Welcome to the last post for the Anti-Hero trope, we will recap on the two types of anti-heroes discussed in the previous posts on the trope. The types of anti-heroes we covered are the comedic kinds, such as Deadpool, and the violent ones, also Deadpool while also focused on The Punisher. The first topic to recap is the comedic ones, and this would refer to Deadpool. The best example would clearly be Deadpool. While he is also a violent anti-hero, he fits this type because he has a hilarious tendency for commentary and cussing. According to Will Leitch, Deadpool is the main character of his own movie and he knows this so well that he occasionally quips about it and provides commentary on the story (Leitch, 2016). He has a tendency to curse and quip on things as commonly as he kills enemies in brutally, creative ways. He also knows when to break the fourth wall in reference to his commentary and jokes. Another point of the comedy bit is the fact that Deadpool was made to be a spoof on comic book superhero movies. According to Will Leitch, Deadpool is a considered an anti-hero in some comics and movies as he is a parody of how normal people would react to having superpowers; he is a character that would use his powers to have some fun in his life, regardless if it is for good or evil (Leitch, 2016). He is a parody of what people would normally do with powers if they somehow receive them. It is normal for people to want powers and use them however they please, though it can be a problem if they use it for evil. Thankfully there are those who would use them for good. The second topic to cover with anti-heroes are the violent anti-heroes. Speaking of which, Deadpool serves as one of the better examples of a violent anti-hero. According to Will Leitch, Deadpool is also an example of a violent anti-hero because he never hesitated to use guns in all his fights (Leitch, 2016). Deadpool had a lot of creatively brutal methods of taking down his enemies, some of them included the use of guns for some precision take down in ways that befits a violent anti-hero. Of course, the Punisher is just as good an example of violent anti-heroes. The Punisher is an anti-hero who was an ex-marine and uses those skills when a mafia killed his family and takes his rage and vengeance out on them and other criminals. Thank you for sticking around during my posts presenting movie tropes on Anti-Heroes. However, anti-heroes like him can have a reason for all the violent acts they have committed during their anti-hero career. DeVega offers Punisher as an example because he wants to find peace in his life for once, but always gets roped back in this carnage like this by his lust for vengeance and violence against criminals (DeVega, 2019). He wants to find peace for once in the world despite his war on crime that he seeks to win at every turn. This is basically a reflection of the darkness in our hearts, the dark desires we seem to have towards those who harm others or wrong them in any way. While this darkness is a natural part of us, DeVega warns that it could make us do something that would be frowned upon by society, hence the theme of anti-heroes (DeVega, 2019). These dark feelings anti-heroes wrestle with is what makes them anti-heroes in the first place, they do things that is on the murky side of the law. That is the end of the posts on anti-heroes and the two types we discussed, it has been a wild ride at this point. Find out what is next on the list of movie tropes next time.
Sources:
DeVega, C. (2019, February 16). Why the Punisher is more relatable than Superman: “Anger is an easier feeling”. Retrieved December 4, 2019, from https://www.salon.com/2019/02/16/why-we-love-antiheroes-like-the-punisher-anger-is-an-easier-feeling/.
Leitch, W. (2016, February 12). Deadpool: A Superhero Who Makes Fun of Himself. Retrieved December 4, 2019, from https://newrepublic.com/article/129850/deadpool-superhero-makes-fun.
Film Blog on Movie Tropes 