“That’s all very well and good madam but, unfortunately, I already have a wife. And her name is Justice!” cue - flying off valiantly into the sunset. We all know that heroes do hero things out of the goodness of their heart and not to receive any compensation. Perhaps, likable protagonists, will one day settle down with their soulmate and the two will live happily ever after. Peter Grill, however, takes a different approach. Being crowned strongest man alive after emerging victorious at a world-renowned fighting tournament, left Peter with a gaggle of women hoping to attain his superior seed. They will surely be rebuked though, right? After all, Peter has already pledged his heart to another, and to trample on her feelings after attaining the slightest portion of fame would be damning to not only her but also his own moral - whoops he just had a threesome with two ogres!

Peter Grill is not your traditional hero. While his physique fits nicely into the fighting anime protagonist mold, his personality veers so far off the beaten path that it becomes almost comical how little self-restraint he has.

The definition of an antihero has become twisted over the years. People often take it to mean a protagonist who acts in semi-evil ways. However, the true meaning is a character who does not conform to a traditional hero. And boy, oh boy does Goblin Slayer fit into this category perfectly. While we see genuine acts of kindness from Goblin Slayer, as he helps out his team and saves their lives on numerous occasions, every action he takes is blanketed by his only true love. This being, you guessed it, killing goblins. Everything about his character – the gear, the weapon, the quest log – is constructed to act as the perfect goblin slaying machine.

While he arguably possesses enough strength to take on quests with higher rewards, he does not do so. He has to kill goblins. While a wide array of women throw themselves at him after witnessing his strength, giving him the ability to choose his ideal partner, he does not do so. He has to kill goblins. When the fate of the world hangs in the balance, and only he can bring about the prevention of this catastrophe, he does so. There will probably be some goblins there, after all. Goblin Slayer is an antihero through and through. He’ll save your life, just as long as you got kidnapped by goblins. If not, hopefully, you stocked up on potions beforehand.

Should a hero be dropped into an unfamiliar situation, and forced to do combat with some alien slimeballs, with little to no recompense or reason as to why they should do so, what do you think they might do? That's right, they’d strap on their tights and get to work of course! Now, what would we all do should we be told this may be our last day on Earth? That’s right, we’d try to get laid one last time before shuffling off into the abyss of course! Kurono, after losing his life and being transported into a life-or-death game of alien-hunting, does little to save what reputation he had during his days amongst the living. While his best friend Kato tries his darndest to maintain everyone’s spirits in the face of such adversity, Kei does nothing but brood over his jealousy while simultaneously trying to sleep with anything that moves.

Kei is not the typical hero you’d come to expect from these kinds of anime. While Kato fills this role quite nicely, it’s great to see how those surrounded by a traditional hero may come to feel envious of their starring role. We see that with Kei as he shows no willingness in explaining the rules of Gantz to any newcomers, instead prioritizing his own life and the life of his FWB. Even if we continue into the manga, Kei shows little to no signs of growth until so late in the text. Is Kei an interesting protagonist? Most definitely. Is Kei a hero? Feel free to make your own decisions on that one.

As mentioned before, an antihero does not necessarily have to devolve into villainy. Yukiteru “Yukki” Amano is a perfect example of the other end of the spectrum. Yukki is a cowardly, selfish, wimp who relies on the strength of his stalker *ahem* girlfriend – Yuno – for a better part of the series. He changes heart as the season progresses and, upon realizing the power that Yuno wields, he gains a false sense of confidence as he manipulates her love as a way to defend his own life.

Yukiteru demonstrates some sense of morality, as he struggles early on to take the lives of the other death game members. However, after the death of his parents, he returns with a vengeance, seeking to take out anyone who stands in his way. With Yuno at his side, Yukki cements his role as an antihero protagonist and one who should definitely be feared. As long as his pink-haired sidekick is with him of course.

The antagonist to Sherlock Holmes’ protagonist, Moriarty is an antihero in every sense of the word. He desires nothing more than to overthrow the class system plaguing Britain, thereby allowing for a proletariat uprising. However, to achieve this goal, he will be led down a sinful path of criminal activity, stopping at nothing to free the people from their metaphorical shackles. What starts as a very noble cause, quickly devolves into bloodshed as Moriarty is forced to push harder and harder against the nobles’ resistance.

Those familiar with Sherlock Holmes will have already come to know the traditional antagonist that is Moriarty. While it would have been very easy to create a series based on his evildoings, it is much more engaging to create a narrative in which we can feel some sense of empathy towards him. He wants to help the little guy and only becomes corrupt when his hand is forced. The true beauty of the antihero makes you question a character as opposed to seeing them in black or white. Moriarty portrays this exquisitely.

If the great grandaddies of antiheroes are Light Yagami and Lelouch Lamperouge from Death Note and Code Geass respectively, Shu is the grandchild of these two shows who decided to ignore every lesson they have ever learned. Starting his journey as a traditional hero, he uses his powers for the good of mankind. Not particularly wanting his abilities but being forced to accept the responsibility that comes along with them, he does his best to combat a warzone as a frightened teenager.

However, after a shock death sends Shu spiraling down into depression, he quickly changes his attitude. Realizing that he is the source of all possible power extracted from his peers, he begins categorizing them like cattle into usefulness. Whether their power is useful for combat, for support, or whether their power is worth nothing. These people are treated as nothing more than animals, while the S rank members’ lives are prioritized above all else. Shu did not do his antihero homework, unfortunately. One glance into the notebooks of those who preceded him may have saved him so unneeded heartache.

Naofumi “Shield Hero” Iwatani was isekai’d away along with four others, to complete the set of sword, bow, spear, and shield. Isekai anime is no stranger to NEET protagonists traveling to new worlds and mending their ways to become truly valiant heroes. Usually, these protagonists are welcomed into their new world with open arms as destined saviors or magical Gods. Naofumi, however, quickly realizes that bearing the shield is going to be much more difficult than he once thought. He is utterly ridiculed as the weakest member of the quartet and scorned by his newfound society.

Not one to roll over and die so easily, Naofumi vows revenge on those who mocked him. Working his way up from a naive and helpless wannabee stuck at the bottom, he eventually attains recognition as a badass and capable warrior. Then, once he plateaus, he does not tread into villainous territory, and instead, decides to save the world that had previously rebuked him. Naofumi is a great example of an antihero working for his own sense of self-satisfaction.

Keyarga is the suave and sophisticated lady killer from Redo of Healer. Fellas, take note; should you be in the mood to charm your lady, stay away from traditional cliches like flowers and chocolates. Take a note from Keyarga’s diary and brainwash them into loving you instead! Then, once you turn your girlfriend into nothing more than a pet who is constantly in heat, feel free to add to the fun by partying it up Mormon style. Why settle for one beautiful wife when you can have four (and soon to be five)?

Yes, unfortunately, Keyarga is not the typical gentleman you would hope to see out of a protagonist. Due to his past torture, he sets out on a quest for revenge, and his timid and fragile demeanor is quickly replaced by one that knows what he wants and is willing to do anything to achieve it. Quickly amassing a harem be it through brainwashing or manipulation, Keyarga sees nothing wrong in sleeping with all of them at the same time (much to the dismay of Eve who has yet to fall for his charms). Needless to say, Keyarga’s love of bloodshed and lack of sympathy for those he murders (watching as Blade is eaten alive for example), coupled with his womanizing and narcissism, will leave you wondering who the hero of Redo of Healer truly is.

Hachiman Hikigaya is the irritable protagonist from My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU. Where most slice of life protagonists seek to rid viewers of the painful sting of real-life situations, by letting them indulge in some exaggerated, yet still grounded, comedy or romance. Unfortunately, as you try to live vicariously through these harem protagonists of the world, Hikigaya Hachiman is here to drop-kick your cerebral cortex back into reality, reminding you that you are, in fact, a sad loser with no friends, no girlfriend, and no hope of unlocking your dopamine supply any time soon. Thanks, Hachiman…

Hikigaya is a misanthrope who has become jaded with the world and, as such, limits his interactions with those he despises as much as possible. He is not charming, he is not witty and he is definitely not winning any awards for perfect posture with his trademark hunchback. Thanks to the help of his peers including the bubbly and energetic Yuigahama, as well as the cold and calm Yukinoshita, Hachiman slowly begins to crawl out from his shell and interact with those around him. Just be sure to give him at least three seasons and several OVAs to make the transition!

Enji “Endeavor” Todoroki was stuck playing second fiddle to All Might’s lead guitar for most of his career. A life branded as the Number Two hero is sure to affect one’s well-being. Well, in Endeavor’s case it led him down a path of blind selfishness. Forcing his ideals onto his son Todoroki, as well as shunning and mentally abusing his wife and other children, resulted in Endeavor’s family hating him for what he put them through. Even the general public feared him instead of revered him. He was truly a villain amongst heroes.

All of this changed, however, when All Might was put out of commission after his fight with One For All. Suddenly, Endeavor was pushed into the spotlight, forced to take on the role of Number One. Obviously, many people were skeptical of his abilities. He had not overtaken All Might but merely taken up the mantle. Luckily, he managed to prove his abilities against his fight with the Nomu, showing the world that he is not to be feared and is, in fact, a hero. Slowly coming to terms with his past and taking steps to reconcile with his family, Endeavor stands out as the greatest antihero in a world full of heroes; thereby earning him first place on this list.

Boku no Hero Academia finally got an anime adaptation this year and it perfectly captured the beginning adventures of Izuku Midoriya, as he becomes the greatest superhero ever. However, such growth is not easy, especially when Izuku Midoriya was born without a quirk and he has a prodigy like Katsuki breathing down his neck.

Now Katsuki was one of the first kids in class to develop his quirk and immediately began earning praise for it. It seemed the type of quirk that would easily lead him to success and a chance at becoming a legitimate superhero. All of this was simply more fuel to the ego of a hot-headed and bold child. This confidence of his, however, leads him to act rather antagonistic to most people. Either he finds them below his level and not worthy of his time or someone he simply has to defeat. He’s not one to admit being inferior in any situation.

Fate Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works follows the participants of a magical war that allows the winner to make one wish through the Holy Grail. In this war, seven magi, mythical heroes with incredible powers (such as Hercules), are summoned by seven magicians. The magicians can be of various rank and status and each hero belongs to a very specific class, with its own strengths and weaknesses.

This particular war focuses on Rin Tousaka with her Archer spirt and Shingi Emiya with his Saber spirit. Now, Rin’s Archer is an interesting mix of insubordinate, callous, sly, and powerful. In fact, upon their very first meeting, Archer causes Rin to use one of her three seals, which are a sign of her control over him. That’s not all that this “heroic spirit” does of questionable integrity. At one point he abandons Rin in order to join the team comprised of the Caster and Assassin class, because they seem to have the best odds. Admittedly, this is a ruse, but by the very end he does try to kill off Shinji, who is both one of the main protagonists and a force of good.

Ergastulum is a city filled to the brink with thieves, crooks, hustlers and basically anyone partaking in rather questionable professions. Ingrained into this community are the “Handymen,” Nic and Worick, who will take on the jobs that no one else really wants to deal with.

Investigations, hit jobs, and selling certain goods are all things that Nic and Worick take on without much resistance. On the side of such unsavory business, Worick also acts as a gigolo and Nic takes an immense joy out of fighting. Despite their harsher qualities, it’s quite hard to not care deeply for Nic and Worick as their friendship and care for many of the city’s inhabitants is deeply touching. Rather or not they care to admit, it becomes clear that these two have hearts of gold behind their extremely rough skin.

Jormungand follows the exploits and adventures of the international arms dealer, Koko Hekmatyar, and her crew of misfit bodyguards. Included in this team, and acting as a constant juxtaposition to Koko, is the child solider Jonah, who absolutely detests weapons. Strange alliances are made and stranger relationships form in this world where just about everything Koko and team does is illegal in one way or another despite trying to achieve world peace.

You really don’t have to go far beyond the premise of the series to understand just how much of an anti-hero Koko is. She is very much the definition of the ends justify the means as she breaks all the rules in her hope for peace. She will gladly use threats and deadly force in almost any situation if she deems it necessary or just the easiest the way to overcome an obstacle. Despite all of this, her heroic side does come out from time to time, as she has been shown to spare people that she’s already beaten.

Hell Girl takes viewers into a world where people are able to access a website called the Hell Correspondence. To write someone’s name into this website will send them to hell immediately, where the writer will join them upon their own normal death. Such is the price for using the website.

Enacting the desires of the users for Hell Correspondence is Ai. A seemingly young girl who culls people into hell through nightmarish mazes. What makes her such an interesting anti-hero is that it doesn’t matter whose name is written down or why the name is written down. Though none of her targets are per say innocent, it is quite clear that she wouldn’t lose much sleep over killing someone who has committed maybe a minor offense or is hated unjustly by someone. In the end, all that is required for her to take on the job is for her sympathy to be incited. Thus, she kills through her own desires and whims.

In Academy City, two things take precedent: technology and psychic abilities. It is, after all, 30 years ahead of the world when technologically and over 75% of the city’s population are students perfecting their esper ability. Well, one such student, who happens to have an extremely unique ability finds himself mixed in with the dealing of a dangerous organization after meeting Index, a young girl who was able to memorize all of the forbidden grimoires.

Amidst all the dangerous, underground activities of Academy City is the first ranked Level 5 esper, Accelerator. To put things simply, he can basically destroy anyone as his powers allow him to create a thin field of AIM around him, which allows him to modify the vector values of anything he touches.

Throughout his life he’s been targeted and thus understands just how much pure, unadulterated power can affect the world. Thus, he seeks power for the sake of it. However, there’s also this slight side of him that sees ultimate power as the best way to prevent others from even challenging him, which suggests a gentleness. This part of him contrasts with how excited he becomes when finding a strong opponent that he can unleash his powers on. Overall, he’s a conflicted character, who tends to challenge our main group of protagonists, but at the same time refuses to give into systemic corruption.

Berserk primarily follows the warrior Guts as his fate weaves itself with the formidable troop of mercenaries known as the Band of Hawk. It’s a gritty tale that never really presents characters as right or wrong, but just living in a world where what matters most is survival.

For Guts, it helps that staying alive often means killing others and that he delights in the opportunity to hack apart anyone who stands in his way. What makes him such a fun character to watch is the fact that he starts off with almost zero redeeming qualities. The only thing that really pulls you towards him is his immense battle prowess. However, as the show progress and he becomes part of something bigger than himself, he begins to understand more of the human condition and struggles to figure out how his position correlates to that of his comrades.

Black Lagoon shoves a regular office type worker into the mad underground and black market dealings of the mercenary group Black Lagoon. Teamed up with the crass and gun happy Revy, calculating and iron-armed Dutch, and carefree computer whiz Benny; Rock finds himself discovering a whole new reality from the life he had experienced so far.

Out of all the group members of the Black Lagoon, Revy is the most antagonistic hero you’ll ever find. She doesn’t give a shit about anything except her guns and booze. She enjoys killing, sometimes finding herself most at peace when she’s threatening to shoot someone, if not actually shooting them. She has zero manners and even those who she respects, such as Shenhua and Eda are fair targets for her merciless wit and crosshairs.

Code Geass depicts a universe where Holy Empire of Britannia has conquered a large amount of the world. One country that has been subjugated under their rule is Japan, what was renamed Area 11 to signify their submission. Due to the oppression that the Japanese now find themselves dealing with in their own country, a resistance faction has formed to fight against Britannia. Joining up in this fight is Lelouch Lamperouge, an exiled prince who suddenly earns the Power of Kings.

Lelouch is one of those characters who will do whatever is necessary to achieve his end goal. It doesn’t help that a lot of his actions are driven primarily by his desire for revenge as well. This is why for the better half of the series, many people will actually probably hate Lelouch as he seems rather callous and cruel in his actions to liberate Japan. Constantly, it appears like everyone else that is part of the resistance is merely a pawn to be used. Of course some are knights, but they are all disposable if it means winning the war. This is displayed in many battles and ultimately when he betrays the resistance in order to set up his own dictatorship in Japan. However, his ideal is pure and, by the end, we even see that he’s even willing to sacrifice himself for the cause.

Hellsing Ultimate portrays a world that is being torn apart and saved by people who relish in chaos. The people receiving the most delight from such destruction are a group of vampire Nazis and then the protagonist of the story himself, Alucard Hellsing.

When the main character has parallels being drawn between him and a crazed Nazi force, then there are clearly some rather brutal, if not downright disturbed qualities, comprised within our hero. Though at times these qualities are downplayed as he is mainly killing other vampires or people trying to destroy Britain, whether that is the Vatican or the Nazis. However, it’s hard to ignore the blood lust that engulfs his killing spree in South America, when he begins limb tearing and nick biting human forces in a gory declaration of war.

However, he wouldn’t be at the top of this list if it was just for the fact that he relishes in killing. This nightmarish hero from hell is also extremely manipulative and cruel in almost each of his relationships. Even with his technical master, Integra, he loves to pry open her feelings and test her mettle at almost every occasion. He does after all force her to permit his rampages, essentially drawing her into the muck with him.