4. Rory Williams (Doctor Who)
When the wandering Time Lord known as the Doctor took on his 11th face in Matt Smith, his companion was the vivacious Amy Pond, who ran off with the Doctor partly to run away from her impending wedding to nervous insecure male nurse Rory Williams, whom she'd known since childhood. Rory appeared as befuddled and reluctant to get involved in the Doctor's plan to save Earth from the Atraxi, and generally seemed like kind of a tool. But with vastly talented character actor Arthur Darvill in the role, he became so much more. In subsequent appearances, Rory impressed fans with his quiet refusal to be terribly impressed by the Doctor, becoming one of VERY few people to ever stymy the over 900 year old alien by not only NOT being awed and amazed by the interior of the TARDIS on his first time inside it, but by telling the Doctor he understand the dimensional physics theory behind how such a thing could be done. That was the moment fans knew Rory was something special and latched onto him. Darvill played Rory excellently, from moments where, even when flustered by the situation at hand he steels himself and powers through, to his quiet tender moments with his wife Amy, to his quiet seething utter badassitude whenever his family is threatened. How many humans do YOU know who can intimidate an entire fleet of Cybermen to the point that not only do they NOT try to kill or convert him, but tell him exactly what he came to find out? And most telling of all in regards to Darvill's talent, the impossibly old weary sheen his eyes took on from Series 6 onward, as a man who remembers living for a thousand years and tries his best to keep it out of his thoughts. Whereas most of the few male companions in the series old and new after Jamie McCrimmon were generally treated as comedy relief (Harry), annoyances (Mickey), or someone to be wary of (Turlough), Rory was the one the Doctor not only respected unequivocally, but saw as an equal, a fellow mad old man in the box, and someone he wanted at his side in a pinch.