Television has not only improved drastically the past decade but I've noticed an increase in anti-heroes. Or badasses, to be blunt. When coming up with this list, I took into account the many levels of badassness and varying degress of badassery it takes to bring such memorable characters to the small screen in a big way. This meant taking into consideration psychological violence as well as physical mayhem. One can be a badass and not lift a finger, or you can be a badass and chop someone in half with a sword. The important aspect of a ranked badass list takes into careful consideration all aspects of the title.
Six of the below TV shows featuring badasses are still airing with new episodes and the remainder are all current enough that I could exclude Tom Selleck, Mr. T, Chuck Norris and Kramer. I kept it nice and relevant so enjoy and feel free to debate the following list of television's most badass characters.
#9. Rory McCann as The Hound (Sandor Clegane) in Game of Thrones
I had ruled 'The Hound' out of this list until I saw episode 9 of season two, 'Blackwater'. There has been a plethora of badassness throughout both seasons of HBO's dark fantasy drama, but it wasn't until The Hound lost his s*** during the epic battle of Blackwater on the second season that I realized he's the standout of the show. In the source material, The Hound is more outspoken than his TV counterpart, so his on-screen demeanor is more of a silent menace. [Check out the rape rescue sequence in which The Hound guts some thugs in an alley without saying a word to know precisely what I mean.]
Why he's a badass: The disfigured knight is tough as nails despite his fear of flames and the violence he unleashes on that beach in Blackwater is terrifying. He literally chops foes in half with his sword. In the end he also tells the dickhead king Joffrey to go "F*** himself" before abandoning what he deems a lost cause. On a show with so many 'bad' characters, The Hound seems to be the one true badass.
#7. Ray Stevenson as Titus Pullo in Rome
The short lived HBO series Rome was historically accurate. By historically accurate I mean savage and very brutal. The most violence exhibited on-screen stemmed from Ray Stevenson's Titus. The former Roman soldier struggled to fit into society after being discharged from service and ended up becoming an assassin for a crime syndicate, but he didn't need money to kill. More times than not, Titus would drunkenly murder someone in a bar fight anyway.
Why he's a badass: The gladiator sequence at the end of season one is one of the most amazing things I've ever seen on TV. After Titus is imprisoned and facing death in the arena, his emotional comeback and fight for survival solidifies him as a hero and righteous badass of epic proportions. I would have to assume Stevenson's film career exists because of these scenes. Throughout the course of the series Titus smashes people's skulls with his bare hands and strangles women to death, proving his ferocity holds no bounds.
READ MORE: http://www.dailyblam.com/news/2012/06/19/top-10-television-badasses-of-the-past-decade
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