In
fiction, an
antihero[1] (
feminine:
antiheroine) is a
protagonist archetype whose character or goals are antithetical to traditional
heroism.
Influenced by the pulps, early
comic books featured anti-heroic characters such as
Batman (whose shadowy nature contrasted with their openly "heroic" peers like
Superman) and
Sub-Mariner (who would just as soon conquer
humanity as try to save it).
[6] Marvel's most prolific anti-hero is perhaps
The Punisher, who is more than willing to kill those who he views as deserving of death.
Sergio Leone's "
spaghetti westerns" showcased a wandering
vigilante (the "
Man with No Name" played by
Clint Eastwood) whose gruff demeanor clashed with other heroic characteristics.[
citation needed]
Many modern antiheroes possess, or even encapsulate, the
postmodern rejection of traditional values symptomatic of
Modernist literature in general, as well as the disillusion felt after
World War II and the
Nuclear Age. The continuing popularity of the antihero in modern literature and popular culture may be based on the recognition that a person is fraught with human frailties, unlike the archetypes of the white-hatted cowboy and the noble warrior, and is therefore more accessible to readers and viewers. This popularity may also be symptomatic of the rejection by the
avant-garde of traditional values after the
counter-culture revolution of the 1960s.
[7]
In the postmodern era, traditionally defined heroic qualities, akin to the classic "knight in shining armor" type, have given way to the "gritty truth" of life, and authority in general is being questioned. The brooding
vigilante or "noble criminal" archetype, seen in characters like Batman, is slowly becoming part of the popular conception of heroic valor rather than being characteristics that are deemed un-heroic.
[8]
