There are countless heroes and villains in Marvel Comics, but the most interesting characters fall somewhere in between those two extremes and are often labeled as antiheroes. These are not villains, but rather people who do bad things while fighting against villains, whether that involves killing bad guys or breaking numerous laws to achieve their goals. These antiheroes often find themselves targeted by heroes as well, such as when Captain America or Spider-Man go head-to-head with someone like The Punisher. However, almost every time a new antihero pops up on the scene, they become one of Marvel Comics’ most popular characters.
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Antiheroes have been a staple of Marvel Comics since almost the start. While some of the characters started as villains before moving into the realm of good guys, they are all dangerous and very popular characters who will do anything to bring a villain to justice — or put them in the ground.
10) Magneto
Magneto is an interesting case. He was one of the first major Marvel Comics villains, the top bad guy in the X-Men comic books. However, over time, Marvel worked to show why Magneto did what he did. The mutant “terroriost” was a child in a Nazi extermination camp, and he has seen firsthand what humans do to those who are different. While Professor X always wanted to find peace between humans and mutants, Magneto knew that humans would never accept peace. Magneto has always been right about this. Over the last two decades, Magneto has evolved into an antihero, working alongside the X-Men and even assuming a leadership position on Krakoa. He is a good guy now, but he is also someone who knows what needs to be done; normal humans realize Magneto is someone they can never fully trust.
9) Blade
Blade is an interesting antihero in Marvel Comics. He is a stone-cold killer, but he also lives with a strong honor code. He only kills vampires. However, he also kills all vampires, regardless of whether they are evil or not, which makes him a dangerous person. He also showed how powerful he is in the recent Blood Hunt storyline, where Blade became the big bad in Marvel Comics for a short time when Varnae possessed him. However, when he has control of himself, Blade has been a genuine hero and was even a member of the Avengers. That said, when a vampire is around, Blade has no code other than to turn them into dust as soon as he can.
8) Elektra
When Elektra first appeared in Marvel Comics, she was an assassin and a villain. However, she was also a sympathetic character because she developed a romantic connection with Daredevil. That was an interesting time in their lives. Created by Frank Miller, Elektra’s willingness to kill and Daredevil’s code to save lives drove the conflict between them. It also made the moment that Bullseye killed her so tragic, even though she was an assassin as well. In newer Marvel Comics, Elektra and Daredevil remain connected. During Daredevil’s time in prison, Elektra even took on the role of Daredevil, promising not to kill while operating in that costume. This all makes her one of the most interesting Marvel Comics antiheroes for that reason alone.
7) Moon Knight
Everything that Moon Knight does is to protect the people on the streets. However, unlike many Marvel Comics heroes, he doesn’t care how violent the battles get, and he will kill any villain if he finds it necessary. Moon Knight is also a conflicted hero, as his dissociative identity disorder does not allow him to know what each of his alters is doing at any given time. This has made heroes like Captain America know that Moon Knight is almost as dangerous as the villains he fights. It also doesn’t help that Moon Knight follows the moon god, Khonshu (who some thought was a manifestation in his mind for years before he finally showed up and made himself known to other Marvel heroes).
6) Loki
Loki was one of Marvel Comics’ first major villains, appearing in the Thor stories in Journey Into Mystery before taking on the role as the very first villain in The Avengers #1, bringing the team together for the first time. Loki was a purely evil villain for years before Marvel peeled back some layers and revealed his terrible upbringing and how he didn’t have a chance but to turn out as he did, thanks to Odin and the Asgardian prophecies. However, ever since Loki sacrificed himself to save Asgard in Siege, he has become an antihero, trading in his title as God of Mischief for the moniker God of Stories. He has worked with the Young Avengers and has become an ally of his brother, Thor, one of the biggest turnarounds in Marvel Comics history.
5) Ghost Rider
Ghost Rider is a tragic tale, the result of one of the worst things Mephisto has ever done in Marvel Comics. Johnny Blaze was a motorcycle stuntman when he learned his adoptive father had cancer. Johnny sought black magic to help him and made a deal with Mephisto, trading his soul for the life of his father figure. Mephisto agreed, cured his dad of cancer, and then watched as the man died anyway in a motorcycle crash, meaning Johnny’s deal was for nothing. Mephisto cashed in and bound Johnny to the demon Zarathos, the Spirit of Vengeance. While Johnny broke free from Mephisto’s control, his soul was still damned, and he set out to bring down villains of all sorts as Ghost Rider, using his penance stare and hellfire to consume the guilty.
4) Venom
Venom began his career by attaching himself to Spider-Man, but without Peter Parker being aware that an alien was using his body to act as a hero. When Peter banished the symbiote, the alien found Eddie Brock, a man who hated Parker, and the two bonded, promising to kill Spider-Man for his abandonment. However, Venom deep down wanted to be a hero. Once he got his hatred of Spider-Man behind him, Venom became the lethal protector of people who couldn’t protect themselves. However, he has always been someone that the authorities and other heroes never trusted. Venom had to work under the radar as an antihero, all while trying to become the genuine hero that no one wanted.
3) Deadpool
Deadpool initially started as a comedic villain, but he has since evolved into one of Marvel Comics’ most iconic and popular characters. He is a mercenary, but he is also affiliated with various mutant teams, such as X-Force (despite not being a mutant himself in the comics). He has always been connected with Cable, another antihero in Marvel Comics, but Deadpool has never tried to pretend to be a hero like Cable did for a time. Instead, Deadpool relishes his role as a mercenary, although most of the people he kills are villains, and he usually does it with a corny joke or a scathing one-liner.
2) The Punisher
The Punisher might be the most popular Marvel Comics character to identify as an antihero. He has never once thought of himself as a hero, although he does have a moral code and considers Captain America to be a role model that he knows he can never match up to. Frank Castle’s family was murdered, and the killers were allowed to go free, which convinced him that the courts were not going to bring down the worst criminals. As a result, he has decided the only way to stop the worst criminals in society is to kill them. His methods are so bad that Captain America refuses to ever work with him, while Punisher refuses ever to raise a hand against Cap.
1) Hulk
The Hulk is one of the most famous Marvel Comics antiheroes. However, few people call him that, even though it perfectly describes him. For the first part of his time in comics, he just wanted to be left alone while the government (often led by General Thunderbolt Ross) hunted him down despite his fighting villains. He causes property damage that is frequently worse than that of the villains he fights, which makes him a global threat. When he was Mr. Fixit, he became a genuine antihero with very few morals. When he has intelligence, he becomes a genuine hero. However, there are also times when he becomes a pure villain, such as in World War Hulk. Even then, he had a good reason for his rampage. Hulk is the greatest of all antiheroes, even though he would just rather be left to live in peace.
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