Best 10 Male Television Characters Past And Present

As a woman, I tend to lean towards the male television characters of any television show that I watch. They have to be handsome, charismatic and funny. And while the "eye candy" is a bonus, these actors must be able to convey the emotions that they need to in order to bring the television character to life. The writers have to be good - otherwise, the actors, no matter how handsome or how good they are at their job, will not have a television character that will stand out and be memorable.

The television character also has to be multi-dimensional - someone that can make you cry one minute and laugh with them the next. They have to be serious, yet funny. Sure of themselves, yet shy at times. With a combination of great writers and actors, these male television characters manage to draw you into their lives, sharing their emotions with you on the roller coaster rides of their lives.

10) Jeremy Bolt from "Here Come The Brides"

There are many of you who will not even recognize this television character's name, let alone the fact that Bobby Sherman (who is he, right?) played him on the show. However, as a 9 year old, I watched this television show every Friday night for two years until it went off the air. If I did something wrong during the week, my punishment was that I could not watch "Here Come The Brides." When this happened I was devastated.

Jeremy Bolt was the youngest brother of three. He and his brothers were alone in the world after their parents died, leaving them with one thing - a mountain. Bridal Veil Mountain to be exact. They formed a logging company there and had to fight week after week to keep their business, their mountain, their legacy from one Aaron Stempel who was always plotting to take it away from them.

Most of the first season revolved around the bet that the three brothers made with Aaron Stempel in order to keep their loggers happy. Seattle, where they lived, had no hospitals, doctors - basically not much at all. The loggers wanted women. Decent women that they could marry. So Jason, Joshua and Jeremy sailed all the way to New England in order to recruit 100 women to come back to Seattle in order to find a husband. Stempel funded the trip on the basis that if they could not recruit 100 eligible and well refined ladies or failed to keep all of them in Seattle for a year, then they would have to turn their mountain over to him.

Even though the premise of the show was lame in the first season, it grew better in the second as did Jeremy's character. Jeremy had to fight to get not only his brother's respect, but the townspeople's as well. Jeremy started out being a young man who was very shy and unsure of himself. He didn't have much to say because he was afraid that others would make fun of him since he had a stuttering problem. A stuttering problem that was more mental than physical. It appeared during the funeral of his mother when he couldn't bring himself to say, "Amen, " after the prayers were over.

With the help of one Ms. Candy Prewitt, who Jeremy met on the ship and instantly fell in love with, Jeremy overcame his stuttering problem. With the love of a good woman behind him and the eventual respect of his brothers, Jeremy became a more confident young man who was even willing to help raise Candy's orphaned family members when their parents were killed and they arrived in Seattle.

Watching Jeremy grow and develop was one of the great things about this television character. But the main things that made Jeremy Bolt memorable was the fact that he was a young man who took things to heart. He felt so deeply - not just for himself, his family members or his friends but for complete strangers as well. Jeremy was compassionate and wore his heart on his sleeve. He wasn't afraid to show any emotion (even crying) if the situation called for it. This is very rare in most male characters, or men in general, since they seem to think that showing emotions is a sign of weakness. To me, it proves that they are strong enough to not fall into the trap of the "guy code."

Jeremy was innocent yet strong. He was loyal to a fault and would do anything for anyone that he loved. Jeremy was handsome but he didn't know that. He was romantic, gentle, sweet, charming and funny - all the characteristics I wanted in the man that I would someday marry - and eventually did. So thank you Jeremy, for giving me an idea of what I was looking for in a man.

9) Byron Sully of "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman"

"Sully", as he was known to everyone, tried to be a friend to not only the indians, but to the townsfolk as well. This was a difficult thing to accomplish back in the 1800's, yet Sully accomplished it to a certain degree. Sully was mostly a loner after the deaths of his child and wife, Abigail during labor complications. That is, until the headstrong and beautiful Dr. Michaela Quinn arrived in Colorado Springs. Sully was immediately impressed by Michaela, who like himself, stood up for the indians, black people and anyone else who seemed "different" to the townspeople. The more Sully was around Michaela, the more he fell in love with her, despite the fact that they were different in many ways - such as her wanting the town to grow and Sully wanting it to stay the same.

Their love for each other outweighed any disagreements these two had and they fell in love, eventually marrying and having a child of their own while raising Michaela's adopted children - Matthew, Colleen and Brian. Watching Sully go from being a loner who tried not to love anyone for fear of being hurt again to a man who began to love Michaela and her three children was an amazing journey.

Sully had a rough exterior, but he was a marshmallow on the inside. Sully was a very kind and caring man who became a father figure to Matthew, Colleen and Brian even before he married Michaela. He was a man who lived by his beliefs, never compromised his morals, and never jumped to any conclusions about anything or anyone before first trying to get to the truth of the person or matter.

If Sully disagreed with anyone - about most things, and especially Michaela or the children - he would try to see their side of the argument. To be fair, to listen and to think about what the other one had to say. However, if Sully still did not agree with this person, he agreed to disagree. Sully was a very kind man, however, if anyone tried to hurt someone Sully cared a great deal about, especially Michaela or the children, Sully was a deadly, dangerous man who would do anything he had to do in order to guarantee their safety.

8) Tom Hanson of "21 Jumpstreet"

Who can forget Johnny Depp's first role on television? Johnny was an unknown when he took on the role of Tom Hanson, a young man who wanted to follow in his father's footsteps by becoming a policeman. However, things did not go easily for Tom, since he looked too young to be a cop. Thus, he was sent to Jumpstreet, where he became a great undercover cop who haunted the hallways of high schools, busting kids for drugs, rape, blackmail and even murder.

Tom was the straight man to his partner, Douglas Penhall (played brilliantly by Peter DeLuise), yet he could be funny himself. Tom was the type of policeman that wanted to help everyone and took it hard when he realized he couldn't always save them. He was a gorgeous man who didn't seem to realize that he was gorgous, nor the effect he had on the women in his world. Tom had strong morals and was loyal to the ones that were close to him. He wanted to make his father proud and having lost my own father at a young age, I could understand how he felt and it made me bond with him.

7) Wesley Wyndham Price of "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" and "Angel"

Wesley was a memorable television character because he was a character you loved to hate on "Buffy" yet became the character you were impressed with and loved on "Angel."

When Wesley first arrived in Joss Whedon's world, no one wanted to like this man. Wesley was sent by the Watcher's Counsel to take Giles' job away from him. Since most "Buffy" fans loved Giles, this was just unacceptable in their eyes. This made everyone begrudge the fact that Wesley was even around. Add the fact that Wesley was a prissy, self-centered know-it-all who tried to act like a bigshot, when in fact he was a coward, and it was understandable that most fans of the show hated Wesley. Even the fact that Alexis Denisoff, portrayer of the character, was a very handsome man did nothing to help with his popularity on the show.

Fast forward a few years to "Angel" and Wesley once again appeared in Whedon's world. This time, while he was still a little inept and a bit of a coward, Wesley was more lovable and fun to watch. Wesley was put on the show to replace the late, great and very well-loved Glenn Quinn but this time fans accepted him. Why? Quinn's character, Doyle had lost his life on the show and sadly the same thing happened in real life. So while Wesley was replacing someone, yet again, it was understandable this time. And Alexis did a great job of getting fans to fall in love with the "new and somewhat improved" Wesley.

Over the years on "Angel, " Wesley did a lot of growing up - not only fighting the creatures that tended to try to kill him but also emotionally as well. It was mentioned on the show that Wesley's father was an overbearing lout of a man who expected only perfection, which explained why Wesley always tried to be perfect. By showing the reasons behind his needs, fans could empathize with Wesley's character and tried to cheer him on. Wesley, in the meantime, began to realize that trying to be perfect was a fruitless attempt and began to come to terms with himself and his limits.

Wesley made mistakes - the biggest being the fact that instead of confiding in his friends about the prophecy he had uncovered that said that Angel would kill his son, he instead kidnapped Conner to protect him. And while we fans could understand his motives, we questioned his methods and decisions. Wesley ended up losing not only Connor but his friends as well. It was then, on his own, that Wesley became more hard core while still retaining his "white hat" status.

Wesley had compassion and loved his friends with all his heart, yet he did whatever he had to do in order to save them and the world. By having the strength to do this while still retaining his good qualities, Wesley became a very loved and memorable character.

6) John Clark, Jr. of "NYPD Blue"

Being Andy Sipowicz's partner and earning his trust was never an easy thing for any of the partners he had, however, it was especially hard for John Clark, Jr. Why? Seems Andy and John Clark, Sr. hated each other's guts. And the timing of Clark helping Andy and becoming his partner sucked. So while John, Sr. and Andy were not happy with Johnny working with Andy, it also came at the worst possible time - while Andy's third partner was missing and later found dead.

Because of this, Andy was adamant that he did not want John, Jr. or anyone else as his partner. He had already lost three partners and wanted to work alone for a while so that he grieve for his last one. John Kelly, Andy's first partner resigned from the force after the higherups found out that he had withheld evidence during a murder case. Bobby Simone, Andy's second partner and best friend died after a bout with heart problems. Danny Sorenson, Andy's third partner and the one he was grieving for, had gone missing and been killed by drug dealers that Danny was investigating. Guess anyone could see why Andy would balk at having another partner, much less one whose father he hated intensly.

Despite all these problems, John proved himself to Andy over time. Andy came to like and respect John and even began to think of John as a surrogate son. And if this weren't enough to make John Clark, Jr. a memorable television character, the things he went through during the three years he was on the show would.

John had a love/hate relationship with his father. John, Sr. did everything he possibly could to keep his son from working with Andy - even to the point where he forced John to choose between himself and working with Andy. John, Jr. had come to respect Andy and felt that his father was wrong about him. He didn't want his father making his decisions for him, so he stood up to him and chose Andy. In doing so, John, Jr. was kicked out of their home and was forced to sleep in his car for a time.

John was also embarrassed frequently by his father, who would often show up at the local bar where the cops from the 15th precinct would hang out at or at the 15 precinct himself. John was also investigated when a prostitute was found dead and his name popped up in her little black book. John, Jr. kept it to himself that the name in her book was actually his father's but Andy suspected something was going on. John, Sr. was content to let his son take the heat for him so that he could keep his pension until Andy visited him and made him feel guilty. John, Sr. went to the police and confessed that it was him, and not Johnny, that they were needing to question. John, Jr. was happy that his father was taking responsibility and hoped they would become close again, however, that was not to be.

In order to save his pension, John Sr. flipped on a few cops. Of course, we all know what went down then whether we actually watched the show or not. These fellow police officers blamed John, Jr. for getting into trouble and John was harrassed continually, even though Andy had his back. He ended up boxing against Laughlin, the biggest problem, in a boxing match for charity. Even though Laughlin fought dirty, John managed to win the bout with Andy cheering from the sideline.

Laughlin was even more upset after the fight and took his vendetta against John one step further. He planted heroin in John's car and John was arrested. John turned to Andy for support and help, which just angered his drunken father more. After a show down between father and son at the jail, John, Sr. had it out with Andy who basically told him that he was no good to his son. Andy had gone through alcoholism and was still fighting it, so he knew what he was talking about. Andy ended up uncovering the truth and managed to get John out of jail while John, Sr. hit the bottle once again.

Time after time John was called away from the 15th precinct to pick his father up at the local bar. Finally, things came to a head. John insisted that he and Andy stop by his father's apartment and check up on him while investigating a case since he hadn't heard from him and was worried. Andy tried to assure John that his father was all right but when they entered the apartment they found John, Sr. on the couch, blood spattered on the walls, a gun in his hand and a tape for John beside of him. Andy made sure the police called it an accidental shooting while cleaning his gun before he went back to the precinct and ranted about John, Sr.'s selfishness and how he didn't care what he did to his son's life.

With Andy's help, John, Jr. seemed to recover from his father's death but ended up in a relationship with a woman who suffered from manic depression. Over time, she got worse and had to be committed to a mental hospital. She managed to escape and killed herself as well and John's life spiraled out of control. He began to drink and womanize, going so far as to lose a case because of his promiscuity. Andy had many heart felt talks with John before he finally got through to him.

If earning Andy's trust and love and going through all of these hard times wasn't enough to make this television character memorable, then there was one other thing. Mark Paul Gossalaar, who had portrayed Zack Morris on "Saved By The Bell, " was an "iffy" actor for the part to the NYPD fans, yet he managed to win them over just as John had Andy. Who would have thought that Mark Paul could make you forget about Zack Morris and become the great dramatic actor that he became on "NYPD Blue?"

5) Dean Winchester of "Supernatural"

If ever there were a television character who epitomized love of family and loyalty to same, it has to be Dean Winchester. From the time he was little, Dean gave up his own childhood in order to help his father kill all kinds of supernatural creatures while searching for the one that had killed his mother. Not only did he follow his father without every questioning him, Dean also took care of his little brother, Sammy, keeping him safe while his father was away even though he was still a child himself.

When his father died, Dean was devastated. Not only had he lost his hero, but he felt guilty since his father traded his own life to save Dean. Dean turned around and did the same thing for Sam when he was killed, knowing that he couldn't live without his little brother. Fortunately for Dean and his fans, Dean was resurrected by Angels and is once again fighting the demons in the world while also fighting his own personal demons brought back from being in hell.

Dean always felt that he had to be nearly perfect in order to win his father's approval while Sam did not. While Dean is brash, charismatic, cool and funny he has a deep seated insecurity that rears it's ugly head from time to time. Dean's biggest fear in life was always losing his family - a fear that came true when his father, and then Sam, were both killed. Now that he and Sam are once again together, Dean is still afraid that he will lose his brother - either to death or to his pyschic powers that Dean feels might make Sammy evil.

Jensen Ackles does a wonderful job of showing all of Dean's emotions. Dean is definitely the kind of guy that you would want to have for a brother and he is the type of character that makes viewers want to reach through the screen and give him a comforting hug.

4) Spike of "Buffy The Vampire Slayer"

Spike has to be the most uncharacteristic vampire that has graced any television or movie screen. Played by the sexy James Marsters, Spike is definitely a memorable television character for many reasons. Outwardly, Spike is not dark and deadly like most vampires. Instead, Spike has a "Billy Idol" appearance - one that he insists Billy Idol took from him. With his bleached blond hair, chiseled cheekbones, beautiful blue eyes and cocky swagger, it is no wonder that Spike has managed to lure so many victims to him - both female and male. And just like his outward appearance, this television character has an appealing personality as well.

Spike seems to have retained a lot of his "human persona, " William. When Spike first appeared on "Buffy, " he was portrayed as a very deadly vampire who had already killed two slayers on his own and planned to make Buffy his third. But Spike wasn't that one-dimensional. While he was deadly to the human race, he had a great love for his beautiful and crazy sire, Drusilla. In fact, Spike was faithful and loving to Drusilla for over 100 years despite the fact that she cheated on him with Angelus (her sire) and any other creature that appealed to her.

This truly hurt Spike, but never more than she was with Angelus. Spike had a love for family, which seemed to stem from how much William loved his mother. Spike very much wanted to be a part of a family, whether it was vampire, human or a mixture. He hated being alone. Instead, Spike tried to seek out companionship whenever it was possible.

When Spike was "chipped" by the Initiative, he turned to Buffy and her Scoobies, despite the fact that they were supposed to be his natural enemies. That craving for being close to others took over and he became an integral part of the Scoobies at the last, going so far as to save their lives. Many viewers feel that this was due to Spike's feelings for Buffy alone, however, I prefer to think that Spike had a relationship with each and every member of the Scooby gang.

Spike supposedly loved Buffy, however, after watching the whole "vampire in love with a vampire slayer" storyline with Buffy and Angel, I felt this was a regurgitated storyline. Personally, I prefer to believe that Spike became obsessed with Buffy after being chipped because he knew that he could not kill her. Spike even admitted this to a degree after their first time together when he stated, "I always knew the next best thing to killing a slayer would be to----, " at which point Buffy hit him.

Spike and Buffy were better off as friends. With Buffy, Willow, Tara, Joyce or Dawn viewers were allowed to see the sensitive, caring and charming side of Spike. Spike also enjoyed commiserating over the good old days with ex-vengeance demon, Anya, although at times he would get aggravated with her. Giles and Xander - well, why they all stated that they hated each other, when the chips were down (no pun intended) they would risk their own lives to save each other. Watching Spike talk to Giles, and especially Xander, the viewers were treated to the annoying Spike.

No matter which side of Spike you were watching, you were always sure that this television character would do something that you would remember for a very long time. And while most "Buffy" fans enjoyed the Spike/Buffy relationship, I preferred to watch Spike's scenes with the others, especially Xander. Never has there been two characters on any given show that could trade such barbs and snark at each like these two could. It made for very funny and interesting television, since Xander and Spike could go from mouthing at each other to rescuing each other in seconds.

3) Leroy Jethro Gibbs of "NCIS"

Mark Harmond does a wonderful job of bringing Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs to life. Gibbs, as he known by his colleagues, is a mysterious and complex man. He seldom talks about his private life, to the point where even his closest friends did not know about his first wife, Shannon and their daughter, Kelly until Gibbs was almost killed in an explosion. Shannon witnessed a murder and was being protected by an NIS Agent. While the agent was driving a car with Shannon and Kelly inside, the murderer shot the agent, killing him and making the car wreck. Shannon and Kelly both died instantly. Mike Franks, the NCIS agent assigned to the case left the file on his desk and walked away, allowing Gibbs to see who the killer was. Gibbs, using his sniper skills, killed the man and returned, becoming an NCIS agent because of Mike Franks.

Gibbs has had 3 ex-wives since Shannon, never finding true happiness any of them. In fact, one ended up going after him with a baseball bat while another split his skull open with a golf club. Gibbs is a self-proclaimed bastard, who finds it hard to form lasting relationships with anyone due to his fear of losing others that he has grown to love. Yet despite this fear, Gibbs has become the father figure to his team, especially Abby and Tony.

While Gibbs has trouble trusting people, he excels at being an NCIS Special Agent and Team Leader. Gibbs has won seven awards, although he has never shown up to accept any of them. Instead, he allows his Senior Field Agent, Anthony DiNozzo, have the honors. Not only does Tony accept the awards on Gibbs behalf, Gibbs allows him to keep them, which he does - in his top desk drawer at NCIS headquarters. Gibbs has no need for awards. Making sure justice is served and trying to help others so that they won't have to feel the pain that he has is reward enough for Gibbs.

Gibbs expects nothing but the best from his team and himself. And while he is a hard core, ex-marine sniper, he also has a soft side which is often evidenced when he is around his long time friend Ducky or his forensics expert and surrogate daughter, Abby Sciuto. Gibbs is hard on the rest of team and trains them with a firm hand but that is only because he does not want to lose any of them. He cares deeply for each and every agent on his team, especially Tony, who is like a son to him. Gibbs sees a younger version of himself in Tony and the similarities between these two characters have been mentioned on the show.

Gibbs is definitely the boss from hell and is very hard to work for but he is also loyal, loving, caring and the kind of man that you would want watching your back if you worked in the kind of profession that these people do. He expects loyalty from his team and has earned it several times over. Gibbs is extremely intelligent, yet lacks the technological skills that are needed in this day and time to work on a computer or use a cell phone. Gibbs is sarcastic, quiet yet funny. Head slapping aside - who wouldn't want to work for him?

2) Xander Harris of "Buffy The Vampire Slayer"

On a show where everyone had special powers or talents that ranged from being a vampire slayer to a witch or sorcerer, who couldn't help but remember the one normal person in the group? The one normal person amongst a group of heroes who would throw himself in front of said superheroes if he thought he was saving their lives. Xander was a television character that was scared, yet did not hesitate to jump into the fray knowing that he might get killed but worried about his friends.

Xander was loyal and loving to a fault. While there were times when his friends would tease him about being the normal guy or would downplay his role in their group, thus hurting his feelings, Xander never walked away. Instead, Xander was always there when they faced a crises, be it emotionally or physically.

Xander was a nerd in high school - bullied by many and shunned by a lot. Still, I wish the guys who were geeks and nerds in my high school had looked like Nicholas Brendon. Nick did a great job of bringing all the qualities we loved about Xander to this television character. Xander was not only cute, he was witty, smart when he needed to be, loyal and loving. Xander was also stubborn, opinionated and had a hell of a temper when he was riled up. But the good parts outweighed the bad. Xander may piss his friends off, but he was also the one that managed to lift them up in their times of need.

When Buffy was upset about starting college and began to doubt herself, Xander was the one that helepd her get back on her vampire slaying feet by telling her that she was his hero. And when Tara, the love of Willow's life, was killed by Warren, Xander was the only one who could stop Willow from ending the world just by talking to her and telling her how much he loved her. He didn't try to tell her that what she was doing was wrong or that she should calm down like the rest of her friends. Instead, Xander told Willow that he knew he couldn't stop her and that if she was going to end the world he wanted to die with her. That speech makes me cry every time I see it.

As a matter of fact, some of the most memorable moments on "Buffy" were Xander's speeches to his friends or about his friends. When Dawn thought she was a potential slayer, only to later find out that she wasn't, she was very confused about her feelings. Xander understood her feelings and was the only one that realized that Dawn needed some moral support. Why? In Xander's own words, "They'll never know how tough it is, Dawnie. To be the one who isn't chosen. To live so near to the spotlight and never step into it. But I know. I see more than anybody realizes because no one's watching me." He went on to tell Dawn that she wasn't special - she was extraordinary. This made Dawn cry and us viewers as well.

When the potential slayers were questioning Buffy's decision to storm the vineyard where the evil preacher man, Caleb was at, Xander once again gave a moving speech, this time taking up for Buffy. Even though he had warned her privately that this was probably a trap and he did not feel good about the plan, he trusted Buffy. As he told the potentials, "I've been through more battles with Buffy than you can ever imagine. She's stopped everything that's ever come up against her. She's laid down her life literally to protect the people around her. This girl has died two times and she is still standing. You're scared. That's smart. You have questions-you should. But you doubt her motives, you think Buffy's all about the kill, then you take the little bus to battle. I've seen her heart and this time not literally. And I'm telling you right now that she cares more about your lives than you will ever know. You gotta trust her. She's earned it."

Sadly, after this moving speech, Xander was hurt trying to help girls that he barely knew. Girls that were stronger than him - a normal man. Yet there he was, trying to get them away from the evil man. Would we expect any less of Xander? Unfortunately, he was caught and had his eye jabbed out. Thankfully, Spike saved him before he was completely blinded, yet everyone felt the pain. The potentials didn't want to listen to anything Buffy had to say and even Buffy's closest friends began to question where her mind was at. Willow never went against Buffy, except when she was trying to end the world, but she did so after Xander was hurt. As did Anya, Giles, Faith and Dawn. The First knew something that even the Scoobies did not know until that moment. Xander was the heart of the group. Take out the heart and you can easily kill the others. Once again, Spike came through and talked Buffy into returning to her friends and they made up, saving the world once again. But no one would ever doubt Xander's worth ever again.

The show ended but our memories of the "normal but heart of the group guy" Alexander LaVelle Harris will live on for years to come.

1) Anthony (Tony) DiNozzo of "NCIS"

My favorite and most memorable television character is one that you will either love or hate. There is no in-between for Tony DiNozzo. Tony, played the gorgeous and very talented, Michael Weatherly, can be obnoxious, rude, immature and annoying. He can also be charming, sweet, caring and funny.

Tony is the Senior Field Agent on Team Gibbs. He loves to pull rank on the rest of the team when the need arises, however, when offered his own team in Rota, Spain, Tony turned the offer down. He made excuses that ranged from worrying about whether Gibbs was back to true form yet after the explosion to the La Granouille undercover case but every viewer knew why Tony was hesistant to take the job. He did not want to leave his family. Tony, the man who likes to share everything with his colleagues, including his sex life, did not even tell them that he had been offered the promotion, even when McGee basically told Tony that he didn't feel Tony could lead his own team.

Again, surprising that Tony did not come back with the fact that he had already been offered a job like that. As mentioned earlier, Tony loves to share everything with his co-workers and wants them to be the same way. When they try to keep a secret from him, Tony has no qualms about snooping through their things (such as desk drawers, cell phones or PDA's) in order to learn what the secret might be. If caught, Tony uses the excuse that he is, "just trying to hone my investigative skills."

Tony equates almost everything in life, especially cases, to movies that he has seen. He also loves to do impersonations - most often Sean Connery or Jack Nicholson. While these traits are annoying to the others, they often help solve the case. And when Tony isn't around to bring up movie references or do impersonations, everyone is bored and lonely without him.

Tony can be very immature, which usually earns him a head slap from Gibbs. However, Tony can also be very serious when he needs to be. He is very intelligent when it comes to the actual crime scene investigating and is very observant. Tony catches many things that the others do not and has come up with how to catch the criminal many times. When Tony does manage to stumble into trouble, he knows how to take care of himself and to bide his time until help can arrive.

Whether Tony is trapped in a steel box with his partner, Officer Ziva David, being held hostage by a knife wielding man in a hotel room or in a locked in room in the sewers with a man close to death, Tony knows how to get himself out of trouble. If he has no way of doing this, then he leaves clues for the rest of the team so that they can find and help him. This was especially true the time Tony was chained to a man he thought was only a thief (when in reality he was a Mac the Knife serial killer) and lost both GPS signals. Instead of panicking, Tony used many methods such as leaving a set of keys in a pay phone so they could trace the calls to using one of the suspects cell phone and calling Gibbs every 10 minutes so that Gibbs would trace the GPS on the cell and end of finding him.

Tony is very trusting, especially when it comes to Gibbs. He hero-worships his boss/father figure and never doubts that Gibbs will arrive in time to save the day. Tony also trusts his other co-workers, thinking of McGee and Jimmy as little brothers, Ducky as a grandfather, Kate (when she was alive) and Abby as sisters, Jenny as a mother and Ziva - well, Ziva is a litte hard for Tony to figure out. While Tony teases her there is also a sexual tension between these two.

Tony is a womanizer since he has commitment phobia. He is rarely with one woman for longer than a week or two. Tony's longest relationship was with Jeanne Benoit, a relationship that was doomed from the start. Tony was working undercover to help Jenny bust Jeanne's arms running father but by the time the case was halfway over, Tony had truly fallen in love with Jeanne. When Jeanne found out what was going on, she left Tony a note telling him he had to choose between her and his work. Tony ended up burning her note, thus choosing his NCIS family. Of course we viewers never doubted Tony's loyalty and love for them.

Tony is definitely the kind of person that I would love to work with or be friends with. Not only is Tony easy on the eyes, he is also very charming and funny and I would never have to worry about him having my back in a bad situation. Tony also tries to look out for his co-workers and would die for any one of them. He is loyal to a fault and strong in his convictions. Tony has so many layers that just when you think you have peeled them all back, another one makes an appearance. And Michael weatherly plays this television character and his layers brilliantly. That is why Anthony DiNozzo is my favorite and most memorable character.

So there you have it. My top 10 memorable characters and why. You may have figured out by now that I tend to remember the men who are tough enough to take care of themselves and their loved ones yet have a soft side. The ones who are fiercely loyal and protective of the ones they love, are charming, sweet and have a great sense of humor. Whether they are men who supposedly lived in the 1800's, cops, supernatural beings or those that fight them - they will always be remembered in my heart and mind long after their shows have gone off the airwaves.