Female antiheroes?

[allmywires]

As I usually am when I'm thinking about the WIP, I've been thinking about Ezia, and if I could get away with making her an antihero. And then I was thinking...how? I know the drill with male anitheroes - well all know the type. Brooding, dark past, good looking b*stard-y type, who gets away with being a bit of a prick because of the aforementioned Dark Past and/or his imminent redemption, usually by falling for Our Heroine. Turn the tables and you have, ah...a closed-off bitch who has a stereotypical abusive past and only gets past it by fulfilling gender roles and falling in love with a man. Not great. (I realise it's often much more complicated than this but hopefully you can see I'm illustrating a point).

So does anyone have any good female antiheroes they could recommend to me for inspiration/research? I'm struggling to think of any by myself.

 

[Mouse]

Stop re-writing TBT!

*ahem*

Ok, so she has to be 'ultimately good' as it were, but does dodgy stuff/has a dodgy past?

How about Adele DeWitt from Dollhouse? Not a book, I know, but I fancy most women in books are rubbish. (I think you'd like her, btw, she's complex and awesome).

 

[allmywires]

Stop re-writing TBT!

*tears hair out in frustration*

How about Adele DeWitt from Dollhouse? Not a book, I know, but I fancy most women in books are rubbish. (I think you'd like her, btw, she's complex and awesome).

Ooh, OK, I need a new TV show to watch. Will check it out.

 

[Mouse]

Do it! ...

 

[Hex]

Dollhouse is fabulous. Its cancellation was a terrible mistake.

Good point about female antiheroes, amw. I just read the most annoying YA where the romantic lead spent most of the book trying to murder the girl he was also trying to seduce. It was very troubling. But it was OK in the end because he liked her too much to actually really murder her, despite trying on several occasions. So phew.

I wonder about POV -- the thing with the brooding male antihero in most of the things I read (oh, Mr Rochester!), is that they're seen through someone's else's point of view. You could probably make Ezia very cool and attractive if someone else was seeing her. I'm not sure how to make it work from her POV.

 

[Abernovo]

Not a book, but a comic. However, have you thought of Catwoman? Nothing like Ezia, but she's not on the side of truth and justice, yet everyone loves her.

Antiheroines are few and far between, I'd agree, but there are several heroines with antihero sides to them. Max in Dark Angel and Ellen Ripley in the Alien films. Zoe in Firefly. Perhaps Nadia Stafford in Kelley Armstrong's Exit Strategy (female hitwoman, non-sff). None of them are bad, but they all have dubious sides to their characters.

I know I bang on occasionally about the woman's writing, but perhaps Eugenie Markham in Richelle Mead's Dark Swan series. Not unlikable, but has a harsh side (with reason) that makes her a spiky personality. And yet, still classed as Paranormal Romance.

 

[Mouse]

Not a book, but a comic. However, have you thought of Catwoman? Nothing like Ezia, but she's not on the side of truth and justice, yet everyone loves her.

Yeah... but isn't that just because she's dressed in skin-tight leather?

Not sure I'd class Zoe as an anti-hero. She's good for that slightly cold type though, amw, if you've seen Firefly.

Similar thing, not anti-hero exactly, but Aeryn from Farscape. (Claudia Black's excellent.)

 

[allmywires]

Good point about female antiheroes, amw. I just read the most annoying YA where the romantic lead spent most of the book trying to murder the girl he was also trying to seduce.

Twilight? I jest, I jest.

I wonder about POV -- the thing with the brooding male antihero in most of the things I read (oh, Mr Rochester!), is that they're seen through someone's else's point of view. You could probably make Ezia very cool and attractive if someone else was seeing her. I'm not sure how to make it work from her POV.

Funnily enough, that was another thing I was thinking about. Mainly just to do with her introduction, mind. She just isn't a very hooky character to begin with (along with her many, many other flaws...)

I know I bang on occasionally about the woman's writing, but perhaps Eugenie Markham in Richelle Mead's Dark Swan series. Not unlikable, but has a harsh side (with reason) that makes her a spiky personality. And yet, still classed as Paranormal Romance.

I just read an excerpt of that on Amazon.com but I can't find it on Amazon.co.uk! I liked the style too.

Not sure I'd class Zoe as an anti-hero. She's good for that slightly cold type though, amw, if you've seen Firefly.

Slightly cold type...nah, you must be mistaken, that's nothing like the kind of female characters I like to write.

 

[Mirannan]

Many-Coloured Land series, character name of Felice Landry. She starts out actually insane, violently so, but ends up being more than somewhat heroic.

The lady vampire (forget her name) from League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

 

[Hex]

Twilight? I jest, I jest.

I am so over vampires. This one was about angels.

Just for the record, I am now over angels too.

EDIT: @Mouse -- bet you wouldn't have liked the murdery one.

Funnily enough, that was another thing I was thinking about. Mainly just to do with her introduction, mind. She just isn't a very hooky character to begin with (along with her many, many other flaws...)

I think -- and I know nothing about it -- that if a character isn't very 'nice' or 'sympathetic', they still need to be someone you want to spend time with. In real life I have friends who aren't especially sweet and sympathetic but they're funny or they're kind of impressive and cool. Don't know if that's any help.


I didn't think Zoe was cold. She had a whole range of fabulous expressions.

Cordelia in 'Angel'? Katniss is hardly a fluffy bunny.

 

[Abernovo]

Here you go, amw.

Mouse, I wouldn't know. Leather does nothing for me, sorry.

 

[allmywires]

I think -- and I know nothing about it -- that if a character isn't very 'nice' or 'sympathetic', they still need to be someone you want to spend time with. In real life I have friends who aren't especially sweet and sympathetic but they're funny or they're kind of impressive and cool. Don't know if that's any help.

Yeah, I'm still figuring that one out. Have been told I keep my characters at arm's length which makes them hard to sympathise with. Note to self: let characters into me a bit more.

Oh, yeah, Katniss. Forget her!

edit: Aber, muchas gracias, where on earth did I go wrong?

 

[Mouse]

I think, stop worrying about how other people (that is, us lot) see her and get on and write her how you want to write her. You can't enjoy writing her if she's not how you want to write her, can you.

P.S. I like angels.

 

[psychotick]

Hi,

I'd go for Catwoman, but not from the recent movies. Halle can act but her character wasn't really so good at being bad. Some of the others, even from the sixties camp series have been delicious in the role!

And yes Aeryn Son? from Farscape. She absolutely killed the role! And she wasn't too bad in Stargate either as the thief.

And though I'm really over vampires, Underworld's lady - I forget her name, is superb.

Cheers, Greg.

 

[Glisterspeck]

How about Faith from Buffy? She goes back and forth, but is mostly antihero.

 

[Drakai]

It's really hard to find antiheroines, there are a lot which have antiheroic sides to them but they are generally subtle and hard to differentiate. Maybe Haruko Haruhara from FLCL, she is definitely an interesting character so if you enjoy anime maybe you'd like to check that out.

 

[Mouse]

What about Kelly in Misfits, does she count? I know all the girls are dodgy, but she's actually killed someone.

 

[Mith]

What about Monza Murcatto in Abercrombie's Best Served Cold? I think she could definitely qualify as an antihero.

 

[Sapheron]

How about Catwoman?

 

[psychotick]

Hi,

A few more choices I hadn't thought of. Faith from Buffy? Maybe, but I'm not sure whether she's so much an antihero as she is a victim. Her role was flawed in that regard. You don't so much feel wonder for her as you do pity in a lot of places.

Kelly from Misfits? Hell all of the misfits. Are they antiheros? Actually I don't think they really fit the bill. They're sort of yobbos to borrow from the Australians. Neither heros nor antiheros. Just people with powers they simply can't use with any degree of wisdom, and all the character flaws of normal people, amplified.

Cheers, Greg.