User blog comment:SilverthehedgehogMan/Am I the only person who doesn't count Justin as an antagonist?/@comment-2002887-20161003224605/@comment-26910203-20161004000234

It depends on how you're utilizing antagonist honestly. An antagonist can simply be someone who opposes another person (a la Duncan and Harold) and not a full fledged villain that eliminates everyone.

That being said, I don't think every PART of every season really NEEDS a main antagonist and I don't think he should be considered one. I think the belief that there must be a main antagonist in the first half is silly, you can create tension without having a major protagonist/antagonist interaction (such as with Leshawna's lie) and I believe Action does just that. I mean what does he really do besides expose Trent and Gwen? Even if one considers him a main antagonist what protagonist(s) specifically does he oppose in the first half? Trent and Gwen were definetely not protagonists in Action (the former was very hard to root for after his shenanigans and the latter was demonized later on) and the charming of Beth and Lindsay was barely villainous.

When you compare his role and interactions to other major conflicts of the series it really pales in comparison, there is nothing interaction on the scale of the actual main antagonists: Heather vs. Gwen, Alejandro vs. Heather, Ice Dancers vs. Cadets, even Courtney vs. Beth of the same season. I've always felt he was just a less strategic (and more comedic) version of TDI Duncan, I would thus consider them both to be anti-heroes (yes, I know the wiki claims him to be an antagonist as well).