Marvel's Luke Cage: Ranking Every Major Character From Worst To Best

Finest Moment: Dying. It was for the greater good, though.

Hands up who actually expected to see Luke Cage's mentor and all-round Harlem legend killed off in the second episode? Anyone? Thought not.

Pop's death was a remarkably brave story-telling decision: his removal galvanised Luke and turned him from off-the-grid hermit to reluctant hero. But that's not to say he was just a narrative device: up to his death, Pop had depth and substance; he was charming; he obviously had dark secrets in his past and he was a pillar of Harlem.

Subsequently, the revelations that he was an out-and-out thug (and that his name wasn't paternal, but was instead a name picked up because of his violence) added something entirely different, making him an even more poignant, important figure.