In your typical television show, the protagonist is there to act as the prime mover for the narrative: the show is all about them, after all, and their actions and reactions are supposed to create the story. A lot of the time, the protagonist is the hero of the piece, noble and moral as well as capable and powerful in his or her own way. But what about those occasions when the shows narrative stars a fairly traditional hero-protagonist who then turns out to be something else entirely? If youre lucky, its completely intentional the shows creators are trying to subvert your expectations, to fake one way and then go the other, making watching the show a rewarding experience and adding depth to the narrative. Of course, thats not always the case. Sometimes the story gets away from them, or theyre too close to it, and cant see whats happening to their central character until the show airs and the fans tell them where theyre going wrong. Sometimes the weight of seasons of continuity means that a character has simply messed up too many times (there may be a reset button at the end of many TV shows, but the fans remember. The fans always remember). Perhaps the hero isnt as strong or competent as hes intended to be, the cumulative effect of his actions making his efforts seem weak or unimportant. Maybe your favourite show features a hero-protagonist who continually seems to screw over her friends, or her lovers, despite being written to be morally above reproach. Or perhaps theyre just written badly, screeds of supposedly witty dialogue coming across as meanspirited and sarcastic instead. Weve trawled the depths of the television schedules, past and present, to come up with a list of hero-protagonists that, for whatever reason just dont live up to the name: the secret worst heroes in television.
Professional writer, punk werewolf and nesting place for starfish. Obsessed with squid, spirals and story. I publish short weird fiction online at desincarne.com, and tweet nonsense under the name Jack The Bodiless. You can follow me all you like, just don't touch my stuff.
