My current fave anti-hero is the King in 7DQ... Though he's looking like he'll be down right villain soon ? LDG plays him reaaaally well I can't imagine anyone else in that role

Team Crazy Dog! You'd think I wouldn't care about a group populated by convicted (for the most part rightly) criminals, but I loved each and every one them.

And anti-villian? I like it.

I nominate "Last" with Yoon Kye Sang as the jerky and greedy day trader who tries to scam and instead gets scammed and Lee Beom Soo as the leader of the street beggars. He lived in a mansion thanks to the homeless guys and all the other illegal activities he was into, but put his little bro through school after their father was cheated out of his business and bankrupted. Really difficult to cheer for anyone, but a great watch.
"Last" also needs an Honorable mention for another category I haven't seen here: When the romance between the second leads outshines the romance between the leads.

Ooh I can't believe it's another catnip that I may have! Haha. Actually this whole series has continually amazed me by the different catnips possible.

I do love a good antihero redemption, because I do believe most people (except some kdrama villains) have a soft gooey centre in the middle, it's just about how many layers it's buried beneath.

I now realise that's why I liked Chief Kim so much! (In addition to Nan Goong Min Oppa and the wacky offbeat humour, oh and that TT dance ?) Anti villain redemption is a glorious thing! Yul ah! ?Thanks for enlightening me @klmeri! ❤️

Yep!! It didn't occur to me until halfway watching through Lookout, but antiheroes can be sooo sexy. Case in point: Jang Do-han (and his amazing amazing wardrobe. I swear, he gets hotter every week!)

And can we count Tae-san from Two Weeks? The show started with him at such a low point, and his journey to being redeemed is one of the best I've ever seen. And not to forget the Lee Jun-ki factor ?? *fans self*

Wow, I really enjoyed reading this. Also, thank you for giving me some truly interesting sounding dramas to add to my must-watch list. I think the thing about anti-heroes that always gets me and reels me in every time is their complexity. And often times, this is a type of complexity that isn't offered to your regular heroes/protagonist; either due to lazy sub-par writing or because people feel those added complexities negate the "purity" of the hero.

And to be frank, pure, all around good-guy heroes can be quite boring. Not always of course but there is a pattern. Give me someone human, and 3-dimensional and prone to messing up just as horribly and terribly as the next person. Better yet, give me someone who is morally ambiguous, who is so far in the gray in regards to their ideals and their actions that you're shaking your head at them and at the same time wondering if you wouldn't have done the same in that situation.

There is such a draw to these characters because of the layers they are given and the lee-way that they are afforded. Often times, they're doing things that sometimes we ourselves wish we could do, at least in regards to skirting the law in questionable ways for those we care about or to right a wrong (NOT in regards to such things as murder or embezzlement).

And like you pointed out the arc for the anti-hero is so interesting to watch and unravel. How did they get to this point? What motivates their actions? How do they reconcile the less than savory things they do/feel with the rest of society's expectations? Can they be motivated to change all-together or to at least be more sympathetic towards the plight of others?

I think another small part of the attraction (and to be frank, a very shallow part) comes from the concept of a "bad-boy". I feel like a lot if not all of us have had that period (guilty!) or the on-going struggle where you are attracted to someone who you KNOW isn't the best person. There's just something about them not giving a damn, and the seeming freedom that comes from living a life unhindered by the opinions or feelings of others.

Idk man, there's just SO MUCH that can be garnered from this catnip/trope, it's positively endless. I love it. Such a good read, thank you for submitting.

The anti-hero is a favorite of mine. I actually see Eun Oh in Arang and The Magistrate as one. I still remember in the first episode the scene of him watching injustice happening and saying something like " You know what I do when I see injustice?" I fully expected in true hero style for him to save the day. Nope. His counterpart says, "You stay still" and then they walk away. I started laughing; it was so unexpected. But the joy is in the journey of watching this character stay around first to get his own questions answered and eventually end up helping out the town and put everything on the line for Arang.

I actually think writing this type character can be hard to do because to work the change has to be gradual and we have to see it evolve. I'm hoping people come up with lots of examples of this catnip because I've seen all the ones listed in the article except Chief Kim which is on my list.

This! I'm all in when it comes to redemption. This why I like Lookout so much right now. And Wang Yo=Grim Reaper in Goblin would also qualify after killing scores of people as king and coming back as Reaper to amend and find forgiveness for his past. That was beautiful. And that was catnip for me.

Love it! Well written!
Who doesn't love an anti-hero?

Oh my gosh I lovee Police Unit 38 !!! The heist is so cleverr I feel like watching movies with 16 sequels !!

I want to keep it up with Bad Guys but I wait and wait still

Two thumbs up! Excellently written and I agree completely! ?

This may just be my catnip. I absolutely love most of the dramas mentioned: Bad Guys, Chief Kim and Police Unit 38. (So that leaves City Hall for me to watch.)
I love redemption arcs of anti-heroes. Quite fulfilling to see them change right infront of your eyes.

Bad Guys (or as I like to call it, Psychopaths Are People Too, Dammit) is my love. It's on Netflix now so I'm doing a rewatch. Great post! I love a good anti-hero. I think Spike from Buffy started it for me :P

Hey, wouldn't Wang So from Scarlet Heart count? Maybe? Though his character arc took him out of anti-hero and straight into hero (while the 8th Prince went through the opposite change).

I haven't seen any drama of such genre...so it's not really my trope...? ??

@klmeri,

Thanks so much for your anti-hero as catnip essay. I love the way you write. ;-)

I appreciate your insights into the appeal of several shows that I haven't seen, but would now consider watching. Being mathematically-challenged, I never thought I'd ever be intrigued by a show centering on accounting fraud, but you've gone and piqued my interest. Plus Namgoong Min as the lead is mighty enticing. Anti-villains? I'd never considered that concept for some reason. It looks like I'll be meeting CHIEF KIM sooner rather than later. ;-)

For me the downside of crime shows is the spiritually corrosive effect of constant exposure to evil. I can only take so much of it. However, redemption is catnip to me, so if it's done in a believable way, I can hang in there and keep watching. ;-)

Give me a good anti-hero any day of the week. Often they are underdogs to boot, and many of them can't seem to get out of their own way. Watching them overcome their growing pains can be satisfying, and sometimes even inspiring and uplifting. More catnip for me.

In other cases, a character's back story turns out to be way more than meets the eye. You have to be patient in order to understand the big picture. TWO WEEKS was such a show, and is one of my all-time faves. SWEET STRANGER AND ME / MAN LIVING IN OUR HOUSE falls into that category, too.

Thanks again for thought-provoking and entertaining article. ;-)

And when Bad Guys meet Police Unit 38... I can't...
Apparently not for the faint hearted.

YOU FORGOT PUNCH :(

Ooh. Yes I love a bad boy redemption and these are some of my favourite shows or on my to-watch list. Like other beanies Kang Maru also came to mind. Thanks @klmeri Are there any anti-heroines though? None spring to mind immediately.

Several of Lee Kyung Hee Male Lead is an anti heroes. I think I consider Cha Moo Hyuk in MISA as an anti hero as well... And Kang Maru in Nice Guy. Or Park Gyung So's leading male... Yoo Jung in Cheese In The Trap is also I consider an anti hero.

I haven't watched Bad Guys, after reading this post, it's definitely going to be on the top of my watchlist! Thanks for the post!

Great post. I was thinking this wasn't my catnip, but then I thought of Hello Monster/I Remember You. It's left somewhat ambiguous, but little bro appears to be on a redemption arc by the end, and even at his most anti-heroic (since he's never exactly the main villain) you just can't hate him, for obvious casting reasons. I think my appreciation for this trope generally has a huge amount to do with casting--if there's a redemption arc, the actor needs to be skilled enough to make me believe it, and for them to stay in antihero territory (as opposed to out and out villain), I need to like them enough to sympathize with them even at their worst.

I was hooked watching "Empire of Gold" with its anti-hero and anti-heroine. But I wouldn't call it my catnip.

YAS. This is a favourite catnip of mine. And I'm glad you wrote about it @klmeri !

I loved how you laid out why we love an anti-hero. It's interesting watching them struggle with the concept of good and bad and also explore the gray area in between. They are often fascinatingly complex characters (in that hands of a good writer that is!)

I like straight-up heros and villains too but 99% of the time, if there's an anti-hero story, you bet your butt I'll check that out.

Bad Guys and Squad 38 are on my list of dramas to watch and now I guess I'll have to add City Hall to that list as well.

Finally, I love that you mentioned Chief Kim. I feel like its one of those dramas that explored the whole anti-hero/anti-villain concept really well. Sung-Ryong thought that being good brought you nothing but as it turns out, he just couldn't stand by and let people exploit others. Yul thought that having power would make you invulnerable but then he realised that he did not have it in him to trample on everyone and gain that power. And in the middle of all of this, they keep coming up against each other and find each other exasperating (but also secretly admire each other) and both realize that it's not so bad to good, not if you have an amazing partner on your side. (Can you tell I love and miss this drama terribly?)

Great job on this catnip essay! It is one of my favourites. I really enjoyed reading it! :)

i need bad guys and police unit 38 season 2 ????

I just watched all of Bad Guys yesterday (yay for a teacher's first days of summer vacation!) and loved it. I wasn't sure about Park Hae-jin until the end.

This is a good catnip. I've never set this theme of, but I love most of these dramas. Thanks for the article,@klmeri.

I've always loved the anti-hero tropes. I've just recently finished Bad Guys and Park Hae Jin's character there was set up as this serial killer, in the end I did not even care if he did it or not because he was atoning for it! I fist pumped when the truth was revealed!
I basically am in love with the Mad Dogs team and loved their complex character arcs, I keep wishing they had more episodes working as a team. I want to give them hugs!