A classical hero, somebody who is bold, competent, and altruistic, has an obvious appeal. They make up the sorts of characters that audiences would love for there to be more of in our world, and in many cases, would themselves want to be. Nonetheless, there is also an appeal, for many viewers, to the anti-hero.
Flawed heroes, whether they are morally ambiguous, ruthless, haunted by their inner demons, rude, or any other number of undesirable traits, litter fiction. Some, nonetheless, stand out amongst the others for simply being supremely likable, despite - or in many cases, because of - the very flaws that make them antiheroes.
10 Spike Became One Of Buffy's Most Popular Characters
Initially introduced as a villain in Buffy the Vampire Slayer's second season, Spike differentiated himself from other villain-of-the-week vampires at first by simply being competent and surviving through his introductory episode - as well as having an English accent. The next few seasons would see him serve as main villain, secondary antagonist, reluctant ally, sworn guardian, and eventually love interest.
Spike's flaws are numerous. He is emotionally damaged, callous, limited in empathy, blunt, and obsessive. Nonetheless, his British wit, romantic poet's soul, and dangerous combat skills would see him go on to be massively popular with audiences.
9 Billy Butcher Is Carried By Karl Urban's Charm
The leader of the titular team in The Boys, Billy Butcher is a ruthless vigilante and manipulative charmer, dragging others into his war against the superheroes that dominate his world. He is uncouth, insensitive, and dangerously obsessed with his fight.
Nonetheless, Butcher finds fans because the superheroes he fights against are, for the most part, really as bad as he says they are, and he is one of the few forces keeping them even slightly in line. He is the classic David, fighting Goliath. Furthermore, his charm, while buried under anger and brusqueness, is genuine, and he has just enough affection for the people in his life to keep him sympathetic.
8 Laura Moon Cuts Through The Lies Of The Old Gods
Laura Moon has an interesting set of circumstances in American Gods. She is initially introduced to the audience posthumously, as Shadow Moon's dead wife, who cheats on him while he is in prison, serving an extra-long sentence for refusing to betray her to the police.
For many characters, this would render them forever unsympathetic. However, Laura gets several episodes showing her side of the situation, and for much of the early show, she is focused around showing how dedicated she is to Shadow, regretting what she did. In later episodes, she comes to be one of the few characters unafraid to call out the obvious manipulations of Mr. Wednesday.
7 Malcolm Reynolds Is A Criminal With A Heart Of Gold
Throughout Firefly, Malcolm Reynolds, Captain of Serenity, is unafraid to admit that he himself is a scoundrel and little more than a thief. Once a devout and beloved officer in the Browncoats, he lost his faith and much of his better nature when he lost thousands of soldiers during a battle fought while his side negotiated surrender.
In the present day, Malcolm is blunt, driven, and an outright criminal, with some of his 'jobs' being open robbery. Nonetheless, he is charming, fiercely dedicated to his crew, whom he loves like family, and he ultimately shows his better nature in Serenity, when he risks his life to reveal a monstrous cover-up.
6 Negan Is Compelling As A Villain, Moreso As An Antihero
Negan was also initially introduced as a villain, the most outright threatening menace Rick Grimes's group of survivors had ever faced in The Walking Dead. Eventually, all-out war breaks out between his group and that of Rick Grimes. In his later appearances, however, Negan is a very tenuous antihero; far from moral, but also not exceptionally selfish in the zombie apocalypse.
Negan has won fans for Jeffrey Dean Morgan's charismatic portrayal, for the intensity with which he does everything, and for his role in killing Alpha, a villain at least equally bad. Nonetheless, despite his likability, he has some detractors as a result of his brutal actions in earlier seasons.
5 Malia Tate Combines Bluntness, Naivete, And Loyalty
Introduced in the third season of Teen Wolf, Malia is an initially recurring character, who would go on to main cast status starting with Season 4. As a girl who spent most of her life permanently shapeshifted into a Coyote, she is poorly socialized and juxtaposed against the fairly typical high schoolers leading extraordinary double lives who make up most of the cast.
Malia's relative ignorance about the world she's in both provides drama for her character and endears her to fans, and she couples it with a fierce devotion to protecting the others in her life. Regardless, she is blunt, often rude, and far more direct and ruthless than the rest of the cast.
4 Root Is A Sociopath, But A Wildly Popular Hero
Root's time as an antagonist on Person of Interest was short-lived, becoming quickly caught up in the mystery of the Machine shortly after kidnapping Finch in the finale of Season 1. Nonetheless, despite a nominal turn to the side of the heroes, she shows herself to have absolutely no scruples other than wanting to help the machine.
Despite the fact that she has killed, kidnapped, tortured, and more, Root is wildly popular with fans as a result of her ultimately good aims, her wit, and her romantic ties to fellow hero Sameen Shaw.
3 Din Djarin Shows His Heroic Side For The Child
The titular character of The Mandalorian, Din Djarin is introduced as a nearly entirely amoral character, carrying out bounties for money, including from the Empire, with no scruples for who his targets are or what they've done. However, he rediscovers his morality when he finds the Child, refusing to hand him over to the Empire, and risking his life to protect him.
His time with the Child leads Djarin to show his more moral side, but he still lacks certain heroic qualities. For instance, while he is not malevolent, he openly refuses to help in most disputes, only doing so when he and the Child can benefit as a result. Nonetheless, his Code and his fatherly relationship have seen him become beloved by fans.
2 Faith Redeems Herself On Angel
Initially introduced as a Slayer-turned-bad on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Faith briefly reappears in Season 1 of Angel, carrying out a plot against the heroes that is a veiled suicide attempt, hoping Angel will kill her in vengeance. Instead, she surrenders to a prison she can demonstrably escape and attempts to pay her debt to society.
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When she breaks out of prison to stop Angelus in Season 4, Faith retains her blunt nature and lack of outright kindness, but she shows a deeper morality and willingness to sacrifice herself than many others in the cast and is more than happy to turn her biting wit against unpopular characters.
1 Jaime Lannister Shows Massive Depth
When Jaime Lannister is first introduced, he is simply one of the more villainous Lannisters in Game of Thrones, sharing an antagonistic role with his sister Cersei, and one of his very first actions is to attempt to murder a child. Furthermore, in his backstory, he broke his oaths to stab the King he was sworn to protect in the back, earning the scorn of his entire nation.
However, as time goes on, Jaime reveals that he stabbed the King to save hundreds of thousands, and the cruelties inflicted upon him serve to make him become a better person - along with wit, and more intelligence than most other villains. He became an immensely popular character by Season 8, and many fans ignore his eventual fate - undoing his character development to return to Cersei.