Throughout history, storytellers, playwrights and writers of all kinds have woven tales of terrible deeds, tragedies, courage and conquering. In each case the story has a main character, sometimes called a protagonist. The main character is also often referred to as the hero or heroine of the story, particularly if the character possesses a nature that is idealized or super-human in positive attributes. When the main character is deeply flawed, however, lacking in the attributes we most often associate with heroism, we have the anti-hero.

Heroes face danger for the sake of protecting or saving others with little thought to themselves. Action movies often feature a classic hero or heroine that must risk all to beat the odds and achieve an objective that serves others as much or more than it serves the hero. In many cases the hero volunteers through sense of duty. Other times he or she rises to the occasion when put in a situation that calls for action.

The anti-hero is often a reluctant hero who does not consider himself capable of accomplishing the goal. He might be selfish, addicted, corrupt, sullen or disaffected. By the end of the journey the anti-hero typically transforms into a fuller, happier or more complete person due to the struggles he or she endures. In many cases the anti-hero dies at the end of the story, even while overcoming.

Examples of classic heroes are seen all through early Westerns, embodied in actors like the late John Wayne. A he-man with manners and a predictable moral code. Keanu Reeves played a more modernized classic hero in Speed, a hotshot cop (Officer Jack Traven) who went after bad guy Dennis Hopper (Howard Payne) unflinchingly.

Anti-heroes are many, from Thelma and Louise, to Lt. Ellen Ripley of Alien, to Rocky Balboa of Rocky. Television also has its share of anti-heroes, including the acerbic Dr. Gregory House from House, and the emotionally fractured Meredith of Grey’s Anatomy. But the best example of an anti-hero is perhaps Dexter, the likeable blood-spatter expert for the Miami PD who also happens to be a serial killer...but kills bad guys only. Here we have hero and villain rolled into one compelling anti-hero package.

The moral complexity of the anti-hero causes us to question the limits of our own moral integrity. Our willingness to extend ourselves beyond comfortable boundaries to see life from a point of view that is perhaps more similar to our own in many ways than the classic hero who is beyond reproach. By delving into the anti-hero we delve into our own insecurities and hopes that with all of our personal flaws and shortcomings we too will be able to rise above our challenges and end victoriously.