Ranking All Main Characters From Boardwalk Empire

In a show that followed mobsters and swindlers, there had to be a lawman skulking round nipping at the heels of the crooks. But Boardwalk Empire couldn't just give us Elliot Ness (though it does later toward the end), the show needed someone who should have their own TV show all together. With that, viewers were treated to the virtuous, god-fearing, intensely rage-filled and unexpectedly comical Nelson Van Alden, played by Michael Shannon.

For the first two seasons of the show, viewers are presented with a man on a mission from both god and the law. And his stone-faced resilience toward alcohol is only made the more complex when we realise how corruptible he actually is. Convincing himself he is the epitome of righteous beliefs, viewers are never sure if he is enacting the wrath of god or slowly losing his mind.

After going on the run and becoming a mob enforcer under the name George Mueller, Shannon almost becomes a new character as he takes on the persona of a bumbling, comedic individual that still harbours the violent tendencies of Nelson Van Alden.

His rage-filled outbursts throughout the series have included drowning a man during a baptism and scarring a co-workers face with an electric iron - something that summarises the character in so many ways.