Summary
- Anti-heroes and flawed characters can be compelling and likable due to strong performances and charm.
- Villains can become fan favorites through compelling storytelling and nuanced portrayals.
- Flawed main characters can be sympathetic and endearing, despite their morally questionable actions.
When a film or TV show is built around a character, it’s natural to feel strongly for the character, despite flaws and potentially repellent behaviors. TV shows and movies are built around their main characters, who are often the hero or protagonist of the story. To make the show compelling, the series has to show these characters undergoing challenges and overcoming opposition, which can build an attachment to them and admiration for their strength and determination. However, if the main character is also majorly flawed or problematic, this can quickly become more complicated.
With the rise of anti-heroes in TV and movies, it’s increasingly common to sympathize with the main characters and find aspects that are charming, charismatic, endearing, or just entertaining to watch. The character could be a brutal murderer, a socially inept egotistical genius, or a patronizing alien from outer space, but thanks to their representation on screen, and the performance of the actors, they somehow manage to be extremely cool and exciting. As a result, some of the most despicable, rude, villainous, or wicked characters are also fan favorites, despite their flaws.
10 Sherlock Holmes
The Socially Inept Egotistical Genius
Sherlock Holmes has become an icon after appearing in projects where the character is played by beloved and respected actors like Robert Downey Jr. and Benedict Cumberbatch. Despite his many flaws, both of these actors can imbue the character with a level of charm, sincerity, and complexity that eludes him in earlier adaptations and the source material. The fact is that Sherlock is not intended to be likable, but purely pragmatic. This pragmatism occupies his character far more than any other trait, but recent adaptations have given him a more human side.
9 The Doctor
The Grumpy Alien Who Has To Hold Humanity’s Hand
Doctor Who
Originally premiered in 1963, Doctor Who is a sci-fi series that follows a powerful being known as a Time Lord, referred to as the Doctor. Using an interdimensional time-traveling ship known as the TARDIS, the Doctor travels time and space with various companions as they solve multiple problems and help avert catastrophe as much as they almost cause it. Though the Doctor is always the same character, they experience regenerations, allowing them to be recast every few seasons as a unique immortal being with new personality traits.
In Doctor Who’s 60 years on air, the character has usually been a detestable and grumpy character who fails to engage humans in a positive or meaningful way. The character started to adopt qualities that were more likable and endearing, particularly since the Ninth Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) and the modern series of the show. When the character was first introduced, he wasn’t even the protagonist, as the teacher, Ian Chesterton, was usually the person who saved the day and got everyone out alive, while the Doctor spent his time complaining and theorizing.
10 Action Stars Who Gave Surprisingly Great Dramatic Performances
Action stars are known for intense adventures filled with chaos and explosion, however, occasionally they deliver surprisingly dramatic performances.
8 Harley Quinn
Villain’s Sidekick Who Went Independent
Harley Quinn was first introduced in Batman: The Animated Series, as a fairly insignificant side character who serves the Joker. However, the character quickly developed into an icon and a fan favorite, which led to them getting comics, TV shows, and movies where they were the star. Harley is obviously a villain, and she doesn’t have any issues with things that others may find morally wrong, but through her performances and the charm of those who play her, she has become one of the most beloved characters from all of DC.
7 President Snow
The Heartless Leader Of Panem
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is a prequel movie set 64 years before the events of the original movie with Katniss Everdeen. The film centers on a young Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth) and shows his rise to power as the leader of Panem. Taking place during the 10th Hunger Games, Snow is tasked with mentoring Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler), the tribute from District 12.
President Snow is the antagonist and irredeemable villain of The Hunger Games trilogy. In both the books and the original movies, he is thoroughly unlikable and inhumane in his treatment of the people who live outside the walls of the Capitol. However, proving the point that a story told from the villain’s perspective can change how people view them, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes turns Snow from a terrible villain to a lost boy being poisoned and transformed by those with power and influence. But that doesn’t stop audiences from growing fond of the young and idealistic Snow.
6 Joe Goldberg
Obsessive Stalker Boyfriend
You
You is a drama-thriller series based on the novel by Caroline Kepnes that follows an obsessive and dangerous bookstore owner known as Joe Goldberg. The show sees Joe meeting women that he becomes transfixed with and goes to terrifying lengths to insert himself into their lives. To accomplish his goal, Joe will remove each obstacle – and person- in his way.
Joe Goldberg is intelligent, well-mannered, and composed. However, Joe also has a dark secret. He gets attached when he finds someone he is interested in. Attached to such a degree that he begins to stalk them, tracking and recording every detail of their routine and trying to manufacture moments to insert himself in their lives. Joe has broken into homes, stolen clothes, hacked phones and laptops, and murdered people he sees as threats to his obsession’s happiness. Despite all of this, the character still comes off as charming and audiences root for him to evade capture.
5 Negan Smith
Vicious War Lord Of The Apocalypse
The Walking Dead
Based on one of the most successful and popular comic books of all time, AMC’s The Walking Dead captures the ongoing human drama following a zombie apocalypse. The series, developed for television by Frank Darabont, follows a group of survivors, led by police officer Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), who are traveling in search of a safe and secure home. However, instead of the zombies, it is the living who remain that truly become the walking dead. The Walking Dead lasted for eleven seasons and spawned several spinoff shows, such as Fear the Walking Dead and The Walking Dead: World Beyond.
Â
- Streaming Service(s)
- Netflix , AMC Plus
Negan has a literal god complex, as evidenced by his group being called “The Saviors.” Despite the name, Negan and his crew heavily tax and threaten those who they form relationships with, pushing others to serve them, or face the deadly consequences. When Rick’s group meets Negan for the first time in The Walking Dead, Negan sets out to establish his authority by brutally beating people to death in front of the rest of their group. In the years since these events, Negan has done all he can to redeem himself, but he did not make the best first impression.
The Walking Dead: Every Major Character Negan Killed In The Show (& How)
Ever since his appearance in The Walking Dead’s season 6, Negan’s body count includes main characters and even some of the show’s biggest villains.
4 Hades
Literal God Of The Underworld
Hades is the antagonist of Hercules, and he does all he can to try and kill Herc, and lead him down a path of destruction. He causes havoc in the mortal realm, manipulates people to mislead each other, and tries to clear a path to dethrone Zeus and take over Olympus. However, the animated Disney picture also makes the character quirky and likable, with the charming voice of James Woods elevating him beyond a typical villain. His plans are undoubtedly evil, but audiences also feel sorry for the god who has been damned to rule over hell for eternity.
3 Dexter Morgan
Feeding His Dark Passenger
Dexter
Based on the character created by author Jeff Lindsay, Showtime’s Dexter follows Miami Metro Police Department’s most skilled blood spatter analyst, Dexter Morgan, as he attempts to satisfy his Dark Passenger’s need to kill by hunting down criminals who have escaped justice. However, using the rules his adoptive father taught him to remain undiscovered, Dexter must walk the fine line of seemingly blending into society while continuously feeding his dark urges. Dexter faces several serial killers as his facade slowly crumbles around him; with every problem solved by his Dark Passenger, another one arises for his suburban fatherly life. When Dexter takes things personally or feels that the law is failing, he takes matters into his own hands and even compromises the investigations of his co-workers. Dexter aired on Showtime for eight seasons before receiving a mini-sequel series called Dexter: New Blood, which picked up ten years after the show’s events. You can buy each season for just $9.99 for Prime Day.Â
Dexter witnessed some horrific events as a child, and after the death of his mother, he was adopted by a kindly police officer who raised him as his son. As Dexter grew up, it became clear that he had an insatiable lust for violence and taking life. With the help and guidance of his adoptive father, he learned to subdue this hunger and feed the addiction in a controlled way by killing terrible criminals whom the justice system failed to lock up. Despite Dexter being a murderer, his moral code and his struggle make him incredibly likable and sympathetic.
2 Light Yagami
The Holder Of The Death Note
Light Yagami was just an intelligent young man until a Shinigami dropped a Death Note for him to discover. The villainous spirit then lured Light into using the Death Note to take the lives of others, and within a short period, Light became addicted to the power. He chose to wield this power to rid the world of terrible and evil people, but despite his noble intentions, he quickly racked up hundreds and thousands of kills in a short time. Light manages to still be a charming and endearing protagonist, but at his core, there is significant darkness.
1 Regina George
The Queen Of The Mean Girls
Mean Girls (2004)
Mean Girls tells the story of Cady (Lindsay Lohan), a teen girl who falls in with the wrong crowd. After returning to the USA after spending her childhood in Africa, Cady infiltrates her school’s group of mean girls, befriending the conniving Regina George (Rachel McAdams) and her cronies. However, Cady finds the high school hierarchy to be far more complicated than she had imagined, drawing her into a game of manipulation and deceit that threatens her reputation.
Regina George has a magnetic personality, and despite her cruel words and lack of kindness, she still manages to win people’s hearts. When Cady Heron makes plans to take Regina down, the audience supports her getting what she deserves, but she is still incredibly likable throughout. This is further compounded with the film’s shocking twist of Regina being hit by a bus, and becoming a more sympathetic character than ever. While Cady makes the transition from good to Mean Queen, Regina has the opposite journey and becomes more likable throughout the film.
This story originally appeared on Screenrant
