With Amazon’s The Man in the High Castle finale dropping two months ago, I thought it would be fun to sit down and figure out who my favorite characters have been across all four seasons. It was not easy narrowing them down to just ten, but I somehow managed to do it.
Without further adieu, my top ten #HighCastle characters!
Honorable Mentions Admiral Inokuchi & the Crown Princess – I adored their practical, yet humane, approach to everything.
Juliana – Her curiosity and determination to solve the mystery about the films and her sister’s death in Season 1 captivated me and forever turned me into a fan of the show.
10. Joe Blake – One of my favorite scenes throughout the series is when Joe discovers his past. His gut wrenching reaction and how he eventually swore loyalty to his father made the character all the more interesting for me, so he has earned his place in my top ten!
9. Bell Mallory – She makes it onto my top ten because she went from a cold hardliner to a kind heroine offering peace to everyone who defected from the Reich and Wehrmacht. I can see myself in her shoes. I wish we could have seen more of her.
8. Helen Smith – I adore Helen. She had one of the most interesting character arcs in the series. She went from a loyal wife of the Reich (with all its ideals and obedience) to the ultimate betrayal of those values.
7. Rudolph Wagner – I will always love Wagner. He did terrible things in the name of the Reich, and unlike Smith, his guilt devoured him. When he came face to face with the man he grew to hate, his humanity took over, and rather than end Hitler, he ended himself to save his family.
6. Ed McCarthy – There is no way the sweet, innocent Ed is not going to be on this list! He was a welcome respite to all of the terror and horrors experienced in the Pacific States.
5. Robert Childan – Like Helen, he had one of the most intriguing arcs. I touched on this briefly on Twitter–he went from the selfish, greedy antiques dealer to sacrificing it all for his wife.
4. Frank Frink – He was my favorite character in Season 1. His story that season was the most relatable. You have this ordinary guy just trying to keep his head down and follow along, obeying his Japanese occupiers who, by no fault of his own, was thrown into tragedy and chaos. He could no longer be ‘that’ guy. His life was forever altered, and he had an understandable reaction to it. I was thrilled to see him go back to his Season 1 roots in Season 3.
3. Takeshi Kido – Kido is someone I’ve always loved to hate. He was such a bastard, but I couldn’t help but want to see more.
2. Nobusuke Tagomi – Let’s just say that if Tagomi ran for president, he’d have my vote. He was the ultimate bastion of peace, tranquility, yet held a firm hand when he needed to.
Speak softly and carry a big stick – Theodore Roosevelt
Coming in at #1, my ultimate favorite High Castle character (and possibly favorite character of all time)
1. John Smith – Smith was unlike any character I’d ever seen, which is what drew me to the show after watching the first episode. He possessed such confidence, cunning, and ruthlessness, yet he was also a family man. He managed to climb the ranks of a dark, vile organization all the way to the top, unphased all the way up until the very end when he was forced to look at himself. I cannot stress enough how relieved I am that he did not get an inane redemption arc. His ending only made me like the character more.
