Creon does not have the desire to be the king for he does not want the distress, he is just an ordinary man who possesses much more power than he needs and is not familiar with, leading him to be succumb by a tragic flaw that he does not realize causes self-destruction until it is too late.
Another component that distinguishes a tragic hero from a non-hero is the character's ability to move the audience to feel pity for him. Although the reader becomes vexed at Creon's inability to put ethics before his arrogance as a ruler, he is also pitiable when he is led to punishing Antigone due to his need for dominance, causing a chain reaction of events, which leads to the loss of his entire family. The Choragus is the first to evoke the feeling of pity for Creon from the audience when he says, "But here is the King himself: oh look at him, bearing his own damnation in his arms". The vulnerability of a king who is pleading for his death after his demise due to his loyalty to the State makes the reader "melt with pity at what takes place" " (Poetics 212). Aristotle's definition of a tragic hero seems to have been created for a vulnerable Creon who has lost his family and his condemned to hell due to a mistake he makes but does not realize until it is too late. Creon's anguish can be felt when he says "Lead me away. I have been rash and foolish. I have killed my son and my wife. I look for comfort; my comfort lies here dead Fate has brought all my pride to a thought of dust (line 1035). The loss of Creon's whole family and his condemnation to hell due to his wrong doings can now be imagined so that the audience is in Creon's place, evoking fear and pity for now they know Creon's fate. A critic states, "-but suppose I watch Creon set in motion the machine that will kill his son I cannot fear for him, perhaps, I may feel fear for myself, in view of our likeness, or the character that I share with Creon" (Woodruff 4).