Anti-hero

Japanese: アンチ･ヒーロー（英語表記）anti‐hero

Translated as "anti-hero." Originally, the word referred to the "picaro," or "villain," the protagonist of the "picaresque novel" (rogue novel) that arose in 16th-century Spain. "Hero" originally meant "heroic," and the protagonists of many epics and romances were exemplary people, literally "heroes." In contrast, the protagonists of picaresque novels were petty and sometimes evil people who could hardly be called heroes, so they were anti-heroes in the sense of "anti-heroes."

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

〈反主人公〉と訳す。本来は16世紀のスペインに勃興した〈ピカレスク小説(悪漢小説)〉の主人公である〈ピカロ〉すなわち〈悪漢〉を指す言葉であった。〈ヒーロー〉とはもともと〈英雄〉を意味し，多くの叙事詩やロマンス物語の主人公(ヒーロー)は模範的な人物で，文字通り〈英雄〉であった。それに反してピカレスク小説の主人公は，とうてい英雄とは呼べない卑小で，ときに邪悪な人物であるから，〈反英雄〉の意味でのアンチ･ヒーローであった。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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