14 DAY TRIAL // Comparing one character from one TV series to another in a different one, perhaps even pertaining to a different genre, is like comparing apples and oranges, and rather pointless for its subjectivity because of it.
Still, Empire Magazine asked its readers to do it: over 10,000 readers took part in a poll aiming to establish the greatest movie character of all time and the greatest TV character ever created.
For the latter, the honor went to Walter White, aka Heisenberg “You’re goddamn right!,” from the now-defunct AMC series “Breaking Bad.” In all fairness, chances are critics will agree with the fans on this one: Walter White reinvented the concept of anti-hero and TV drama, ushering in a new era for televised storytelling.
He was complex and relatable, well portrayed and with solid writing to allow for plenty of character development. His was a journey that we’ve rarely seen in TV or movies, one that offered plenty of cues to producers as to the new direction they could take their characters in. He was also pretty awesome, so that helped too.
The rest of the top 10 chart includes, in order, Tyrion Lannister from HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” Homer Simpson from “The Simpsons,” The Doctor from “Dr. Who,” Tony Soprano from HBO’s “The Sopranos,” Sherlock Holmes from BBC One’s “Sherlock,” Buffy Summers from the iconic “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” Jack Bauer from “24,” Omar Little from “The Wire” and Frank Underwood from “House of Cards.”
You will notice that not one character on this list is what you might deem a regular / “normal” guy or girl from scripted programming. In fact, the villains predominate: White, Tyrion, Homer, Soprano, Omar and Frank are anything but the good guys come to rescue the day on a white stallion.
I would even argue that Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sherlock also fits in here, borderline.