Antihero

An antihero or antiheroine is a protagonist who lacks conventional heroic qualities such as idealism, courage, and morality. These individuals often possess dark personality traits such as disagreeableness, dishonesty, and aggressiveness. These characters are usually considered "conspicuously contrary to an archetypal hero".

History

The antihero archetype can be traced back at least as far as Homer's Thersites. The concept has also been identified in classical Greek drama, Roman satire, and Renaissance literature such as Don Quixote and the picaresque rogue. Although antiheroes may sometimes do the "right thing", it is more because it serves their self-interest rather than being morally correct.

The term antihero was first used as early as 1714, emerging in works such as Rameau's Nephew in the 18th century, and is also used more broadly to cover Byronic heroes as well.

Literary Romanticism in the 19th century helped popularize new forms of the antihero, such as the Gothic double. The antihero eventually became an established form of social criticism, a phenomenon often associated with the unnamed protagonist in Fyodor Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground. The antihero emerged as a foil to the traditional hero archetype, a process that Northrop Frye called the fictional "centre of gravity." This movement indicated a literary change in heroic ethos from feudal aristocrat to urban democrat, as was the shift from epic to ironic narratives.

Anti-hero (film)

Anti-hero is a 1999 action film directed by Matt Jaissle and stars Isaac Cooper, Craig Smith, Mark Arndt, Dave Bramwell, Todd Tjersland, Steve Sheppard and Sam Walt. The film revolves around a second-rate TV actor, Ace Baldwin (Cooper), and his co-star, Rick Beverly (Smith), who together are the main stars of a low-budget, low-quality super-hero television series relatively unknown in the US, but is allegedly "#3 in Mexico." The film was shot in and around Olympia, Washington.

Plot

In the series, Beverly is Magna-Max, a super-hero with the ability to wield magnetic forces (possibly a reference to Magneto of X-Men fame), and Baldwin is the obligatory side-kick, Wonder Boy. Baldwin is not happy with his second-rate status in the series, nor in his own life, and struggles to overcome his despair. He becomes involved with Zamphir (Arndt) who has stolen the only sample of an experimental and potent type of synthetic heroin from a drug gang. After Arndt is killed by the gang attempting to recover their drug sample, Baldwin takes the sample himself, intending to sell it before the gang catches up with him. In short order he finds that the gang is on his trail. He must quickly find a way to sell the drug and make his escape before the gang's hitmen (Tjersland and Sheppard) can find him.

Anti Hero (Brave New World)

Anti Hero is a song by British recording artist Marlon Roudette from his debut studio album Matter Fixed. It was released as the second single from the album on January 20, 2012. The song has charted in Austria, Germany and Switzerland. The song was written by Roudette and Naughty Boy.

Music video

A music video to accompany the release of "Anti Hero (Brave New World)" was first released onto Marlon Roudette's official site on 20 January 2012 at a total length of three minutes and twenty-six seconds.

Track listing

Credits and personnel

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Anti Hero (Brave New World)

Anti Hero (Le saut de l'ange)

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

External links