The Kingslayer earned his nickname by betraying and murdering his liege lord. Even worse, he carried on an incestuous relationship with his twin sister and then flung a child out of a tower window when he caught them in the act. In Season 3, however, we discovered Jaime's hitherto unknown noble side. It turns out that he saved lives by killing the mad king, who had planned on burning the city of King's Landing and all of its citizens. Also, Jaime's respect for Brienne of Tarth prompted him to save her from a death by bear-mauling. From our standpoint, it seems that really, he's been led astray by his heart and a very ambitious twin sister. And say what you will about that relationship, but at least he's been unwavering loyal to her. Cersei doesn't deserve him.

If Callie's introduction seemed a bit forced, it's because it was. After seeing Ramirez in Spamalot, the network offered her a role any ABC show and a few months later Callie Torres was born. The literal basement dweller and public urinater came into the show as a love interest for George, initially driving a wedge between him and his friends. But once Grey's dropped the contrived romance, we got to see the goofy, compassionate side of Callie and never looked back.

It's taken several helpings of humble pie to make Avery go from loathsome to likeable. It was, dare we say, enjoyable to watch Arrogant Avery's career crash and burn in Season 1 and to see Scarlett surpass him professionally after he cast her aside like a rag doll. But watching Avery get taken down a few notches and pick himself up by his cowboy bootstraps has made us actually want to root for the guy. Plus, we're loving his relationship with Juliette. Who would have thought?

Let's get one thing straight: Adam is far from perfect. To say he's got some anger issues would be an understatement, and his treatment of Natalia in Season 2 was awful at best, criminal at worst. But in a show whose main characters seem to be mostly stagnating or regressing, it's nice to see that Adam has experienced some (maybe the most?) personal growth. His interactions with Hannah have gone from dark and sordid to devoted and sweet — even if we do still struggle to understand why these people would be an item in the first place. And regarding their argument outside the theater in the Season 3 finale? We're totally Team Adam.

Yes, Lady Edith lived in the shadow of her more conventionally pretty older sister (think Jan and Marcia Brady), but she didn't have to be a whiny martyr about it! No wonder men kept leaving her. But as the period drama entered the 1920s, her spirits and sense of self-worth rose with her hemlines. Edith began to own herself, learned to drive, wrote a regular newspaper column and began seeing a handsome (if not the most eligible) man. Somehow, when everyone was focused on Lady Mary, it was Edith who blossomed and became the modern woman she had been writing about.

A poor man's Don Draper, Pete is a snivel-y, sexist, annoying little weasel with an extremely punch-able face. We love to hate him, but it's hard not to root for him a little bit when his home life fell apart (albeit as a result of his own doing) and when, as a guy who never wins, gets one every now and then. Plus, without him, we wouldn't have gotten this or this.

When she first appeared in Season 1, we knew she not only turned both Salvatores, but was behind their centuries-long rift all because they loved the same girl. She was manipulative, killed and turned our girl Caroline, and continued to do horrible, horrible things. But we started to like her sass and humor, and she livened up the show. When she became human again, which was a large part of the current Season 5, we felt bad for her! C'mon, the girl caught her first cold in, like, 500 years. More importantly, she was truly vulnerable for the first time. Yes, she cheated death by harming Elena in the process, but when she finally really died, we were bummed and immediately felt her absence. Although she's currently in "Hell," there's always hope that maybe, just maybe, she'll come back to stir the pot some more.

Most characters on The Mindy Project have gone through some serious personality rehab (or been cut altogether) since the pilot, but no one's transformation has been as welcome as Morgan's. The ex-con nurse still operates on a whole other level of weird than his co-workers — often one inhabited by random animals — but Morgan's now been given enough of a heart that his wackiness seems somewhat believable (especially when paired with the midwives, who are the perfect bizarre yin to Morgan's yang).

Originally positioned as the rebellious black sheep of Norma Bates' sons, Dylan quickly changed our mind by sticking up for his half-brother Norman and even saving the day when Norma's psycho sheriff's deputy boyfriend tried to kill them all. And even though he works in a shady pot-selling business, Dylan always seems to stand up for what's right. But our understanding of Dylan grew dramatically in Season 2, when Norma revealed that Caleb is actually the product of incest after Norma was repeatedly raped by her brother Caleb. How could we not feel sorry for the guy?

Watching people survive the zombie apocalypse can be a harrowing tale — except when it comes to the whiney and often times annoying and disrespectful Carl. He was so desperate to be part of the action that he got Dale killed and has nearly cost the lives of a dozen others. Seemingly on the path to becoming the next Governor, Carl lost his innocence early on, quick to kill a fellow kid. Fortunately, Rick finally set a good example that you didn't have to be a killer in this new world order. Now, Carl fears the monster he thinks he's become, which is a good thing. Feelings mean he's not a sociopath!

When Hayley first arrived in Mystic Falls, she worked with both Shane and Katherine, drove a wedge between Tyler and Caroline, betrayed Tyler to sacrifice the hybrids and slept with Klaus. How was anyone supposed to like her with story lines like that? But now that Hayley isn't actively working against our favorite characters, we can actually root for her. And you know what? She isn't half bad! She's kind and understanding, but also isn't afraid to stand up to Klaus, which is always fun to watch.

After Damon Wayans Jr. had to exit the Fox comedy following the pilot when Happy Endings was renewed, Winston was a sad replacement. His meek story line as a former Latvian basketball player paled in comparison to Nick's and Schmidt's. However, the third season has changed Winston from a punch line to a fully fleshed-out character, with his ambitions to be a police officer and his odd relationship with bus driver Bertie. Winston's wacky story lines have also provided relief from the other guys being hung up on women.

Let's be honest: The guy started out terribly creepy. When viewers were first introduced to Toby, he was a social outcast, straight out of juvie, oddly close to his now-blind sister. But when Emily befriended him, we started to see a different side to him, a wrongly accused one at that. When he started dating Spencer, he became the male hero of the show. Knowing he was supposed to die (as his character did in the books), we're very happy he's stuck around — especially through his "A" phase that was a fake-out — because we wouldn't have #TobysAbs and the many shirtless scenes of him.

It seems time really is a flat circle, because after five seasons in Greendale, Chang is right back to where he started. And thank God! Chang is always good for a one-liner and a quick laugh, but a leading man he is not. While we wish we could have Changnesia when it comes to the Chang Dynasty, sadly those memories will be stored forever alongside those of the "gas leak" year. But at least Chang is finally back to his old foolish self. So let's fat dog in celebration and hope he doesn't decide to reunite the Changlorious Bastards any time soon!

As the "third wheel" in Olivia and Fitz's forbidden romance, Mellie came into the Scandal soap opera with a target on her back. Fortunately, no B613 member actually had the First Lady in their literal crosshairs (yet). Even taking her contrived, unnecessary rape backstory out of the equation, Mellie has transformed into a complicated, empathetic and fascinating character who is getting just as screwed as her husband is in the power game to keep him in the White House. And when Jon Tenney's Andrew Nichols debuted, we were thrilled that Mellie is finally getting some!