🧠 Food for Thought - Agatha Harkness: Anti-Villain or Anti-Hero?
- John Maurice Otieno
- Dec 7, 2024
- 8 min read
Updated: Dec 25, 2024
Love her or not, Marvel Cinematic Universe's Agatha Harkness is a truly fascinating character. Dynamic and layered, she can split opinion as her traits tend to dwell in the gray area of the moral spectrum.
Considered the outright villain of Wanda's story in WandaVision, Agatha finds herself the unlikely titular "hero" of her own show in Agatha All Along. But like a pendulum, she possesses the tendency to swing from committing acts that are typically frowned upon by society as evil and immoral, to portraying sympathetic and noble qualities. Which begs the question: is Agatha Harkness an anti-villain, or anti-hero?
To answer that, we must first fully grasp the weight and meaning of both character dynamics. Remember, details matter. And as always, spoiler alert!
What is an Anti-Villain?
No Film School defines an anti-villain strictly as a character who has heroic goals, personality traits and virtues, but is ultimately villainous. This type of character's deeds are always worse in the long run.
Characteristics of an Anti-Villain?
The anti-villain's desired ends might seem promising, or like they would build towards a utopia, but the means they use to get there are evil. As such, they tend to have humane traits as described below:
1. Noble.
An anti-villain can be someone evil with standards; a villain with a code. This means they can paint an altruistic picture of themselves every now and then, as depicted by Agatha in Agatha All Along:
When we first meet her as a detective in Westview, Agatha's moved to tears when she sees the victim in a crime scene, a young girl's corpse, displaying compassion.
There's a look of genuine concern on her face when a suspect who breaks into her home (Teen) gets run over by a car as she chases him down the street.
During the fourth trial: Tarot, as Teen reads Agatha's cards, he pulls out a Seven of Swords, which translates to deception and betrayal. However, the card's inverted, painting Agatha as truthful.
After the final trial, Death (Rio) asks Agatha and Teen to choose between themselves who stays behind with her. Agatha, realizing resisting is "futile" and that they "can't fight death", offers to sacrifice herself so Teen can live.
2. Pitiable.
There are characters whose villainy is based on tragic or awful circumstances. Their actions are still villainous, but they may have earned the right to be bad. Consider the following instances from the show:
Teen gets seriously injured during the second trial on The Road. With all looking bleak and like he might actually succumb, Agatha's brought down to tears. She then sits by his side as he recuperates. She actually has a heart and that makes us care.
"Mom, why do you hate me still?" Agatha asks her mom's spirit during the third trial on The Road: Agatha's Trial. "You were born evil. I ought to have killed you the moment you left my body," Evanora responds.
After Agatha's Trial, Teen tells Agatha, "...just know that I do not trust you! At all! Ever!" She tries her best to hide it, but after everything she and Teen have been through, we can see that his words hurt her. A lot! Like a dagger to the heart.
During the fifth and final trial on The Road, Teen asks Agatha, "Agatha, am I killing this boy so my brother can live?" To which she replies, "No, Billy. Sometimes, boys die." Referencing her son, Nick's demise. She weeps as we feel for her. A mother's pain.
3. Well-Intentioned.
Have you ever listened to a villain's "malicious" plan, but it made sense to you? Think Thanos, and his intention to end hunger and suffering. Sometimes, the anti-villain might even want the same thing as the hero, but chances are, they're conscious that what they're doing is wrong, yet they believe it's the only way. Consider Agatha's intentions in these circumstances:
When Teen asks Agatha if his mom, Wanda Maximoff, is really dead, her immediate answer is "Yes", but upon further reflection, she changes it to a "No", then a "Maybe". Bottom-line, Agatha doesn't like seeing Teen hurt.
Agatha lies to Rio that she'll deliver Teen to her at the end of The Road, but she instead helps him find his twin brother, Tommy, effectively ending his journey on The Road.
4. Villain In Name Only.
The anti-villain can sometimes be neutral and considered villainous simply because their cause goes up directly against the hero's. This could tarnish their reputation and even pose a moral dilemma for the hero of the story. In Agatha All Along:
Agatha's reputation precedes her. Notice how when Lilia first meets Agatha as Agatha tries to recruit her into her coven, Lilia remarks, "What witch in her right mind would join Agatha Harkness' coven?" Agatha's bad news, and if you know what's good for you, you'll steer clear.
"Watch your back with Agatha," Jen warns Teen.
Likewise, Bohnerrific69, Agatha's "ex-husband", cautions Teen over her, "Word to the wise, don't go sniffing around there... you seriously do not know what kind of crazy that lady eats for breakfast."
"Why do you let them believe those things about you, huh? About Nicky?" Rio asks Agatha after the fourth trial. Agatha's reputation isn't particularly accurate. There's more to her than meets the eye.
What is an Anti Hero?
According to StudioBinder, an anti-hero is a narrative protagonist who lacks the qualities of a conventional hero.
Characteristics of an Anti Hero?
An anti-hero may lack the strong morals, courage and selflessness we associate with traditional heroes, potentially resulting in a sense of rejection by society, and a journey down a self-destructive path. Their traits can, then, often live in a morally gray area as follows:
1. Serves as the Protagonist of a story.
Round and layered, anti-heroes often see themselves as the solution to the wrongs ailing their society. More than that, they do headline the narrative non-diegetically. This is the same with Agatha in Agatha All Along:
Other than the obvious fact that Agatha's the protagonist of her own show from a non-diegetic POV, we meet her under Wanda's spell as a detective in Westview. Solving crime and looking out for her small-town folk, Agatha sees herself as some sort of a hero.
In the end, when Agatha agrees to sacrifice herself for Teen, she tells him, "You're not bad." He retorts with, "Neither are you." Teen sees Agatha as a representation of good, painting her as the protagonist.
2. At odds with society.
An inability to find commonalities with others, or salvation within themselves, is something most anti-heroes struggle with. They seem almost destined to be rejected by society. Agatha doesn't help her case with these anecdotes:
When she finds a long line at the library, Agatha's irked and sighs in disgust, then proceeds to cut in line. "Only suckers wait their turn," she exclaims.
She couldn't care less for basic human decency. At the Westview Mall, she literally bumps into two people and walks right through them like they don't even exist.
When Mrs. Hart sadly passes away, the rest of the coven look to pay their last respects and bury her, but not Agatha. She seems more concerned with getting the show back on The Road (pun intended) than actually paying her respects to the woman she brought along on this fatal adventure yet wasn't even supposed to be there in the first place.
During Agatha's Trial, when Teen reads the third rule of the Ouija board game: "Do not taunt the spirits", everyone turns and gives Agatha a glaring look. She goes on to taunt the spirits.
3. Motivated by self-interest.
The pursuit of acceptance, power or control can consume an anti-hero to the point of doom. Agatha's unquenchable thirst for power means she often literally consumes her victims' essence, and at her core, this insatiable hunger drives her decisions and actions:
She initially uses the kid (Teen) who saves her from the Scarlet Witch's spell to serve her own self-interests. He drives her around town as she recruits witches for her new coven, yet she still dehumanizes him. "Say hi, pet," she commands Teen at Lilia's.
She gets Alice fired from her job, just so she can get her coven up and running to walk The Road.
When the coven's attempt at conjuring The Road doesn't work initially, she attempts to steal their powers for herself.
The coven needs an earth witch to walk The Road. Since Agatha's extremely reluctant to ask Rio, she brings along Mrs. Hart (a mundane mortal) as "The Green Witch" instead, risking Mrs. Hart's and the coven's lives in the process.
When the coven drink the poisoned wine ("Alewife's Revenge") as they navigate The Road, Agatha doesn't. Her "self-preservation first" instinct kicks in.
During Agatha's Trial, Alice uses her power to try and save Agatha from her "possessive mom" (pun intended), but Agatha steals Alice's power for herself instead, killing her in the process.
4. Actions or morals are noble.
An anti-hero's methods may often be perverted, yet still motivated by nobility at the core. Consider these deeds from the show:
Agatha stops Teen from drinking the poisoned wine and instead takes it herself.
When Agatha killed her original coven, she spared their children (The Salem Seven) in an act of mercy. Now, she still killed her coven, but as Rio highlighted, Agatha's own mother was going to have her executed. A half-decent lawyer could make a solid case for self-defense.
After the final trial, Teen tells Agatha not to "take it all" and proceeds to share his power with her, displaying a level of trust in her. As she juices up, the temptation is blatant, but she doesn't consume all of his power, sparing his life.
5. Uses charisma to influence others.
Some of the most iconic anti-heroes have an ineffable magnetism to them. We're inexplicably drawn to them and in this regard, they can command an audience. Take Agatha, for example:
When the coven's got less than a minute to live after being poisoned by Alewife's Revenge, Jen's all "panic stations", but Agatha calms her down by convincing her she's still a very skilled witch. "They can take your power, Jen, but they can't take your knowledge," Agatha assures her.
When Teen loses his spell book, she urges him to "forget it" and "take the training wheels off".
Teen betrays a look of guilt when Agatha asks him where he got his new body from. She then advises him, "...don't you dare feel guilty about your talent. You survived, like witches have been doing for centuries."
The Nutshell.
So, in a nutshell, Agatha portrays the qualities of both an anti-villain and an anti-hero in abundance and at great frequency. Her pendulum-like behavioral tendencies make it extremely difficult to distinctly label her as either an outright anti-villain, or an undisputed anti-hero.
Considering the revelation towards the end of the show of Agatha making up The Road, then proceeding to con and kill countless innocent witches, but still not showing a single ounce of remorse, is why I quantify her as an anti-villain. She might be well-intentioned at times, and might even do some good every now and then, but ultimately, Agatha will always do bad to justify the good (or not), and she won't feel sorry for it. For me, that makes her an anti-villain.
What do you think? All things considered, is Agatha an anti-villain, or an anti-hero? Food for thought 🧠
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