By definition, an anti hero is a protagonist who Acts and operates outside the law or conventional moral standards. Anti-heroes can often blend in with the most heroic good guys imaginable, but ultimately serve their own agenda, which can easily divert the character from the heroes’ path if necessary.
Comics have featured hundreds of morally ambiguous heroes over the years, each in varying shades of virtue and ideals. Although they each share a common drive to carry out “justice,” their methods most always turn against the true heroes, like Spider-Man or Superman, at the right time. Characters like Rorschach or Venom are prime examples of characters who work alongside heroes, and often see themselves as ‘good guys’, but who are inevitably willing to cross the strongest moral line: murder. While many comic book characters fall into this category, These are the best anti heroes in comics history.
10
Catwoman (AKA Selina Kyle)
First debuted in Batman #1 (1940) By Bill Finger and Bob Kane
Selina Kyle is a quintessential member of
Batman’s Rogues’ Gallery
A morally questionable character branded with an animal theme and reflective of some of Bruce Wayne’s defining character traits. Originally known as “The Cat,” Catwoman grew into her burglar persona in an attempt to escape her impoverished and abusive upbringing. She learned from an early age that she could only depend on herself and developed a utilitarian philosophy for her shifting morals.
However, when not thinking exclusively of herself, Catwoman has stepped up to assist Batman and the Bat-Family on several occasions, although she is mainly motivated by a prize to be earned later. While the anti-hero is sometimes characterized as a Robin Hood-esque thief, she inevitably returns to her self-serving ways. More often than not she is willing to put aside her selfish inclinations to help the greater good. However, as long as Bruce Wayne is around, Selina can be persuaded to stand on the side of justice with the help of a billionaire’s charm.
9
Poison Ivy (AKA Dr. Pamela Isley)
First debuted in Batman #181 By Robert Kanigher and Sheldon Moldoff
Another member of Batman’s classic rogues’ gallery, Poison Ivy has always straddled traditional lines of morality depending on one’s perspective. From humanity’s perspective, she is often a nihilistic sociopath Who believes humanity to be a disease. However, from a macroscopic planetary perspective, Poison Ivy is a champion of the environment and preserving the natural balance of the global ecosystem.
Better than most on this list, Ivy is truly and simultaneously a hero and a villain, depending on the reader’s point of view. However, focusing on the human perspective, Dr. Pamela Isley has changed her tune recently thanks to her development.
Relationship with Harley Quinn
. Although Quinn does not necessarily represent the best of humanity, she somewhat softens Ivy’s hatred of humanity so that Poison Ivy can begin to imagine a world where humanity and nature can coexist. That said, her goals are ultimately aligned with preserving Earth’s greater ecosystem, and will kill anyone who gets in the way of that goal.
8
Ghost Rider (AKA Johnny Blaze)
First debuted in Marvel Spotlight #5 (1972) By Gary Friedrich and Mike Ploog
While
There have been many Ghost Riders
Each with varying shades of morality and personal values, Johnny Blaze best represents the complicated nature in each spirit of revenge. Blaze originally gained his powers in a hellish deal with Mephisto to save his adoptive father’s life. Bound to the wrathful spirit of a fallen angel, Mephisto’s messenger from Hell has been bound by and molded by the vengeful whims of his spirit over the years. While Blaze is often timid about his heroism, his drive to exact vengeance on the souls of the wicked often places him outside the scope of the traditional hero..
Ghost Rider is often beyond caring about the sanctity of life, knowing that death in the physical world immediately leads to life in another. Furthermore, because he and Zarathos can literally smell evil in a person’s soul, their targets are often the most “irredeemable” types of sinners in the macroscope of spiritual morality. Most acknowledge that Blaze is a good person, but as long as he possesses the spirit of revenge, he is not a person that the Avengers can trust to walk a straight line.
7
Black Adam (AKA Teth-Adam)
First debuted in The Marvel Family #1 By Otto Binder and CC Beck
While Black Adam was initially introduced as
A supervillain counterpart to Shazam
He has slowly turned into an anti-hero over the past decade, whose ideals tend to be more closely aligned with his previous arch enemies. After Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo Dark Nights: Death Metal In the event, Teth-Adam experienced a complete change of heart, turning to become a protector of peace. Rather than an avenger for the broken, he tries to be a paragon of virtue.
In doing so, Superman offered Black Adam a seat in the Justice League, where the anti-hero would remain until the Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths Event. Still motivated to see a world free from the inhuman cruelty he experienced in Ancient Egypt, Black Adam still pursues those goals in whatever way he ultimately sees fit. However, despite his best intentions, Teth-Adam still struggles with his own ego and the self-empowerment he feels as the Egyptian pantheon’s modern champion.
6
Peacemaker (aka Christopher Smith)
First debuted in Fighting 5 #40 By Joe Gill and Pat Boyette
Before his run at DC Comics, Peacemaker originally debuted under Charlton Comics until DC later acquired the company in the 1980s. While he was originally characterized as a pacifist diplomat, after his DC acquisition Christopher Smith began to work with a peace-through-violence mindset. A mighty unheard vigilante, Peacemaker’s pursuit of “justice” had to be carefully guided by various government agencies to ensure that his violent bloodlust stayed focused..
Because of this, he was made a prime candidate for
The Doom Patrol and Suicide Squad
Often proving to be the most unhinged of his teams only because of his fanatical and warped perspective of the path to true peace. In recent years, Peacemaker has seen a huge surge in popularity thanks to James Gunn’s Suicide Squad Film and HBO peace maker Show. Thanks to this, the terribly violent, khaki-wearing, freedom-loving patriot began to appear more often in the comics, and gave him an opportunity to refine his ideology, both for better and for worse.
5
Darth Vader (AKA Anakin Skywalker)
Debuted in current canon in Darth Vader #1 (2015) By Kieron Gillen and Salvador Larroca
Let’s get this straight: Darth Vader is by no means a hero. However, like Anakin Skywalker, the fallen Jedi often struggled with his own morals and
The secret machinations of the Force
That turned him to the dark side before his birth. From wiping out bands of Tuskens to frequent military assassinations, Skywalker is always ready to get his hands dirty for the sake of his brand of justice. Most of the frustrations that led him into Palpatine’s capture began with him realizing the Jedi Order’s rampant hypocrisy..
Of course, his willing participation in the creation of the galactic empire may have started with good intentions, his life as Darth Vader quickly went off track. That said, Vader has had his moments of moral clarity. In his most recent comics that take place just before return of the jedi, Vader’s secret plot to empower Luke and overthrow the Emperor led the Sith Lord to frequently sabotage the Empire, to give Luke and the Rebels a chance to destabilize Palpatine’s power.
4
Wolverine (aka James “Logan” Howlett)
First debuted in Incredible Hulk #180 (1974) By Len Wein, John Romita, & Roy Thomas
Wolverine has gone through so much torture in his hundreds of years of life, it’s not hard to understand why his sense of morality is often skewed. There is no doubt that Logan is a hero and both a quintessential member and
Leader of the X-Men
He rarely describes himself as anything close to heroic. Wolverine often refers to himself as a bad man who has done bad thingsBut who still carries the weight of every body that he has not put into the ground.
That said, when the time comes, Wolverine is still willing to leave the hero’s path if he believes the situation calls for a sharper solution. Wolverine has been to hell and back and, if he ever dies, he believes his soul will inevitably end up in the hellish pits of the damned. From his perspective, nothing he can do will make his immortal damnation worse, so what’s the harm in getting his claws bloody if it’s for the greater good?
3
Punisher (aka Frank Castle)
First debuted in Amazing Spider-Man #129 (1973) By Gerry Conway, Ross Andru, & John Romita Sr.
If the moniker of the Punisher didn’t make it clear on its own, Frank Castle is practically the epitome of an anti-hero. A former Marine with multiple medals of honor and countless kills under his belt,
Castle was a perfectly molded killer
Before he ever turned to vigilante justice. After watching the death of his wife and son, his faith in the justice system completely crumbles, leaving only his will to punish.
The Punisher really doesn’t have any greater goals than permanently putting down any threat he comes across. He is rarely interested in stopping crime and corruption on a systemic level, as he serves as a “janitor” cleaning up the filth that slips through the cracks. However, his devotion to lethal justice almost makes him a predictable ally. Most of his allies never fully trust him, but he is considered a valuable tool whose methods are obvious to rule or unleash depending on the situation.
2
Magneto (AKA Max Eisenhardt)
First debuted in X-Men #1 (1963) By Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
When Magneto first debuted in Marvel Comics, it would have been difficult to call the leader of
The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants
Something else but a villain. Even as his backstory has been fleshed out over the years and his perspective on mutant liberation has become more sympathetic, Magneto’s inclination to inflict the same cruelty on humanity that was enforced on his family has strongly turned the man away from any Definition of heroism. But after the founding of Krakow, Max Eisenhardt finally turned over a new leaf and sided with his long-time mortal enemy and Best friend, Carl Xavier.
Magneto still despises humanity, especially after
The Orchis Invasion of Cracow
. However, he is more open to finding a way that does not directly lead to violence. If given a chance, especially considering his attempts at peace still lead to the deaths of mutants, Magneto would certainly turn against humanity with lethal judgment, but is more willing to find a solution that ignores humanity rather than slaughtering them outright.
1
Spawn (AKA Al Simmons)
First debuted in Chip #1 by Todd McFarlane
The walking definition of an anti hero, Spawn falls somewhere between the Punisher and Ghost Rider in regard to his lethal brand of justice. A decorated Marine, secret agent and assassin, Albert Simmons is sent to Hell for his many kills, only to be revived as a magically powered Punisher, designed to send the souls of the damned to his master, Malebolgia. Like Frank Castle, Spawn is a ruthless killer, with no qualms about taking a life.
He already knows that his victims will be sent to hell when they die, so he has no trepidations about sending them early. Furthermore, Spawn has little interest in his own moral standing, as he is already hell-bound. As with many of the anti-heroes on this list who have had interactions with the afterlife,
Spawn knows what’s coming
Both for himself and for his victims. However, despite his best intentions, he often finds himself fighting against the forces of heaven, for better or for worse.