact of Doom]] was so they can save an innocent [[Ill Girl]] from certain death, and they were doing it in a way so they wouldn't kill or severely maim anyone. Problem was, due to reasons beyond their control, it wouldn't have worked without Nanoha's help. {{spoiler|Either the Book of Darkness would have killed the girl and reincarnated elsewhere, or Admiral Graham would have frozen them both forever.}}
* Inspector Zenigata from ''[[Lupin III]]''.
* Inspector Runge from ''[[Monster (Animemanga)|Monster]]'' starts out as one, though he turns to more of a standard villain for a while as his search more Tenma becomes more of a personal obsession than anything to do with justice, causing him to ignore the increasing evidence that Johan does exist. However, he eventually comes to his senses and becomes a hero again.
** Also Eva Heinemann, whose [[Rich Bitch]] front and vengeful personality, as well as her contention that "not everyone is equal," belies her desire for a more fulfilling life. When given a choice between {{spoiler|helping Roberto end Tenma's life or helping Tenma escape and survive}}, she chooses the latter, and, later in the series, her character development allows her the opportunity to work beyond her grudge, do the right thing and become a better person.
* Zechs Merquise from ''[[Gundam Wing]]''; after achieving his initial goal of revenge for the destruction of his homeland and the murder of his parents, sets about trying to realize their goal of a peaceful world - the exact same goal his sister [[Rebellious Princess|Relena]], the show's female lead, is going for. The major difference is that Zechs is a [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]] more than willing to hold the [[Villain Ball]] in order to scare the planet towards peace - and his personal pride keeps drawing him into battles with protagonist [[The Stoic|Heero]].
* ''[[Bleach]]'': The entire Seireitei {{spoiler|(sans Aizen and company)}} in the Soul Society arc, if you look at it from their point of view -- they're giving out lawful punishment to a criminal, and Ichigo and friends are the equivalent of an armed mob raiding the police station to break her out.
* The court in ''[[Seirei no Moribito]]''. They only want to destroy the water demon that will cause a drought in the land, and none of them are very happy about the fact that the host has to die to do it. It's not really their fault that they don't know the true nature of the possession. {{spoiler|They learn otherwise, which ends up aligning them with the heroes instead.}}
* Ryuhou from ''[[ScryedS-Cry-ed]]'' is actually less evil and more concerned with the welfare of most people than the [[Jerk Withwith a Heart of Gold]] protagonist, Kazuma. About half of HOLY qualifies as this, because they either don't know how evil the organization is or believe that [[Utopia Justifies the Means|it's necessary to bring peace]].
** Since Ryuhou and Kazuma get about equal screen time, Ryuhou is a joint protagonist--several episodes focus on his perspective. He evolves into a protagonist in the episodes following his second battle with Kazuma, but up until then he's just painted as a semi-peaceful well-meaning villain.
* ''[[Hellsing]]'':
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** Vatican Section XIII, the Iscariot Organization to which Anderson belongs, {{spoiler|goes well off the deep end in the manga by waging another crusade on ''both'' Millenium and all of England, swinging them into literal [[Knight Templar]] territory}}. This actually highlights Anderson's own moral compass because {{spoiler|he assists in killing his [[Complete Monster]] boss for his crimes}}.
** Granted, even ''that'' fails to make them worse than the protagonists.
* Team Unicorn and Team Ragnarok of ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! 5 Ds5D's]]''.
* Kira Yamato qualifies as one in ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny (Anime)|Gundam SEED Destiny]]'', against the Anti-Hero Shinn Asuka, until the supposed role switch after the destruction of Freedom Gundam.
* The Allied Forces in ''[[Axis Powers Hetalia (Manga)|Axis Powers Hetalia]]'' could be seen this way. The Axis has the sympathetic POV.
* {{spoiler|Angel, a.k.a. Tachibana Kanade,}} in ''[[Angel Beats (Anime)|Angel Beats]]''.
* ''[[Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne]]'' has Miyako, her best friend and pursuer, and {{spoiler|Chiaki/Sinbad, who tries to stop her from helping the Devil because he is working for God all along}}.
* In the first arc after the [[Time Skip]] in [[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (Anime)|Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]], {{spoiler|Rossiu ends up sentencing Simon to death and abandoning a large proportion of the Earth's population to probable death}} in order to protect the peace and then the world. [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|They also become kind of a prick]]. Though torn by guilt, no one condemns them, except the less rational [[Idiot Hero|good guys]] and many fans - though in the latter case it's mostly due to the character's becoming kind of a prick.
* By the end of ''[[Shakugan no Shana]]'', {{spoiler|Yuji Sakai with Snake of the Festival are this trope. They get to save the world and make the Flame Haze the bad guys without them knowing it.}}
 
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* 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]].
* ''[[Lex Luthor: Man of Steel]]'' frames Superman as this for Lex Luthor. Played with, however, in that while it's Lex Luthor's [[Perspective Flip|moment in]] [[Villain Protagonist|the sun]] and Superman is correspondingly depicted in a cold, inhuman and alien fashion, it's still made abundantly clear that he's a better man than Lex Luthor will ever be.
* The New York Police Department to Rorschach in ''[[Watchmen]]''.
* Susie Derkins from ''[[Calvin and Hobbes]]'', but mostly because Calvin [[I Am Your Opponent|makes her the antagonist]].
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* Eclipso is another DC [[Villain Protagonist]] whose nemesis was his own heroic [[Enemy Without]].
* In [[Empowered (Comic Book)|Empowered]], most of Emp's jerkass teammates qualify, particularly Sister Spooky (although she becomes more sympathetic and less hostile towards Emp in the later volumes).
* An early installment of [[Tintin (Comic Book)]] has Nestor the butler as this. He's working for someone he doesn't know is evil, and for much of the plot he actively sabotages Tintin and the Captain.
 
 
== Fan Fiction ==
* [[Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni (Visual Novel)ni|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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* Averted with [[Kids Next Door|Numbuh 86]] in Captainwii's Operation: REBEL, where she hunts down 3 fugitives to give them [[Laser-Guided Amnesia]], while she is working with the KND, a typically good organization, the fugitives are trying to escape her, being convinced that as long as they don't [[Heel Face Turn|turn evil and betray the KND]], that they should have right to keep their KND memories. Also this trope can be considered averted considering that Numbuh 86 [[Good Is Not Nice|isn't exactly a nice person]]
** Though the Decommissioning Squad as a whole could count as an averted take on this trope as well, if the reader believes that the KET (Kids Eternally There), a group of anti-decommissioning rebels, [[Your Terrorists Are Our Freedom Fighters|are right to protect and preserve the undecommissioned]]
* Edfred of [[Naruto Veangance Revelaitons (Fanfic)|Naruto Veangance Revelaitons]], whose only crimes are not liking Ronan and being gay. {{spoiler|In Benji's ending, he frees the entire Naruto cast from Ronan's genjutsu, enabling them to kill Ronan}}.
 
 
== Film - Animated ==
* A ''horse'' fills this role in ''[[Tangled (Disney)|Tangled]]''. More specifically, Maximus, the Guard Captain's Steed, who happens to be [[Intellectual Animal|a hell]] [[Silent Snarker|of a lot]] smarter than [[The Guards Must Be Crazy|his rider]].
* MetroMan from ''[[Megamind]]''.
* Clopin actually becomes one near the end of ''[[The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Disney film)|The Hunchback of Notre Dame]]''. Yes, everyone's favorite Gypsy king and master of ceremonies, who is often cheerful and friendly, and suddenly become a cruel judge presiding over a [[Joker Jury]] in the Court of Miracles!
* Copper for the second half of ''[[The Fox and The Hound]]''.
 
 
== Film - Live-Action ==
* US Marshal Sam Gerard ([[Tommy Lee Jones]]) in the role that made him famous: ''[[The Fugitive (Filmfilm)|The Fugitive]]''. His quest is to capture the hero, who is an (innocent) fugitive from justice.
{{quote| '''[[Tommy Lee Jones|Sam Gerard]]:''' It's all over, Richard.<br />
'''[[Harrison Ford|Richard Kimble]]:''' I didn't kill my wife!<br />
'''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 ''[[USU.S. 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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* Harvey Keitel in ''[[Thelma and Louise]]''.
* O'Malley and basically all the cops in ''[[Dog Day Afternoon]]''.
* Antoine Richis, in ''[[Perfume (Literature)|Perfume]]'', played by [[Alan Rickman]]. Richis is an intelligent nobleman and loving father who tries to protect the city and his beautiful daughter from the protagonist, a serial killer who preys on virginal girls.
* [[Brad Pitt]]'s team in ''[[Inglourious Basterds]]'' are presented in this way, as for most of the movie, we are either following around their enemy Col. Landa or an entirely different plot. We still root for the Basterds, though - Landa is about the only character who can pull off [[Magnificent Bastard]] and [[Complete Monster]] at the same time.
* [[Christian Bale]] as [[Unfortunate Names|Melvin Purvis]] in ''[[Public Enemies]]'' spends the whole movie trying to stop [[Villain Protagonist]] [[Johnny Depp|John Dillinger]]. Based on [[Real Life]]. Interestingly, the film undercuts Purvis' competence and implies that Charles Winstead was the agent ''really'' responsible for taking Dillinger down.
* The human cops from ''[[The Matrix (Film)|The Matrix]]'', as far as they know.
* The (genuinely good) cops in ''[[The Player]]''.
* The Medjai function this way, at least at first, in ''[[The Mummy 1999 (Film)Trilogy|The Mummy 1999]]''. While they attack the protagonists, it's only to stop them from [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero|awakening Imhotep]].
* Ditto for Kazim in ''[[Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade (Film)|Indiana Jones and Thethe Last Crusade]]''. He doesn't know Indy's intentions and just wants to protect the grail from falling into the wrong hands, and when the misunderstanding is cleared up, he helps out.
* Tobias Ragg from ''[[Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Filmfilm)|Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street]]''. He distrusted Sweeney Todd {{spoiler|and killed him at the end of the movie}}. Unfortunately, he [[Failed a Spot Check]] and trusted [[The Dragon|Mrs. Lovett]] completely.
** {{spoiler|Lucy}} also qualifies, but she suspects Mrs. Lovett and tries to warn Todd.
* Jack Welles from ''Takers''. While the bank robbers were the [[Villain Protagonist|Villain Protagonists]], he's a cop trying to stop them.
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== Literature ==
* Holly Short in the first ''[[Artemis Fowl (Literature)|Artemis Fowl]]''.
* Morgan from ''[[The Dresden Files (Literature)|The Dresden Files]]'', who watches Harry like a hawk, convinced that he's either a traitor to the White Council or just into [[Black Magic]]. At the same time, he's a warrior who will do anything to stop evil and protect the innocent. {{spoiler|Eventually, he gets over his distrust of Harry; he still thinks Harry's a loose cannon, sure (and he's not exactly wrong, either), but he sees that Harry's ''trying'' to do good. Then, he dies.}}
* {{spoiler|Hanocheck}} in Karen Miller's ''[[Godspeaker Trilogy]]''.
* Kariya Matou in ''[[Fate /Zero]]''. His reason for entering the Grail War and deciding to endure horrible torture and surely die no more than two weeks after the Grail War ends to make up for his lack of training? Because he's the [[Unlucky Childhood Friend]] of Tokiomi Tohsaka's wife and he wants to save her daughter, because he knows pretty well what kind of magecraft the Makiri family perfected. Oh, and since he failed, just look what happened to Sakura in [[Fate/stay Stay Nightnight|Heaven's Feel Route]]. Granted, his ending and last couple of actions aren't exactly very heroic, but yea, the motive was good.
* Duke Michael in ''[[The Prisoner of Zenda]]''. Unquestionably a better person and ruler than the legitimate king, and almost as good as the main character.
* The ''[[Discworld]]'' story ''[[Discworld (Literature)/The Last Hero|The Last Hero]]'' has this as a major plot point. Cohen and the Silver Horde are traditional fantasy heroes, but they are convinced their plan is bad once an honest man with a simple sword stands alone against them to stop it. This is mainly because [[Genre Savvy|they]] ''[[Genre Savvy|know]]'' [[Genre Savvy|they're traditional fantasy heroes]].
** Also a plot point in ''[[Discworld (Literature)/Witches Abroad|Witches Abroad]]'', in which wicked witch Granny Weatherwax is the one aiming to stop a fairy godmother trying to force storybook endings onto people. During their encounter, said godmother insists that ''she's'' the Good One.
** Played with in ''[[Discworld (Literature)/The Truth|The Truth]]'', in which the protagonist William de Worde (mind you, not a [[Villain Protagonist]]) finds his work as a journalist significalty complicated by one Sir Samuel Vimes, Commander of the City Watch. Most readers will know Vimes to be a thoroughly decent, if perpetually grumpy, person and, as such, can understand where he's coming from.
* Claude Lebel, the man assigned to catch the eponymous assassin of ''[[The Day of the Jackal]]''.
** After Lebel is introduced, the plot stops following the Jackal exclusively, and is as much Lebel's story as it is the Jackal's, so Lebel goes back and forth between being a [[Hero Antagonist]], and a straight Hero. The Jackal goes back and forth between being a straight Villain and a [[Villain Protagonist]].
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* Roy Merritt in ''[[Daemon]]''. {{spoiler|Though we eventually know better,}} Sobol is a dangerous maniac who employs a menagerie of vicious sociopaths.
* Porfiry Petrovich, the brilliant and implacable policeman investigating Raskolnikov, in ''[[Crime and Punishment]].''
* Overlapping with, and the [[Trope Namer|trope namer]] for, [[The Javert]] is Inspector Javert from ''[[Les Misérables]]''. While we know Jean Valjean has reformed by the end, he still broke parole, resisted arrest and escaped from prison.
 
 
== Live Action TV ==
 
* Gerard, from ''[[The Fugitive (TV series)|The Fugitive]]''. (In fact, pretty much every [[Inspector Javert]] other than [[Les Misérables|Javert himself]] qualifies.)
* Sergeant Doakes in ''[[Dexter]]''. Somehow, he's the only one in a precinct full of cops and forensic specialists to get a creepy vibe off serial killer protagonist Dexter. {{spoiler|This doesn't end well for him.}}
** Special Agent Frank Lundy in the second season of the same. He probably would have caught Dexter {{spoiler|if it weren't for Doakes' suspicious and secretive behavior making him more conspicuous than Dexter}}.
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* Major Beck in ''[[Jericho]]''.
* Most of the less-developed alliance officers in ''[[Firefly]]'' qualify as this.
** [[Word of God]] (see the commentary track for ''[[Serenity (Film)|Serenity]]'') is that the Alliance as an organization is not evil, it's just plagued with idiot optimism and thinks it can make people better.
** ... granted, everything we ever see them do ranges from evil to indifferent (but hostile). Maybe this counts as [[Offscreen Villainy|Offscreen Heroism]]?
* 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 series)|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.
* 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.
* 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}}.
* On ''[[Leverage (TV)|Leverage]]'', Sterling is this, as an insurance investigator and later [[Interpol]] agent up against a team of [[Just Like Robin Hood|thieves]]. It doesn't help him that he is a [[Magnificent Bastard]] who is able to always win and seems [[Affably Evil]].
 
== Mythology ==
 
* [[Older Than Feudalism]]: [[The Iliad (Literature)|Hector]]. There are a number of scholars who believe that ''[[The Iliad (Literature)|The Iliad]]'' is the [[Tragedy]] of ''Hector'', not Achilles. They cite as evidence the facts that the Trojans are portrayed far more sympathetically than the Greeks, Achilles finding redemption instead of punishment at the end, and the fact that the narrative ends with Hector's funeral.
** Dante went so far as to place Hector in Limbo (the nicest place a pre-Christian could end up) in ''[[The Divine Comedy]]'', and he became part of the Nine Worthies, nine personifications of Chivalrous behaviour, during the Medieval ages (mind you, the other pagan "Worthies" were Julius Caesar and Alexander, whose "chivalry" should probably be taken with a grain of salt). History certainly treated Hector better than it did most of the invading Greeks, due to the perception of him as a noble man trying to defend his home over his brother's folly and the Greeks' warmongering.
*** Dante was of the belief that the Trojans were the ancestors of the Roman founders and the Judeo-Claudian dynasty-- who in turn were the ancestors of Italians, particularly the Florentines. [[Sarcasm Mode|This colors his attitude somewhat,]] such as placing Ulysses and Diomedes deep in Hell for the Trojan Horse gambit.
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== Video Games ==
* Agent Edgar Ross from ''[[Red Dead Redemption]]''. At the core, he wants to bring law, order, and civilization as well as round up all those who seek to destroy it. Were he not the antagonist, we would likely think he's onto something, perhaps even root for him in secret.
* 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?]]}}
* 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]].
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** By extension, Harpuia's fellow Guardians, Leviathan, Fefnir and Phantom, as well as all of the Bosses prior to ''Zero 3'', fit this trope. They were only following orders for the sake of protecting humanity.
* Knuckles in certain ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' games, in particular those where he is tricked by Dr Eggman into stopping Sonic. He eventually realises he has been duped, and usually reverts to a side protagonist for the remainder of the story.
** Silver in ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 (Videovideo Gamegame)|Sonic the Hedgehog 2006]]''. He similarly reverts to a protagonist later on.
** GUN, especially the Commander, until after the events of ''[[Shadow the Hedgehog]]''.
* In ''[[Golden Sun (Video Game)|Golden Sun]]'', Felix, though this is not revealed until ''[[Golden Sun (Video Game)|Golden Sun]]: The Lost Age'', where a [[Perspective Flip]] occurs and Felix becomes the protagonist and Isaac becomes the Hero Antagonist.
* {{spoiler|Yuan}} from ''[[Tales of Symphonia (Video Game)|Tales of Symphonia]]'', an [[Anti-Hero]] example.
* Velvet from ''[[Odin Sphere]]'', against both Ragnival and Ringford. Given Gwendolyn and Mercedes are guilty of most of the incidents of [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero]] in the story (Velvet causes very little herself), she's rather justified.
* Gordon Freeman and Cpl Adrian Shepherd are the protagonists of different ''[[Half Life]]'' games, working to opposing ends. Shep wants to catch Freeman, for starters, and Freeman has nuked a number of soldiers.
* White Knight Leo from ''[[Lunar 2 Eternal Blue Complete|Lunar 2]]''.
* Subverted in ''[[Disgaea 3 Absence of Justice]]''. Mao is a [[Villain Protagonist]] ([[Noble Demon]] type), and Super Hero Aurum is originally portrayed as some legendary super hero. {{spoiler|The subversion occurs around Chapter 8, when the player discovers that Aurum is [[No Hero to His Valet|nothing but a big phony]] who's so foul that even demons scorn him (especially his transformation).}}
** Played straight in the original ''[[Disgaea]]'', as the [[Recurring Boss]] is a [[Stealth Mentor]] to the [[Villain Protagonist]], and the final battle is essentially the [[Big Good]] [[Guile Hero]] {{spoiler|performing a [[Secret Test of Character]]}} on said [[Villain Protagonist]]. The main antagonist (who, oddly enough, is the penultimate boss rather than the final boss) is [[Obviously Evil|definitely evil]], however.
* In one Rikti War Zone/Vanguard arc of ''[[City of Heroes]]'', rival organization Longbow becomes full-on Hero Antagonists. Not to mention sister game ''[[City of Villains]]'', where Longbow is just one such group.
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* ''[[Persona 4]]'' has a subversion with {{spoiler|Taro Namatame, who started kidnapping people after the death of Saki Konishi due to being tricked into believing that TV World was a shelter from the true killer, not knowing that all the characters were saved due to the efforts of the Main Character and his friends. The player can either punish him by tossing him into the TV and letting him get slaughtered by Shadows, or hear him out, where they will learn his side of the story, and he, in turn, will understand what he's done and willingly accepting the consequences.}}
* The ''[[Metal Gear]]'' series is so full of lies and deceptions (and lots of [[Retcon|RetCons]] very well disguised as such) that you can never really tell who is on which side, or even which sides there are. The prime example would be {{spoiler|The Boss}} in MGS3 whose heroic identity is only revealed after being killed by the protagonist.
* In ''[[Touhou Project]] 12: Undefined Fantastic Object'', the ancient mage the antagonists were trying to [[Sealed Badass in Aa Can|unseal]] turns out to be a Buddhist monk seeking to bring peace and harmony to [[Youkai]]. And she still fights you as the final boss.
** Technically, the entire plot of ''Touhou 10: Mountain of Faith'' counts. Sanae didn't know the Hakurei Shrine was key to Gensokyo's survival; she saw competition for the faith her gods needed to survive, from a [[Shrine Maiden]] who wasn't even protecting humanity from the youkai. So she tried to shut down the Hakurei Shrine, and got her ass (and her gods') kicked by [[Brilliant but Lazy|R]][[Plot Armor|e]][[More Dakka|i]][[Let's Get Dangerous|m]][[Curb Stomp Battle|u]] (or [[Badass Normal|Marisa]]).
* Aldaris from ''[[Starcraft]]'', as explained [http://sclegacy.com/forums/showpost.php?p=33562&postcount=51 here].
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** Okku is this as well, for pretty much the same reason. {{spoiler|However, if you decide to spare him after the final fight against him, he'll decide to help you.}}
* The police in any illegal street racing game, such as ''[[Need for Speed]]''.
* [[PacmanPac-Man]]. No really. Think about it...those ghosts aren't the villains hunting down Pacman for sport. They're ''PROTECTING THEIR FOOD SUPPLY!''
** [[Fridge Logic|But they have no mouths...]]
** Food supply? The guys at ''[[Two P2P Start!|2PStart!]]'' see it [[Child Eater|a bit]] [http://www.2pstart.com/2009/05/27/high-in-cholesterol/ differently]. [[Nightmare Fuel|Sweet dreams!]]
* In ''[[Street Fighter]] Alpha 3'', if you play as Vega/M. Bison, then Ryu becomes this in the final battle.
* In ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]: [[Birth By Sleep]]'', [[Lilo and Stitch|Captain Gantu]] may technically count as this.
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* Alakazam and his team in [[Pokémon Mystery Dungeon|Red/Blue Rescue Team.]] {{spoiler|When the protagonist and teamate end up being tossed into exile, Alakazam and his team are the leaders of the hunt for the protagonist's head.}}
** And Palkia from the sequel, who thinks that the hero is threatening to destroy the universe. {{spoiler|However, it turns out that he was tricked: [[Vile Villain Saccharine Show|Darkrai]] was the one threatening to destroy everything, and he actually made it look like it was the hero's fault.}}
* In the first ''[[Max Payne (Video Gameseries)|Max Payne]]'', Lt. Jim Bravura and the rest of the NYPD. In the 2nd game, Bravura becomes [[Da Chief]].
* ''[[Double Switch (Video Game)|Double Switch]]'': Lyle the Handyman is definitely this.
* The freeware indie game ''Akuji the Demon'' has the final boss being the hero who defeated and banished you into the dungeon.
* Wiegraf is one of these during the prologue of ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics]]'' and remains so to a lesser extent, later in the story. He starts out as a Holy Knight fighting against the aristocracy for very justifiable reasons. His only really even vaguely selfish or villainous actions are his attempts to take revenge on Ramza for killing his sister, but Wiegraf also doesn't know that Ramza tried to avoid killing her. {{spoiler|Wiegraf later becomes a [[Fallen Hero]], however, as revenge [[Jumping Off the Slippery Slope|drives him off the slippery slope]].}}
* ''[[Battle for Wesnoth]]'' features campaigns like ''Descent to Darkness'' where many antagonists are heroes trying to defeat the necromancers.
* Both the NCR and Mr House in [[Fallout: New Vegas]] if you support Caesar's Legion. The Brotherhood of Steel can become one in Fallout 3 if you destroy the Citadel. Of course, since this is a series where you can nuke entire cities for kicks, pretty much any decent individual in the wasteland can become one if they get on the wrong side of the player.
** [[Fallout 3]] also has the Regulators who will hunt down the player if s/he has Evil Karma.
 
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* ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'':
** Berk, who appears at first as Gwynn's weird and annoying new boyfriend, but then, in the chapter "K'Z'K", tries to {{spoiler|assassinate several main characters -- because he's been sent from the future to stop them from causing [[The End of the World Asas We Know It]] by summoning the demon K'Z'K.}}
** Pretty much all the holiday figures in "Holiday Wars" ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'', thanks to Bun-bun being a sociopathic [[Villain Protagonist]] bent on [[Take Over the World|world domination]].
* Miko Miyazaki of ''[[The Order of the Stick (Webcomic)|The Order of the Stick]].'' A [[Lawful Good]] paladin that [[Lawful Stupid Chaotic Stupid|takes 'lawful' to ridiculous levels]], she becomes convinced that the Order of the Stick are evil and tries to destroy them. She is so sure of herself and her own importance that she winds up causing a lot of damage, all the while ''thinking'' she was doing good. (Also, many characters and readers found her just plain annoying). That being said, her initial reason for pursuing the Order was that they were responsible (albeit unintentionally) for weakening the fabric of reality, and she came across a lot of evidence to suggest they were evil and dangerous (Roy and Elan landed on the Flumphs, Nale and Thog, their evil lookalikes, abused a dwarf, Belkar unnecessarily killed 3 barbarians as part of his initiation, and the weasel got chucked into the gaping mouths of a troll...ogre...large green brute thingie)
** It certainly doesn't help matters that [[Heroic Comedic Sociopath|Belkar]] [[Token Evil Teammate|really]] ''is'' [[Chaotic Evil|(chaotic)]] [[Villain Protagonist|evil]].
** She eventually manages to work her delusion around to the point that she commits an unquestionably evil act (killing a man who, while by no means pure as the driven snow, really was acting for the greater good and certainly was innocent of the crime for which he was killed), falls, and still manages to convince herself that she's the gods' favored warrior and that this is some kind of test she has to overcome. {{spoiler|Not that this means much to Miko now, seeing as she's dead and all. She remains erroneously and stubbornly convinced of the justness of her actions, and only has vague realizations when the ghost of the founder of her order explained to her in detail how she screwed up during her final moments.}}
** A minor character example would be YokYok, a [[Captain Ersatz]] of [[The Princess Bride (Filmfilm)|Inigo Montoya]] who serves as an inversion of the [[Evil Counterpart]] trope for [[Heroic Comedic Sociopath]] Belkar Bitterleaf, stating that he joined the [[Quirky Miniboss Squad|Linear Guild]] in order to find [[You Killed My Father|the one who killed his father]].
** In ''Start of Darkness'', the members of the Order of the Scribble, most notably Durokan and Lirian, serve this to Xykon and Redcloak.
* Othar Tryggvasen (Gentleman Adventurer!) of ''[[Girl Genius]]''. A very interesting example, in that his stated goal of {{spoiler|killing all the world's Sparks, ending finally with him committing suicide}}, appears to place him squarely in the realm of being a [[Villain Withwith Good Publicity]]. It is only when one looks at how nearly every Spark he has ever encountered has acted, {{spoiler|killing dozens to thousands of innocent people, either deliberately or as an accidental consequence of their mad inventions, to the point of having already severely depopulated the entire continent of Europe}} (as documented in his twitter account on the Girl Genius website), that it becomes clear that he may be a legitimate hero whose actions are fully justified. Indeed, the heroine of the story, whom he previously tried to kill when she was completely innocent {{spoiler|has since killed hundreds of innocent people}} after {{spoiler|being possessed by the spirit of another spark}}, and in one possible future timeline, his failure to complete his self-appointed mission {{spoiler|results in the apparent eradication of human life in Western Europe, apparently within a few years of the main storyline}}.
** Note that Othar clearly could have killed DuMedd (himself a spark) had he wanted to, but never did anything (harmful) to him or even brought up his "kill-all-sparks" agenda upon learning he was not only a fan of Othar himself but also Agatha's cousin. His goals may not be so extreme as he claimed when he was in [[The Madness Place]].
*** On the other hand, his twitter has him killing a college student and her father (Because she was a spark and he said that the worst thing that could happen to a parent is their child to die before he did), derailing a train and becoming a [[Cop Killer]].
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* The main characters in [[Niels]] are murdering, scheming, criminal mobsters. The antagonists are two good cops and a pervy secret agent trying to take them down.
* One of the main antagonists of [[True Villains]] is a Paladin, fighting for God.
* ''[[What's New With Phil and Dixie (Comic Strip)|What's New Withwith Phil and Dixie]]'' presents: [http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20090118 The happy crew of weatherbright]!
{{quote| Everybody has an "[[Evil Twin]]", right? Well, ''these'' guys see our Weatherlight crew as ''their'' [[Evil Twin|evil twins]] and act accordingly. They're not villains, per se, but everybody hates them.}}
* ''[[Last Res 0 rtRes0rt]]'' features Jason Spades, a hero on his home planet of Fenirel who happens to want to viciously kill Daisy to the exclusion of everything else, even if 'everything else' is something like ''getting the rest of the crew (including himself!) off an enemy ship alive''.
 
 
== Web Original ==
* Captain Hammer, in ''[[DoctorDr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog (Web Video)|Doctor Horribles Sing Along Blog]]''.
* In the [[Whateley Universe]], the Reverend Darren England, protector of the planet from demonic threats for decades. He's now willing to deal with The Syndicate if it means the death of [[Eldritch Abomination|The Kellith]], the descendant of [[Cosmic Horror|a Great Old One]], before The Kellith can destroy all life on earth. The only problem is that The Kellith is Carmilla, who is an [[Anti-Hero]] protagonist and is trying to go straight.
* Farseer in [[Land Games]].
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* Dib from ''[[Invader Zim]],'' an eleven-year-old paranormal investigator trying to prevent the alien Zim from [[Take Over the World|taking over the world]]. However, ''Invader Zim'' has numerous [[Villain Episode|Villain Episodes]] where Dib is the main character, making him the protagonist (and usually casting Zim as the antagonist) a good portion of the time.
** Dib is really closer to the [[Deuteragonist]]. He and Zim team up almost as often as they fight, and a fair number of episodes are about Dib dealing with other stuff while Zim makes only a cursory appearance.
* Kevin from ''[[Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy]]'' is usually this to the Eds, though sometimes he [[Heroic Comedic Sociopath|really overdoes it]].
** And by "overdoes it", we mean that only about three of the serie's one hundred episodes portray him as truly unsympathetic. The rest show him as more of a [[Knight in Sour Armor]], or a [[Jerk Withwith a Heart of Gold]].
*** On the other hand, he has blatant traits of [[The Bully]] and often conveys an unsympathetic smugness to the Eds being thwarted. He is often clearly the [[Lesser of Two Evils]] compared to Eddy however, just the latter's higher [[Sympathetic POV]] ([[Butt Monkey|and much weaker evasion to karma]]) makes Kevin harder to pity.
* Batman in ''[[Batman: theThe Brave And The Bold (Animation)|Batman the Brave And The Bold]]'' episode "[[Villain Protagonist|Joker]]: [[Villain Episode|The Vile and the Villainous!]]" Even sporting lines like “You’re a fool if you think you can stop my master plan!” Said plan? A device that tracks crimes as they happen summoning the police or himself to the scene.
* Borderline case with ''[[The Dreamstone]]''. There isn't very much antagonistic about the Land Of Dreams, [[Sugar Bowl|at all]]. It is perhaps for that reason however, that the heroes are kept somewhat flat compared to the villains and tend to get the shorter straw in [[Sympathetic POV]] in most episodes. [[Depending Onon the Writer|The odd episode]] attempts to make them the more sympathable side however.
* Candace in ''[[Phineas and Ferb]]'', although "[[Anti-Hero]] Antagonist" might fit better.
* The Road Runner of ''[[Looney Tunes]]'' fame is one of the most iconic Hero Antagonist of Western Animation; the shorts granted little character to the bird outside his fast speed and his trademark "Beep Beep", and all sympathetic spotlight was deliberately kept on its predator, Wile E. Coyote.
** Other Looney Tunes protagonists such as Bugs and Speedy occasionally leaned into this trope as well, many of their respective shorts focusing more on the blundering of their foes.
* The Yankee Doodle Pigeon of ''[[Dastardly and Muttley Inin Their Flying Machines]]'' was implied to be of heroic alliance, delivering important messages to squadrons. However, his role rarely exceeded outside blowing his patriotic trumpet and giving bewildered glances to the Vulture Squadron's blundering attempts to "Stop That Pigeon".
* Ranger Smith from [[Yogi Bear (Animation)|Yogi Bear]]. All he's trying to do is keep Yogi and Boo Boo from stealing food from the campers at Jellystone Park. A few cartoons show that he even cares for them and gets upset if he thinks they're in trouble.
* Xander Crews from [[Frisky Dingo]], also known as the superhero Awesome X. He's also one of the biggest dicks in a show made almost entirely of dicks, sometimes even more than [[Villain Protagonist|Killface]] himself (who kills one of his PR reps in the first episode and then uses the guy's remains as a [[People Puppets|ventriloquist dummy]] in front of his twin brother.)
 
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