6 TV Protagonists Constantly Upstaged By Supporting Characters

3. Peter Petrelli (Heroes)

There's no avoiding the fact that Peter Petrelli was Heroes' Chosen One in the first season, as the foil to the villainous Sylar. It's the culmination of his arc which forms the climax of the season, as Nathan Petrelli sacrifices himself to save his little brother. 'Great,' we thought, 'now Heroes has its tragedy all wrapped up, it can move on to the mystery of The Company and the stoic hitman/protective father Noah Bennet. That should be good.' Instead, Heroes decided to resurrect Peter via a convoluted plot involving amnesia, fake Irishmen, and time travel, and by the end of that arc, we didn't want him back. Peter's idealism soon seemed like naïveté and even stupidity in comparison to the series' more complex characters, such as Kristen Bell's Elle, Sylar and the aforementioned Noah. For a long time, it was as if he belonged to a different show. Eventually Heroes revoked Peter's protagonist status by toning down his powers and he became a part of the ensemble in the final third of the series, which went some way to redeeming him.