The fantasy genre is one of the most popular types of entertainment across all genres, from novels to tabletop games. When it comes to TV, the genre has proven especially versatile as it can be applied to a wide range of settings, characters and styles. Anything from '90s action to animated comic book series has proven a great medium for fantasy, and the genre has produced many iconic characters.
Fantasy heroes, however, also have a tendency of heading down paths of self-destruction, and betray themselves, their friends and their mission. These arcs often come from major storylines that leave heroes broken, causing them to alienate those around them or even turn to evil. While many heroes do recover from these arcs and bad decisions, they often leave them changed for the worse and can take years to move on.
10 Willow Rosenberg
Willow Rosenberg was one of Buffy's first and best friends when she began her life in Sunnydale. The resident witch of the "scoobies," Willow began as the awkward, nerdy girl who fought for Xander's affection. She evolved to become one of the show's biggest villains.
After meeting her true love, Tara, Willow became addicted to magic and used it to influence her friends, even to the point of wiping their memories. When Tara died, Willow didn't just go back to magic, she delved so deep into dark magic she became a murderous, self-destructive villain.
9 Jason Blood
Jason Blood, as seen in Justice League, began his journey as a knight in the court of Camelot. While there, he began a relationship with Morgan LeFey, who used him as an inside man to carry out a siege of Arthur's court. Predictably, LeFey betrayed the naive knight.
Jason Blood's betrayal didn't just condemn his own life, it was the cause of the downfall of Camelot. Had he honored his duty as a knight and upheld his oath, Camelot would have endured. Because of his actions, he lost control of his own life when Merlin bonded him to the influence of Etrigan the Demon.
8 Al Simmons / Spawn
Spawn: The Animated Series followed on from the flop of the 1997 movie, and gave audiences a darker, truer to the comics look at Al Simmons. Simmons began as a government assassin, only to be betrayed. After finding himself in Hell, he struck a deal to serve the devil in exchange for seeing his family.
Spawn's self-betrayal was more one of gullibility than anything else. Simmons had been a force for good while alive, and signing a literal deal with the devil betrayed that. His reasoning was understandable, but Spawn's actions left him in solitude.
7 Galadriel
Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power went down as one of the most divisive TV series of 2022, in large part due the depiction of Tolkien's characters. One of the most glaring issues was the writing of Galadriel, who lost much of the strength of character she possessed in the books and films. While the show seemed to focus more on the physical prowess of the character, it lacked some of the depth of the Elven Queen.
Galadriel's naïveté, something that didn't fit the character, allowed her to get close to Sauron, even leading him to forge the rings. She was blinded to the dark lord, and even chose to keep the revelation of Sauron to herself. She allowed pride to triumph over her duties and all of Middle-Earth suffered for it.
6 Sam Winchester
Sam Winchester, along with his brother, traveled the United States in search of monsters following the death of his girlfriend. Having been raised by his monster-hunting father, Sam eventually grew tired of the dangerous, nomadic life and pursued a normal life and education.
Sam rejoined his brother after his girlfriend's death, but promised himself that he'd return to normalcy once the yellow-eyed demon who killed her was himself killed. However, Sam never left the life of monster hunting, and had several self-destructive arcs throughout the show. While Supernatural captured the attention of audiences for years, repetitive storylines and declining character arcs lead to the shows decline in the eyes of the audience.
5 Angel
Angel began life as an Irish man named Liam, who was seduced by Darla and turned into a vampire named Angelus. After the Romani placed a curse on him, Angel had his soul returned to him, something that left him to suffer the guilt of the evil deeds he committed as Angelus. Through experiencing true happiness, Angel would lose his soul and revert to Angelus.
Angel tried to live a life of decency, doing good wherever possible to atone for his sins. This included aiding Buffy, killing monsters and running a private detective agency. However, he repeatedly made mistakes that brought back Angelus, who made him commit murder and almost end the world - leaving Angel all the more guilt-ridden when he returned.
4 Dean Winchester
Dean Winchester was always the more chaotic Winchester brother, as well as the one who stuck by John as he hunted the yellow-eyed demon who killed Mary. However, even as he continued the family mission, Dean had a habit of making terrible decisions and showed he had little concern for his own life, especially in later seasons.
Dean Winchester's bad judgement included making a deal with a demon that sent him to Hell, something that haunted him for years. As Supernatural's single most self-destructive character, Dean made friends with monsters and pushed away Sam and Castiel in his biggest times of need, refusing to accept their help.
3 Allison Hargreeves
The Umbrella Academy follows seven adopted superhero siblings, the Hargreeves, as they reunited in the wake of their father's death. One of the Hargreeves, Allison, possessed the ability to influence people's actions by whispering the phrase "I heard a rumor," followed by a suggestion.
Allison's use of her power had all but cost her family, and was something she knew alienated others when she used it on them. Nonetheless, she decided to risk everything that mattered through using it, something that weakened the trust those closest to her had in her.
2 Buffy Summers
Buffy Summers was the resident vampire slayer of Sunnydale, a small California town situated on a gateway to Hell. Being a slayer meant Buffy's personal life was always difficult. She had some bad arguments with those around her, and the alienation of her friends through her go it alone attitude.
Buffy went through several phases of self-destructive behavior, but season six had some of her worst moments as she coped with being ripped away from Heaven. Her relationship with Spike, one of her former enemies, marked one of her lowest moments (even if fans loved it). Buffy has lied to her friends to her own detriment and pushed away those closest to her when she needed them most.
1 Ash Williams
Perhaps one of the dumbest self-betrayals in TV was Ash Williams' drunken decision to read from the Necronomicon Ex Mortis after decades free of Deadites. The hero of Sam Raimi's fantasy-horror franchise, Evil Dead, Ash's life went downhill after returning from the medieval era, leading to a life in a trailer park.
Ash's inebriated usage of the Necronomicon just to impress a woman is the best example of the character's old age self-destructive nature. After having such a hard time fighting Deadites in the '80s, Ash basically ruined his own life and risked the world just for female attention. The hero doomed the world for sex and weed.