When you hear the word 'hero,' certain images come to mind. You might see Superman swooping in to save Lois Lane or picture Harry Potter sacrificing himself to rescue his friends from the evil Lord Voldemort. You might even visualise Simba from The Lion King
or William Wallace from Braveheart
.
Antiheros are fascinating characters who have appeared in literature, in film, and on stage for centuries. An antihero is a protagonist or other notable figure who is conspicuously lacking in heroic qualities. A protagonist is the lead character in a story, the one we root for, the one we follow. He or she takes us on a journey to resolve whatever conflict has arisen.
The antihero is often compared to, and probably derived from, the tragic hero, which can be traced back to the popular stage dramas of ancient Greece. The tragic hero is an archetypal hero with one major, or fatal, flaw that leads to his downfall, destruction, and usually death. Macbeth and Hamlet, from Shakespeare's famous tragedies of the same name, are two examples of tragic heroes.
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