According to dictionary.com, the definition of an anti-hero is a central character in a story, movie or drama who lacks conventional heroic attributes. From Walter White in Breaking Bad, Frank Castle in The Punisher, or even Tyrian Lannister in Game of Thrones, modern day pop culture has made this new form of character a fan favorite whose on screen thrills captivate the audiences. However, before all this newfangled technology and even before the invention of sliced bread (1928), an author named John Milton wrote a book with the original antihero. His protagonist was Satan, probably one of the most hated characters in the world. Milton allows the reader to step in Satan’s shoes for once allowing them to empathize with Satan and see things from his point of view. Satan is sometimes depicted as remorseful in Paradise Lost and feels bad committing treacherous acts against God who he paints as a tyrant. In book IV, Milton writes,
“Now conscience wakes despair
That slumbered, wakes the bitter memory
Of what he was, what is, and what must be
Worse; of worse deeds worse sufferings must ensue.
Sometimes towards Eden which now in his view”
This shows Satan’s remorseful side in which he despises what he has to do to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden but he must continue if he wants to win his war. This compassion shown from the Devil towards our own kind makes us feel a little bad for him and the battle that he knows he must win in order to survive. This feeling of empathy is what keeps audiences interested in antiheroes because they see a little bit of themselves in a sometimes evil character.
