forum Help?? Is he an anti-hero or antagonist?

Started February 27, 2018 by @TryToDoItWrite

tune

Fenin is a character from my (attempt at a) novel. I have no clue if he would be defined as a anti-hero or antagonist.
Relevant background info:
HIs mom has dementia and he had to support her and his 6 year old sister. In order to do this he joined a gang of people who create powerful weapons out of runes and sell them. My protagonist (Camille) works for the government as a nurse and just wants to help humanity.

Fenin "jailbreaks" Camille, meaning that he makes it so that the rune on her palm is active, which is a giant no-no in the laws of this world. He jailbreaks her so that she won't spill his secret identity or turn him in. His gang also has plans to find and use a weapon that could potentially kill my protag's family.

However, he also saves her life multiple times and seems to actually care about her. He even marks her as "friendly" using an invisible rune tag so that no one in his gang would mess with her.

If anyone is curious I've posted two exerts on @writelikeyourerunningoutoftime 's forum in the critiquing sections.

BUT THE QUESTION REMAINS: What is he? I don't know!! Help! I think it's because I write in deep first person POV that I have no clue…because Camille has no clue

what else does he do in the story? he doesnt seem like either to me from just this information as he seems like a neutral character. another thing to consider; if the gang he is a part of is very relevant to the plot of the story that would push possible antihero, unless he directly takes actions against the protagonist.

Yeah, I agree with @Paperok. If he's actively hinders the protagonist, then he's an antagonist. Antagonism doesn't have much to do with personality and more with the role in the story. If he helps Camille more than he hurts her, and if his actions fuel the plot forward without hindering Camille, then he's an anti-hero. If not, he's an antagonist.

@Paperok @writelikeyourerunningoutoftime Thank you both!!

The line between anti-hero and antagonist is a thin one. But from what I can see, he's an anti-hero. He does bad things for a good-ish cause, and has an only semi-friendly relationship with the protagonist.
Take Red Hood from DC. When he was first introduced as Red Hood, he could have been described as the antagonist. But he's now firmly planted in the anti-hero range. Anti-heroes can act as a help and a hinderance.

SO, from what I can see, he''s an anti-hero