Bad Guys Gone Good: Our Favorite TV Villains Who Turned Over a New Leaf

Photo: Byron Cohen/FX

Jax Taylor – Sons of Anarchy

When you’re the head of the toughest and most revered motorcycle club on the West Coast, you have to be tough. You can’t appear vulnerable or soft, and much of the bad stuff that happened to Jax was because he was both of these things.

Jax inherited the leadership to the club from his father and then step father. Both of these men were ruthless killers and criminals, and although Jax did his best to fill their shoes, he was never quite the villain they were.

That doesn’t mean he didn’t do some really awful things or create terror and mayhem when he had to, but he always felt conflicted about the destruction around him. He was indirectly responsible for his wife’s death and the kidnapping of their son, and he flat out murdered his mother. It’s hard to excuse that, in any situation.

But ultimately, he went to the ends of the Earth to protect the people that he loved, even if it meant he had to suffer an incredible amount of fallout. He struggled to free himself from the life of crime and murder, and it was this drive that made him a better hero than villain. He may never have found a legitimate way out, but he wanted to, and it’s the thought that counts, right?