The Merrits of Anti Heroes vs Heroes in writing: A look at Grettir the strong and Deadpool v.s. Beowulf and Spiderman

                An important decision in the process of writing is the choice of protagonist. The entirety of a story can hinge on this choice as it can change the point of view from which the story is told and change the character or person who the readers will most likely connect with. Most stories focus on a protagonist that is either a hero or an anti-hero. Grettir the Strong and Deadpool are prime examples of anti-heroes while popular heroes can be found in the characters of Beowulf and Spiderman.
Anti-Heroes:

              An anti-hero, rather than the traditional hero, allows an author to write the protagonist of the story into taking actions and being in situations which the traditional hero cannot otherwise get into. Grettir the Strong is such an example of this. He, in summary, is a thieving, animal abusing, any random person killing warrior who sometimes helps people if he wants to or thinks he can get a good reward out of it. He may sometimes rid a house of ghosts or a troublesome lady troll but he all the more often will steal a random person's horse or anything else he sees on another person that he thinks should be his.

                 One of the more memorable moments of Grettir's anti-heroic actions is when he went on a string of roadside thieveries, taking horses and supplies from many a passerby. One theft of a particular man's horse (the man's name was most likely Thor-something) prompted the man to chase Grettir across the lands over which he rode the stolen horse and through many farms and homesteads. The chase ultimately ended with the man catching Grettir but letting him go after some epic poem battles in which the two came to some terms of agreement.

                 These less than favorable actions are off set by acts of good like the slaying of the ghost Glam and in doing so saving the farm/homestead which the ghost was haunting. Another act of Grettir's that offsets the man's more criminal actions is the avenging of the murder of his brother Aldi by a man known as Thor-something-else.

                  The combinations of the altruistic acts and the acts more attributed to criminals and deviants, so to speak, mesh together to form a character that most people see as more realistic than the average hero. The actions of Grettir, made possible by his anti-heroic personality, such as stealing what he wants whenever he wants and killing basically whoever makes him angry or frustrated are actions taken by many anti-heroes to varying degrees. These actions cause Grettir, as well as many anti-heroes, to be considered by some to be more of a"badass" than most heroes. This allows the writing or piece of creativity to be able to reach an audience not normally accessible by a writing that would focus on a hero. These qualities also garner anti-heroes a good deal of dislike by fans of the more seen protagonist type: hero.

                 Other Anti- heroes of note include Marvel's Deadpool and DC's The

Redhood, the actions of which harken back to their predecessor.

         

            Heroes:

                The hero variety of protagonist needs much less explaining than that of the anti-hero due to the popularity of such a protagonist in many forms of literature and media. Heroes allow writers to explore the character and struggles of that of someone who can be held to a higher standard and who can be an idol who many can look up to or wish to be. 

                 The hero counterpart (some would say carbon copy or inspiration) of Grettir can arguably be seen as the well known hero Beowulf.

                 Beowulf makes the classification of hero the way many can be seen to do, by the reason of his altruistic actions. He does the heroic thing for the sole purpose of doing the right thing and helping people. The actions of Beowulf and similar heroes  when not doing their heroic actions are generally law abiding, altruistic, and honorable. These actions, what the hero does during the down time when not helping people as well as how they help, are what set them apart from anti heroes. A hero will always be a stand up person as long as they can manage it. An anti-hero will do whatever they please. Other heroes of note include Marvel's Spiderman and DC's Nightwing.

                The choice of a writer to explore their created worlds through the eyes and minds of either a hero or an anti-hero can change the entire course of the story and the reception of the writing or whatever the writing is contributing to.