13 Despicable TV Villains Who Were Finally Delivered Justice

8. Stringer Bell - The Wire

Stringer Bell is certainly one of the most fascinating characters in The Wire, the second in command to Avon Barksdale and acting boss of his organisation while Barksdale is in jail. Far away from the stereotype that many other characters in the series perpetuate of gangsters being unintelligent and quick to anger, Bell is a thorough tactician, taking economics classes at a Baltimore college, shown to be a keen reader, and smartly placing layers of distance between himself and the criminal activities of the organisation.

By season three, Stringer has aligned himself with many rival dealers and has heavily organised Barksdale's outfit, while keenly keeping violence to a minimum in order to lower police interest in their operations.

Things take a turn for the worse, however, when Avon is released from prison, and intends to start a war with rival Marlo Stanfield, essentially placing a strain on Stringer's relationships with his colleagues such as Prop Joe. Stringer's legitimate business prospects become caught up in bureaucratic red tape while his relationship with Avon is damaged by him revealing that he ordered the murder of his nephew, D'Angelo, and the Major Crimes Unit prepares to pounce on Stringer.

To save his own hide, Avon ends up selling Stringer out to Brother Mouzone, who has Omar shoot Stringer dead after a tense stand-off at a construction site. Stringer was an admirable character to the point that even McNulty couldn't hide how impressed he was with the guy's intellect and ambition, and though he did try to avoid bloodshed where possible, it was just a matter of time before a drug kingpin of his stature got taken down.