Character Gush / Live-Action TV

Characters from Live-Action TV that are just that... totally... Awesome.

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Star Trek

• Star Trek: The Original Series:
  • Captain James Tiberius Kirk, commander of the United Starship Enterprise. Every American male, scratch, every male born after 1960 has wanted to be Captain Kirk. Some people live their lives hoping to be a quarter as badass as he was/is. In fact, Kirk has probably influenced some aspect of everybody else on this list. Attractive? Hell, the Green-Skinned Space Babe wants him! Tough? How does inspiring fear and resentment from the Klingons work for you? Smart? The man made a cannon from scratch! He was so badass, he traveled back in time and became an awesome attorney who goes by the name Denny Crane. And in his spare time, he makes the world a better place by helping folks get better travel rates by using Priceline.com.
  • Bones. Charisma so thick you could cut it, and absurdly pretty with gorgeous baby blues to boot. Charisma so thick you couldn't cut it, even with an Absurdly Sharp Blade. And he gave Khan lessons on how to efficiently cut a throat — while Khan was holding a knife at his neck.
  • Some love for Spock! He can knock someone out without punching them! He can communicate with whales! He does that thing with his eyebrows. He's always calm in an emergency. His place on this list is only logical.
  • Pavel Andreavich Chekov, who's adorable and hilarious. That accent of his! Funny how every alien race speak perfect English, yet Mr Chekov doesn't. It must be the Rule of Cute.
  • Sulu. He seems to be the most cheerful one, he picks up a new hobby on every shore leave, and he mysteriously managed to sire a daughter at some mysterious time with some mysterious woman. He was really awesome in "Amok Time" when he started riffing on what was going on (Spock going into Pon Farr, necessitating the crew to disobey a direct Starfleet order to get him back to Vulcan, and the decision-making process led Sulu and Chekov to have to change course several times). Basically, the fact that his attitude in the face of a Mate or Die situation is "I don't know what the fuck's going on, I just fly this thing" makes him hilarious and awesome. Oh, and George Takei is the man. He's a jack of all trades and a total badass. And is pretty much the walking definition of sexy voices. And yes, George Takei is freaking awesome - this is a guy who spent part of his childhood in a concentration camp for Japanese Americans during World War II. The fact that he is such a positive, good-humored, gracious and humanistic person after experiencing machine gun turrets and barb wire fences when he was a boy, and then growing up in a time when homosexuality was not remotely accepted, is frankly awe-inspiring.
  • Uhura. She had a queenly poise and yet was not a stereotypical Bridge Bunny. And she was strong and smart.
  • Nurse Chapel. She was a nurse who manages to save a lot of lives (even though she does it from the background) and also knows a lot of science and is very brave too.
  • Scotty, especially how he talks to and about the technology.
• Star Trek: The Next Generation:
  • How do you follow up an act of such unvarnished badass that was James T. Kirk? You get Captain Jean-Luc Picard, that's how. The man makes Shakespeare sound smoother than silk, makes Earl Grey look like the drink of kings, has manners surpassed only by his unflinching courage and is one of the Trope Codifiers of being A Father to His Men. And he has some of the most classic lines in any timeline.
  • Worf, Son of Mogh. When TV producers want Proud Warrior Race Guy done right, they follow this guy. Worf's stone-cold refusal to give the mortally wounded Romulan a blood transfusion. It might not have been the noble choice that the other Starfleet boy scouts would've made, but Worf's dedication to his own personal code blows everybody else out the water. Keep in mind, even though he has no problem watching a Romulan die, he's willing to do if Picard orders him to do so. And how many characters, or even real people, actually practice what they preach? Worf is pretty much the only character who consistently lives up to his people's ideals. Worf is the definition of honor.
  • Data. He's an inspiration to the awkward geeks who are looking for a way to fit in. He also gets a high number of moments of awesome, heartwarming, and even Funny throughout his career, even before he has his emotion chip installed so he can appreciate these moments himself. Find an instance when Picard or someone tries to come up with a definition of humanity that puts it in a positive light. Then compare that definition to the characters. Who fits it best? The answer is invariably Data.
  • Let us gush about Barclay. He's seriously brilliant and awesome.
  • Wesley. Sure, some people think he's the Creator's Pet but I don't. He can save the day through sheer nerdiness.
  • Geordi. He's an engineering genius and also never without a funny one-liner.
  • Spot. Data's cat. Well, she's a cute kitty-cat.
  • Q, who literally could be doing anything in the universe, but decides to hang out with Picard. Even if he is a bit...odd.
• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine:
  • Jadzia. An amiable woman who can be friends with everyone, can handle technological equipment, live with Klingons, and almost be able to face Worf with a Batlith.
  • Julian Bashir. Brilliant, compassionate, adventurous, it's hard not to like him. He's just so eager to make everyone smile and lend a helping hand, willing to go to the ends of the galaxy for his friends. He stands up to spy masters and world leaders, can hold his own in a firefight, and still keeps his childhood teddy bear in his quarters! Be still my beating heart.
  • Louise Fletcher for her incredible job as Kai Winn. She plays a smug, sanctimonious mega-bitch, to the fucking hilt. It's blatantly obvious that Ms. Fletcher is rolling around glorying in her hammy, bitchy evilness like a cat in a field of catnip.
  • Sisko. Captain Benjamin Lafayette. The celestial fuckin' prophets checked out ALL of time and space and determined that that dude was the only Starfleet officer badass enough to be their emissary. The case is rested.
  • Kira Nerys. Next to Spock, the best XO in Trekdom, hands down! Good backstory that actually fits the character, plenty of character development, and... oh, COMPLETE AND UTTER BADASS? Easily Trek's most complex, endearing, fierce, adorable, loving, fearless, faithful, gorgeous, tender, fiery, well-developed, well-rounded character to date, and Nana Visitor's performance is equalled by no one. No one, although there are plenty who come pretty damn close.
  • Gul Dukat, Magnificent Bastard incarnate and perhaps the greatest villain in sci-fi... including Darth Vader. Let's see. He is to the Bajorans what Hitler is to Jews. Then he releases all the prisoners of a secret prison camp. Then he uses an orphan to try to bring down a political adversary. Then we learn that Dukat put Odo in charge of station security because of respect. Then we find out he's a devoted family man. When a computer program of his nearly kills the senior staff of the station, he arrives to save the day... but finds out his former superior officer modified the program to take out Dukat if he left in a crisis. When he's helping Sisko chase down a rogue starship, his biggest regret is that he's missing his son's 11th birthday. When Sisko proves that Bajorans were able to reach Cardassia in an antique design solar-sail ship, refuting a tenet of Cardassian superiority, Dukat greets him with fireworks. Then he switched sides on his government, following the new leaders after a coup, only to be stripped of rank, privilege, and family when his half-Bajoran daughter came to light (oh, and he nearly killed her). Following that, he gets the Cardassians to join the Dominion, conquers Deep Space 9, gets booted, alienates his daughter only to see her die in front of him. And THEN he goes crazy... Everything up to this point has been the work of a rational, albeit twisted mind. He starts to hallucinate, swears vengeance on Bajor as a whole and Sisko in particular, turns to Bajoran heretical teachings and kills Jadzia Dax. Finally, he disguises himself as a Bajoran, seduces their religious leader, and uses his heretical powers to summon the Prophets' arch-nemeses and gets himself and Sisko thrown into the fiery depths. In a show characterized by darkness and character development, Gul Dukat stands out. Hell, even Ronald D. Moore said: "I don't think of him as being completely evil... But there is a "critical mass", where the dark deeds attributed to one person become so overwhelming that they swamp all the redeeming characteristics." That's right - the guy who did everything listed above isn't completely evil. Hats off to you, Star Trek.
  • From Magnificent Bastard Cardassians, Garak, who must be the poster child for this trope. This guy is awesome.
  • Odo is the first character since Data who can be as badass as he can be adorable at the same time. Badass Adorable.
  • Watching Quark made the entire Ferengi race awesome.
  • Quark's family. Lovable Genius Ditz Rom and their awesome Moogie, the Man Behind the Man for the Grand Nagus and the epitome of a profitable Ferengi.
  • Weyoun, mostly for taking Affably Evil to the next level. At risk of selling the character short - dang it, mass murderers should not be that freaking adorable. His intense curiosity and serious attempts to overcome the limitations of his race are both endearing and a little heartbreaking. He had enough presence and gravitas that it was convincing when he would pull Dukat's leash and rein in a lot of Dukat's more senseless actions. Surely, a worthy opponent to the heroic Federation.

• Star Trek: Voyager
  • Seven of Nine. Ms. Fanservice, huh? Sure that's where it starts, but then comes Hidden Depths, Deadpan Snarkery, and general awesomeness.
  • The Doctor. A great comedic character and a great dramatic character, sometimes in the same episode. He may be obnoxious and arrogant, but deep down he absolutely loves his crew and would sacrifice himself for their sake with little thought. Ironic that an Artificial Human should seem like one of the show's most realistic people.
  • When confronted with an area of space where you are likely to be attacked at every turn by either the Borg or Species 8472, what does Captain Janeway do? Turn around, as her first mate suggests? No, she forms AN ALLIANCE WITH THE BORG, takes the fight to 8472, out-backstabs the Borg and sails away with one of the drones. A few seasons later, she goes face-to-face with the Borg Queen to regain said drone.
  • Neelix. Smart and funny at the same time.

• Star Trek: Enterprise:
  • Malcolm Reed. The main reason why Malcolm was such a compelling character was his shy, reserved nature and his quietly ironic sense of humour, which contrasted with his more open and personable shipmates. There's something awfully endearing about a socially-awkward security officer. Some of his best moments like instructing his layman captain on how to disarm a mine while pinned to the hull by a massive spike through his leg, building phase cannons from scratch, practically inventing the stable forcefield.
  • Porthos. I mean, he's a cute dog.
  • Hoshi Sato. She's intelligent, brave, and can learn a language in two days.
  • Charles "Trip" Tucker. Nothing-not Xindi, not almost dying and then being cloned, not even losing his pants can get him down. Besides, he's an amazing engineer.
  • Jonathan Archer, once he Took a Level in Badass. Blowing up a genocidal lizard-man with a handheld bomb? Best. Kill. Ever. And then he goes on to almost single-handedly unite four less-than-amicable species to form The Federation, and is humble enough to not brag about it at the signing ceremony.

• Star Trek: Discovery:
  • Captain Christopher Pike. Kind, compassionate, badass, A Father to His Men, able to look a grisly Fate Worse than Death straight in the face and do the right thing anyways. It'll only take a few episodes to see why Pike is so revered by Starfleet.

Buffyverse

• Wesley Wyndham-Price, starting with the Season 1 episode "The Ring", where he nails a guy's hand to the wall with a crossbow bolt and twists it until the guy gives him the information to save his best friend. He may not always make the right choices, but his character ranges from the silly comic relief to the darkest character on the show without missing a beat, complex, intriguing, and nuanced, and he may well be one of the single best cases of Character Development ever to grace the small screen.
  • SECONDED! Wesley is easily one of the most complex and compelling characters in the Buffyverse, and THAT is saying something!
  • To give an idea of how much Character Development Wesley underwent, when this troper started watching Angel in season 1, she by chance saw an episode of season 5, and had to ask who the scruffy British guy wearing the sweater was. Basically, he went through so much development that he was unrecgonizable to this troper who jumped to the end of the series. But as you watch the show, he is developed slowly so well over time, his ending character is completely believable. Hands down, Wesley is this troper's favorite character.
• Cordelia Chase, anyone? A snarky bee-yotch with a heart of gold. What's not to like? I try to forget the Character Derailment of Season 4 of Angel and remember her as she was before.
• Angel himself is one of the best heroes I have ever seen. Despite the world being against him, having an evil law firm in his face all the time, and not being able to be with the woman he loves, he hasn't given up or run away. He does what is right, and is prepared to sacrifice himself to save another. That's what a true hero is. Angel is awesome, good side and evil side. Just in very different ways.
• Doyle. Half-demon coward turned hero. I cried for a week after he died. Six words: "Is that it? Am I done?"
• I really, REALLY love Fred. She's smart, she's cute, she can rattle off fifteen words a second ... what's not to like? Not to mention how she doesn't let being struck in Pylea for five years a slave bring her down, and becomes a valuable member of the team. I went from wanting to give her a hug in comfort, to practically worshipping the very ground she treads on because she's Just. That. AWESOME!
  • I wish to second all of this, and add that it's the first time I've found a character who reminds me of myself on TV.
• Spike is always entertaining and sexy. Even when he did his Heel–Face Turn and had a chip in his head, he was still hilarious and cool. Yes, there are some moments in Season 6 that we'd like to forget, but over all he's a really fun character. And when he crossed over to Angel, he and Angel had great chemistry that made for some great Abbott and Costello antics, as shown in "The Girl in Question". Even though things got weird in Season 5 where the plot was concerned, their moments together make me wish the show had not been canceled for no reason. Oh, and the scene where he wrestles Puppet!Angel in "Smile Time" made my younger brother laugh for 20 minutes straight, qualifying as a Funny Moment.
• Xander and his complete normal-ness amongst his friends combined with the fact that he still fights along side them gave me, an Unlucky Everydude, the strength to keep going so many times. It's easy to miss this if you're not paying attention, but Xander is totally brave in every episode (except when it comes to his engagement). No wonder he was the Heart part of SuperBuffy.
• Buffy herself! She's cute, funny, flawed, but likable all while being the freaking slayer!
  • Seconded. Buffy rarely gets the credit she deserves. She moves beyond the Designated Hero role that many lean towards.
• Ah, Faith. The Dark Slayer herself? Willing to walk on the road of redemption even after being told by Angel that she might never get there? And played by the indescribable hotness that is Eliza Dushku? Win, win, WIN!
  • Total and absolute agreement on this! The Dark Slayer fighting her evil tendencies to try to atone for her sins - in other words, the female version of Angel? And even more agreement on the hotness that is Eliza Dushku. One of my saddest days was when it became official that there would be no Faith spinoff. Ah, what might have been...
• Drusilla. Need I say more?
• Willow. The one fictional character I wished really existed.
  • Seconded. Not only is she strong, loving, absolutely Adorkable, and a friggen badass witch, she's one of the most inspiring LGBT characters ever written. I kinda wanna marry her
• Oz. He never said much, but every word was hilarious.
• Anya. The Dance of Capitalist Superiority.
• The Mayor may just be my favorite villain from anything ever.
• Cordelia. Freakin. Chase. Bitch! Snarky, smart, caring, beautiful and totally badass.
• Screw you fandom, Dawn is awesome! She's cute, loving, funny, smart, surprisingly badass and has issues up to her neck. What's not to love?
  • Totally. I always thought she was really cute.
  • Have to agree, Michelle Trachtenberg is practically synonymous with "Pretty Girl".
  • Also, a meta reason she's great, Dawn was written with Michelle Trachtenberg in mind, specifically because of the sisterly relationship she and Sarah Michelle Gellar had (offscreen) when they were both on All My Children.
• Glory is epic and awesome in every way possible. No questions.
• Tara! It's physically impossible not to love Tara. She's just so damn nice. Not many actresses can pull off nice without being boring, but Amber Benson managed. Throw on a pile of woobie and you've got the most likeable character the world has ever seen.
• Giles. Intelligent, witty, badass, and played by one hell of an actor.
  • Not only that, but he was a father for quite a few people who very much needed one.
• Jenny Calendar doesn't get NEARLY enough love. Everyone's favourite techno-pagan is smart, beautiful, witty and charming. She wraps Giles around her little finger (she took him on a date to a Monster Truck rally!) and has some brilliant snarky lines, plus a cool backstory. Not only that, but she also stays to help even after the whole group ostracizes her, and it's only through her efforts that Angel gets his soul back. She was just a fantastic character who died too soon in a brutal and tragic way.
• Charles Gunn, the grounded everyman who was also a street-smart badass yet also loving and devoted. He's a man who came from nothing and expected to die young, yet found something to live and fight for.
• Lorne is just fabulous, like a favourite uncle who loves singing and showtunes. He brought some much-needed light relief to a dark series and was just fabulous.

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• 3rd Rock from the Sun: My long distance dedication goes out to the Solomon Family, formerly of Rutherford, Ohio. Hell, let's include all the crazy people they met over the years too. Never has a Sitcom family given me so much comfort viewing or have been so close to my line of thinking! <Does the salute>
• 24:
  • Jack Bauer is A FEDERAL AGENT! And a REALLY BADASS ONE! With INTERESTING DEVELOPMENT! And has A LOT OF BAD SHIT HAPPEN TO HIM! And he's GENERALLY AWESOME IN ALL THINGS! DAMMIT!
  • President David Palmer. If every American politician was one-third the man he was, this country would have to rename itself the USA; United States of Awesome!
  • Without David Palmer, we might not have had president Barack Obama. He was that awesome that he is credited for America voting in the first African president.
  • Totally agreed about both of them, but Aaron Pierce deserves a nomination as well.
• 30 Rock: Everyone is awesome, really, but Liz Lemon deserves a special shout-out for being one of the few female characters on television real women can actually relate to. Even when she does something crazy, we know we would have to cover our faces in embarrassment because we've probably been there, if not for the fact that she's so hilarious that instead we're just laughing our asses off.
• The Addams Family:
  • Gomez. Quirky, enthusiastic, optimistic, and a father but not a Bumbling Dad.
  • Morticia. She's very gothic, but not depressing, doesn't nag Gomez, and is a pro at crazy sports and crazy art
• Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Of all the original characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Phil Coulson was definitely the one most deserving of his own TV show. An idealist who firmly believes that "old-fashioned" goodness and human decency has a place in the cynical world of today, he is the moral heart of SHIELD much in the same way as his hero Captain America is to the Avengers. It's incredibly refreshing to see a character that has the potential to be just another Wide-Eyed Idealist to be broken instead handled in a way that completely reconstructs idealism as a concept and proves that it has a place even within an agency like SHIELD. Not to mention the fact that he's completely adorkable, hilariously snarky, incredibly badass and in need of some serious hugs.
  • Agents of SHIELD now has an absolute plethora of wonderful characters, from the wonderfully sarcastic and hilarious Hunter, Bobby, who is absolutely kickass without being emotionless (they're so awesome, they're getting their own show!), and Mac, who is The Big Guy in many respects, but also one of the kindest, sweetest, most genuinely nice member of the team. His interactions with his brother are simultaneously adorable and heart-wrenching.
  • Also deserving of special mention is Melinda May, also known as 'the Cavalry', who is initially The Stoic to Coulson's heart, but as the series progresses we see more of her. She tutors the younger agents, resulting in interactions where we see a more caring side of her, and her snark (often conveyed more with her face than anything else) can make for some hilarious scenes. We learn more about her Dark and Troubled Past, and by the time that series 3 is drawing to a close she's more like an Iron Woobie, but the fact that she's so torn up inside and not less, but more of a badass for it is utterly awesome.
  • And, of course, Fitzsimmons. Adorkable, kind and gentle, surprisingly badass when the need arises, and absolutely freakin' adorable. Say what you will about any of the other well-written ships on this show, but Fitzsimmons will always be, for me, the Marvel OTP. Even Fury refers to them as Fitzsimmons! No matter what, no matter where, no matter when, they will always love each other. Also, their snarky commentary is hilarious.
• Alias:
  • That list starts with Sydney Bristow, Determinator badass extraordinaire. Can wear the hell out of a red bra and panties while garotting your with her bracelet. Speaks over a dozen languages, has survived torture, and earned the hell out of her happy ending.
  • It continues with the most stoic badass spy on television, Jack "SpyDaddy" Bristow. How awesome is he? The list is way too long, but his Taking You with Me Moment of Awesome in the finale to Sloane has to be entry #1.
  • Irina Derevko, who puts the "magnificent" in Magnificent Bitch, who ran the long con on Jack Bristow (and still managed to stay in love with him), and who, until her Badass Decay, was the most ambiguous and awesome Big Bad on television.
• Are You Being Served?:
  • Wilberforce Claybourne Humphries rocks. He's funny, nice, and always has interesting adventures to talk about. I love it when he dresses up. And any time he says "I'm free!" or "Our Aida!"
  • Betty Slocomb, "Captain" Stephen Peacock, Dick Lucas, Shirley Brahms, and best of all Wilberforce Clayborn Humphries. All fun, catty, loveable, and never tiring to watch.
• American Pickers: Frank and Mike. Their enthusiasm for what they do is infectious, and they're very fair wheelers and dealers. They can get the most crotchety men, men who may rarely speak to even their neighbors, to like them.
• Arrested Development:
  • Any character. Ever. Especially GOB ("Illusions Dad, you don't have time for my Illusions!") and Maeby ("Marry me.")
  • And Tobias! "I just Blue myself", come on!
  • Lucille is the perfect Evil Matriarch! "I don't understand the question and I won't respond to it!"
  • You gotta feel for Michael himself, at least in the first three seasons. The Bluths may make him look better by comparison, but he's still a sympathetic Only Sane Man.
• Ashes to Ashes (2008):
  • This show really has to begin and end with some love for Gene Hunt, who manages three Crowning Moments of Awesome in the pilot alone, and just keeps racking them up as he goes on. He could arguably be the personification of Refuge in Audacity - see "trick with the pool table, the". Under the Jerkass exterior, he loves his team, every single one of them, and keeps his city (both of them) safe.
  • Alex freaking Drake. All five-foot-ten, '80s Hair and Combat Stilettos-wearing, Fish out of Temporal Water Tsundere of her.
  • Series Three has been amazing, and for me, 90% of that is due to the new Big Bad, Magnificent Bastard Jim Keats, who is arguably the first serious threat to Gene Hunt we've ever seen.
• The A-Team: "Howlin' Mad" Murdock. Is he an accurate portrayal of PTSD? No. Is he hilarious, entertaining, interesting, and awesome? Yes. In a show that was built on such a predictable formula, he was the unpredictable part of the show—he could respond to something humorously, seriously, or somewhere in between, and he got the A-Team out of a bad fix more than once. Plus, he can fly anything. Even when he's temporarily blinded.
• The Avengers (1960s):
  • John Steed is the quintessential English gentleman: Dapper, witty, and charming. And he never sacrifices any of those traits as he's kicking the bad guys' asses in defence of Queen and Country.
  • Mrs. Emma Peel: Beautiful, intelligent, fearless, and strong-willed. And she's doesn't back down from anyone, whether she's putting the villains flat on their backs or knocking Steed down a notch with a well-timed counter-witticism.
  • Cathy Gale is often unfairly overlooked. There was no other female character like this - she wore leather, she rode motorcycles, she kicked plenty of ass, she didn't take crap from anyone and could match wits with Steed.
• Babylon 5:
  • Delenn is beautiful, smart, incredibly tough, sweet, willing to do almost anything to help those in need, and, at the age of something like 150, showed up on the set of a show questioning her late husband's decisions to chew their asses out. The lady ROCKS!
  • Londo Mollari. How can such a bombastic Large Ham party animal turn out to be such an eloquent walking tragedy? And how is he still awesome when it's all his own doing?
  • Lennier is so devoted and tries so hard to be heroic even when he doesn't look or feel heroic. He serves faithfully for years and hardly asks anything in return. And he has a dry, unassertive personality that every once in awhile will awaken.
  • Vir Cotto. He starts out as the comic relief. Then he saves 2000 refugees from his own government. After that he saves his planet. And then he becomes the Emperor.
  • Bester - the deadpan snarker of pure evil. He carries every episode he appears in.
• Battlestar Galactica (2003):
  • Gaius Baltar. Without doubt one of the most complex and compelling characters on television. A narcissistic genius, occasionally suave but normally adorably squirrelly as a result of his fractured mental state, his journey through the series has been one of the high points of an already damn good show. He acts as a catalyst for momentous events just by existing and manages to reach almost Magnificent Bastard levels of awesome in how often he manages to reemerge from a seemingly catastrophic situation with new power and status, as well. On top of this his deeply, deeply flawed nature never changes despite excellent Character Development that has seen him seeking redemption, sincerely, and actually becoming a better person despite remaining true to his original depiction at heart, which I love. He has many of the funniest moments of a dark series and pulls off a full range of despairing, triumphant and other emotions throughout. Marvelously portrayed (with a sexy accent if you are in to that kind of thing) and totally believable you can't help but love this man despite his monstrous crimes and egotism.
  • Baltar is the guy you love to hate. He has pulled so much shit off in the series despite starting it off by betraying humanity to the Cylons that you can't help but admire him and enjoy his character, even if you want to put a bullet in his brain.
  • And then there's Starbuck, who's maybe the most human person I have ever seen on television. Complex, emotional, flawed, badass and huggable at the same time.
    • She managed to pilot a Cylon raider by her lonesome. That made me totally love her.
  • How has the Admiral not been mentioned? ADAMA FTW!!
  • Saul Motherfrakkin' Tigh too.
  • President Laura Roslin, Madame Airlock herself. Forty-third in line of succession, she kicks ass and takes names, and, oh yes, will airlock your ass. How many teachers do you know that can not only survive the end of the world, but beat terminal breast cancer enough to serve two terms? And should you shoot her boyfriend? She will be COMING. FOR. ALL. OF. YOU.
    • Seconded. She is one of my favorite tv characters of all time.
    • It was definitely not the Cylon's lucky day when this woman became president.
  • And she does all of this while remaining an incredibly human character.
  • I would like to nominate Sharon and Helo Agathon, who kick ass and have one of the few relationships that doesn't deteriorate over the course of the show.
    • The commenters on Mark Watches named them The Fighting Agathons.
  • How about Felix Gaeta? Idealistic, brilliant, and frankly adorable. Also, his mutiny was this troper's favorite arc in the entire show.
  • Really, most of the characters on this show were made of awesome, purely by way of the INCREDIBLE writing.
• Being Human:
  • Mitchell has definitely screwed up his share and more...but he fights literally every minute to stay clean, will happily fight or intimidate just about anything, and is really pretty good to look at. When he begs George to kill him in the S3 finale, because he knows he can't stay clean indefinitely the audience is stuck in the position of totally agreeing with him, and still not wanting him to do it. He does.
  George: I'm doing this because I love you
  Mitchell: I know.
  • Nina, from the same show. Sticks to her principles no matter what, even when they could get her and hers killed. And having worked with drunks in A&E for two years, she doesn't take any crap from anybody. Watch her tear the social worker to shreds in "The Longest Day", getting her so turned around she thinks letting Nina is doing her a favour when Nina lets her off with no investigation. She basically just rocks.
    • And then there's the episode where she bails George out of prison in the same way, while they're both turning into werewolves. And she disguises her intense pain (a heart attack, kidney failure, breaking bones, etc) as her being annoyed with the guards.
  • Annie is just fantastic. She's sweet, she's friendly, and while she's a bit ditzy and childish, it's endearing and fun. She cares about her friends and enjoys taking care of them. She gives her best effort in whatever she tries, from helping ghosts communicate through a medium to having a sex life with Mitchell to helping a detective solve a murder case. She's not afraid to call Mitchell out on his being an ass, and is just a great person period. And she was awesome throughout all of the episode where they infiltrate the werewolf cage fight.
• The Big Bang Theory:
  • Dr. Sheldon Cooper for the win!
  • And Dr. Leonard Hofstadter, for putting up with him, and doing it usually relatively unfazed.
  • Mary Cooper managed to raise Sheldon as a teeanger. That alone is a Moment of Awesome.
  • Amy Farrah-Fowler, who falls head over heels for Sheldon, yet is never afraid to put him in his place.
  • Penny for being the Team Mom and Only Sane Woman, while providing a snarky commentary on events. And her romance with Leonard is adorable.
• Edmund. Bloody. Blackadder. Providing cutting witticisms and insults for several generations.
  • Baldrick. A dung-shovelling simpleton with "cunning" plans.
• Blue Bloods:
  • Jamie Reagan is so adorably idealistic and such a sympathetic character.
  • Frank. He wears his authority in such a dignified way whether at home or at work.
• Blake's 7:
  • Kerr Avon. One of the finest deadpan snarker}}s in all of science fiction - a cynical, sardonic, amoral, silver-tongued Anti-Hero. Is it any wonder he became the star when Blake was gone?
  • Vila Restal. The lovable, sardonic, somewhat cowardly thief who's main goals are to stay alive and get rich.
• Bones:
  • The chemistry between the entire cast is really excellent, and they all just fit so well together, making a perfectly dysfunctional family.
  • Lance Sweets even though he's mocked by everyone, his assessments are usually spot-on; he's very loyal to Booth and Brennan, he's kind, smart, dorky and totally in love with Daisy. He lived through a horrible childhood but was adopted and because of that he believes people can be truly saved. He's a former child prodigy who loves his job, adores his girlfriend and has pretty much adopted Booth and Brennan as Parental Substitutes. Plus, he's a huge geek and considers profiling for the Squint Squad exciting field work. He's adorable and awesome, and the embodiment of the word Adorkable.
  • Brennan is incredibly endearing with her social awkwardness.
  • Booth is handsome and brave and strong.
  • Angela and Hodgins are just plain wonderful.
  • Zack and the rotating Squinterns are all equally Adorkable and fun.
  • Cam is absolutely loveable.
  • Even lesser characters like Caroline Julian are a special treat.
• Breaking Bad:
  • Jesse Pinkman, bitch! He starts as Walt's obnoxious partner but he becomes a true Badass later. He's also endures more trauma than any psychologists could handle and it's really painful to watch. He's also a friend to children (Don't hurt them or else he will kill you!)
  • Walter White, Say My Name! Also known as Heisenberg, is one of the most complex characters in fiction, the perfect example of the Face-Heel turn, Heisenberg is very smart, sympathetic and just plain badass!!
• Burn Notice:
  • Michael Westen jumped out of a helicopter and into my heart.
  • A bit more needs to be said about Mr. Westen: MacGyver-level gadget skills, thinks lightning-fast on his feet, damn good in a fight, friend to kids, and just DO NOT mess with Fiona, Sam, or his mom. Michael defines Made of Win.
  • Sam Axe. Because his Obfuscating Stupidity is more awesome than yours, because he told Michael and Fiona NOT to save him when he was captured, because he blew up Madeline's house with Christmas tree lights, and because hey, smooth is smooth, baby. Proof positive that spies never retire.
    "Buckle up, rookie. Try not to bleed on the upholstery."
  • Fiona. The Axe-Crazy arms dealer is just awesome. She's loyal, and manages to be funny, awesome, scary, and incredibly competent all at once, and her relationship with Michael is believable. It's also touching and sad all at once, and a sub-plot. Fiona is also wonderfully unsubtle, and prefers the direct approach and bigger explosions.
• Castle:
  • Detective Kate Beckett is, in the words of the creators themselves, practically a superhero. A savvy, tough woman who's seen the darker side of life but hasn't let it break her. She's also heart-stoppingly gorgeous.
  • Castle himself. Starts off as a bit of a Jerkass, and definitely a guy with a bit of a Peter Pan complex, but under it he's brave and loyal, and he's willing to step back to see the woman he loves be happy. He's Fun Personified. He's One of Us. He's a freaking Shipper! He keeps the show light-hearted and a barrel of laughs. Unless you mess with his daughter, mother, or Beckett. In an era of overly dark, angsty dramas with Jerkass protagonists and constant hints of melancholy, the fact that Castle is a likeable Nice Guy who personifies Angst? What Angst? and keeps the tone light-hearted is what makes the show.
  • Alexis, who is a teenager and somehow the only sensible person in her family, but still wonderfully snarky and independent.
  • Ryan has lovely bromance with Esposito, and has his moments of awesome - "Knockdown" in particular. And he's just so ridiculously adorkable.
• The Sabrina Spellman from Sabrina the Teenage Witch has been mentioned on this page — but we HAVE to talk about the Sabrina Spellman from Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. She's a Nice Girl, yet a total badass, a powerful witch and knows what she wants, even though she HAS made a couple of (big) mistakes along the way. I just love her.
• Chuck:
  • Agent Sarah Walker. She's smart, she's tough and she's really really really really really really really really really really really really really hot.
  • Not enough reallys above. Seriously, have you ever seen this woman???
    • Y'know what? She might be so damned sexy, but let's face it, Sarah is by far one of the best examples of an Action Girl on a television program to date. She just kicks so much ass.
  • John Casey. Can say worlds with a well-placed grunt. Badass, great comic moments, armed to the teeth and smoking hot!
    • I remember coming around to the "John Casey is awesome" train in a season 2 episode (the name of which eludes me at the moment) where Casey manages to catch the two fleeing bad guys, recover the money they were running off with, and get back to a train station in time to shoot the third bad guy and save Chuck, who was held at gunpoint. All in about two minutes. Witness his greatness and tremble!
    • People, what's wrong with you? What about Chuck himself? Fulcrum agents show up to kill him and his only worry, he doesn't want his sister's wedding ruined. A loyal Woobie, who still managed to kick major ass.
    • And his best friend, Morgan Grimes. And Jeffster, and Anna, and Ellie, and Captain Awesome....damn, this whole show of full of gush-worthy characters.
    • BIG MIKE!!
  • Volkoff, Volkoff, Volkoff, Volkoff.
    • To elaborate, Chuck had never actually had a good, well-defined villain before Volkoff. The only one that could technically count is Shaw, and to say he's a Base-Breaking Character would be putting it mildly. FULCRUM and The Ring never really came out of the shadows and showed WHY they were evil. But Volkoff? He's an Ax-Crazy lunatic arms dealer, who's kept Chuck's mom, an Action Girl in her own right (played by Linda frelling HAMILTON no less) as his virtual prisoner for over a decade. And he's STILL charming and likeable.
• Community:
  • The study group needs to be on this page. All seven of them, always there for each other or others, whether it's playing D&D, fighting zombies or participating in some Christmassy delusion.
  • No love for Duncan? He's the most Adorkable British drunkard I've ever witnessed on television.
  • Oh Abed... sweet, strange, supremely confident, meta, mysterious-eyed Abed. Let me love you.
  • Troy is pretty awesome, as well. He completely averts the Jerk Jock stereotype, managing to be the group's heart. He might not be very bright, but he's sweet, sincere and will do anything for his friends.
• Cracker: Dr. Eddie "Fitz" Fitzgerald, one of the finest examples of the Byronic Hero on British television. An overweight, chain-smoking, alcholic, womanising gambler, yet he always gets his man.
• Criminal Minds:
  • No love for the most awesome bunch of profilers and one of the best sets of True Companions ever, the BAU? Let's start with Team Mom Aaron Hotchner, who has stoically faced down serial killers, psychopaths, and crazies of all kinds and still manages to try and make it work with his four-year-old son.
  • Let's continue with Dave Rossi, bestselling author and instructor at Quantico. If you're lucky, you go to prison after he makes you confess. If you're not, you wind up on the instructional videos he shows to his classes.
  • And I have to include Oracle of Quantico Penelope Garcia. When you can hack the DOD in your sleep and still manage to hit on your hotass coworker well enough to make his eyes cross, you've got skills.
    • I must agree that Garcia is amazing. She provides the light side to an otherwise dark show. Plus, she has the best lines ever.
    • Not to mention - Penelope smiles! The cutest!
  • And who could forget Spencer Reid, the nerdy Woobie with a Dark and Troubled Past. Whether he's figuring out something no one else could using his Eidetic Memory or talking a gun out of an UnSub's hands without firing a shot, the entire series just begs me to take him home and feed him soup. Or give him a big, giant hug. Or make out with him for hours and hours. You know a character is awesome when he was originally supposed to be a secondary character (notice he stands near the back in the title screen lineup) but arguably ended up getting more Story Arcs than anyone else in the series. I mean, did you see his face when he looked in the mirror during his spell of drug abuse?
    • Or when he woke up in the hospital after being poisoned with anthrax and asked for jello?
    • The sheer joy he displayed when performing his 'physics magic' for Garcia, Prentiss and JJ?
    • Or how about when he became so determined to save Adam/Amanda because after all Tobias Hankel had put him through, he still felt bad for him? I'm sorry, rest of gushing fanbase, but we're getting married someday.
• CSI:
  • Gil Grissom. The coolest forensic guy ever.
  • Calleigh Duquesne. Please, someone, sack Horatio.
  • Anyone who doesn't like Horatio mus be some sort of...<Glasses Pull>... shady character. YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!
  • NY character, Ms. Stella Bonasera. She's tough and gets the job done, but she also cares about her colleagues.
  • From the original CSI: Greg Sanders. Metal-head spikey-haired lab tech.
• Private Joe Walker from Dad's Army was cheery, irreverent, sarcastic, mischievious and an absolute joy to watch. The series was never the same when he was written out due to his actor's death.
• Dead Like Me:
  • Mason. Despite being a drug dealer/petty thief and (more often than not) under the influence, he's an all-around likeable guy. Fun, a teensy bit weird, a big brother to George, sweet to his crush Daisy and (almost) unwaveringly friendly to everyone else.
  • Also, George, whose angst doesn't come across as Wangst, whose snipes are genuinely snarky, who actually bothers to think things though and is a surprisingly loyal and conscientous member of her team despite being the youngest.
  • Rube. He may seem a bit tough and occasionally seems to lack understanding (he's way to hard on George sometimes), but at his best he is an amazing father figure with incredible insight and knows just the right thing to say when someone's feeling under the weather or flat out depressed, he's fun to be around on the occasions he lightens up, and is the only person I know of who is a snob about Greasy Spoon food.
  • Everyone from this show, really. Of course the idea and show of Dead Like Me is good itself, but I am fully convinced the unusually strong characters are what makes the show so great.
• Doctor Who:
  • The Doctor himself. Older than any human could ever be, and yet still learning, he is the core of the show. He's funny and serious and crazier than crazy but he will make you run in terror if you cross him. He's smart enough to save all of reality, and yet still knows the pain of loving and losing. Also, most other heroes on this page use guns, swords, magic, etc. The Doctor's powers? Resurrective Immortality, Super-Intelligence, being Made of Iron, and having two hearts, because one just isn't enough to contain all the love he feels for the universe.
  • Sarah Jane Smith, full stop. Snarky, determined, smart, and brave enough to face down the destruction of her planet without a weapon, she was so awesome they had to give her her own show.
  • Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. Dude punched out the Master, not to mention the countless times he fought to protect Earth.
  • Ace. Totally Radical teenager? Check. Anarchist extraordinaire? Double check. And she beat up a Dalek with a baseball bat. She inspired the Moment of Awesome.
  • How could you leave out Captain Jack Harkness? He's sexy and no matter what gender/race/species you are, you're definitely in with a chance. And River Song, who is one of the best Doctor Who characters in a long time.
  • Donna Noble. Not in love with the Doctor like his last two companions. Mocks the very thought of it more than once. Not willing to assume he's right all the time. Ready to defy the laws of Time in order to save Pompeii and when that failed, put aside all pride and begged the Doctor to save just one person. Used her insane temping skill to stop a genocidal war, figure out the clue that stopped the Sontaran invasion of earth, and shut down the Daleks and Davros. Threw herself in front of a truck on the off chance that there might be a better world waiting and saved 27 planets. The universe had been waiting for The Doctor-Donna.
  • Vicki is one of the most underrated companions. The moment the Doctor took her on, he softened up. She was smart, brave, adventurous and absolutely adorable. She was a history buff who squeed at the possibility of exploring the past.
  • And lest we forget, piper of the clan McLaren James Robert McCrimmon! One of the longest running companions in the series, dedicated and loyal to a fault, brave in the face of countless Cybermen and other strange alien menaces as well as the wonders of the future, and adorably clingy to boot. Jamie definitely makes the top ten best companions list.
  • Zoe Heriot. Smart and cute, a wonderful combination.
  • Harry Sullivan. Bumbling and old-fashioned, but brave, funny and resourceful. When he saw Sarah imprisoned, he vowed to save her if he had to knock his bally head off and take the keys. What's not to love?
  • Leela. A badass warrior woman of the Sevateem Tribe. She may have been uneducated, but she certaintly wasn't stupid, as she was also resourceful and intuitive.
  • Tegan Jovanka deserves a mention. She's loud and brash and never puts up with any nonsense from the Doctor or the enemies alike.
  • Romanadvoratrelundar. If you can't pronounce her name, you can call her Fred. She's a smart, snarky Time Lady who ended up president of Gallifrey during the Time War. Quite possibly the only companion completely on level (and beyond) with the Doctor himself. Even built her own screwdriver!
  • Rose Tyler. Completely average young woman whose kindness, practicality, quick thinking, and enormous heart help to save the Doctor himself, both literally and emotionally. Like Donna (see above), a phenomenal example of this show's ability to show everyone how the most "ordinary" people can be the most extraordinary of all.
  • Rory Williams aka the Last Centurion. Utterly Adorkable without coming off as obnoxious or a deadweight. Stubbornly loyal and unassumingly brave for those he loves, even when he knows their flaws and sees for himself how dangerous the universe is. And he is also a complete Badass Adorable.
    • There is only one reason to dislike Rory: And that's because he makes every other husband/boyfriend in history look bad by comparison. And he's been doing it since 102 CE, and he'll keep on doing it to the grave. And beyond.
  "I have a message and a question. A message from the Doctor, and a question from me. WHERE. IS. MY. WIFE?"
  • Jo Grant. Kind-hearted, sweet, good natured and always looking for the best in everyone, plus she's also willing to face the forces of evil and is always ready to help the Doctor stand up to what ever dark being is here. She may scream when she see's monster, but that doesn't mean she's going to let it get her, she may get kidnapped, but if given enough time she'll get out on her own (or at least attempt to). She managed to defeat the Masters Hypnosis with nursery rhymes, caused the inspiration for the Devil to commit suicide through sheer purity and goodness, and she beat the Doctor at draughts. Of all the companions, they were few that struck such a wonderful dynamic between sweet and awesome.
    • And when she leaves him, she doesn't just run off with the first handsome guy she sees, but makes an adult decision that this is the man she wants to spend the rest of her life with. And, as The Sarah Jane Adventures shows, she'll keep up the travelling the world and fighting evil for many more decades in her own way.
  • Martha Jones: Deals with the Doctor's initial (rather high handed) introduction by telling him that as far as she's concerned he has to earn that title. Intelligent, competent, determined, and understands that the doctor doesn't need her to hold his hand all the time. Put up with everyone's racist BS when trapped in pre-WWI England, because the Doctor needed a babysitter. Spent a year in hiding, keeping The Resistance alive on Earth while Jack, the Doctor, and her entire family were being held hostage where she couldn't reach them or protect them. Chose her responsibility to her family, and her self-respect, over a life of excitement and adventure spent pining over a man who didn't want her back, and then went ahead and had a life of excitement and adventure anyway without his help.
  • Amelia "Amy" Pond; The girl who waited. She was pretty awesome as a kid, and just becomes moreso as an adult. She's not cowed by the Doctor at all, not when they met, and not twelve years later when he finally comes back. She's clever, sassy, beautiful and strong.
  • Clara Oswald, with her personality and looks, especially from Series 8 onwards, is shaping up to be the Sarah Jane Smith of New Who.
  • Dr. River Song. She can fly the TARDIS, match wits with the Doctor, and once made a Dalek beg for mercy.
  • Bill Potts, for asking all the questions nobody else ever did.
  • Nardole, who could be the new page image for Servile Snarker, and is exactly what the Doctor needed.
• Dollhouse:
  • Adelle DeWitt. It would take me quite a while to explain all the reasons, but: Fencing suit.
    • It is a testament to the writing and Olivia William's acting that she could do anything short of killing Topher at this point and I would still love her.
  • Topher Brink. His job is rather morally horrible, but he's just downright adorable.
  • Victor. No matter how thoroughly you overwrite his personality, he still wants to save the day and get the girl. It's like his libido is a De Terminator.
    • I think we should take a minute here to mention Victor's actor, Enver Gjokai. He's brilliant in mimicry while still playing Victor as his own character.
    • Seconded; Victor-as-Topher is amazing.
  • Alpha solidly punches basic TV Tropes logic in the scrotum when he proves that you can be a heinous villain and a Magnificent Bastard at the same time, in a single goddamn episode.
  • Claire. She's a huge mess of quiet damage, self-loathing, hatred, and fear of the world. She's never cracked a genuine smile during the entire show, only a few bitter, angry, self-mocking ones, and yet she's the one who most cares for the Dolls, and one of the moral voices of reason, but she doesn't even have a choice, because she was literally programmed that way. Oh, and she's completely aware of this fact, and doesn't want the programming to be undone, because then her personality would "die." She drove the point home that the Dollhouse isn't just killing [only temporarily - in theory] the original personalities, they also murdered every single imprint they ever made.
  • Bennett. I think perhaps I love her a little more than is healthy (especially because she only appeared in three episodes) but...I just can't help it. She's a socially awkward genius who was so happy when someone finally paid attention to her that she perceived Caroline's leaving her behind as rejection. (Is it bad that I can understand that?) Plus, it's Summer Glau, do I need to say anything else?
  • Bennett and Topher separately are awesome. Bennett and Topher together make the cutest, sweetest, and funniest scenes in the whole series. I would watch them build crazy-ass tech until my eyes fell out.
• Farscape:
  • Aeryn Sun. A beautiful, totally badass woman who gives us the greatest and most nuanced Defrosting the Ice Queen stories I have ever seen. She's also totally, totally badass.
  • Let's not forget her sometimes crazy but always awesome husband John Crichton and, on the other end of the scale, Magnificent Bastard Scorpius. Actually, pretty much everyone on Farscape was pretty amazing at one time or another.
• Father Ted:
  • Father Dougal Maguire - so dense, yet so lovable.
  • Father Jack Hackett. One of the show's funniest characters, despite having such limited vocabulary.
• Firefly:
  • River Tam. A definitive woobie whose fragile mixture of adorable childishness and broken madness is done so perfectly, making this wonderfully helpless teenage girl you just want to hug and tell her everything is going to be fine. And then, she flips around with combination of intelligence, mind over matter, and raw asskicking, and proves that no power in the 'verse can stop her. Squee.
  • Captain Malcolm Reynolds makes repeatedly injuring a defenceless and prostrate opponent hilarious, kicking a bound man into an engine intake awesome, and wears incredibly tight pants.
  • Jayne Cobb. Thuggery, Obfuscating Stupidity, badassery, firepower, sweatiness, earthy sex appeal and big arms.
  • Kaylee is possibly the most adorable petty criminal ever. And an awesome mechanic, too. Some call her The Heart of the ship, and not without reason. She's so adorably nice, friendly and welcoming, it's almost unbelievable in a rather dark setting. Sometimes she might come off as slightly unsophisticated, but is very intelligent and sometimes hilarious, and it shows. She also manages to look badass despite not being able to hurt a fly if her life depends on it. She's the joy, the funny, and the heart. She's the fairest lady in all of the 'Verse. She brings warmth when all else is dark. Kaylee Frye is awesome.
  • Wash is hilarious and wacky, a great husband, and surprisingly often the voice of reason. And when he wants to be, pretty badass. And he's a grown man who plays with toy dinosaurs. He's so liked that some refuse to accept what happened to him in The Movie.
  • Zoe! Beautiful, a loving wife, tough as nails, smart, and a great balance to her husband.
  • Simon Tam. Not only is he kind enough to actually hug River and tell her everything is going to be okay, but he can swing all the way to calculating criminal mastermind if she's in danger! Best big brother in the 'Verse. Simon has a curious but appealing combination that could combine tenderness, rationality, and even occasional bits of ferocity that one would never expect from so gentle a person. He was tremendously brave(sometimes a "Sensitive Guy" is also a "Manly Man") and generous, but he had a subtle undercurrent of Knight Templar Bigbrother that had just enough of a hint of a dark side to make him human. He made a tremendous sacrifice and stuck to it throughout but at the same time he never seemed so good as to be intimidating.
  • Inara manages to be at the same time elegant, snarky, and cunning as a vixen. She's the classiest space hooker ever.
  • Book is pretty awesome. Between "special hell" and the line about kneecaps, and the entire scene regarding his hair.
• The Flash:
  • Barry Allen is such an awesome character. He's kind, adorkable, caring, and very much The Cape. We also see him grow and make mistakes, developing into a better hero along the way. In a superhero market full of serial killers and anti-heroes, it's nice to have a hero you wouldn't mind letting a kid watch.
  • Caitlin Snow deserves a hug. She's so smart, and so sweet, and so strong. And also kinda hot.
• FlashForward (2009): YMMV on the quality of this show, but Demetri Noh is such an engaging and interesting character. He's a Deadpan Snarker, he has a ton of angst (knowing that he's going to be murdered in less than six months) that sends him straight into Woobie territory, he has an extremely touching relationship with his fiancee, and he sings a mean karaoke.
• Friends: all six are perfect but special props to Monica and Chandler.
  • Monica holds the group together, pouring endless care into her friends lives. Yeah the writers flanderized her (and the rest) in the final seasons but the mix of her strength, determination and compassion is incredible. From letting Rachel (her best friend who ditched her) live with her in the pilot, to feeding Joey for eleven years, to pushing past her critical parents and obesity in childhood to become a successful chef and loving wife...she's amazing.
  • Chandler, not just for being one of the wittiest characters in fictional existence and making us laugh at every. damn. scene. but for his depth. We see him start as an adorable yet insecure individual, a man who uses humour to diguise the hurt his parents caused, who flees from commitment but is terrified of ending up alone. But we watch as he overcomes that, becomes one of the sweetest boyfriends and husbands on TV and gain confidence in himself. Despite his screwed up family he always puts other's first, supports Joey and Ross, humours Phoebe and Rachel, and adores Monica. He made us laugh, he made us cry and we love him.
  • Monica and Chandler as a pair: proof that the most neurotic people can find love and that a couple doesn't need constant break-up drama to be funny and entertaining and beloved. Never before had TV shown a couple that loved each other unwaveringly for over half a series, fusing together a relationship built on passion and understanding and acceptance and friendship. They made each other happier and they made us realize what love should look like.
• Fringe: Walter. Bishop. Television has been without a genuine, honest-to-God Crazy Is Cool Mad Scientist for far too long.
• Glee:
  • Sue Sylvester. Anybody? Seriously. How often do you see a combine stone-cold [[Magnificent Bitch]] with some of the best lines the show has to offer with a side of humanity usually only reserved for the main cast? Not only that, but her behaviour and character development has completley avoided the annoying reset button that happens all the time to the other characters. Awesome.
  • On that note, Kurt fucking Hummel. For real. Yeah, the guy has his issues. But I completely resent the assertion that he never got called on his manipulations. He didn't need to - he was the one who got bit in the arse by all his scheming, while everyone else got something great out of it, and he knows it, too. And he really is a sweetheart. Not to mention that Chris Colfer is easily the best actor in the cast, with the possible exception of Jane Lynch. Kurt is just so beautifully real it amazes me.
    • Kurt is one of the best characters on TV. He is the first real network portrayal of a gay teenage boy struggling for acceptance, and oh my goodness, it really is done so well. Special mention to Blaine Anderson, who receives a lot of unwarranted hate, but in my opinion is incredibly brave and caring.
    • Not to mention one of the only characters to avert Aesop Amnesia. Talk about character development!
  • Don't forget Santana. She can be a bitch but is freaking hilarous.
  • Mercedes Jones. Sassy Black Woman? Absolutely. But there's more to Mercedes than just the diva; a loyal friend to Kurt and Quinn, a no-bullshit force for change in the club, and a singer who reminds us that there's more than Rachel Berry in the world.
  • Sebastian Smythe and Jesse St. James are Made of Win. Sebastian might be a snarky douchebag coming on to a taken man, but he's my (and the rest of his larger-than-you-think fandom's) snarky douchebag. And in On My Way, we see that he is a human being, a teenage boy caught unawares by the unforeseen consequences of his actions and who tried to make it up in his own way, and more Glee proof that people can change. His actor, Grant Gustin, has also stated that Sebastian does have feelings for Blaine, but has his [Sebastian's] priorites out of line.
    • Then we get to Jesse St. James, also Glee proof that people can change. Again, snarky douchebag originally playing Rachel, but succumbs to Becoming the Mask and genuinely falls for Rachel. But when his loyalty for Vocal Adrenaline is called into question, he has no choice but to egg Rachel, whom he sincerely apologises to in Prom Queen, not to mention the look on his face during the egging; you can tell he hated every second. He takes her to prom, doesn't pressure her into taking him back, and makes her feel special before being rudely interrupted by Finn (which I won't go into). When she and Finn kiss at Nationals and Finn invokes Double Standard because Jesse can't kiss Rachel at prom but he can at Nationals because they're the Official Couple, he doesn't fight it but lets her go. And then after all this, he still takes the time to personally recommend her to the NYADA Dean because he believes in her and knows how badly she wants it. Not to mention he has 4 consecutive National Show Choir Championships under his belt.
• Happy Days:
  • Fonzie really is cool. He can repair things just by touching them, make crickets be quiet just by speaking to them, and is ahead of his time when it comes to things like racism, delivering the line "It doesn't matter what colour your skin is. What matters is if you're cool."
  • Marion! Sure, she doesn't have a job, but she's not one of those two-dimensional TV mothers. She's nurturing and sweet, but has a habit of getting her way and said, "Sit on it" to Fonzie.
• Heroes:
  • Sylar. In a series plagued by inconsistent characterization and walking Idiot Balls, it's refreshing to see character that just kills For the Evulz and doesn't give a damn about anything. Yes, he was in danger of decaying in Volume 3, but he bounced back spectacularly in the end.
  • Hiro is a brilliant, disturbingly accurate portrayal of what would happen if a troper ever gained superpowers. Why bemoan how you've been Blessed with Suck when you can spend your time (pun very much intended) forming Stable Time Loops?
    • Plus, he's played by Masi Oka, who resembles a human plushie and is every bit the geek he pretends to be. Squee!
    • Masi Oka is like a constant Crowning Moment of Squee. Both his and everyone else's.
  • Parkman deserves some serious credit, especially as of season three. How does he react to his powers and all the craziness that's going on? Not by angsting, or pondering what his destiny is, but just by using them as best he can to help people. And he does a pretty good job of it.
  • Claude Rains is an awesome Trickster Mentor and Cynical Mentor, but he's also amazing in his own right. He's cynical, sarcastic, and misanthropic, but you know he has a good reason for it. While the all of the other characters on the show have straightforward motives, Claude's are unknown. What's his real reason for helping Peter? Does he really want to be a mentor, deep down? Is he attracted to Peter? Or was he just bored? His enigmatic nature made him cool, and Christopher Eccleston gives him life with an incredible subtlety that is quite rare on Heroes.
• Horatio Hornblower:
  • Nearly every prominent character is gush-worthy. Most of them are performed wonderfully with a rare mastery and great insight (kudos to the actors!), and it helps that the characterization is mostly spot on (kudos to the writers, for this fans forgive you plot holes). They are all totally hot and Officers and Gentlemen in awesome uniforms.
  • Horatio Hornblower himself is a fine specimen of Tall, Dark, and Handsome and Badass Bookworm, with well-developed character and inner depths, though as a hero he's a bit static. It's also pity that the last instalment makes him a bit of a Jerk with a Heart of Gold. But still, what a guy!
  • Hornnblower's best pal Archie Kennedy personifies tropes like Badass Adorable, Pretty Boy, Mr. Fanservice and Disabled Snarker who despite being completely broken at one point he manages to deal with stuff wonderfully, and boy, does he have some baggage! His Heroic Sacrifice and his Dying Moment of Awesome immortalized him in the fandom, and Fix Fics tagged LKU (Live Kennedy Universe) abound, proving that fans love him to bits.
  • Captain Pellew, the best Father to His Men that there ever was, authoritarian and strict, but also fair-minded, just, and hilarious Deadpan Snarker (emphasis on the deadpan). It's a shame that in the last two instalments his characterization slipped, and he seemed to act out of character, which makes him prone to Alternate Character Interpretation. But as far as Series One goes, people are awed by him.
  • Lieutenant Bush is a man of Tall, Dark, and Handsome and Tall, Dark, and Snarky charms with the bluest, deepest eye and amazingly soothing voice. He is a loyal, dedicated and capable officer. Mr Fanservice, too.
  • Mr Midshipman Wellard is sweet and gorgeous, and a complete Woobie, but no less fit to serve in the Navy.
  • Minor characters are amazing, like Major Edrington (Majorly Awesome and The Proud Elite of Blue Blood) or Midshipman Clayton (poor guy, Too Good for This Sinful Earth).
  • The Duchesss AKA Kitty Cobham is awesome. Rarely is a character from Wooden Ships and Iron Men paired with an intelligent and charming lady who is capable of taking care of herself, and rarely do older women get in-universe treatment of Silver Vixen.
• House:
  • Dr. House. Not just because he's extremely attractive for a middle-aged, crippled, drug addicted jerk but because he's just so awesome. He's hilarious, he's too fricking clever for his own good, he says things that make you want to slap him, he's over the top, he annoys everyone around him but then the bastard switches on a dime and makes you either want to cry or want to squeeze him until he pops because he can be adorable, romantic, cheesy, noble, heartbreaking and so on.
  • Wilson, Wilson, Wilson. Where do we begin? He's over the top, he's adorable, he's gorgeous, he's a snarky sweetheart and his meddling, manipulative, slutty ways makes viewers love him all the more. Oh Wilson, we liked you back in season one when you were Only Sane Man, but now that we know you're as fucked up as everyone else, viewers' devotion to you knows no bounds.
  • Eric Foreman. It's difficult to get a Black character on television who isn't the Proud Warrior Race Guy, the Ethnic Scrappy, or the Magical Negro. But then you get Foreman!!! He's so badass, he will open tell House the fuck off while everyone else cowers in fear. And he gets the girls, even the bisexual ones (go Thirteen!) All this, and yeah, he's probably at least as smart as House himself. Foreman for President! Also, he's the coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• House of the Dragon: Caraxes. Seriously, he is the most unique and interesting Valyrian dragon.
• How I Met Your Mother:
  • Every main character. Every.Single.One.
  • Seconded. Besides the awesomeness incarnate called Barney, there's Lily, who combines snarkiness, a potty mouth, a feisty attitude and a fair amount of geekiness with feminity; Robin, whose personality is rarely assigned to female characters; and Ted, a lovable hopeless romantic who probably fits the role of the show's biggest Butt-Monkey. And together they make up a cozy, domestic bunch.
    • Don't forget Marshall, who's pretty much the perfect guy - sweet, caring, funny, snarky, adorable, smart, and the best friend you'll ever have. Not to mention it's impossible to be sad around him.
  • She may have some Mary Sue traits but the titular mother is definitely cute, nice and have a sad backstory. Too bad we don't see more of her in the finale.
• The Inspector Lynley Mysteries: Barbara Havers. Barbara Havers, Barbara Havers, Barbara mother-effing Havers. Jesus. What is not awesome about this character?? She's so adorable it's insane, and so broken and lonely and strong and vulnerable and human all at once, and never has a more exquisite story of Character Development been put to film. Ever. She's so gloriously insecure, such a beautiful disaster, so real and well-rounded and three-dimensional it's unreal. She's no saint but she's got a heart of pure, solid gold and you just want to scoop her up and cuddle her and make all the horrible things that have ever happened to her go away. This is a woman who will throw herself in front of a bullet for a stranger and cold-cock a guy on the head with a rock to save a child, this is a woman who will let her heartbroken partner sleep on her sofa when he just can't go home and does her best to help him fix things with his wife when she's blatantly in love with him herself. She giver her all to everything she does and never holds back, she pushes people away because she's scared to trust but she'll say "You resign, I resign" because she is loyal to the very end. She'll lie about having an affair with her partner to save his butt even on their first case when all she wants is to get rid of him, and she'll admit when she's wrong but she's so very human and stubborn, she'll outwit someone who tries to drug her to sleep and she'll go to the wire to save her partner. Her loyalty, her passion, her vulnerability, her flaws and her incredible heart - they make her the most captivating character ever to hit television. She's perfect in her imperfections, and I adore her beyond all reason.
• In Treatment: Mia from the second season. If you don't know...FIND OUT!!
• JAG: Clayton Webb. He was an important CIA officer that is always involving the characters in his schemes. He was cold and unemotional and given that he plays chess with peoples lives that is understandable. He has something of a rapier wit which kind of goes with that. He is something of a Well-Intentioned Extremist but never QUITE crosses the Moral Event Horizon (he can come close). He is however incorruptible, and He is an example of a heroic Chessmaster. As it turns out, he has a heart of gold and is willing to go to bat for his friends and even to put Honor Before Reason. He is the sort of person that would be hard to understand in real life and indeed on TV, but he is a very good character.
• John Munch: Everybody's favorite Jewish Deadpan Snarker who still manages to get some of the best lines and tearjerkers. You gotta love Munch for not taking any crap and telling it like it is. There is no Munch like Original Flavor Munch.
• Juken Sentai Gekiranger: Rio the Black Lion. Powerful, menacing and evil, but also honourable. Wipes the floor with the Gekirangers more than once, but also willing to join up with them if a third-party threat rears its ugly head.
• Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger: Captain Marvelous, his name alone already make him very cool. He's also very, very badass and Hot-Blooded in the most awesome way possible. Also a big fan of the Indy Ploy and would make good drinking buddies with Kamina
• Kamen Rider Dragon Knight: OK, I might be alone in this but Len. He goes from not wanting any help and trying to steal Kit’s deck, to accepting Kit as a fellow rider and close friend. Once he starts to trust other, he tries to keep them safe, but he has very little leadership experience, so it's not easy. When he loses a teammate, he takes the lost hard, and it’s when he loses someone that his rage comes out. When his girlfriend, Kase (who is also a Ventaran Rider) is vented, he makes Strike (whose got a nice body count and had nearly beaten him before) need some new pants. It also doesn’t hurt that he uses a rapier, which just is epic.
• Knight Rider:
  • Ah, original KITT. Why does no one but me understand how awesome you are?
  • Someone else does.
  • You are not alone. KITT is the most endearing machine ever, and there are a lot of endearing machines out there.
• Law & Order:
  • I heart Det. Lennie Briscoe and Lt. Anita van Buren, but especially Lennie. Dare to disagree with me, Law & Order fans.
  • Not taking that dare. Hasn't been a detective on that show or any spin-off that could match Briscoe for being Made of Cool.
  • Alright, I have to say it: Jack McCoy from the original series. He was snarky, scrupulous, and a bit of a jerkass but despite his many flaws he had an unwavering commitment to the law and his passionate closing arguments give me chills. It is a sign of my nerdiness that his jerkass legal technobabble is my favorite part of the show.
• Law & Order: Criminal Intent: Robert Goren. A genius, compassionate to women and victims, but if you are a villain he is the bastard who will make you give yourself up of your own free will. Do not mess with him.
• Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: Oh come on, we've got to give some props to Dr. Huang. Because he's just...so...so...sexy? Yeah, sexy. I don't know. This is the same troper that wrote the entry for Spencer Reid, so maybe I just have a thing for FBI criminal psychiatrists.
  • Detective Olivia Benson. Is one tough chick and will lay down a can of whoop ass on you should she need to, but is also very compassionate, look at all the times she handles hostage situations. She deals with the scum of the earth on a regular basis, but doesn't let that blind her to all the good in the world. She's definitely one of this troper's personal heroes. ....aaaand it can't hurt to mention that she is absolutely GORGEOUS.
• Law & Order: Trial by Jury: Tracey Kibre. The woman has a smile that will make you melt, a glare that will kill you and more intelligence in her pinkie finger than all of Mensa. Combined. Oh, and she's played by Bebe Neuwirth, gorgeous Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette extraordinaire.
• Leverage: Everyone is awesome. EVERYONE. My personal favorites are Parker (brilliant thief, more than a little crazy, great character arc as she learns to care about people, and oh yeah, gorgeous) and Eliot (extremely badass, gourmet chef, cranky but protective, way smarter than people give him credit for, and played by the insanely hot Christian Kane). But then there's Nate and Sophie and Hardison, and even secondary characters like Sterling and Maggie. All worthy of being gushed over. Especially Eliot. With Sterling and Hardison as seconds. Because you cannot beat Eliot in terms of awesomeness.
• Lie to Me:
  • Cal Lightman. He's very clever, very snarky, cool under pressure and so very good at running gambits on everyone. Plus he has that sexy British accent.
  • Also, Eli Loker. He is also very smart, and very, very funny. He's not above manipulating other characters when it suits him, but he's still just so sweet that you can't help but want to forgive him, And his adorable curly hair does not hurt at all.
  • Doctor Gillian Foster, Cal's partner in crime. Sexy, sensible, and oh, by the way, pulled a long con on Cal for seven years, playing Mama Bear to a daughter that she didn't even know at the time. Gillian's only just begun to reach her potential as a brilliant character.
• The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power:
  • Say what you will about the show, but Halbrand/Sauron is the anti-Aragorn I never thought I'm gonna need. The Female Gaze around him is crazy, he doesn't even need to be naked, the bedroom eyes, the smirk and devil-may-care attitude it's more than enough. He is one the best parts of the show, and I can't wait to see how he fucks-up everyone in Middle-earth next seasons.
• Lost:
  • John Locke is one of the most wonderfully messed-up characters on television today. His arc can best be described as Badass Decay and tragic This Loser Is You done right.
  • Ben Linus: a consistently fascinating Magnificent Bastard. For a lot of fans, he's the only reason to watch the show. It helps that the writers know when to show his highs and his lows as a character, and his remorse over his daughter's death takes him out of cut-and-dry villain territory.
  • Sayid Jarrah: super Woobie, all of his girlfriends die, a candidate to replace Jacob, not to mention total eye-candy, and an excellent portrayal of a Middle-Eastern character. Also the totally adorable and usually funny Charlie Pace.
  • Sayid Jarrah is far and away the best character in Lost, and sadly underrated. I never got over the pain of seeing him sacrifice himself to give the other candidates a chance, and then his death being completely overshadowed by Sun and Jin's death scene. From the very beginning of the series, he's shown himself to be one of the most sensible, capable survivors on the island, not to mention being completely badass (he snapped a man's neck with his thighs!) and downright gorgeous.
  • Richard is also one of the nicely crafted characters. They managed to play the mysteries surrounding him fairly well.
  • Charlie Pace is hands down one of my favorite TV characters EVER. His wit, his dedication to Claire and Aaron, his struggles and successes and losses and god fucking damnit why did he have to die? I have never sobbed so much at the death of any other character...ever.
  • DESMOND HUME. No words necessary.
    • Can I say a few anyways? Desmond filled the gap in my soul after Charlie died. And pretty much no one can deny that he had the best freaking love story on the entire show — his love for Penny was pure and epic and a real driving force, and what finally got the Oceanic Six off the island. Not to mention his constant Woobieness and how he called everyone brother in his hot Scottish accent. Desmond's the man!
  • No love for any of the female characters? Well, let's start with some for TV's finest unwanting antagonist with a heart of gold, Juliet Burke! She's intelligent, badass, and refuses to be a victim despite all of the emotional abuse she's been put through. Not to mention she has a genuinely compassionate heart, and no one can stop her from doing what she thinks is right. Possibly my favorite Stoic Woobie in television history.
• Detective Chief Inspector John Luther. There is much one can say about one of the most iconic detective's in the genre's long history. I can only sum up with this; his greatest strength, and his greatest failing, is that he is so obsessed with serving justice that he'll do anything to rid the streets of the nastiest sociopaths in London. Of course, it helps he's written by Neil Cross and played to pitch-perfection by Idris Elba.
• MacGyver: My childhood hero is MacGyver. Because he is awesome ... no other words suffice.
• Mahou Sentai Magiranger: Hikaru, the Sixth Ranger. Like just about every Sixth Ranger, he is introduced as being a total badass who practically waltzes his way through battle, and like just about every Sixth Ranger, he is subjected to the Worf Effect to show how dire things have truly become. But! Unlike other Sixth Rangers before him, Hikaru is actually affected by his defeats and begins to suffer considerable doubts in his abilities while keeping up a strong front for the others, thereby deconstructing the trope. and then he overcomes his doubts, becoming a greater warrior for it.
• Married... with Children:
  • Jefferson D'Arcy. What's that you say? A TV series Growing the Beard with Ted McGinley in the main cast? Probably just a coincidence, but Jefferson is still cool in my book. He definitely makes a better foil for Marcy (Al Bundy's Sitcom Arch-Nemesis) than her uptight banker ex-husband Steve Rhoades, simply because he's just as fun-loving as Al is when the wife's not around.
  • Al Bundy, the lovable bastard. NO MA'AM forever!
• M*A*S*H:
  • Major Charles Emmerson Winchester III, a legitimately different replacement character after five seasons of Frank Burns, fit snuggly between Jerkass and Jerk with a Heart of Gold, able to keep up with obnoxious tentmate Hawkeye, call out Hawk's B.J.'s tricks, deal with Klinger, Igor, Zale, and Rizo,, aggrivate Col. Potter, and Major Houlihan, and even foilCol. Flagg.
  • Father Mulchahy. His Crowning Moments blow everyone else out of the water, he manages to keep up his job in a thouroughly unreligious community when it's a wonder he can even stay sane at the 4077th.
  • There are few characters from M* A* S* H I do not like. Including Frank. This is partly because they dragged the show on so long they had ample opportunity to explore all of their personalities, inside and out. But, these analyzations did make for some of the best episodes. On the whole, I am particularly fond of Hawkeye, because even if he hadn't been placed in a hellish situation for 3 years, his mind still would have been going a million miles an hour, and still would have been slightly nuts. And I relate to that rambly intellectualliness.
    • Agreed. I am compelled to watch every rerun of M* A* S* H that comes on TV almost exclusively thanks to the Hawkeye-BJ duo. They complement each other so well. The more relaxed BJ, who sympathizes with the victims of the war and is disgusted by its unrelenting horror and stupidity but is also able to distance himself (the few times he does break down, its usually in response to something that happened back home, like the episode where he learns his daughter thought Radar was her daddy, which made me cry so hard). Compared to Hawkeye, who is extremely sensitive and passionate and too smart for his own good, unable to seperate himself from whatever is happening around him, dwelling on it and feeling it so much he drives himself insane. I've watched that episode "Hawkeye" (essentially a half-hour non-stop soliloquy) lord knows how many times and I still find it interesting! On a similar note, I also find the Margaret character compelling. A break away from the sexist norm, she's the fiercest and proudest character on the show. I only wish she didn't shriek at everyone so much (even normal talking from her sounds like screaming)!
  • Radar - from the beginning, he's the guy holding the camp together through wheeling and dealing with other clerks. His ability to know what people will say is also entertaining.
• The Mighty Boosh:
  • I love Vince Noir. He's funny, charming, handsome, funny, handsome, treats women like gold, is a raving bisexual, has the best fashion sense I have EVER seen, has a smile that makes everyone, regardless of gender, absolutely melt, and has no sense of reality, exactly like previously mentioned troper. May have something to do with the fact that Noel Fielding. He dressed up as a freaking jazz spirit and looked like sex. I could go on all day.
  • I have to second this. He's just so damn cheery, it's impossible to be in a bad mood when he's on screen (much like wearing a poncho). That, and I can't get through a single episode without pointing out at least one article of clothing of his we either both share, or I want. And I'm a GIRL. He (and Noel, to the same extent) are one of my partial fashion inspirations. I can't say I always have the courage dress quite as flamboyant as he, but he's always on my mind when I try to have a little fun with my daily outfits.
• Mork & Mindy: Mork. Mork Mork Mork Mork... I know what you're thinking, "Oh, Mork's pretty funny, but he's not really awesome.". Let's see... Not only is he funny, he's sweet, he's kind, he's lovable, he's cute... and if you mess with Mindy, he will pwn your ass, giving awesome one-liners as he does so.
• The Muppet Show:
  • Kermit the Frog.
  • Fozzie Bear.
  • Rowlf.
  • Scooter.
  • the Electric Mayhem Band.
  • The Count.
  • The Swedish Chef is so adorable and one of the most unique explorations of Carnivore Confusion. He's so jolly and friendly towards his potential meals, especially when trying to cook them while they're still alive. His "chicken in the basket" sketch is one of the best.
  • Animal for how freaking CRAZY he is.
  • Statler and Waldorf for being two cool old guys and for their dry sense of humor
  • Sam for how serious he is and how viewers can actually feel kind of sorry for him
  • Crazy Harry for how he blows things up.
• Mystery Science Theater 3000:
  • Joel Robinson, Tom Servo and Crow T Robot.
  • And Michael J. Nelson, Dr. Forrester, TV's Frank, Pearl, and Gypsy.
  • No love for Cambot?
• NCIS:
  • Leroy Jethro Gibbs. A father figure to his crew, a master of Perp Sweating, a former Marine sniper, and emphasizes the importance of basic intuitive detective skills when solving cases. Not to mention he has good taste in women.
  • Abby is an awesome, perky, happy goth who sleeps in a coffin sometimes and is one of the few, few people in the world who can joke around with Gibbs. She's also one of the few, few people in the world who can kill you and leave absolutely no trace of forensic evidence.
  • Agent Timothy McGee. A brave, kind, adorkable special agent who writes novels in his spare time?
  • Ah, Ziva. Main character love interest, beautiful singer, attractive, kickass, mysterious past, unusual name, assassin, unusual name, cute "flaw" of misunderstanding expressions—emotionally damaged, uses her sexuality like a weapon (early on, at least), has a broken family, distant, cutthroat in protecting loved ones—you're like a character who was kicked out of the land of Mary-Sues as a baby to be raised by wolves.
  • Tony? Was in a two-man team with Gibbs fro two years (hard thing to do, no?), SFA, great undercover worker and great replacement leader when Gibbs is away - which makes it all the sadder that the only thing he now seems capable only of holding the Idiot Ball and being there for UST with Ziva. I hate what the show has done to him after gems such as his performance in Requiem or his character display in SWAK, Bounce, the episode with the higschool kid in a classroom with a bomb or Missiong. Or Framed! Also, his entire Jeanne Arc. I love this character to death, but nowadays he keeps getting pushed aside in favour of the others. Who I like as well, but Tony... Is the best. Very Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo indeed. You should have taken that team in Rota.
• Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide: How can you not like the titular Brilliant, but Lazy character? He and his friends try and do the impossible: create a guide that will help you survive school.
• Nobuta wo Produce: Akira. He's just so goddamn crazy and adorable, you can't help but love him. He's on a permanent soymilk high, and has no regard whatsoever for personal space, but at the same time, he always, always puts his friends first, and has morals that he refuses to compromise (he will kick your ass if you hit a girl). Not to mention he pulled off the cutest love confession ever to the girl he loves. Unfortunately, he yells out the confession when she wasn't there because he thought he wasn't worthy to love her.
• Odyssey 5: Chuck Taggart. Pretty much everything he does or says is Made of Win. After the Earth implodes and the Odyssey crew gets sent 5 years back through time to try and stop it his favourite pastimes continue to be washing his car, doing his crossword puzzles, the occasional headbutt with Kurt and stealing moon rocks from secure NASA facilities. Exhibit A: How Chuck Taggart orders his coffee.
• The Office (UK): David Brent. He's Cringe Comedy personified, yet deep down is a lonely man who just wants to be loved.
• Once Upon a Time: Let's just make it clear: you don't mess with Rumpelstiltskin. Ever. This guy is the Magnificent Bastard, planning the entire show from day one. Whether he be his dark and powerful Enchanted Forest version or his just as competent Storybrooke version, one thing is for sure: he. will. win. Huh? He managed to set fire to a house, leaving you to save the mayor and making you look like the hero? Well, that's not going to fly. Expose his scheme. Huh? What's that? He planned for you to expose him so that people can see that you can stand up to him and see you as even more of a hero? Damn, he planned everything! Of course, you can make a deal with him. There's only one deal he's broken and he's not going to break another, but when you think he has, he'll use Exact Words to give wiggle room. Though one thing is for sure: he is good with fulfilling his deal, even if said deal interferes in another deal that he had set up (example: clear the name of someone that he had made a deal with in framing). That said, making a deal with him is risky. He'll ask in return almost anything, and he doesn't have to list his terms until well after the deal's struck and he gave his side of the bargain. He doesn't even need to explain why he needs whatever from you. He could ask you for your coat and for all you know, he just really wants to wear it because it's cold. It doesn't matter if there was something important with that coat or not. He's gonna get what he wants one way or another.
  • David, for literally being Prince Charming and a Knight in Shining Armor as well as being an actual, well-rounded and well-written character. Also he's a total Papa Wolf. While Snow and Emma are the Action Girls who get stuff done, he's the rock that his whole family leans on.
• Parks and Recreation: Leslie Knope. She's just this perfect ball of happiness and positivity and sunshine, and she loves her friends, and she's really good at her job, and she's not afraid to look like a doofus, and she's just so wonderful. No wonder Ben is totally in love with her
  • On that note - Ben Wyatt himself. After putting on a front as a cynical hard ass, his dorkiness, snark, determination to overcome his past failures and endless patience with everyone else's craziness establish him as one of the nicest characters on the show. Not to mention him looking at Leslie like she hung the sky itself melts us every damn time.
  • Also Andy, the good-intended Cloud Cuckoo Lander. Chris Pratt's delivery just makes him all the more likable.
  • Ron Fucking Swanson. Genuine badass and hater of all things government (despite working there). His attempts at distancing himself from relationships with the other main characters ironically also makes him one of the more emotional ones of the series (though maybe not on the surface).
  • Ann Perkins! She is literally beautiful, adorable, and good.
  • Jean-Ralphio and Mona Lisa Saperstein. While otherwise flat characters, they manage to deliver some great humor, such as the "don't be suspicious" scene
• Person of Interest:
  • Bear. He's adorable.
  • Root. Adorable and adorably unpredictable. She'd also be great with your tax return.
  • Two words: The Machine. You may never have realized just how much sympathy you can feel for freaking Big Brother. A healthy dose of cool graphics and a near-omniscient scope of surveillance capabilities doesn't hurt, either.
  • NO WAY am I getting this page go without a mention for the man, the myth, the LEGEND, Harold Finch. Played magnificently by Michael Emerson from start to finish, Finch is without a doubt one of TV's most nuanced and tragic good guys. Not only is he ridiculously intelligent and a brilliant Chessmaster, but he is also wise, compassionate and empathetic, a deeply loyal friend to have on your side.He also has quite a bit of darkness in him, and his fear of that leads him t make decisions that would have ultimately lead to the machine's destruction- until Samaritan pushes him ONE STEP TOO FAR. This culminates in possibly one of the most epic Tranquil Fury monologues in television history. Five words: "I WASN'T TALKING TO YOU."
• Power Rangers:
  • From the original series,, Trini. There is something about her that makes her likeable. A strong female character, a great fighter, and cool and collected.
  • In Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue, there is Carter Grayson. Say what you will about him and his fighting ability, he was a rather interesting Red Ranger. Saved by Captain Mitchell at a young age, and it inspired him to be a hero for others; his personality; and his brave actions — especially in the finale.
  • From Power Rangers Mystic Force, Koragg. He's a villain (Or is he?), but he was very noble (not defeating the Rangers every time he has them on the ropes) and a good fighter. And the voice!
  • Power Rangers Lost Galaxy has Kendrix Morgan, a scientist with enough courage, compassion and conviction to sacrifice herself, and she was the first Ranger in the franchise to do so.
• Power Rangers RPM:
  • Flynn. God I loved his Day in the Limelight episode showing how as a kid he always wanted to become a hero and how he was never appreciated for doing the right thing before he became a Ranger. Then he takes out a bunch of mooks with his post-transformation sequence explosion. Not to mention I loved his accent.
  • Dr. K. Fridge cannon? Check. Killer violin? Check. Diabetic sweet tooth? Check and double check. Dr. K was truly the Crazy Is Cool one of the season. Although younger than the rest of the cast, she comes up with the technology used to fight the season's Big Bad. She also gets some of the series' funniest moments, including her infamous reaction to whenever anyone even comes close to referring to the suits' material as spandex. But Dr. K really shines in her Day in the Limelight episode, not only for her tragic backstory filled with pure Nightmare Fuel, but also Olivia Tennet's moving portrayal of her character's varied emotions. (Did I mention that both Dr. K and her actress are really adorable?) She also gets the most unique character development of the entire Power Rangers franchise, acting coldly towards the Ranger Series Operators at first, but embracing all of them (including Ziggy!) as her family at the end—all the while dealing with the repercussions of her mistakes. I loved the entire cast of RPM, but Olivia Tennet was the absolute best actor of the series cast, and one of the best actors in the long-running franchise. She really made the character and the story of Dr. K come alive.
• The Practice and Boston Legal: Alan Shore. He's very psychologically complex, has both badass and Woobie moments, and has one of the most touching Heterosexual Life-Partner/friend-ships ever portrayed on television with his apparent polar opposite Denny Crane. He'd die for his moral principles and will do delightfully legally questionable things to stick to them. He delivers really awesome if Anvilicious closing arguments. And best of all, next to every episode ends with him and Denny contemplating philosophical subjects, trying to get to the bottom of their own fucked-upness, or having general male bonding moments. I'll never get tired of that guy.
• The Prisoner (1967): Number Six. He is not a number, he is a free man. The classic non-conformist and idealist, he will never crack, no matter what the Village throws at him. And, being British, he loves his tea.
• Jon Bernthal's take on the Punisher is hands down the best incarnation. He's honorable, badass and fucking terrifying. When this man shows up at your door with a gun, you know you've done something bad.
• Pushing Daisies:
  • The lack of characters from this show in this page bugs me. For me, every character in that series. Especially Ned, Chuck, Emerson and the Charles sisters.
  • Not Olive? But yes, I agree. They're all great. Special mention for me must go to Ned, who hits just the right balance between kind, romantic, dashing hero and repressed, neurotic weirdo, coming out thoroughly sympathetic almost every time, and Chuck, who's sweet, adorably bouncy (her "oooh, like protoplasm or melted crucifixes?" line from Girth must be one of the most adorable things I've ever heard, and she seems like the kind of person who would use the word "swell" unironically) and unashamedly intellectual, with enough of a dark side to make her very three-dimensional.
  • And the fact that their interactions are completely adorable. The Piemaker and the girl named Chuck's romance. The fact that Emerson Cod is always so disgusted by the fact that they talk out their feelings in front of him but he warms up to them anyway as the series goes on. The fact that Olive Snook is so plucky that she becomes friends with Chuck and Emerson, earning the nickname "Itty-bitty" with the latter. They are all great characters on their own, but their interactions are what make the series great.
• Red Dwarf:
  • Dave Lister. He's messy, crass and sarcastic, hilarious, charming and optimistic (considering his circumstances). Plus the baby face and Scouse accent.
  • Arnold Judas Rimmer. A pompus, cowardly, self-important smeg-head with a tragic backstory that makes him sympathetic. Plus, his sarcastic wit was just hilarious.
  • Holly, at least Norman Lovett's version, if only by virtue of the fact that he got most of the best lines. The practical joke about Lister's three-million-year-old sausage covering the Earth never fails to crack you up, nor does his opening narrations. Also, one word: Queeg.
  • Ace Rimmer. What a guy.
• Revolution:
  • Miles Matheson. The man is a total badass and dangerous with a sword.
  • Tom Neville. He is essentially an evil version of Miles Matheson. He did take a level in jerkass, but he certainly proved to be smooth enough to switch from the Monroe Republic to the Georgia Federation, and then successfully lead a coup and taking over the Monroe Republic.
  • Aaron Pittman. He may look like a fat fool, but he managed to survive the blackout. He managed to shoot down that piece of work named Drexel himself. Indeed, he brings a refreshing amount of humour and sanity to the show. Also, he ended up being the one to restore power to the whole world in the first season finale.
  • Nora Clayton. She has a lot of explosive power on hand, and she has had to go through a lot of pain and suffering throughout the season. She managed to kill off the Tower people and clear the way for Team Matheson to get to level 12 of the Tower, at the cost of her own life. I'll miss you, Nora.
  • Danny Matheson. Now, it's true that a lot of viewers hated his guts. However, it must be said that he never stopped fighting against the bad guys, he held on to his principles, and he even managed to shoot down two of Monroe's helicopters. Shooting down the helicopters got him killed off, but if he had to die, at least he got to die in style!
  • Rachel Matheson. Before she took a level in jerkass, she killed Dr. Bradley Jaffe to save her and and her son's lives, and she killed that monster Strausser when he tried to rape her. She also tried going into Monroe's tent with a live grenade to kill him off herself. Sure, it didn't work, but that sure seemed gutsy!
  • Charlie Matheson. She may be hated by a lot of viewers, but she has lost her father and her brother, not to mention that she has a mother who vacillates between trying to reach out to her and acting like she doesn't even exist. She is not on Miles' level in terms of badass, but she tries and she has taken down some very bad people herself. She acts as the team's conscience. Sure, she has made some bad moves, but so did everyone else in the show. She's the one who keeps Miles on the straight and narrow.
  • Sebastian Monroe. Strong, dedicated, really good at fighting and killing and able to look awesome with almost no effort. A brilliant case of Cry for the Devil, as even at his worst you still can't help but feel a little sorry for this guy. The sheer contrast between his present and past self alone is enough to evoke sympathy. He's not only awesome on Miles level, but he's able to nimbly bounce between being loved and being hated in a way that few others have managed to pull off.
• Rome: Starting with Caesar who is a Magnificent Bastard; sexy and often naked Mark Antony; bad boy with a heart Titus Pullo and the stoic Lucius Vorenus. The series is full of great characters. One of my friends even has a thing for the 'little goatee man'.
• Sabrina the Teenage Witch: Two words: SABRINA SPELLMAN.
  • Salem. Easily the funniest character in the show.
• Isn't that the famous Simon Templar? A suave, handsome, debonair, playboy adventurer who rights wrongs and gets into globetrotting adventures.
• Scrubs:
  • Dr. Cox. He's like the most badass, most woobie-ish and funniest character in the show. And most importantly: No. character. ever makes such hilarious, colorful and overly long rants. Apart from being funny, he's the most emotionally compelling character in the show. Y'know, there's a reason why "My Screwup" and "My Lunch" are the most popular and highest rated episodes.
  • There's also The Janitor. Highest laugh per minute ratio of any character ever. All around awesome.
  • Aw, come on, how come everybody overlooks JD? Okay, there was all that character derailment in the later seasons, but he's still sensitive, imaginative, geeky, smart and goofy. Cloudcoocoolanders around the world probably rejoiced that one of their own was for once not a supporting character.
  • All the women characters kick arse. Elliot for her relatable neuroses, Carla for refusing to take crap from anyone and Jordan for being one of the most snarkiest sneakiest women ever on TV ever....and that's just the first level of the awesome of their characters in the show.
• The Secret World of Alex Mack: Alex Mack. The Naïve Everygirl who could turn into a puddle, tried to stop her hometown's dangerous chemical plant and had an awesome assortment of hats. A great Nickelodeon Nineties character.
• Sesame Street:
  • Big Bird.
  • Oscar the Grouch.
  • Ernie and Bert. Especially the humour in their interactions and the crazy things Ernie thinks.
  • Cookie Monster.
  • Mr. Snuffleupagus (Snuffy).
  • Barkley.
  • Herry.
  • Telly.
  • Grover.
  • Kermit the Frog. Two shows, two mentions. He's so awesome that he deserves them.
  • Gordon and Alan. Always willing to give advice.
  • Maria & Luis. Happily Married, willing to give advice, and very good at repair work too.
  • Julia. One of the best autistic characters on TV, and an adorable one to boot!
• Sex and the City: Of all the fine and foxy boyfriends the ladies of this show may have had over the years, Miranda's husband Steve Brady is my ultimate dream man. He's adorable in a down to earth way, sweet, funny, and the perfect foil for someone as emotionally guarded as Miranda. I absolutely love him, I love watching them interact, and he's just one of those guys a woman is extremely lucky to have in their lives.
• [[Sharpe Richard Sharpe}}, the man so badass not even being played by Sean Bean gets him killed.
• Sherlock:
  • Sherlock Holmes: Anti-Hero, Deadpan Snarker, Badass Longcoat, Tall, Dark, and Snarky... The list could go on for miles!
  • John Watson: Adorkable, a Deadpan Snarker to rival Sherlock ^note "Thank goodness you're above all that, then", anyone?, a bit of a Butt-Monkey, and just plain Nice Guy.
  • Magnificent Bastard Mycroft Holmes: Why, yes - Big Brother Is Watching, and he's another Deadpan Snarker in this World of Snark. He's the head of Britain's intelligence service. And America's. And could probably take over every intelligence agency in the world from his office if he wanted to.
  • Moriarty: The simple reason? He's Mood Whiplash done right. One second you'll be feeling terrified, the next you're laughing , then you feel terrified again and it feels like you're going to go insane because he's just that good at unsettling people. Many good villains are insane, but Moriarty's the only one that makes the viewer feel unhinged. Even Sherlock's scared of him, and you can see why!
• Slings & Arrows: This scene from the first season of this Canadian series is one of the many, many reasons Geoffrey Tennant absolutely bursts with awesome.
• Smallville:
  • Chloe Sullivan^note pre-Character Derailment, anyway.... Where on Earth do you even begin. It was very difficult to imagine at the beginning that an original character could be so all around awesome. A particularly Anvilicious episode reveals her to have lost her virginity at 15, preventing a Purity Sue. She seems like some weird opposite of a Creator's Pet; she always seems to be the one to suffer when they need someone close to home (like the time when she is thrown out of a window, attacked by a vampiric Lana and the other time when the same person beats the living daylights out of her, etc, etc.). She has been adoring Clark for years but he only have his eyes for Lana. She is loyal, friendly, funny, intelligent, cute.
  • Lionel Luthor. Say what you want about Lex, or any other Superman villain, he was THE villain of the show. He's the Trope Codifier for Magnificent Bastard, and a wonderfully complex villain with believable motivations, who doesn't use his substantial Freudian Excuse, as well, an excuse, and whose Heel–Face Turn was actually believable. I miss him so.
  • Come to think of it, Major Zod too. No one quite hams it up the way he does. He was one of the first seasonal villains to not be just another Lionel rip-off, instead focussing on his abilities as a badass military commander and Classic Villain. He shone at it.
  • What no love for Lois? She's snarky, loyal to her family and friends and good investigative reporter. Her relationship with the Kent family is just so amazing. She found out about Clark's secret and she waited for him to tell her when he was comfortable enough to do so.
• Stargate Atlantis:
  • There are two characters that make Stargate Atlantis. Doctor Rodney McKay, the most awesome Insufferable Genius jerk with quite some Character Development... And "Todd" the Wraith. Seriously, this guy is what a Magnificent Bastard is.
  • How about Carson Beckett? You'd be hard pressed to find a sweeter, gentler character in fiction. And he has a Scottish accent to boot! Honorable mentions go to Sheppard for his general awesomness, slightly rebellious attitude and being almost as smart as McKay. Also Teyla for being so sweet and tough at the same time, and Ronon for being badass and able to pull off dread-locks pretty well.
• Stargate SG-1:
  • The best part of this show wasn't listening to the treasure trove of Deadpan Snarking that was Colonel Jack O'Neill. It wasn't the intelligent, smoking hot Colonel Carter. It wasn't the fact that Daniel Jackson was an unabashed idealist. It wasn't Teal'c's perfectly timed "Indeed"'s. It wasn't watching the Large Ham Go'uald get punked repeatedly. It was.......General George Hammond!!! Awesome just seemed to drip off the screen during any scene with him in it. And he did it without a single shred of ham. I am so sad that Don S. Davis is gone and so too is General Hammond. Take care, Hammond Of Texas.
  • The entire SG-1 team (at least the original) were Crowning Characters Of Awesome in their own right. O'Neill has got to be one of the wittiest characters ever, Daniel Jackson's pure goodness and anthropologic and cultural wisdom, Teal'c's sheer badass-ness, Carter's Techno Babble and competence... Daniel's completely-believable transformation from nerd to badass over the series. Except that he's still pretty much a sweet nerd, he's just badass now. And that's awesome.
  • Don't forget the more minor characters! Siler for getting beaten up so often and never complaining. Walter for his adorable sweater and glasses, heck, for being named after Radar from M*A*S*H and living up to the name. Also Bra'tac. A cute old guy who can beat up almost any of the main characters. And don't forget Doc Fraiser, especially because of her heroic death. And Ba'al: The most lovable Goa'uld ever. He actually has some semblance of sanity and a sense of humor.
  • Vala Mal Doran. She's just so quirky and spunky. She's also determined, and an incredibly nuanced character behind her cheerful theif persona. Her character development is believable, and her introductory scene was HILARIOUS! She doesn't let her dark past bother her, and is one of the funniest characters after Jack O'Neill's sad, sad promotion. Also, seconding Ba'al, with his being a Magnificent Bastard and Affably Evil and pulling it off perfectly. And seconding Daniel Jackson's character development. Watch a season one episode, and then an episode from season ten, you'll be horribly confused and gaping at his badassery and sarcasm, and how he blends it with being a nerdy nice guy who'd rather talk it out. Watch all the episodes, it makes perfect sense.
  • What makes Teal'c soooooooooo damn cool is the fact that he isn't trying to be funny like O'Neill, or smart like Jackson or Carter. He's being dead - fucking - serious. He says the deepest things when you least expect them, so matter of fact. Consider, after Merlin dies, Ba'al is able to speak again, now that Merlin's spell keeping him silent is broken. Teal'c's deadpan response, "Yet another reason to mourn his [Merlin's] passing." You can't buy priceless quotes like that. And if he wasn't bad enough, when wannabe Proud Warrior Race Guy Ronon got too big for his britches, Teal'c fought him one on one to a draw. A draw because if he really wanted to, Ronon's dreds would've been used to mop floors.
  • To this female physics nerd who's the only girl in her physics class for the second year in a row, Sam Carter is just the epitome of nerdy awesomeness. She's incredibly smart, a woman in a largely male organisation, and pretty darn badass to boot. Between Sam and the amazing Dr Frasier, SG-1 really warms my feminist heart. In fact, all of the characters are amazing. Jack O'Neill is funny as heck, Daniel is another epic member of the nerd club, Teal'c is just awesome and General Hammond is probably the nicest, most epic general in all of fiction. The characters are one of the best parts of an already brilliant show.
  • Lt. Colonel Cam Mitchell was just really cool. Gorgeous, super laid back but willing to risk everything to save his teammates (and, you know, the GALAXY), always full of proverbs and life lessons from his grandmother, and just generally an excellent example of Colonel Badass!
• Stargate Universe:
  • I'm not really a fan of any the characters from this show. From the whiny Camille, to Rush and Telford who're trying to be Magnificent Bastards and coming off more like straight a-holes. But...for reasons I can't explain, I just love Colonel Young. Maybe because he strikes me as what a real US military guy might be like. He knows he's not cut out for the job he's in, but he sucks it up and gets the job done anyway. I really feel like all his screw-ups in the 1st season finale are just setting the stage for him to come back hard with awesomeness.
  • Eli Wallace. In the beginning, he was a socially awkward nerd. In the end, he flew Destiny through a fucking blue supergiant! Then casually strolls off to save Park. And in the end, he chooses to stay behind. Even Insufferable Genius Rush admits that Eli is basically smarter than him. And this is without slipping into insufferableness himself, he remains his humble self all the time.
• Supernatural:
  • Dean Winchester is the best Sad Clown ever created. Never before has a character induced so much laughter and so many tears on his own, sometimes within the same episode.
  • And Sam, of course. A sweet, sensitive guy who is willing to do ANYTHING for his brother and is a total Badass to boot. He made some bad choices, but that only makes him even more sympathetic.
  • Castiel. He's a soldier of heaven, and he started out cold and stern, but he's changed into an angel who's slowly gaining emotions, to the point that he chose saving the world over the orders of Heaven. An angel who chose Earth over Heaven. His growing affection for Sam and Dean is also very adorable to watch.
  • BOBBY! SINGER! Seriously, the guy goes through more shit than anyone except the brothers themselves - killing his possessed wife, becoming crippled - and even with all the pain he feels, he REFUSES to allow it to define him. And he's the father-figure Sam and Dean really need! It'll be a sad day in HELL if they ever kill him off permanently. He's not afraid to call anyone out- not even the angels!
  • Oh, and Azazel. Yeah, he's a mighty-evil son of a bitch, but he created a big, complex plan to bring back Lucifer that spanned decades - and succeeded! Creepy as heck too - Fredric Lehne was PERFECTLY cast, so much that they SCRAPPED the idea of him routinely changing hosts. Plus the actor was BLIND while playing him. Just ... seriously, the character is that awesome. Thrown into hindsight now especially, considering what a whiny little brat Lucifer turned out to be.
  • Gabriel. He only made a handful of appearances, but between the snark, his slightly manipulative but oddly well-meaning personality, he's brilliant. And if you tilt your head, you can actually see how he was Good All Along. And never has a death inspired so much heartbreak. Well, except Sam and Dean.
  • Don't forget Lucifer, largely because of the seductive, predatory way Mark Pellegrino plays him.
  • What about Death? With one of the most kickass intros in TV History?
  • Anna. Freaking. Milton. Interesting, kind, badass, independent, strong-willed, and intelligent, one of the most feminist female characters to show up. She chooses to fall, not because she was pressured into it or as a punishment, but because she genuinely loves humanity — warts and all — so much that she wanted to be one herself, demanding autonomy she wasn't allowed in order to leave the abusive, corrupt environment of Heaven for good. Anna only appeared in six episodes, but suffered a lot for her choice — everyone thought she was insane when she was a human, she was locked up in a mental institution, hunted by demons who wanted to torture her because she was the only vulnerable angel, as well as by angels who had orders to kill her for rebelling, her parents are murdered, she remains a fugitive even after becoming an angel again without any allies she can regularly go to for help, she she has to kill one of her own angel brothers to save her favorite brother's life and is repaid by being turned in to Heaven for it by that same brother, where she is imprisoned, tortured, and quite possibly brainwashed, manages to escape only to be killed in an exceedingly brutal way. And yet she never wavers in her essential love for humanity or her belief in doing what's right instead of what's easy. Even her divisive decision to kill Sam to stop the Apocalypse doesn't put her in a bad light — either she was brainwashed and under Naomi's control, and therefore not to be blamed for it, or she was in control and making the hard decisions the protagonists refused to consider, making exactly the same choices they always do, only this time against them, and only deciding to — with obvious regret — because no one else was coming up with any ideas of how to stop the already-happening Apocalypse. Easily this troper's favorite character in this series, or any!
• Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles:
  • Cameron is just about the the most Moe walking death machine that viewers have ever seen. She's supposed to be the Emotionless Girl, so why do viewers keep wanting to hug her and tell her everything's going to be okay?
  • John Henry. If this is the face of Skynet, "bring on judgement day". People will enjoy his Warhammer painting, Bionicle playing death camps. His interactions with Savannah are just about the most heartwarming part of the show.
  • Catherine Weaver. It's a crying shame that the series got canceled before we could learn more about her character.
  • John had some really good moments (and probably would have had more if Fox hadn't pushed the love triangle instead). It's very interesting to see the beginnings of the messiah figure he would be and the how much that cost him. The last few episodes especially showcased both to great extent. Of all the sequels, it probably captured the tension between the Ax Crazy Knight Templar side and the more compassionate side. Yay to exploring the darker side of heroism.
• The Thick of It: Malcolm Tucker. Malcolm Tucker, Malcolm Tucker, Malcolm Tucker. Like Nicola, you just can't help being seduced by his scary charm, his highly entertaining baroque swearing, and his infamous bollockings. His dedication to the job is tremendous - there's not a person in Whitehall you'd want more in a crisis than Malcolm. Remember, Tucker's law always applies, and don't TOUCH the scarf, it's Paul Smith!
  • The entire cast are perfect, but Glenn! The closest to a decent person in the whole thing, and has some absolutely EPIC rants and speeches during the thing.
  • Peter Mannion is a hilariously miserable bastard.
• The Toy Castle: Originally the villain of the fairy tale the show is based on, the Goblin Took a Level in Kindness into a more mischievous Jerk with a Heart of Gold. This delightful bastard combines great physical comedy with beautiful dancing and an excellent performance from Yosuke Mino.
• True Blood: Sookie Stackhouse. Cleolinda Jones sums her up perfectly: "50% grandmother, 50% teenage girl". And manages to have a remarkable grip on her powers without getting too angsty about it. And say want you want of her relationship with Bill; they're adorable together, m'kay?
• The Tudors:
  • Thomas Cromwell. For all that he's King Henry's go-to guy for getting nasty work done (like framing Anne Boleyn for adultery), Cromwell himself is not evil or sadistic. He lacks the blatant cruelty of several other prominent schemers (Thomas Boleyn, Edward Seymour, Henry himself at times) and genuinely believes in his Reformation. He's technically cast in a villain role, but he never goes after a person just because he doesn't like them, which can't be said for, well, anyone else in the main cast. (Except for Jane Seymour and Katherine Parr, maybe.) And even if you hated him, you cannot say he deserved to die the way he did.
  • Anne Stanhope as well. She's a minor character, an utter bitch, but damn is she fun to watch. She has some fantastic lines in seasons 3 and 4, a Pet the Dog moment in the second last episode of season 4, and gives the feared Bishop Gardiner a much-deserved verbal smackdown (with a nice dash of blackmail) in the series finale.
• Twin Peaks: Special Agent Dale Cooper.
• The Ultra Series has had plenty of likable characters over its long run, but few have endeared more than Ultraman Mebius' defense crew GUYS. Every member of the team is lovable and awesome. You've got Mirai Hibino, the adorkably kindhearted hero whose identity as Ultraman Mebius in human form makes him even more admirable; Ryu Aihara, who wants to make his team one that, for once, doesn't always need an Ultraman to save the day; Marina Kazama, the kickass Action Girl and Cool Big Sis of the team; the suave George Ikaruga; the lovably nerdy Teppei Kuze; the incredibly adorable Konomi Amagai; and last but not least, Captain Shingo Sakomizu, whose wisdom and easygoing attitude make him an awesome leader. Over 50 episodes, we really get to know them, and it's hard not to get attached to them as we see them grow from being a couple of nobodies who just stumbled into each other during a kaiju rampage and were unexpectedly recruited at the last moment to the truest of True Companions (their friendship is such a pleasure to watch) and one seriously Badass Crew. I'll admit I first came into the Ultra series solely for cheesy monster action, but GUYS' surprising depth made me stay and I love them so much for it. They are, hands down, the best team in the entire franchise.
• Veronica Mars: Veronica Mars and Logan Echolls, full stop.
• Victorious:
  • Cat and Jade. Now, every character in that show is pretty awesome in their own way, but Cat and Jade reach Character Depth unheard of in a Nickelodeon show.
  • Cat is hilarious and adorable; you're practically guaranteed to like her from the very first moment you see her. Initially, she seems like "the ditzy one", but as the show goes on, you come to suspect that there are things we aren't seeing. She's aggressively childish, gets upset at even the most innocent of statements and can never seem to keep a mood for more than two minutes... Personally, I believe it's all an act, a refusal to grow up. Or perhaps she's seriously messed up in the head. Either way, I cannot wait to see where they'll take it.
  • Jade is, without a doubt, the deepest character currently on Nick. In the pilot, she seems like just "the mean girl". But then there's the dynamic between her and Beck, the unlikely friendship she has with Cat, the recurring dreams she can't tell us about, the way she defaults to hate regarding just about everything... There's definitely more than just being mean. A lot more. Like with Cat, I cannot wait to see her character explored in greater depth.
    • After, Tori Goes Platinum ... OH MY GOD ALL THE JADE FEELS. She's just so layered and Liz Gillies is incredible and pulls it all off so well - keeping up the facade, but still letting Jade's vulnerability shine through. I can't believe she's a character on a Nickelodeon show - she's better written, acted, and more compelling than any other character on television I've stumbled across. (And on a shallow note, she's incredibly incredibly gorgeous and I want her entire wardrobe. And oh my god can she sing).
  • This troper will always have a soft spot for Robbie. Seriously, while he is a bit creepy, I find his social awkwardness endearing and he usually tries so hard to do the right thing. "I Think You're Swell" is one of the most heartwarming moments on the show and he's always there for his friends even if they're not there for him. (Not including the Robarazzi incident, of course.)
• Waking the Dead: Stella Goodman. One cool lady.
• The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon. Despite his gruff, uncommunicative personality, he always fights for others, especially the weakest and most helpless. Why? Because he knows what it's like to feel weak and abused and he doesn't want anyone else to go through the stuff he's endured. Plus, he has a totally cool crossbow and angel-wings jacket. He's awesome.
  • Carol. She starts the series as a fairly useless, crying woman who gets repeatedly beaten by her abusive husband. Fast forward a couple of seasons, and she's become one of the most badass characters in the entire show, surviving on her own for weeks after being banished, teaching the children how to defend themselves, and single handedly destroying Terminus.
  • Beth Greene also deserves a mention, overcoming her attempted suicide and finally finding the will to go on living. She becomes the heart of the team, a cheerful, sweet girl who always tries to keep her friend's spirits up. Even more awesome when she learns to fight back, killing a rapist, helping Noah escape the hospital whilst dispatching a pack of walkers, and standing up to Dawn. Never before has a character caused so much controversy by dying. Aerith, eat your heart out.
  • Anyone from this show qualifies, really. They're all awesome.
• The West Wing:
  • Arnold Vinick is sufficiently awesome that I'd gladly drop my day job and move to the US in Real Life were he running for President. For that matter, I'd do the same with Alan Alda if I trusted him to stay in character for eight years.
  • No love for Jed Bartlet? Come on, people. It would make no constitutional sense in the slightest, but him and David Palmer should be elected co-Presidents on the Awesome ticket.
    • There isn't a single non-fictional person in the universe who doesn't adore Jed Bartlet. Not even Republicans.
  • Aw, hell, no. The West Wing gushing begins with Claudia Jean "C.J." Cregg, Deadpan Snarker and Cute Clumsy Girl extraordinaire. There is a reason Allison Janney won four Emmys, people - she played C.J. exquisitely through all seven seasons and no matter what John Wells did to her or what Emmy-bait episodes she got stuck in, Janney sold her every single moment of every single episode. From "Is there anything I can say other than 'The President rode his bicycle into a tree'?" and "The crackers, Danny!" to "Oh me-oh, oh my-oh, Oh, Cleveland, Ohi-o!" and right on through "Frank Hollis wants me to take ten billion dollars to go and fix the world," and "Yeah. Something," C.J. was always beautifully, exquisitely, gorgeously C.J.
  • Leo freaking McGarry. The whole world's going to hell because the President's been shot, who do you trust to run the country? Leo. Best Chief of Staff ever. The man behind "Let Bartlet Be Bartlet", who fell down seven times but got up eight, who was an alcoholic because his father was one too, who taught us that sometimes, you're the man in the hole, and sometimes, you're the guy that jumps in.
  • Toby Ziegler is a beautiful, beautiful man. He's prickly, and arrogant, and almost always pissed off, yes. But it's because he believes so deeply in his lofty, near-unreachable ideals about the good that government can do for its people that when everyone around him is playing politics and compromising instead of going for the money shot and doing the absolute best thing for the greatest number of people, he is offended on behalf of humanity. He's the picture of what politicians should be in the very best universe.
  • One of the great things about this show's character writing was how, even though the senior staff have pretty much the same political views, they all have different skills, personas, and images of government and their roles as policy makers. Josh rounds up votes and passes bills one at a time, Toby wants to get everyone together and talk about social security over a beer, Sam writes eloquent speeches and wants to cure cancer, CJ doesn't like running because it takes away from helping and treats the public with respect, and Leo treats everyone with dignity and tells it like it is. Alone, none of them could run the country without losing their minds, but together they make up an administration that got through lots of crises and scandals and still came out a success.
• The Wire is filled to the brim with amazing characters. The characters are generally well-written and are definitely not flat characters. As the show progresses, the characters progress, too. Some become better people. Others become worse.
  • The one who stands out the most is, of course, everyone's favorite Badass Longcoat wearing, shotgun slinging, catchy-tune whistling gunslinger, Omar Little. The guy's an unbelievable badass, who makes his living robbing drug dealers. The fact that he also happens to be incredibly deep, intelligent, well-written, and a gay character who isn't a stereotype, however, is what truly earns him a mention.
  • The sorta-main character, Jimmy McNulty. He's a hard-drinking, loud-mouthed, and kind of arrogant Cowboy Cop asshole, but he's such a well-written, entertaining, and extremely likable asshole that you can't help but keep your eyes on him whenever he's on screen.
  • Cedric Daniels, the conflicted Reasonable Authority Figure who has the utterly unenviable job of having to oversee the narcotics investigation in the face of crooked politicians, unhelpful superiors, and Cowboy Cops like McNulty is very likeable and compelling as well.
  • Russell "Stringer" Bell, one of the best developed characters in the whole series. A gangster with Hidden Depths and aspirations to go legit that border on making him a Tragic Villain.
  • Avon Barksdale, the head of the organization Stringer Bell is part of, is as charismatic as a villain gets. He's all about family, genuinely caring about and mentoring his nephew D'Angelo As a leader, he strictly abides by the same rules he expects the rest of the organization to follow, and is the only drug lord who reads Marlo Stanfield correctly. He carries himself with streetwise swagger not often depicted by the leader of an organization, but is intelligent and intuitive to the point where Lester Freamon and McNulty both state that they are proud to be chasing him. He is given many of the show's best quotes. Many Wire fans end up overlooking all of the death and destruction he causes and consider him an "ethical" gangster, especially in comparison to Stringer, Marlo, and Prop Joe.
  • Bubbles. Arguably the most sympathetic character in the whole show.
  • Lester Freeman. Smooth, and the smartest detective in the whole show.
  • Marlo Stanfield is one of the most terrifying villains on television, an utterly cold, ruthless bastard who's also calm and reserved, yet his detatchment shows how inhuman he is. One of the few times when Dull Surprise acting actually works.
• The Worst Witch: Millie: A girl who doesn't feel like she belongs, whom almost everyone teases and looks down on, yet remains cheerful, kind, and determined to prove herself, no matter what.
  • Also, Ms. Cackle, for being a perfect blend of Eccentric Mentor, Reasonable Authority Figure, and Putting the "Pal" in Principal.
• The X-Files:
  • Hell, Mulder and Scully are too awesome to not cause fans to explode in fangirly nuttiness every time they do a rewatch. Mulder is one cool, awesome guy and Scully is one cool, awesome lady, and as the Dynamic Duo, they are awesomeness squared.
  • Alex Krycek is such a badass. You're never too sure what side he's on, but you can guarantee he'll be awesome regardless.
  • The Lone Gunmen. Hilarious geeks and crazy conspiracy theorists, who are actually Properly Paranoid.
  • Skinner is an amazing character. Starts as a good authority figure, though somewhat shady and possibly dirty, maybe even an antagonist. Intriguing. However, he turns out to be on Mulder and Scully's side, willing to compromise or sacrifice himself for their sake. At the end, he's more their friend than boss. In addition, he's absolutely hot for an older guy.
• Yes, Minister: Sir Humphrey Appleby, Magnificent Bastard and master of Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness. His speeches alone would make me fall in love in him!
• The Young Ones:
  • Vyvyan is the most awesome character in any sitcom ever. Period. Pretty much all of the main cast in that show can claim their characters to be the high points of their careers, but this applies most to Adrian Edmondson. There's no practically no point of comparison, certainly not in Bottom or any of Edmondson's other later works. See this.
  • Mike. Unflappable in the face of danger, completely unsurprisable, more than able to think circles around the other flatmates, always out for a quick buck, and just witty in general. He set up a roller disco in Rick's room while he was in the bathroom. An unexploded atomic bomb crashes into their house and his initial reaction is to sell it to foreign governments. Being sane is a pretty big plus in The Young Ones-verse, but to be Genre Savvy enough to use the craziness to your advantage puts him over the top.

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