The 99 Greatest TV Characters Since Tony Soprano: #99-90

On January 10, 1999, a bathrobe-clad Tony Soprano first bent over to pick up a Star-Ledger in his driveway — and TV changed forever. We’re celebrating this new Golden Age of Television by paying tribute to our favorite TV characters who’ve debuted since The Sopranos premiered. No reality TV here, folks: just the 99 richest, most fascinating fictional characters from both comedies and dramas to grace the small screen over the past decade and a half. We love TV… and these people are the reason why.

99. Cookie Lyon, Empire

We’ve only just met Cookie, but we’ve been smitten since the day she strutted — fur coat and all — onto our TV screens. After a long stint in prison, Cookie returned to town determined to get half of her ex-husband Lucious’s uber-successful record label that she helped create. But before you get it twisted, Cookie is anything but the underdog. In fact, her loud, tell-it-like-it-is attitude makes her the top dog; Cookie throws shade like no other, and her adversaries (we’re talking about you, Boo Boo Kitty!) are absolutely no match. But despite Cookie’s wickedly funny snark, she’s a fiercely loving and protective mama bear. Her vulnerability towards her family makes her Empire's most sympathetic character. — Chrissy Le Nguyen

98. Richard Harrow, Boardwalk Empire

He might look like a monster from a horror movie, but beneath that ghoulish half-face lies a gentle soul. Harrow was disfigured in World War I, forcing him to wear a tin mask over his face and turning his voice into a raspy rumble. Still, he was a loyal ally to gangster Jimmy Darmody, where his sharpshooting skills came in handy, and a tender surrogate father to Jimmy’s son after his death. We saw plenty of colorful characters get gunned down on HBO’s Prohibition crime saga, but no death was more heartbreaking than Richard’s. — Dave Nemetz

97. Toni and Candace, Portlandia

We’re grouping these two together, which we’re sure they’d complain about — but then again, they’d complain about this whole list, and how phallocentric it is. The finest creations to come out of IFC’s pitch-perfect hipster satire, these combative owners of a local feminist bookstore attack just about everyone who sets foot in their store for reinforcing the patriarchal status quo. (“Every time you point, I see a penis.”) They’ve tried to enlighten everyone from Steve Buscemi to the Portland Trail Blazers cheerleading squad… but their unsold stock of vagina pillows proves we still have a lot of work to do as a society. — DN

96. Louis Litt, Suits

Don’t twist your tongue on it or anything, but Louis Litt has layers. Despite lording over the show’s associates with an iron fist and leaving them quivering in perpetual fear, this lawyer is a lonely pile of mush desperate for Harvey’s friendship and Jessica’s approval. Louis broke our hearts and yet had us cheering when he discovered the truth about Mike and used that leverage to finally get his name added to the door. “Pearson Specter Litt” Litt us up. — Breanne L. Heldman

95. Jane Kerkovich, Happy Endings

It pains us to pick a favorite among the flawless Happy Endings sextet, but if we absolutely have to choose, we’re going with Jane… only because she’d destroy us if we didn’t. A Type A go-getter with killer legs and a hyper-competitive streak, Jane just wants to run everyone’s life for them because she can do it so much better, is that so wrong? (“I’m not controlling; I’m just aggressively helpful.”) Of couse, it was the chemistry between the six leads that elevated this criminally underseen sitcom to greatness. But if all six had to fight to the death, Hunger Games-style? We’d bet the house on Jane. — DN

94. Abby Sciuto, NCIS

Within the show, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service’s top forensic scientist has been dubbed “the happiest Goth you’ll ever meet.” In real life, where NCIS is TV’s top-rated series 12 seasons in, she’s proof that the best procedurals are in fact character-driven. Intelligent and sweet with a spiderweb neck tattoo and a coffin that she sleeps in, Abby is a short-skirt-wearing caffeine addict who’s had a special father-daughter relationship with gruff boss Gibbs from the start. Other “quirky” goth-nerds have followed on other dramas, but few have Abby’s heart and genuine appeal. — Mandi Bierly

93. Walter Bishop, Fringe

The brilliant scientist who suffered a breakdown while researching an alternate universe also discovered his opposite number over there: the cold, cruel “Walternate.” This Fringe character redefined the idea of the “mad scientist” in more ways than one: The post-breakdown, still-brilliant, but mightily eccentric (fond of both LSD and red licorice) Walter reconnected with his alienated son, Peter, and demonstrated how a man of science could use his genius to become a more humane, loving parent and friend. — Ken Tucker

92. Abed Nadir, Community

Abed is a hero to a generation raised on television. His over-the-top obsession with the small screen makes it less weird that we categorize all our life choices according to their corresponding Friends episode. Abed elevates what some see as trash — his love of the terrible The Cape, for example — into art with his love and penetrating insight into the form. Plus, by show-hopping into an episode of his favorite show, Cougar Town, Abed has basically turned Community into the sitcom version of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. — Robert Chan

91. Felicity Smoak, Arrow

It was her talent as a brilliant computer hacker that initially made her invaluable to the crime-fighting team Oliver Queen’s Arrow gathered around him, but her appeal extends well beyond that. The horn-rim glasses and a tight-skirt sauciness gives Felicity a confidence everyone responds to, especially Oliver and more recently Ray Palmer, who’s hired her to work for his Palmer Technologies and soon began romancing her. The sidekick who breaks free of that limiting role to exert influence in many areas, Felicity overturns conventional-TV expectations. — KT

90. Nero Padilla, Sons of Anarchy

Introduced in Season 5 as a love interest for Gemma and a potential role model for outlaw Jax, the OG Byz Lat-turned-upstanding “companionator” became one of the show’s most layered and respected characters (thanks in part to Smits’s nuanced performance). This is a man who made a trip to a cemetery carrying the ashes of the half-sister who shot herself in front of him seem romantic… and someone whose love almost made you believe a mother who brutally murdered her daughter-in-law was worthy of a happy ending. — MB

Each weekday for the next two weeks, we’ll reveal ten more names on our list, culminating next Friday with the 9 greatest TV characters since Tony Soprano. Stay tuned…