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What's best personify a anti hero




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naruto fan 09812



Joined: 24 Jul 2006
Posts: 499
PostPosted: Fri Nov 16, 2007 10:20 am Reply with quote
I think Light from Death Note best personify the perfect anti hero. At first I thought his goals was honorable but he came more demeanted when the story wore on. He just started killing innocent people who just got in the way. He became the very thing he was trying to rid the world of.

The last time I checked god didn't kill innocent people just because they got in the way. His action have more in common with a convict than a god. For example,his actions can be compare to a bank robber who kill just because people got in the way. He would kill people just because they know his secret. Again,you can compare that to a convict who do anything to not get caught.

He more of a anti god than anything else. He just seems like one of those people who just want to be remember and not doing this for greater good of humanity. To conclude,he was the worst type of person to get the Death Note.
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hentai4me



Joined: 25 Oct 2005
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Location: England. Robin is so Cute!
PostPosted: Fri Nov 16, 2007 11:01 am Reply with quote
What does God have to do with anything?
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naruto fan 09812



Joined: 24 Jul 2006
Posts: 499
PostPosted: Fri Nov 16, 2007 11:08 am Reply with quote
hentai4me wrote:
What does God have to do with anything?


I guessing you haven't watch Death Note yet. spoiler[Light is trying to become the god of a new world with the power of the Death Note. That the only reason I brought God into the subject at hand]


Last edited by naruto fan 09812 on Fri Nov 16, 2007 12:15 pm; edited 1 time in total
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hentai4me



Joined: 25 Oct 2005
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Location: England. Robin is so Cute!
PostPosted: Fri Nov 16, 2007 11:53 am Reply with quote
From the view of a God how can Light's actions be wrong? As a God he determines what right and wrong is...Well unless he is going after a Zoroastrian tradition.
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Kelly



Joined: 17 Nov 2003
Posts: 868
Location: New York City
PostPosted: Fri Nov 16, 2007 12:39 pm Reply with quote
To me, an anti hero is by definition not a completely bad person - otherwise he or she would be the story's villain.

I'd classify an anti hero as someone with philisophical and/or political differences with the story's hero(es) who nevertheless means well. They're some of anime's best characters and sometimes even end up overshadowing the hero(es).

Sometimes the fact that a character will be an anti hero is a spoiler in itself, so there are some good examples I wouldn't just blurt out, but some good examples I feel comfortable using for whom I don't consider their anti hero status a spoiler are Lady Eboshi from Princess Mononoke, Nabuca from Now and Then, Here and There and the Shinsengumi in the first Ruroni Kenshin OAV.
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BrothersElric



Joined: 06 Dec 2006
Posts: 1996
PostPosted: Fri Nov 16, 2007 3:57 pm Reply with quote
Heh, a hero thread, and now we have an anti-hero one! Very Happy Well I'm much more of a hero person myself, but that doesn't mean I don't like anti-heroes either. They indeed can be some pretty interesting characters, even if I don't necessaraly agree with their way of thinking.

Well, by definition, an anti-hero is the exact opposite of a hero, probably so in ways of thinking, motivations, ect. Of course, as Kelly said, the anti-hero isn't always a completely bad person, otherwise they'd be a villain instead of an anit-hero. Wink

Heaven knows the examples I could use from Naruto, such as the likes of Gara, Sasuke, and Neji, but since I used Naruto as a great example in the hero thread..... Wink When I think anti-hero, I think of the likes of Vegita from DBZ or Hiei from Yu Yu Hakusho, or even Byakuya Kuchiki form Bleach. Aoshi Shinamori is a good example from Rurouni Kenshin. An even more perfect example is that of Light from Death Note, as the OP already stated. In which, the heroes of each series are all fighting to protect people and don't care so much about power. Despite having so much of it, their actions are purely selfless. Wheras the characters mentioned are all fighting for self-gratitude, trying to gain as much power as possible. Their actions are all purely selfish.

Where all the intrigue goes into these types of characters though is in the fact that they all seem to be going through some sort of dilema in which they seem to be morally confused. They're not quite sure what is right and what is wrong, and usually that makes for them fighting on the wrong side at times without even truly knowing what they want. This moral conflict really makes for quite the interesting inner struggle in which the anti-hero tries to find his place, whether it be on the hero's side or on the enemy's side. Once again, they're not entirely bad people, they're just confused is all.
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countchocula86



Joined: 26 Oct 2007
Posts: 159
PostPosted: Fri Nov 16, 2007 4:11 pm Reply with quote
I think the best way to define an anti-hero is in what theyre fighting for.

Apologies, since this example isnt anime driven lol. But compare Superman and Batman.

Superman is your typical hero. He lives to fight for justice, to help those in need, basically he lives to defend the world by a well defined moral code.

Batman, while he does fight for justice, its much more vigilante. He fights against those he deems as a threat, and he wants to stop them completely. he's not so concerend with morality, and will sully himself just to destroy his enemy.



So...I kinda rambled there...I think anti-heroes tend to work based on their own moral code, and fight for their own reasons, whereas a traditional hero fights with a societys moral code in mind, and fights for the greater good.
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cutiepie123



Joined: 16 Nov 2007
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PostPosted: Fri Nov 16, 2007 4:45 pm Reply with quote
I totally agree light should be named dark for what he's doing to people
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abominaSion



Joined: 15 Oct 2007
Posts: 125
Location: U.S...maybe
PostPosted: Fri Nov 16, 2007 6:01 pm Reply with quote
naruto fan 09812, This is a great topic!

Also, The physical appearance of an anti-hero. let's not forget that! In most cases have long black straight hair. Deep calm voice(90% of all anti-heros are played by Crispin Freeman). And tend to have a better since of fashion than the protagonist or even most females on the series.

And the definition of an anti-hero is based on his/her calmness of life. To get something or achieve it through waterver means.
The actual definition of of an anti-hero is to mean or do something of some good regardless of the consequences or actions to get it.(at least in my point of view).

an anti-hero is to many the favorite character of a series. I called Light(Death Note) an anti-hero and actually compared him a bit to Arucard with less extremse and a god-complex. but now that I think about it he seams less of anti-hero as the series progresses.
To me now, the anti-hero is the ones played by crispin Freeman excluding Kyon,Togusa and a few(small few) others.
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hentai4me



Joined: 25 Oct 2005
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Location: England. Robin is so Cute!
PostPosted: Fri Nov 16, 2007 6:51 pm Reply with quote
cutiepie123 wrote:
I totally agree light should be named dark for what he's doing to people


As NFan guessed I've not seen DN but surely his naming of Light and his actions are meant to be opposites...if he were called dark then his actions would have far less resonance.
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abominaSion



Joined: 15 Oct 2007
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Location: U.S...maybe
PostPosted: Fri Nov 16, 2007 7:33 pm Reply with quote
He's name is Light, he is at the top of his class, wants to save the world and fix it from the dump it's turning into. I think his name serves him well. Besides, you'r observation is too 1'dimensional, there's more than that within the story. If you havn't sean it, you'r missing out.

is your avatar Robin from WHR, I love that series.
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jigoku_hime



Joined: 07 Nov 2007
Posts: 78
Location: twinkle twinkle little stars...
PostPosted: Fri Nov 16, 2007 10:15 pm Reply with quote
In my opinion, a perfect anti-hero would be someone you'll love to hate. I also think that Light personifies the perfect anti-hero. He is the definition of evil. But the thing I love about him is the fact that he kills people for justice. Although I don't agree with the way he uses to seek for justice, atleast he has a purpose for killing people. He does'nt kill just for the sake of killing, he kills because he wants justice and to create a "new world" where criminals and wrong-doers don't exist. He may be an anti-hero but when spoiler[he died at the end of the series I found myself trying not to cry. His death made me really sad Crying or Very sad . ] Yagami Light is a perfect anti-hero because he is someone I definitely love to hate.
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ultrapostman



Joined: 15 Aug 2007
Posts: 164
Location: New Jersey. Don't you just love traffic circles?
PostPosted: Fri Nov 16, 2007 11:03 pm Reply with quote
I think a good example of an anti-hero is lelouch from Code Geass. Many people compare him to Light from Death Note (both spoiler[obtain a supernatural power and use it to try and change the world in a rather violent way]), but I think that his humanity is far more prounced than Light's (obvious from lelouch's spoiler[complete devotion to his sister Nunnally, whereas Light cared only for himself]). This, I think, is important in an anti-hero: he has to be bad, but have a good side as well. Cases in point, Vegeta from DBZ and Hiei from Yu Yu Hakusho as BrothersElric already mentioned. Both started off as vilians, but when they were revealed to have a compassionate side, in Hiei's case it was his sister and for Vegeta it was his family.

Light, on the other hand, is not really an anti-hero in my opinion. By the end of the story he spoiler[has lost virtually all his humanity and cares nothing for anyone but himself. An anti-hero is also supposed to have at least some level of badassery, but Light's death is just pathetic. He is revealed be Near to be not some cool vigilante god that believes in changing the world for the better by whatever means possible, but just a crazy mass murderer.] Definetely not an anti-hero.
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Fallout2man



Joined: 27 Jun 2007
Posts: 275
Location: San Diego, CA
PostPosted: Fri Nov 16, 2007 11:17 pm Reply with quote
There's a fine line between an anti-hero and a villain.

first of all, an anti-hero isn't all bad. They may do horrible things, show no emotion or remorse most of the time and can even at points be raging violent psychopaths...However, a real anti-hero has that one tiny part of them, that one unkillable undistordable shard, that still holds the good in them, and no matter what happens it eventually will surface.

Good borderline example: Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader. Even though he was filled with hate and anger, and became a sith lord, in the end there was a part of him that still held some love, that he could not let go of or get rid of. Luke brought this out near the end and showed even to his father's amazement that despite it all, deep down he was still a good, caring person, underneath all the metal implants and mental scars.

What does make Vader so heavily borderline is it's arguable that Vader was totally dark until he discovered his Son (and later daughter) survived what he thought was the death of his pregnant wife on Mustafar. Though I still think personally he always had the good in him, it was just easier for Luke, not only a Jedi but his own son, to bring that out in him.

A villain on the other hand, may have had a tortured or tragic past as well, but what differs the villain from the anti-hero is while both do horrible things the villain has totally lost his former self mentally. He may remember it, or even be tortured by it, but what really defines the difference is that a true villain is beyond any sort of real reform.

Good borderline examples being Elijah Price and even Raito Yagami. While you desperately want to find sympathy for poor Elijah, and Raito on one hand seems at first to have the right idea, you begin to realize though that both have become warped beyond recognition.

Elijah's pain and love of comics as a boyhood escape warped his mind. He believed he had to find some way to justify that pain he had to deal with every day of his life. That drove him to do some of the worst things imaginable, and he felt no remorse for it, in fact at the end he was happy just for the mere fact that his actions had finally drawn out Bruce Willis' character from the woodwork of society.

Then we have Raito, while his goal isn't so bad, a world without crime, and wanting to cut out all the BS that lets criminals get off the hook easy, the problem is when he's granted an unchecked power in the form of the death note, he loses his mind to idealism. He loses every bit of humanity he had in the pursuit of creating his perfect world, and this is later revealed in an ironic way spoiler[in that the only way he even temporarily got his humanity back was giving the death note up and effectively purging every bit of the existence of its corrupting power from his mind. It took that, just to give a temporary moment of sanity, which of course he lost as soon as, per his plan, he was re-united with a scrap of the death note right when he'd planned.] There is no question, he truly has lost any ounce of compassion in him, his only care is for his goal, which has become so horribly warped it's not even close to the noble underpinnings he started with.
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