15 Greatest HBO Characters Of All Time

The gangster who wants to go straight is a trope as old as the gangster movie itself. Time and again we've witnessed the plight of the mob boss who wants to sack off the crime for the simple life. In theory, The Wire's Stringer Bell should be just another example of this – but in the hands of British actor/Sky shill Idris Elba, the West Baltimore drug family's second in command is so much more.

Much of The Wire revolves around individuals who are trapped in worlds they can't change, and this is perhaps best exemplified by Stringer's season 3 arc. He boasts an intimidating physical presence, but Stringer's zest for the gangster life has faded through the twin threats of incarceration and death. He is an idealist and a thinker, hoping for the day that the city's drug crews can stop shooting at each other, and team up in the pursuit of pure, capitalistic profit.

Of course, this being The Wire, and Baltimore, things don't work like that. The game is the game, and it will not be changed. And it's a testament to the character's development and Elba's restrained performance that, despite the myriad dreadful things we've witnessed Stringer do, we still feel for him when his attempts to change the system go so horribly wrong. He may be a ruthless kingpin, but he's also a dreamer of failed dreams – and who can't relate to that?