One of the most memorable antagonists to appear on The 100 was Charles Pike, portrayed by Michael Beach and appearing on the third season of the post-apocalyptic CW series.
Launching a ruthless, bloody campaign against the Grounders -- factions of humanity that survived on Earth following nuclear armageddon -- Pike led survivors landing on the planet from an orbital space station with an iron fist. While the character was killed by the end of the season by Octavia Blake for his previous murder of her lover, Lincoln, Beach revealed that there were bigger plans for his character before his untimely end.
"The intention was to bring him back, not to kill him but not actually make him a [series] regular," explained Beach in an exclusive interview with CBR. "That was the idea, that he would be a regular or just come back as a recurring [character] and stay around but I think that the backlash was so bad from killing [fan-favorite Grounder character] Lincoln and other things that [showrunner Jason Rothenberg] just felt we had to [kill Pike off]. And it was a surprise to a lot of people because that was not the original intention but that's just the way it is."
Referring to Pike as "the most hated character" in the entire history of the series, Beach nonetheless sympathized with his character's stance due to his tragic, largely unseen backstory. While Beach would reprise his role as Pike as a guest star in Season 6 -- in a hallucination experienced by Octavia -- the character was slated for a much bigger part to play before fan response led to an early death.
The 100 airs on The CW and stars Eliza Taylor, Paige Turco, Marie Avgeropoulos, Bob Morley, Henry Ian Cusick, Lindsey Morgan, Richard Harmon and Tasya Teles. The series will return for its seventh and final season sometime next year.