'Who is the best anti-hero?': 25+ Fans debate who takes the cake on slaying villains with unconventional heroism

Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor

May 24, 2024 3:00 PM EDT

Heroes are strong, heroes are wise, and heroes always get the girl–right?

That's what every spaghetti Western taught us from an early age and it's what every action movie or sitcom drills into our heads at primetime every Thursday, but is it legit? What about the regular guys turned hero? Or the redeemed villain? Stories that portray real-life flaws in a character are often far more interesting than the cookie-cutter superhero formula of Hollywood.

The anti-hero is often more heroic than Superman could ever be.

At least, that's what the fans in this next collection are thinking when they debate who the best anti-hero of all time is. Why play the good guy when you could be the bad guy that does good things? Or the good guy who does bad things for a good reason? Like life, these characters are far more complex and dimensional than we give them credit for… until now. Scroll for the best anti-heroes in the game who deserve credit where credit is due.

They may be the cigarette-smoking bad boy who kills people and has a black eye the entire movie, but they're doing it for all the right reasons.