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Four hundred years ago, no one watching Othello at the Globe Theatre cheered when Iago came on stage. Moviegoers in 1946 didn’t root for Mr. Potter in It’s a Wonderful Life. That was then, of course. Nowadays, some of the most popular characters in popular culture are ones who, in times gone by, would have been considered “bad guys.”
This is not necessarily a new phenomenon in the medium of TV drama. Amid the white-hatted cowboy heroes of the 1950s, James Garner stood out as Maverick, a smooth-talking card sharp who was hesitant to use a gun. Jonathan Frid became an unexpected heartthrob as guilt-racked vampire Barnabas Collins on the ’60s supernatural soaper Dark Shadows. And what ’80s viewer can forget Larry Hagman as conniving Texas oil magnate J.R. Ewing on Dallas?
Since the dawn of the 21st century, however, examples of anti-heroes taking center stage on the small screen have been on the rise. Chalk it up to the increased thematic complexity of scripted shows, the laxer standards for language and violent behavior on cable and streaming channels, or even a rise in cynicism among the viewing public. Whatever the reason, fans can’t get enough of their favorite morally ambiguous protagonists…and if there’s a “redemption arc,” so much the better. Let’s take a look at some of the more famous–or infamous–examples:
William “Spike” Pratt (James Marsters), Buffy the Vampire Slayer – Spike was introduced early in Buffy’s second year as a short-term foe slated to be staked after a few episodes. The foppish Victorian poet manqué-turned-savage bloodsucker won over the show’s fanbase, however. Spike came back in Season Four to stay with the show–and become an unlikely ally and even love interest for the Slayer–until its final episode, where he sacrificed himself to save Buffy and the world. Don’t worry, though; he returned in the last season of the spin-off series Angel.
Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), The Sopranos – Everyone’s favorite New Jersey “waste management consultant,” mobster Tony Soprano’s passions in life included his family, feeding the ducks that hung around his pool, and ruthlessly eliminating anyone perceived as a threat to his criminal enterprises. Tony’s tightly-wound personality made him prone to panic attacks and bizarre dreams and led him to seek help through psychotherapy. After six years of internecine Mafia warfare, Tony was last seen eating a peaceful dinner with his wife and kids in a Jersey diner, when the front door opens and…
Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis), The Shield – After first establishing himself as a small-town police commissioner on ABC’s The Commish, Chiklis turned up the violence to 11 as the corrupt head detective of the LAPD’s anti-gang “Strike Team” in FX’s gritty The Shield. Also a devoted family man (Mackey struggles to pay for treatment for two autistic children), Vic and his squad’s brutal tactics lead to internal conflicts that have deadly consequences within the department and eventually cost him everything he holds dear.
James “Sawyer” Ford (Josh Holloway), Lost – The “bad boy” among the stranded survivors of the Oceanic Flight 815 crash, charismatic con artist “Sawyer” was originally intended to be an antagonist within the group. As the hit ABC drama took one strange turn after another, viewers came to care about the character as his vengeance-driven backstory was revealed. His romances with fellow castaway Kate and mysterious island inhabitant Juliet also increased his audience popularity. In the mind-bending series finale, he and Juliet are reunited and go off into the “afterlife” together (your interpretation may vary).
Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall), Dexter – A Miami police scientist who is also a serial killer, Dexter was taught as a boy by his policeman foster father to find a useful outlet for his psychopathic dark impulses. Now he follows a “code” which drives him to seek out and punish other murderers the law failed to bring to justice. Michael C. Hall, who dealt with death differently on HBO’s Six Feet Under, was eerily calm and emotionally vacant as he interacted with his fellow officers (among them his adopted sister Debra) and even his fiancée Rita while going about his gruesome business. Based on Jeff Lindsay’s crime novels, Dexter had a seven-season run on Showtime. Hall then came back in a prequel and two sequel series.
Walter White (Bryan Cranston), Breaking Bad – Who says high school chemistry class is a waste of time? Not chemist-turned-teacher Walter White, who–upon learning he has terminal lung cancer–sets out to provide for his family’s future. His solution: become the biggest meth manufacturer in New Mexico. While many of the protagonists featured in this article softened their outlooks over time, White’s five-season descent into the darkest abysses of the drug trade made him a darker and deadlier character. He and his “Heisenberg” alter ego were almost unrecognizable by the series’ end, a run which earned Cranston four Emmy Awards.
Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), The Walking Dead – With his beloved barbed wire-wrapped baseball bat “Lucille” in hand, the sadistic head of the ironically-named Saviors spread terror across the apocalyptic landscape of the hit AMC zombie series. Morgan’s devilish glee and utter cruelty made him a perfect antagonist for Andrew Lincoln’s Rick Grimes and his band of survivors. Over time, Negan’s character took on new dimensions, highlighted by his concern for Rick’s son Carl and daughter Judith, and he would form an unlikely alliance with Maggie, the woman whose husband he bludgeoned to death, in the spinoff series The Walking Dead: Dead City.
Jamie Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), Game of Thrones – “The things I do for love.” A true “family man” in every sense of the term, “Kingslayer” Jamie Lannister’s story was one of the most compelling in the HBO fantasy saga. Even as his clan’s house waged war on House Stark, his sense of honor led him to promise to search for Lady Catelyn Stark’s missing daughters. Honor led him to defend his former captor, Brienne of Tarth, at the cost of his right hand. And honor would lead him to abandon his sister/lover Cersei and ride north to help defend Winterfell from the Night King’s forces…although the siblings would be reunited at the end.
Rick Sanchez (Justin Roiland, Ian Cardoni), Rick and Morty – “Wubba Lubba Dub Dub!” That’s the seemingly silly catchphrase of dimension-hopping, beer-guzzling, sybaritic scientist Sanchez in the taboo-busting Adult Swim animated series. Once it’s revealed that the sentence translates to “I am in great pain, please help me,” it lends insight into the internal turmoil Rick struggles with as he awkwardly tries to connect with his family (or the latest dimensional version of them) and cope with the personal tragedies his inventions have fomented.
William “Billy” Butcher (Karl Urban), The Boys – A superhero show for people who hate superheroes (see Watchmen and Invincible as well). Amazon Prime’s adaptation of the Garth Ennis/Darick Robertson comic book series follows the intense and often deadly rivalry between the Seven, a team of corporate-backed costumed crusaders whose public face may hiding a dark truth, and the Boys, a squad of CIA operatives out to bring the Seven down. Chief among the Boys is Urban’s Billy, a crowbar-wielding ex-SAS officer with a pathological hatred of “supes.” His main target is the Seven’s leader, Homelander, who he blames for his wife Becky’s death. About to start its fifth season, the series has a terminally ill Butcher ready for a final campaign to eliminate the “supes” once and for all.
Who is your top TV “bad boy” from the above roll call, or do you have a favorite that we failed to mention here? Let us know in the comments below.