Protagonist

Character Role Analysis

Oskar Schindler

He may be an anti-hero, at least at the beginning, but there's no doubt that Schindler is our go-to good guy. It's Schindler's list, after all. The film's focus stays with him, and on the wheelings and dealings he conducts to keep his workers safe.

It's his status as an anti-hero in the beginning that makes him a much more effective hero in the end. He gets cozy with the Nazis, becomes friends with some truly awful people, and exploits the Jews as slave labor. Why on Earth would someone like that be interested in squandering all his money to save the Jews? His great evil allows him to do great good… riddle us that one, Caped Crusader.