24 Of 24's Most Memorable Characters - Ranked

24. Teri Bauer (Day 1)

Google the name of Jack’s wife and it doesn’t take too much scrolling before getting to the Teri Bauer-bashing forums. The word “annoying” - sometimes with the F-word expletive before it - is a common description of this particular character. So the less said about her dissociative amnesia storyline - which got us all reaching for the smelling salts - the better.

Conversely, however, Teri confounded us by, with astonishing calmness, sacrificing herself sexually - for the loving sake of her daughter Kim - to a grubby, deserves-to-die guard who was keeping them hostage in season one.

Her death at the hands of Nina Myers is made more powerfully poignant because she’s pregnant with Jack’s second child. His grief is tangible thereafter throughout the subsequent seasons, which is perhaps why he continues to dish out his own unique brand of justice as a means to forget that terrible day.