An anti-hero is defined as a main character that lacks conventional heroic qualities and attributes, making it hard to distinguish the good guy from the bad guy. No one fits this definition quite like Blair Waldorf.
Blair Waldorf, played by Leighton Meester in the TV drama Gossip Girl, is exactly the type of villain everyone loves and the hero everyone wants to hate. When I watched Gossip Girl for the first time my immediate reaction during season one was that she was undoubtedly the villain of the show. In the first season alone, she sabotages almost every one of her classmates via public humiliation. However, as I progressed through the show, I became more partial to her character and by the end of my first watch, she was my favorite.
Blair is constantly trying to run from her past experiences that haunt her throughout the show. When we first meet her, it’s evident she has a strained relationship with her mother, who prefers Serena over her. Her boyfriend at the beginning of the series is still in love with Serena, who he cheated with while he was dating Blair. The people that are supposed to be closest to her in her life often let her down, and she tries to do everything in her power to help them anyway. For all the times that Serena flakes on Blair, Blair goes to bat for her every single time and is always there to help Serena pick up the pieces after someone breaks her heart. Her undying loyalty and willingness to fight for what she believes in are noble causes that often cause her to use questionable methods, making her seem more of a villain when she thinks she is helping others.
Additionally, Blair is determined and has big dreams for the entirety of the show and makes plans on how to achieve them. In the early seasons, her dream is to go to Yale, but she doesn’t get in after she’s caught trying to sabotage another student. Her tunnel vision caused her to try and do whatever it took to get in, but in the end, she sabotaged herself.
This self-destruction is a common trait of the anti-hero when they want something so bad they end up ruining it for themselves. While Blair is reeling about not getting into Yale, Serena gets an acceptance to Yale and she didn’t even want to go: the dean wanted her because of the press she could provide to the school. For someone like Blair who planned out every detail of how she would get in, this is infuriating. Additionally, when Blair is at Columbia, she works to try and get let into a secret society that Serena also ends up joining. Blair feels that she can never have one thing that is her own because Serena is always getting the same things.
At one point in the show, Blair says “I’m sick of being Darth Vader next to sunshine Barbie” and although both characters are stunning and intelligent, it’s always Serena who’s getting chosen for things which becomes frustrating to Blair. Feeling that you are second best when you’re always trying your hardest is an incredibly human thing to feel. Still, because Serena has an easy-going personality and the ability to light up the room, it makes it seem that Blair is jealous.
Blair’s romantic relationships also become a catalyst of so many of her schemes. She’s in a relationship with the emotionally unavailable Chuck Bass for a long duration of the show. She’s constantly there for Chuck during his hardships with his abusive father, but Chuck repeatedly hurts her and doesn’t open up to her. Both characters have dark streaks which make it difficult for them to be together in the early seasons because their jealousy and immaturity get the best of them. By season four, however, Blair is ready to try and have a relationship but Chuck asks her to put her career on hold so that she can support him. Blair is the only character in the show that is forced to choose between love and her career, and she tells Chuck that even though she loves him she needs time to be Blair Waldorf first.
Blair to me is one of the most relatable characters in TV because she reacts to common experiences in the way that we all wish we could. While most viewers are not socialites living in the Upper East Side that have trust funds, almost all viewers have shared her experiences. From always being there for friends, planning down to the last detail, or feeling like the second option, her experience is relatable for many.