So I've been wondering what the differences between Anti-Heros and Anti-Villians are. I have been researching a lot about them, but I can't find any 'real' answer to the differences. The reason I am so interested in them is because in my opinion they make better characters then the normal hero and villain because they are more realistic and flawed. Anyways... what are the differences between Anti-Heroes and Anti-Villians?
An anti-hero in my mind is someone who is doing the right things, but for the wrong reasons. An anti-villain is someone with good intentions, but who is doing bad things to get there. Although... An Anti-hero could also be a person who is doing bad things, for the wrong reasons, but they are the protagonist, or main character of the story. But then an Anti-villain would be almost the same thing... unless it were a police officer or someone working against the anti-hero MC... I am genuinely not sure. sorry. I should just delete this before posting... But, if you write your characters with depth and motivation, along with solid plot and development, I don't think it really matters what category they fit into as long as they are interesting to read about.
To me, an anti-hero is as Pheonix said. They do good things for the wrong reasons. An example would be someone helping another character out, only to trick them into trusting them. Or they do good for the glory or money, but not because they're truly good guys. An anti-villain would be someone whose heart is in the right place but goes about things in the wrong way. An example would be someone who murders bad guys or someone who steals so that they can later donate the money to charity. They could also be shown helping the truly evil characters in the novel for reasons such as loyalty, or family bonds. Basically, an anti-hero is a protagonist that isn't purely good or heroic. An anti-villain is an antagonist that isn't purely evil, someone who doesn't seem like they deserved to be cast as a villain.
