10 TV Shows Where The Hero Became A Villain

6. Grant Ward - Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Agents of SHIELD Grant Ward
ABC

Technically speaking, Grant Ward was never really a hero, but that just speaks to the strength of not only his character, but the entire HYDRA plot in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D's first season.

Brett Dalton's Ward was the textbook example of what a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent should be: smart, dedicated, and extremely skilled in combat, he played his role as the straight man to Clark Gregg's more quip-happy Agent Coulson, and if you were to create a S.H.I.E.L.D. operative in a lab, you'd probably get something like Ward. Sure, he was a little on the boring side, but that was part of his job, and he served as the handsome, romantic interest as well. Crucially, we completely believed in all of this.

And then HYDRA's infiltration was revealed, all hell broke loose, and it turned out that Ward had been working for HYDRA all along. It's well known now, but this was a genuine 'holy sh*t' moment back in Season 1, and completely changed the game for the better. Ward was free of the S.H.I.E.L.D. shackles, and became one of the show's strongest antagonists, because he basically WAS S.H.I.E.L.D., only a bad guy, and allowed for a great, intense, personal rivalry with his former friends.

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NCTJ-qualified journalist. Most definitely not a racing driver. Drink too much tea; eat too much peanut butter; watch too much TV. Sadly only the latter paying off so far. A mix of wise-old man in a young man's body with a child-like wonder about him and a great otherworldly sensibility.