Valiant Comics is one of the most realistic superhero universes in comics. While there are characters with supernatural powers, most of these characters feel a lot more like actual people than like the brightly costumed heroes and villains of Marvel and DC.

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However, there are some genuinely heroic people who use their abilities to make the world a better place. There are also a number of "heroes" who might fight against various supernatural and real-world evils, but are not exactly good people--or at the very least, have done some truly awful things in their lives. But all the Valiant protagonists, both heroes and anti-heroes, make the comics a delight to read.

10 Heroic: Livewire Is The Heart Of Her Team

Livewire

A founding member of the superhero team Unity is Livewire, a psiot with control over technology and electromagnetic signals. She was trained by Toyo Harada and still both respects and cares for him, but he has done enough harm in the world to serve his own ego that she has since broken ranks from him.

While two of her teammates in Unity, Ninjak and the Eternal Warrior, are arguably more skilled in combat and tactics, she is the heart of the team and ensures that the group is not merely a security force, but a team of actual heroes.

9 Dark Anti-Hero: The Nanomachines In Bloodshot's Blood Took Away His Identity

Bloodshot

Tragedy defines Bloodshot’s life. He was turned into a living weapon by the nanomachines in his blood. These nanites give him his powers, but also stripped away his identity and memories. He was used as a military asset to kill terrorists, or anyone else his handlers wanted dead, until he finally was given agency.

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Now, Bloodshot is trying to use his powers to help people, including his family. However, he is still a weapon, and every time he tries to end the cycle of violence, something causes him to return to killing once again.

8 Heroic: Faith Will Risk Her Life To Help Others Without Hesitation

faith

Faith Herbert is probably the most heroic character in the Valiant Universe. She is a psiot with the ability to fly and who can carry a second person within an invisible companion field. She is also a huge comics nerd, and so naturally chose to become a superhero and help people using her powers, choosing the name Zephyr.

Despite having no other powers like strength or invulnerability, she regularly puts her life at risk to help others. There is no denying her bravery. Indeed, Faith is one of the most compassionate, caring, and courageous Valiant heroes.

7 Dark Anti-Hero: Peter Stanchek Does Not Respect Boundaries

peter-stanchek

One of the most powerful psiots on the planet, Peter Stanchek has telekinetic and telepathic abilities. He also can use his powers to activate other psiots whose latent abilities have not organically manifested, something he did to give Faith her ability to fly.

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Peter has a long history of not respecting boundaries, especially when it comes to other people’s mental agency and autonomy. While he has opposed Toyo Harada—a rich psiot egomaniac who is one of the greatest threats to the safety of the planet—and he has saved numerous people from Harada’s influence. However, he has also used his powers to get laid, which is a serious violation of consent.

6 Heroic: Divinity Altered The Physical World To Make People's Dreams Come True

Divinity

The Soviet cosmonaut Abram Adams traveled to the edge of observable space with two others. Whether he came to the edge of the solar system or of reality itself, he brushed up against a strange place known only as The Unknown.

Here, he and his fellow cosmonauts gained new powers, becoming godlike in their ability to manipulate matter, perception, and space-time. Of the three, only Divinity is truly benevolent. He comes back to Earth and does all he can to help people, trying to make the planet more equitable in accordance with his Soviet ideals, even altering the physical world to make people’s dreams come true.

5 Dark Anti-Hero: Rai Hypocritically Demonizes Others

Rai

There is a tragedy to Rai that is hard to express. As the protector of the space station colony of New Japan in the year 4001 CE, he was (or will be) one of the most steadfast and caring of all Valiant’s heroes. But upon learning that the AI who oversees New Japan is malevolent, Rai goes to war with the technarch.

After New Japan crashes to Earth, Rai learns that there is a duplicate consciousness of Father known as the Bloodking, Rai sets off to kill Father and all the AI created by him. Being an AI himself, Rai hypocritically demonizes others, even treating a companion of his and older model, Raijin, with unmasked contempt while exploiting Raijin for help.

4 Heroic: Archer Does Whatever He Can To Make The World A Better Place

Valiant Comics Obadiah Archer With Armstrong Broken Bottles Attack

Obadiah Archer was raised by Christo-fascist Creationist parents who brainwashed him in a cultlike environment and trained him to be an assassin. He was supposed to kill the immortal known as Armstrong (AKA Aram Anni-Padda, or as Archer was trained to call him, “He Who Is Not To Be Named”).

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Upon meeting Armstrong, Archer’s entire worldview was challenged. He lost his faith, but he gained a new best friend. Additionally, Archer can connect his consciousness to the Akashic Record, giving him access to all human knowledge. However, he somehow manages to be simultaneously naively innocent and wise far beyond his years—both traits which are owed entirely to his life experience rather than his powers. He cares about others, and in a grimdark world, is willing to do whatever he can to make that world better.

3 Dark Anti-Hero: Ninjak Does Not Feel Emotion

Ninjak fighting monks. Ninjak #0

Ninjak is Valiant’s bad boy, a rich ninja mercenary spy with gadgets cooler than anything James Bond ever used, martial arts training that Bruce Lee would envy, and his own personal castle. He is pure wish fulfillment at its best. He is also a mess of psychological issues, though given his training in spycraft, no one would ever know.

Ninjak has racked up quite a body count in his career, but what makes him so dark is his psycho profile. When he was shown the dead bodies of his murdered parents, he did not even react. After a lifetime of trauma, abuse, and intense training, Ninjak seems incapable of most normal human emotions, which makes him scarily close to being a sociopath.

2 Heroic: Quantum Puts Others Before Himself

Quantum and Woody

Half of the superhero duo Quantum and Woody, “Quantum” (AKA Eric Henderson) is a cop and veteran who dedicated his life to service. When he and his adopted brother are given powers—powers which they can only activate by clanging quantum wrist gauntlets together every 24 hours—he finds new ways to help people. This causes him all manner of grief, as Woody is an impulsive, self-destructive, dishonest ne'er-do-well always getting into trouble.

While he is incredibly uptight and perhaps a bit naïve in how much he trusts in any government or business interests that can be considered part of “the establishment,” Quantum is an honest honorable man who puts others before himself.

1 Dark Anti-Hero: Shadowman Was Forced To Hunt Down Magical Artifacts

Shadowman

Shadowman (AKA Jack Boniface) was given powers by the same loa that has been in his family for generations, and which also gave his father the powers of the Shadowman—powers which let him help influence spiritual matters in the magical realm of the Deadside.

After a confrontation with the villainous magus Master Darque, Shadowman was turned into an entity known as the Magpie, stripped of his identity and forced to hunt down magical artifacts in the Deadside and kill those in possession of these relics. He eventually found a way to return to his former state as Shadowman, but the suffering he caused will make redemption incredibly difficult, if possible at all.

NEXT: 10 Strongest Villains In The Valiant Universe