Could the hyenas from the Lion King be considered Anti-Heroes and why?

Answer 1

No, the hyenas from the Lion King movies are more like anti-villians.

According to urbandictionary.com, an "antivillain" is an antagonist who isn't purely evil nor entirely unsympathetic -- a character who doesn't seem to deserve being cast as the villain, perhaps cast arbitrarily as the villain because they are not the focus of the story but merely present a foil to the central figure; the definition of an anti-hero as "a main character who is characterized by a lack of traditional heroic qualities, such as idealism or courage."

However, because anti-heroes and anti-villains are the *main characters* in stories(ie: Simba, Scar, etc), the Hyenas actually do not fall in this category either because they are *secondary* characters.

Anti-heroes/villains are not "characters who side with the primary character but don't always get along"...they are the *main characters* around whom the entire story is usually based(ie: Cinderella, Snow White, Pinocchio, etc); what differentiates Heroes from Anti-Heroes(or villains/anti-villains, etc), is that the Hero has outstanding qualities which they use to accomplish things in their quest, while the Anti-Hero either does not have them or refuses to use them or holds different ideals that what a shining, "traditional" hero would have or do(ie: Shrek's anti-social behaviour and disinterest in rescuing Princess Fiona would classify him as an Anti-Hero, but not Donkey as his second-in-command or sidekick).

Conversely, an Anti-Villain would be the main obstacle for a Hero, but more-than-likely not in an antagonistic way, ie: the Anti-Villain could be the champion speller in a spelling bee who also happens to be best friends with the Hero, but whom the Hero still needs to beat in the spelling bee in order accomplish his goal, etc. Not "villainous", not *meaning* to get in the way of the hero, but still an obstacle nonetheless...*that* is Anti-Villainy, which the Hyenas most certainly are not.

The Hyenas are shown to be defiant and rude, really only out for their own preservation, and nowhere in the film is it shown to any length or even *intimated* that they might have some notion of decency or reconciliation for anyone besides themselves(and the Hyena pack as a whole) or that they would prefer to be with Simba instead of Scar, etc. They are definitely Villains, just not *main* villains, and certainly not Anti-Villains.

Of course, without knowing what these terms *mean*, and just going strictly on the words "anti" and "hero", then yes the Hyenas and *any* villain would automatically be considered an 'anti-hero' simply because they are going *against* the hero.