A heroic antagonist or antagonistic hero is a character who is in the opposition to the protagonist, yet is heroic in nature; this is usually due to the protagonist being a villain protagonist (e.g. L Lawliet, Sans, Hank Schrader, Bryan Pawalski), but there are also conflicts where both the protagonist and the antagonist are heroes (e.g. Inspector Javert, Squidward Tentacles, Miles Edgeworth, Anxiety). In short, antagonist heroes are heroes who oppose the protagonist, whether good or evil.

It is possible for a hero to fall into both the false antagonist and this category, in this case they are usually redeemed villains or anti-heroes who initially anatgonize heroes but later join the heroes' cause.

For obvious reasons, these characters are rarely Pure Good since it is not common in many works for an opposing character to actually be Pure Good, though there are some huge exceptions if they completely lack any corrupting qualities and the other characters are visibly pleased or comforted by their actions. It may also help if the protagonists of the story are villains. Mister Rogers, Soichiro Yagami, SCP-999, Falco Grice, Spider-Man, Cabba, and General Hubert Galeforce are good examples. Also, since a lot of Redeemed Villains don’t have a hard time qualifying, these are often the types of antagonists to qualify for Pure Good.

They are the exact opposite of villainous protagonists.