The best television shows give audiences a solid variety of heroes and villains to root for. Even more in the modern day have viewers begun to adopt a favorable opinion of anti-heroes, such as Frank Castle in The Punisher. These heroes, who sit on the fence between the traditional views of good and evil, perform a delicate balancing act with their heroism.
Some television heroes, however, risk turning to villainy for good. Whether they're making these decisions to protect themselves or to satisfy some outside force, it may only take a small shove for some fan favorites to become fully-fledged villains themselves.
10 Jesse Pinkman Has To Uphold Empathy, Breaking Bad
Arguably one of the most iconic anti-heroes on television, Jesse Pinkman from Breaking Bad sits in the unique situation of being the deuteragonist in a show where, technically, the protagonist is the real villain. When Jesse is first introduced, he's the edge to Walt's smoothness, but in a surprising turn of events, he becomes the humanity that grounds the pair.
Jesse is by no means a good person, but he massively regrets the innocents he's hurt and he isn't proud of the meth empire he and Walt have created. Jesse wobbles on the line more than most throughout his tenure on Breaking Bad, but he ultimately escapes the drug trade as soon as he's able to.
9 Billy Butcher Will Cross Almost Any Line (The Boys)
The foul-mouthed British superhero-killer wastes no time at all in The Boys establishing that he isn't anyone's friend — he's a scumbag, a bad man, a no-good vigilante who's only out for himself. For the most part, Butcher seems to prove that right, double-crossing his friends and putting them into increasingly dangerous situations without little care for anything except his end goal, but that isn't true.
Butcher's long-term friends often comment on the fact that Butcher is selfish except when it comes to one person: Hughie. Hughie is Butcher's canary and, specifically in Season 3, he's used to show just how much of Butcher's humanity is still there, simply hidden deep beneath his traumas.
8 Bo Dennis Lives Between Two Worlds (Lost Girl)
In Lost Girl, Bo's entire existence is a carefully balanced performance of living between the light and the dark. With her mother being a light fae succubus and her father being Hades, king of the underworld, it's no surprise she spent an awful lot of her adult life confused as to where she truly belonged.
Throughout Lost Girl, Bo does a decent amount of heroic heavy lifting, helping the fae community sift through their problems. But, at the same time, Bo often finds herself tempted by darkness and the creatures that reside within it.
7 Allison Argent Succumbed To Vengeance (Teen Wolf)
Allison was an ill-fated huntress from Teen Wolf who had a short stint as an antagonist on the show during Season 2 when her grandfather manipulated her after her mother's death. Allison, overtaken by grief, attacked Derek and his pack, believing them to be responsible for her mother's passing. By the end of the season, she had come to her senses, but she believed the damage was done.
Allison acknowledged her mistakes, but she also acknowledged she had a terrifying inability to control her need for vengeance. A brilliant hero with realistic flaws, Allison's brush with villainy only made her more relatable to audiences and garnered her many more fans before her untimely demise.
6 Marc Spector Is Trying To Do Better (Moon Knight)
It's no secret to comic readers or television watchers that Marc is the epitome of an anti-hero in Moon Knight. Unafraid to get his hands bloody, but finding himself increasingly conflicted when it comes to needless killing, Marc struggles to find the right balance. As a mercenary, he understands the quickest answer to most questions is violence, but that doesn't mean it's the right answer.
When paired with Marc's defiance of Khonshu, who is indifferent to Marc's suffering unless it affects his performance as Khonshu's avatar, Marc is certainly one of the more complicated protagonists out there. He has a massive amount of power at his fingertips, and it'd only take the wrong kind of push for Marc to take the plunge.
5 Jax Teller Was Torn Between Two Lives (Sons Of Anarchy)
As the head of a vigilante motorcycle club, nobody expects Jax Teller of Sons Of Anarchy infamy to be a good person. Jax, however, does. As a proud father to two boys and a victim of growing up without his father, Jax is desperate to be there for both his children and his club.
Jax does a variety of awful things over the seasons, but all of them are undercut with a large amount of guilt and regret. Jax tries multiple times to get the club to go clean, hoping to move them further and further away from the criminal underground that made them their money. His good versus evil dichotomy persists even until his final moments.
4 Maggie Rhee Has Lost A Lot (The Walking Dead)
In The Walking Dead, Maggie is a loving mother, a fierce leader, and a hell of a fighter. Viewers have watched her develop since her debut from the daughter of a humble farming man to one of the leaders of the new world. She's learned countless survival skills from the likes of Rick Grimes and even manages to work closely alongside the man who killed her husband.
But Maggie has suffered an insurmountable level of losses. Her younger sister, Beth, her father, Hershel, and her husband, Glenn, all suffered awful fates, two of whom were brutally murdered before her very eyes. There aren't many who would blame her for finally going full-villain should anything happen to her loved ones in the future, specifically her son, Hershel Rhee.
3 Harvey Specter Learns He Can Do Good (Suits)
Harvey is a shark lawyer in Suits who is presented as a pretty bad guy. Intelligent, quick-witted, and manipulative in the most charming way, Harvey could talk his way out of a paper bag. As a lawyer for one of the biggest firms in New York City, it's no surprise he's not exactly a nice guy.
Except, Harvey actually isn't a terrible guy at all. Beginning with the olive branch he extends to Mike, Harvey learns from his subordinate that being a good lawyer isn't all about winning — it's about making a difference. If Harvey truly wanted to, he could ruin many a man with his skills, but he instead becomes far more likely to help someone in need as time goes on.
2 Holden Ford Risks Becoming Too Familiar (Mindhunter)
Alongside Bill Tench, Holden is one of the two protagonists of David Fincher's 2017 series, Mindhunter, and an FBI agent with the Behavioral Science Unit. The series follows him as he begins to spearhead the exploration into serial killer psychology, and this exploration places him directly in the firing line of many imprisoned serial killers.
Holden is a good, albeit anxious and sometimes ignorant, man. His interactions with the serial killers, however, begin to change him, and it can feel like Holden is on the edge of his sanity most of the time. Fincher does a brilliant job at creating a suffocating atmosphere in the show, leaving viewers to sympathize with Holden's struggles against his own beliefs.
1 Jane "Eleven" Hopper's Powers Are Destructive (Stranger Things)
Eleven would never harm an innocent person, especially considering almost all of the seasons of Stranger Things revolve around her trying to save those she cares about from otherworldly beings. That doesn't mean she doesn't have the potential to do harm, however.
Eleven's powers are still largely misunderstood and a mystery even to devoted viewers. Eleven may never mean to become a villain, but it's clear when she stares down monsters ten times her size that the power residing within her is destructive, and might evolve into something she might not always understand.