3. Neo - The Matrix (1999-2003)
Keanu Reeves' computer programmer Neo works for a respectable software company called Meta Cortex and spends so much time inside he could legitimately be called agoraphobic. Coupled with the blink and you'll miss it information available during his interrogation scene - namely he went to Owen Patterson High School and excelled in science and maths - means that 'The One' is no doubt a nerd of colossal proportions. But one little red pill later and Thomas A. Anderson starts living every nerd's secret fantasy. He wakes up a super-hero. He's told that he's the saviour of the human race (so no pressure) he learns dozens of martial arts in mere seconds, he can fly, he's telekinetic and can even heal the sick but let's be honest, he should have been a super-nerd and not a superhero. To paraphrase a bit of Monty; He's not the Messiah...he's a very anaemic, introverted NEEEERD.