Character like Heathcliff or one in another novel (8)
I believe the answer is:
antihero
'character' is the definition.
(I know that antihero is a type of character)
'one in another novel' is the wordplay.
'one' becomes 'i' (Roman numeral).
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'novel' indicates anagramming the letters (letters in a new or novel order).
'another' anagrammed gives 'anthero'.
'i' placed inside 'anthero' is 'ANTIHERO'.
'like heathcliff or' is the link.
This may not be right. Some or all of it may be part of another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for antihero that I've seen before include "baddie" , "Character such as Meursault" , "Principal character without virtue" , "Central character lacking traditional courageous attributes" , "ignoble character" .)