Thread:Mesektet/@comment-24602967-20150224101919/@comment-3581997-20150224215620

And as to Van From ToA he is an antagonist, an anti-villain but ultimately he creates problems in the story not solves any. The cut-off line for the fuzzy area with anti-villains and extremists is, do they actually further events FOR the protagonists ever?

Example: Magneto, Albert Simon, Ra's al Ghul; All have noble goals and are far from sadists however Albert and Ra's are never seen helping the heroes, just flat-out opposing them, for noble goals but still they only create conflict in the story shown, never solve it, so they are villains; Magneto on the other-hand has several comics devoted to his attempts to work with Xavier, he also frequently will join forces with the X-Men when all mutant kind is universally in danger, even if he parts ways after- this at-lest makes him a protagonist dependent on what story he is in.

Van has a case similar to Albert Simon, he wants to make things better and is civil about his path but unshakable from it and never actually helps the heroes.