There is a lot of confusion about the identity of the Antichrist.
....
So, there are 13 people who will rule in the Tribulation...
There's only one 'The Antichrist', and he is whom all the "many antichrists" follow. This is so... simple to understand, and Apostle John showed that difference between the two in 1 John 2:18, the first part of the verse being about a singular... Antichrist, and the latter part being about his followers that were already at work, the "many antichrists".
That actually is the same... subject Lord Jesus was warning about for the end in His Olivet discourse. In the first part of Matthew 24, Jesus warns to not allow any man to deceive us, and that many would come in His name, saying they are Christ.
But later in the Matthew 24:23-26 Scripture, He specifically warns of a coming pseudo-Christ that if it were possible, would deceive even His very elect. (KJV "false Christs" is actually the Greek word
pseudochristos from 2 Greek words,
pseudo which means false, and
christos which means Christ, singular. Dr. James Strong in his Strong's Exhaustive Concordance translated it as
'a spurious Messiah', meaning a singular false Christ.)
Thus Lord Jesus warned us about the same issue that John did with the coming Antichrist, and the many antichrists workers.
But that is not... the only Bible example of this. Apostle John also showed this dual working of a singular Antichrist and his servants the many antichrists in the Revelation 13 chapter, with the "another beast" coming 'as' a Lamb (Jesus), but speaking as the dragon (devil). And his servants are the false prophet and beast.
And then Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 11 warned about the "another Jesus", that he was afraid brethren would be deceived and heed false apostles. Paul warned no marvel for Satan's ministers (the many antichrists) disguise themselves as the ministers of righteousness, and Satan himself disguises himself as an angel of light (The Antichrist). (The KJV word "transformed" there actually means 'disguised' per the Greek.)
In Revelation 17 about the beast king (Satan) and the ten kings that rule with him for one hour, that is the "little horn" of the Book of Daniel. The "little horn" is to come among the ten horns (kings), and subdue 3 of the ten. Revelation simply reveals that "little horn" will be over all 10 horns (kings). That is the Antichrist vs. many antichrist servants idea again. Those 10 kings are not here on earth yet, so they will still only be part of the "many antichrists" group that are already here at work, the "mystery of iniquity".
Thus 2 Thessalonians 2 ALSO paints this picture about a singular coming Antichrist and his many antichrist workers. Apostle Paul defined a coming false one, the man of sin, coming to Jerusalem to sit in a rebuilt temple there, proclaiming himself as God. That is 'The Antichrist' role. Then later in 2 Thessalonians 2:7, Paul says the "mystery of iniquity doth already work", revealing the 'many antichrists' were already at work like Apostle John said.
So I hate to say it, but the deceived who keep pushing the false idea that the word antichrist can mean just about anything except... a coming false one that isn't here yet that will play Christ, and his many workers that are already... here at work, just are not paying attention to God in His written Word. Because they haven't seen the above correlation in Scripture, it shows they are simply listening to the doctrines of men controlled by those many antichrists.