7. Stringer Bell - The Wire
Played by the fantastic Idris Elba, Stringer Bell was not your average gangster. He saw himself in a class above those he worked with as the brains behind the Avon Barksdale's crew. Within his capacity as advisor he orders hits, intimidates witnesses and uses numerous other underhand tactics to ensure his success. This changes when Avon is imprisoned and it falls to him to take command of the operation. Relationships become strained and he is forced to make alliances against Avon's will, and although he manages to keep on top of the troublesome heroin situation it is at the cost of the close friendship once shared between himself and his incarcerated former boss. At the start of the third season he is at the top of his game, infiltrating legitimate businesses and bribing politicians to secure his position of power. He tries to stay above direct criminality despite being responsible for most of the drug trade in the city and this ends up being his undoing. In a cycle of betrayal, he and Avon land each other in trouble with the latter returning to jail and Stringer ending up being killed by people he had previously manipulated. In his goal of turning the Barksdale crew to more 'legitimate' venture, he sacrificed important relationships and acted in an immensely self-serving manner. He wanted to be half gangster, half businessman and that can never end well.