Unorthodox Heroes?

[Lalwendë]

Originally Posted by Nuranar

I just had a largely unrelated thought. We're discussing unorthodox heroes; are there any anti-heroes? I can't think of any off the top of my head, but I'm no good at thinking up examples. If there really aren't any - why not?

I think Gollum is the prime candidate for anti-hero of the books. He is treacherous, ugly, greedy, a murderer, all things we are supposed to dislike him for, and yet he still wins a lot of support. It is Gollum in the end who 'saves' the quest, and by this time many readers have grown to feel attached to him, whether through pity or something else is probably a personal response, but nevertheless readers do see that even Gollum can perform an heroic act.