Six of the Best Antiheroes of the Television World

Following in the wake of my last article, which detailed six of the best franchise movie antiheroes out there, I present a list of six great television antiheroes. Alas, I must first admit that I am not the kind of person that spends every waking hour watching television, so this list is made up of antiheroes that I myself am familiar with. While I would love to throw such iconic characters as Dr. House, Nucky Thompson, Don Draper and others onto the list, I have not seen the associated shows enough to cast a proper judgment. So you shall have to make due with this rather personalized list of six. Hopefully, you will agree with my choices and perhaps even recognize everyone on this list.

Cal Lightman (Lie to Me) -

Lie to Me is a series that many people overlooked, despite having a leading man as prestigious as Tim Roth. Cal Lightman, for those that don’t already know, is a man that can read lies like words on paper. If you’re giving him some BS, he knows. And he uses his powers not so much for the greater good, but mainly because he gets paid piles of cash.

This is the glory of Lightman - that his own ability to tell when people are lying has made him so bitter and jaded that he trusts no one. He doesn’t acknowledge the good in men, instead preferring to dwell upon their many weaknesses. Thus, he’s a selfish bastard that ends up doing good things simply because he happens to be the right man for the job and that job tends to entail helping the police to bust criminals. But, regardless of whatever nice things he inadvertently does, Lightman is still a jerk, through and through.

Spike (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) -

Spike originally begins his tenure on Buffy the Vampire Slayer as what is properly known as an anti-villain. He’s a bad guy, no questions asked, but we like him because he’s good at being bad. As the show progresses, Spike’s character takes a different tone. He begins to see the light, so to speak, and becomes one of Buffy’s greatest allies.

Unfortunately, that still doesn’t stop him from murdering people and hating everyone that he comes into contact with. At one point he even tries to rape Buffy. But as an audience we understand that this is because he has a demon living inside him instead of possessing a proper soul like regular folks. So his evil is tolerated and we cheer each time Spike manages overcome his nature and does something to help the good guys.

Dexter Morgan (Dexter) -

While the show itself kind of hit a downslide after season 4, the character of Dexter Morgan still remains one of the most intriguing antiheroes in television. By his very nature he could never be a good person, but he had been raised in such a way that he was able to channel his murderous urges to help the greater good.

We see Dexter switch between villain-hunting avenger to out-of-control killer that ends people’s lives simply because he gets a bit too angry or because they happen to be in his way. And everyone around him ends up suffering because of his need to kill (and protect himself from being caught). Worse still, no matter what Dexter tries, he’s never able to overcome the evil that rests within. That is, of course, one of the things that allows us to route for him, for he is just as flawed as all of us, albeit in a much more dangerous way.

Walter White (Breaking Bad) -

One of the best-known antiheroes in recent memory, Walter White manages to be both loved and hated by Breaking Bad viewers everywhere. He begins to practice his evil ways in the name of trying to help his family, so we can sympathize. But even when he has the chance to get out of the game, the lust for power overwhelms him, making us loathe the character just as we would any other heartless villain.

He kills his allies, allows his friends to suffer at his hands, tortures his wife in a selfish attempt to keep his family together and distributes an addictive drug across the face of the country. Walter White is a bastard. But every once in a while his humanity shines through and we are forced to admit that he is human, just like the rest of us, and wonder what we would do were we to be caught in his situation. He’s also inspired many a paper examining the exact nature of his breakdown, so way to go Walter - you’ve become a social phenomenon.

Malcolm Reynolds (Firefly) -

Good old Malcolm Reynolds has a heart of gold, though it’s encased in a wall of steel bullets and wrapped in a paper package made from dollar bills. He cares for his crew (or at least most of them), but is always willing to push someone out into the cold of space if they prove to be detrimental to his way of living. Get on his ship and bring trouble with you? You instantly become disposable.

Despite his scoundrel ways and love of cash, Malcolm does manage to redeem himself on a regular basis, for if there’s one thing that he loves more than money it’s putting a bullet in someone that uses injustice as a means to an end. He has a history of fighting against injustice and that sentiment of freedom lives on. Thus, even though Malcolm could care less whether the vast majority of the human race lives or dies, he’ll still put his life on the line if you happen to be his sort of people.

Tony Soprano (The Sopranos) -

I regret to say that I never managed to see more than a handful of episode of The Sopranos (a condition I must remedy soon), but Tony Soprano is the penultimate antihero. He’s got a family to watch out for and a business to run and the way he does business isn’t exactly on the up-and-up, so people get hurt. But that’s the price you pay when so many people are relying on you to get things done.

We love Tony because he deals with something we all have to deal with at some point in our lives - balancing work and family. He also shows distinctively human characteristics and flaws rather than just being a bad guy out to do criminal things. No matter how bad the man gets, we can always route for him in at least a small way.

Photo Credits -

Cal Lightman via adifferentforest.com

Spike courtesy of entil2001.com

Dexter courtesy of cinema-suicide.com

Walter White courtesy of drgoddess.com

Malcolm Reynolds courtesy of furiousfanboys.com

Tony Soprano courtesy of enclavedecine.com