The Sacrifice of Few for the Good of Many

Editor’s note: Spurred by the rise of the heroes such as Batman in media, Mark examines the qualities and motivations of the antihero. I’ve always been partial to the Superman type of hero — what sort of heroes do Bitmobbers favor? -Jason

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“I’ve made myself feel every death…see every innocent face
I’ve murdered to save humanity” — Ozymandias (Watchmen)

While it’s difficult to peg down when the antihero became a mechanic in Western literature, it’s not hard to figure out its appeal. From Shakespeare’s plays to Marvel’s and DC’s comic books, the antihero is a prolific figure rife with moral shades of gray, tragic flaws, and complexities the likes of which our everyday paladins and supermen could only dream of.

While this concept has been used for centuries, it seems that the antihero has taken center stage in video games only fairly recently. With moral choices and the desire to make artificial characters seem more “human” inevitably comes the classic exemplar of antihero.

To understand that statement is to understand the antihero itself. The term came about to make it easier to build a relationship with a writer’s characters. While you may find examples as far back as Shakespeare’s Falstaff (from the plays Henry IV, Henry V, and The Merry Wives of Windsor), two of the best modern examples of the contrast between hero and antihero comes from two of the most recognizable comic book heroes: Superman and Batman.

Even though he does have flaws, Superman is the hero archetype. In almost all of his forms, he is the embodiment of the hero: sympathetic, caring, and most important of all, saves the world simply because it’s his duty and it’s the right thing to do. He has no underlying reasoning behind his heroism. He has the power to save the world and uses it. He does his best to not harm innocents and even sacrifices his own well-being to make sure only the unjust suffer.

Batman, in contrast, is a hero bred of vengeance. Consider his origins: If Bruce Wayne hadn’t seen his parents’ murder, he never would’ve created The Batman. Though the Dark Knight is a hero and follows many of the same ideals that the Last Son of Krypton does, Wayne dons the mantle of savior for his own ends (avenging the death of his parents) and then takes on the role of a public avenger once the realization occurs that no one else in Gotham capable of taking on its breed of villains.

Batman is not a hero because he wants to be but because he has to be. This means that his virtues, while still just, differ greatly from Superman’s and allow him some “acceptable” leeway when it comes to stopping crime.

Like many other antiheroes, Batman’s separated even more so from other heroic paradigms by one main idea: the willingness to sacrifice more than just themselves for the greater good. In videogames, especially recently, we’re witnessing the rise of the antihero as a major character and the theme of “justice by any means necessary”: the Grey Warden in Dragon Age: Origins, Cole MacGrath in Infamous, the Wanderer in Fallout, and numerous others have begun to bolster the ranks of the antihero.

We also have Joseph Allen in Modern Warfare 2. This isn’t a Call of Duty post, as I’m pretty sure we have enough of those on Bitmob. But the beginning mission of Infinity Ward’s newest title gives us a glaringly straightforward example of the antihero. Even being told before the mission begins that the few innocents that he may kill shall result in the safety of millions more, Allen’s set up to be the game’s heroic blackguard.

The antihero and its extreme ideals on “minimizing casualties” has always been a hot topic of debate, even as recently as with Modern Warfare. But killing an innocent has the same moral repercussions whether you’re doing it for the good of mankind or taking over the world, and most mediums present this in this fashion.

It’s no different in gaming: Games like Fallout and Infamous treat it as “karma” (slowly making you more evil, which causes innocents to treat you in a negative light or downright hate you), and in Modern Warfare the risk taken to minimize casualties fails and causes an all out war between Russia and the United States.

These games, which certainly are just a few examples, try to convey the sacrifices as necessary risks for the betterment and safety of mankind. They don’t show these actions as glorious performances where everything works out in the end and hail you as an angel.

Going back to our earlier example, Batman’s regarded by most of Gotham City’s politicians as a menace and as someone they must stop. He’s forced to work in the shadows and with only the help of those that understand why he works the way that he does.

The reason why we all relate more to the antihero than the “Superman” variety is because the actions that they perform are more closely related to how we would act and perform in these situations. While some of them are grisly and extreme, we could take a look at Frank Castle, most commonly known as The Punisher, to see a truly human antihero. After the murdering of his family, Castle begins his pursuit of their killers and begins a crusade against injustice. There is no mercy, no quarter for those who have done wrong in the world.

We hear about it the news frequently: crimes of passion where emotions have taken over any shred of reasoning within one’s psyche and caused parents to avenge the deaths of their children, lovers to strike down cheating paramours, and suicides over people who have not been able to bear the grief of a mistake. In their minds, they’re serving justice. It’s only the breakdown of these emotional barricades that normally stop them that allow them to perform those acts.

This article is not a justification for these acts, whether fictional or real. This is simply an explanation behind the reasoning of the creation of these characters and allowing them to perform the actions that they do. Regardless of how you feel about these actions and ideals, there’s a reason behind why antiheroes aren’t villains and are still allowed to be heroes.