25 Greatest Ever Movie Anti-Heroes

What is any movie without its hero? For most films to succeed, the audience typically needs a character to get behind and root for (with some exceptions). Although, at the same time, a protagonist that's too squeaky clean can ultimately end up too bland and uninteresting. As such, writers frequently decide to transform these potentially dull characters into more ambiguously good types known as "anti-heroes". The definition of an anti-hero is extremely wide, though the most agreed-upon characteristics dictate a character who does or attempts to do the right thing in the end, though is self-serving, has severe personality defects, may look different from the conventionally clean-cut hero image, and in short rejects the idea that a hero needs to be handsome, smart and flawless in every way. Because of the tantalising narrative possibilities that this archetype allows, this type of character has become increasingly common over the years, as smarter audiences come to crave something more than unambiguous good triumphing over black-and-white villainy. From the very beginnings of the cinematic anti-hero in its popular form to animated icons and every brilliant rogue in-between, here are the 25 greatest ever movie anti-heroes...