Manhwa and webtoonsare growing increasingly dominant as a mobile-friendly, easily digestible webcomic format for readers around the globe. Still, the Korean format has a special draw when it featuresantiheroes. Often, antiheroes feature throughout the plot of predominantly action, fantasy, or otome isekai manhwa, with many of the medium’s best stories diving into their moral ambiguity and their effects on those around them.
This can create engaging mysteries around their character, fascinating discussion material among friends, and, more than anything else, pure entertainment that is never in short supply on Webtoon, Tapas, Tappytoon, or beyond. These characters feature prominently in any given story as either bearing motives or committing actions contrary to conventional or noble, which, while not heroic, are compelling to audiences.
The best antiheroes in manhwa particularly like to push dark boundaries and, in the process, tell increasingly fascinating tales showing either descent further into depravity and violence or shedding truth on their mannerisms.
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10Seth Kang (Boss in School)
Won’t Get Beat Again
It’s easy to envision a character developing a complex after promising his mother a nonviolent life, only to discover his father’s dying words being “Stop getting your ass kicked, it’s embarrassing.” Seth Kang is a natural brawler inBoss in School, giving manhwa readers a sort ofLike a Dragonin high school setting, complete with prison stints and brutal fistfights.
Seth learns to fight like a gangster, for better or for worse, as he can confidently dish out a thrashing, but in a more imposing, antihero fashion, as left unchecked, he can kill much bigger opponents with his bare hands.
9Yeo-un Cheon (Nano Machine)
A Penchant for Dismembering
In addition to being one of themost overpowered protagonists in all manhwa, Cheon Yeo-un benefits from a fascinating blend of sci-fi and martial arts tropes to create an exciting revenge tale.Nano Machineis already enormously popular on Webtoonwith a familiar premise.
Yeo-un is saved from certain death by a descendant from the future, who injects him with the Nano Machine, bestowing a healing factor and insight into martial arts. This allows him to grow exponentially as a fighter while taking vengeance on his enemies, including a creative flair for violence as he tortures and dismembers his opponents.
8Mumyeong Heo (Gwichon Village Mystery)
Red Flags Never Looked So Good
Mumyeong Heo is the star of a recent mystery manhwa that’s only just getting localized by Webtoon. Still, it follows an eerie, occult-fueled mystery, yet the biggest reader intrigue lies with Mumyeong himself.As Webtoon’s comment sections have noted, he’s rather easy on the eyes, akin to Suguru Geto, while striking the balance of being a meticulous, possible serial killer yet gentle and friendly with a few limited people he encounters in the titular village.
Despite his menacing aura, Mumyeong is making waves as a particularly dark manhwa antihero, with a particularly thirsty demographic latching onto him.
7Woojin Kim (Kill the Hero)
Playing the Players
Kill the Herois a popular, completed urban action power fantasy manhwa featuring hallmarks of other established series while often being left out ofdiscussions on bigger stories likeSolo Leveling. Its protagonist, Woojin Kim, is hated by an increasingly cynical world, which only gets worseas he is betrayed by the Messiah Guild he thought he could trust.
A common trend among manhwa antihero protagonists is how often they’re motivated by revenge, either for a death in their previous life, or for past traumatic events.
Completing the “game” as players would mean losing the power and privilege it bestows, and Woojin is murdered and turned into a casualty to uphold this lifestyle, until he returns, with ambiguous allegiances as he exacts revenge on his killers.
6Jamie Welton (66,666 Years: Advent of the Dark Mage)
The Awkward Pre-Teen Villain Years
Jamie Welton is all that remains of his former self, Diablo Volpir, a dark mage so powerfulhe was only successfully sealed away after twelve gods united against him. The story begins with him in his childhood, raised by a loving noble family while he keeps a wholesome outward appearance.
Yet, he harbors malicious intent to get revenge on and kill the gods who defeated him in his previous life. It’s deceptively wholesome, yet imposing as Jamie’s father soon learns that no teacher can keep up with his talents, poised to become a legendary Rank 9 mage.
5Roxana Agrece (Roxana)
The Poison Princess
Roxana Agrece is a solid example of an antihero who realistically doesn’t pursue a path that could be considered heroic, motivated by vengeance, as a strong example ofvillainess and otome isekai’s draw for manhwa readers. Roxana wears her proverbial red flags like an elegant ballgown as she lives the plot of “The Abysmal Flower,” the novel foretelling the events of the Agreces, one of the five ruling families of the world. Knowing Cassian Pedelian’s kidnapping will bring the story’s heroine to her doorstep,Roxana takes matters into her own hands, as her survival is at stake.
Playing the villainess part a little too well sometimes, Roxana has the menacing factor. This includes the Agrece family’s poison training,with Roxana’s particular tolerance built over time by ingesting gradually larger doses.Roxanais also one of the best revenge manhwa for readers on Tapas, with a refreshing and boundary-pushing take on the genre and exceptional art.
4Hero Killer
The Gifted
Hero Killeris lauded asone of the best revenge manhwa around, with Ihwa at its center as she seeks vengeance for her sister, Yeon’s death at the hands of the Heroes Clan. Ihwa has the usual hallmarks of a long-lived manhwa antihero, including a calculating personality and ruthless streak ensuring her survival.
One particular hookHero Killerhas for readers is that Ihwa is both physically imposing, with an intimidating physique and “Gift Absorption” making her a formidable opponent,while conversely having an endearing love for food, just like the best shōnen manga protagonists.
3Medea Solon (Your Throne)
The Jealous Type
At the start ofYour Throne,Medea Solon is introduced as a somewhat loathsome villainess. While she certainly bears antihero qualities, much of her focus is first on Psyche Callista, her archenemy and rival suitress for Eros Orna Vasilios. It’s easy to view Medea unsympathetically, too, as she views those of lower status with contempt and openly resents her political rivals. However,Your Throneturns surprisingly complicated when Medea swaps bodies with Psyche, causing Medea to impersonate Psyche while delicately using her keen political insight.
The resulting intrigue makesYour Thronemuch more compelling, as Medea suddenly has to take measures to protect her former body while using her new position to secure power. The series also gradually makes Medea more sympathetic as the true antagonist emerges, with Medea in Psyche’s body plotting for this enemy to suffer a suitable degree of agony. Perhaps the most compelling ishow each inhabited character changes the outward appearance and aura of the bodies they possess, resulting in some remarkable visual depth to the story.
2Se-young Tak (Rooftop Sword Master)
The Hulk at Home
Perhaps an example of an edgy teenage power fantasy taken too far,Rooftop Sword Masteris about as shocking as it has come despite having such a simple premise. Se-young Tak was put into a coma by some especially violent, severe bullies, during which time his parents died a horrible death in pursuit of justice for their son. These traumas, alongside Se-young’s resignation to being cooped up in a rooftop apartment, areclassic recipes for a manhwa antihero.
The transformation doubles his height and turns him into what can only be described as Baki Hanma crossed with the Hulk.
The bizarre part ofRooftop Sword Masterhappens after this point, where a massive flaming sword lands on his roof, compelling Se-young to use it for strength training, which he achieves after a year of adjustment and extreme exercise. The transformation doubles his height and turns him into what can only be described as Baki Hanma crossed with the Hulk. When assailants first try to break in,it plays out less like aJohn Wickhome invasion and more like a horror scene.Se-young confronts his former bullies, and despite their pleas for mercy, he coldly takes his vengeance.
Not One for Wasting Time
Perhaps the most intriguing antihero in any manhwa isone who immediately shows her multifaceted side like Reinhardt does, getting her chance to get revenge on her horrible and unfaithful noble husband, Michel, upon her resurrection. Her palpable resentment and hatred for him, combined with the gratifying experience for the readers as she hatches her plan within the first chapters, makes for an instant draw. It shows a character who is wronged, getting ready to carry out an elaborate act of vengeance.
I Tamed My Ex Husband’s Mad Dogdepicts Reinhardt as somebody who carries her early trauma alongside her ongoing suffering, with her father tragically dying in Michel’s place at war.The grief and anger in her eyes make it hard not to root for her, and although her methods are vicious and spiteful, it’s an immaculately compelling reading experience. Reinhardt Lincke is a phenomenal manhwa antihero, and her recruitment of a young Wilhelm Cohlonna, Michel’s “Mad Dog,” injects a complicated romantic edge into this revenge fantasy series.
