35 of TV’s Toughest Softies

We all love characters that are tough and edgy. Oftentimes, those tough characters are actually only tough on the outside.

Through story and character development we learn that most of TV’s toughies are actually softies in disguise, which of course makes us love them even more.

We decided to compile a list of our favorite characters who only appear to be tough to either protect themselves or others. These characters all hold a heart of gold under very, very thick skin.

In no particular order, here are 35 of TV’s Toughest Softies.

1. Mickey Milkovich (Shameless)

If you were to look up tough in the dictionary, a picture of Southside Chicago’s Mickey Milkovich would be there. Ever since he was first introduced in Shameless Season 1, Mickey has ruled the Southside along with his thug brothers and bigoted, racist father.

However, an affair with neighborhood rival, Ian Gallagher, starts Mickey on a path of self-discovery and softens his edges tremendously. Those walls he built up around himself to protect his own life from a father who hates people like him — people who are gay — start to fall down when he realizes he doesn’t need them as much to survive.

Here we are a decade into his love affair with Ian, who is now his husband, and Mickey might still strike fear into the hearts of many, but his bark is worse than his bite. Mickey would lay down his life to protect his husband and by extension the other Gallaghers.

Mickey might still be a neighborhood strong arm, but his heart is more present now, which disqualifies him from his previous status of a thug. This man may like to believe he comes off as all muscle and no emotion, but everyone knows how much he loves Ian.

2. Brooke Davis (One Tree Hill)

If there is one thing this OG One Tree Hill leading lady has, it’s skills at pushing down feelings. Brooke Davis starts off being this seemingly peppy, go-lucky cheerleader.

However, everyone soon realizes that she is using this fake sweetness to hide all her insecurities and the walls she has built up. Brooke may be surface-level kind and open and sincere, but anything deeper and she locks that box up fast.

It takes years of reimagining her place in the world and her relationship with her mother for Brooke to realize that she doesn’t have to be on it all the time. Her assistant/friend Millie helps her to realize that letting people in isn’t such a bad thing.

By the end of the series, Brooke is still a tough as nails clothing designer — I mean you have to be to survive — but she has softened down in her personal life. She has allowed love to blossom and grow as she and her husband expanded their family to include twin boys.

3. Diego Hargreeves (The Umbrella Academy)

None of the Hargreeves children are without damage from the way they were raised. However, from a young age, Diego learned that hiding weakness and vulnerability made you better in the eyes of their father.

So, Diego hid his stutter and his softer side from everyone except their mother. He does all of this in the name of being an upstanding member of The Umbrella Academy.

His knives and hand-to-hand combat skills keep him closed off from the world because they allow him to work solo. Diego doesn’t easily allow himself the opportunity to trust someone else. One of the few times he has the person has either died or betrayed him through dishonesty and half-truths.

Diego gives glimpses of his more caring nature when he does things like killing their mother to put her out of her misery or potentially sacrificing himself to save his sister. Apart from that, Diego keeps a tight leash on his feelings, heart, and general trust.

4. Santana Lopez (Glee)

When the now iconic Glee first introduced this Latina cheerleader, she had a sharp tongue and didn’t let anyone tell her no. She joins the club so that she can secretly help Sue Sylvester take it down.

However, over time her cold heart and steel walls begin to soften and viewers, as well as classmates, start to see that underneath it all beats a heart of gold. Santana merely has her edge to keep everyone and their emotions at bay.

She doesn’t have time to be soft and fluffy about the latest gossip or trend. No, Santana has to keep up appearances so that no one will see her true image deep inside.

It takes a long time for her to finally admit that she is a lesbian and in love with her best friend, Brittany. However, once she lets that wall down, she opens herself up to being someone who openly cares, even if it still has a bit of bite to it.

5. Olivia Dunham (Fringe)

From the very beginning, Fringe does a fantastic job of setting it up that Olivia is a woman who leads with her mind over her heart. Fortunately for the character, Peter comes along and slowly chips away at that persona.

As an agent with the FBI, Olivia has every reason to be a bit warier of who she opens her heart to. Add to that her involvement in a secret Fringe Science Unit, and you have the recipe for one very individual person.

Each case she works with Peter and Walter brings her closer and closer to revealing parts of herself. In fact, Walter’s work helps to unlock parts of her brain that she didn’t realize were closed off.

Ultimately, Olivia is as tough as they come but she does have the ability to be sweet and loving when she is around those she trusts the most in this world. Peter is one lucky man to get a piece of Olivia’s heart.

6. Alec Lightwood (Shadowhunters)

If your go-to facial expression is that of utter annoyance and disdain, then you’re definitely a tough egg to crack. Much like everyone on Shadowhunters, Alec is not as he first appears.

The Lightwoods are family royalty in the magical realms of the world because they head up the New York Institute. Alec, as the oldest son, is required to someday take over, even if that’s not really what his heart wants.

Initially, he keeps his true desires under lock and key because he knows that Shadowhunters are not encouraged to have romantic entanglements, especially not ones of a homosexual nature. His internalized homophobia is one of the greatest struggles this character endures.

Watching Magnus worm his way under Alec’s walls is so satisfying and beautiful. It proves that despite what Alec presents professionally, his personal side is the complete opposite.

7. Philippa Georgiou (Star Trek: Discovery)

During the course of her time on Star Trek: Discovery, Empress Philippa Georgiou evolved into one of the most complex characters on the show. She certainly had a soft spot for Michael Burnham from the get-go, having essentially been her mother in the universe she’s from, and through that connection, she learned to understand her own humanity.

While never sacrificing her tough Terran exterior, Georgiou grew to care about the crew of Discovery in a way that altered her entire perception of the universe.

When given a glimpse of her old life on her final episodes of Star Trek: Discovery, Georgiou realizes that there is more to life than power. Having her come to that realization, through a fierce need to protect the Mirror version of Saru showed exactly how much this timeline had changed her.

This new balance in her will make her a captivating lead on the new Star Trek series, Section 31.

8. Spencer James (All American)

When we meet Spencer James on All American, he’s turning down an opportunity that will help him reach the NFL. It’s a shocking dismissal of a great offer, considering moments before, he was playing in a game where the crowd was dodging bullets.

But for someone like Spencer James, that refusal to walk away makes sense. Spencer simply doesn’t give up; he’s constantly willing to sacrifice himself for the people around him.

Fighting those battles oftentimes means no choice but to develop a hard exterior; something to protect you from fists, bullets, and even heartbreak. That sacrifice and bravery all stems from a place of love, and a boy whose heart is so big, there’s always room to make space for someone new.

Spencer has an undying loyalty to his team, his family, his friends, and his community, but his willingness to fight for them — not just in personal conflict, but against the greater injustices of society — is only part of who Spencer is.

He is also a sensitive, understanding, compassionate, and unbelievably emotionally intelligent individual, and anyone who knows him, is better for it in the end.

9. Faith (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

Faith is a character who has run the gambit of story arcs during her time on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. Initially, she is a slayer who is on the side of good, but over time, she slips into a villain role.

She tried to be an ally for Buffy, but her decisions often went against what Buffy felt was best. This leads to a bit of a rivalry between the two, which puts Faith down the path toward darkness.

Just because she is moving against good for the majority of Buffy the Vampire Slayer doesn’t mean she doesn’t want to be a better person. In fact, her life became a series of bad decisions that caused her to shut down a bit more and more each time.

She wants to be better, but unfortunately, it isn’t until her time with Angel that she discovers the means by which to achieve redemption. Faith may seem rough and tough, but that’s only because the world misunderstands her.

10. Wolfgang (Sense8)

Germans are not always known for being warm, fuzzy individuals — Wolfgang is no different because he is also of Russian descent. In fact, you could say Wolfgang fits all the stereotypes of what being Russian means.

He is cold, guarded, and lethal a majority of the time. However, when he finds out about the other Sensates, their bond slowly chips away at his tough exterior.

Wolfgang, never fully abandons his true closed-off nature, but there are moments where he allows the others in and shows a vulnerability he can’t deny.

11. Aeryn Sun (Farscape)

When we meet Aeryn Sun, she is everything she is expected to be. A loyal, unquestioning soldier, cut off from her emotions and completely immersed in the Peacemaker ideology of racial superiority and authoritarian entitlement.

Then she meets John Crichton, and he says the words that start her down a new path, “you can be more.” Those words push Aeryn to take a leap of faith and trust this strange human she’s only just met. A leap of faith that begins one of sci-fi great character journeys and the most profound transformation of any of Moya’s crew.

We watch Aeryn slowly let down her walls as she falls in love with John, form a touching empathetic bond with Pilot, and embraces her own deep capacity for compassion, vulnerability, and emotional connection. The very things she had been taught her whole life to reject as a weakness.

Over the course of 4 seasons and the Peacekeeper Wars mini-series, Aeryn is pushed out of her comfort zone and forced to see beyond her own narrow perspective. She finds that “more” that John saw in her, and her life becomes bigger and more full than she ever allowed herself to dream as a lowly prowler pilot.

12. Indra (The 100)

Serving under her commander, Indra proved early on that she doesn’t have time for silly emotions or relationships. These things are representative of distractions that will get her killed.

Initially, Indra and her tribe are at war with the Sky People, who she sees as invaders and enemies. Over time as their Commander Lexa makes peace with the Sky People, so does Indra, though her trust takes much longer to build up.

While she spends the rest of the series being an ally to Clarke and the others, her real allegiance is to Octavia. Their bond blossomed when Octavia abandoned her people and joined the Grounders.

This relationship alone is proof positive that Indra does have a heart and a kind streak. However, that softness and kindness only extend to actions that remain within the range of safe for survival.

Indra would die for those she cares about, but not over a frivolous matter.

13. Dean Winchester (Supernatural)

When you are tasked with protecting your brother from a freak fire at the ripe age of 4, you tend to build up a strength that is like a steel trap — impenetrable. Dean Winchester learns at the feet of his father that emotions get you killed, and there is just no room for them in the life of a hunter.

It’s what creates a rift between him and Sam so many times over the years because Sam is more inclined to approach everything with his heart instead of his brain. The few times we see a softer side to Dean is when Sam, Bobby, or Cas’ lives are in danger.

In fact, the first time we see Dean cry, he is sitting over the dead body of his brother and begging the universe to tell him what he’s supposed to do now that he has failed. It’s a vulnerability that we only see glimpses of at small moments over the next 13 years, but one that is important to remember when distinguishing Dean as a person.

He may seem like he has a heart of stone, but he is still human. Dean can still be hurt and disappointed just like the rest of us.

14. Brian Kinney (Queer as Folk)

While Queer as Folkisn’t a TV show that is as mainstream as most of the others on this list, it should be. Brian Kinney is one of those iconic characters that deserve more recognition.

He is tough because his life experiences have jaded him away from being soft and open with his heart and his feelings. He’s learned that sex is best served as a one-night stand and love is a heteronormative construct that makes you weak.

Too bad Justin came along and made him realize that he could be jaded but also have room in his heart for a person or two. Brian shows love in the most Brian way possible by throwing money at a problem or guiding you to be a bit more jaded on the world.

Justin teaches him to let go of what he thinks he knows about love and lean into the possibility that giving your heart up to someone else isn’t so bad after all. Ultimately, Brian makes his biggest sacrifice for love by letting Justin go — just don’t ever tell him he’s going soft.

15. Derek Hale (Teen Wolf)

If anyone on this list deserves to have a few walls up, it is Derek Hale. After all, he lost his whole family to a fire at 16 — a fire that to this day he still blames himself for.

Teen Wolf does a fantastic job of setting Derek up as a young man who is all anger and no happiness from the word go. He even says early on that his anchor is anger, which is telling of the type of person he is.

However, there are little nuances along the way that clue us in to just how soft and caring Derek actually is. He shows up to protect Scott, Stiles, Lydia, et al. on multiple occasions sometimes without being asked.

When he creates his pack, it appears that he is merely using them to gain power and stay sane as a werewolf, but that isn’t it at all. Derek is secretly in search of his own family unit that he can rely on and lean on.

One of Derek’s most vulnerable moments is when he realizes that the Alpha pack forced him to kill his own beta. His anguish proves once and for all that Derek does have a heart and is capable of love even if he has a really hard time showing it.

16. Annalise Keating (How To Get Away With Murder)

At Middleton Law School, getting into Annalise Keating’s class is a one-in-a-million opportunity. So of course that means Annalise herself must be a no-nonsense woman with a tough as balls attitude.

For most of the series that is exactly how she presents herself. She handpicks her special student group, but most of the time she appears annoyed and frustrated by them.

She is the first to tell them they are all a bunch of idiots when they screw up and create more work for her. However, she’s also the woman who will lay down her career in order to protect these students.

None of the students have been to prison for any of their crimes because she has managed to manipulate the truth to the point of erasing any and all trace of their involvement. She sacrifices everything for them all while telling them off. It’s the Annalise Keating Method of Love.

17. Elliot Stabler (Law & Order: SVU)

When you work for the NYPD’s Special Victims Unit, you can go one of two ways. You can either block out the emotions seeing true horrors invoke or you can stay soft and vulnerable and present for the victims.

Eliot Stabler is the type of man who has gone the first route. He feels like he has to in order to properly be there for his kids as well as his team on Law & Order: SVU.

Stabler struggles on occasion with keeping his emotions in check, especially if a case involves children around the same age as one of his own. That being said, he is the ultimate tough-guy persona, which comes in handy when he needs to go undercover to reveal the actions of a perp.

While a shooting at the precinct causes Eliot to quit his position at the SVU, we are all eagerly awaiting his return on Law & Order: Organized Crime.

18. Zelda Spellman (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina)

Zelda Spellman presents as a tough, strong, character that gets things done, but it all comes from a place of protection, even if that sometimes means killing her sister, Hilda, only to resurrect her in the Cain Pit. When it comes to losing anything she cares about, she lets that veneer drop.

This is evident while she’s under the control of Batibat, a sleep demon that shows her a nightmare scenario in which she actually kills Hilda. Zelda’s hard exterior drops as she mourns her sister in her dream, and similar moments follow when she realizes she can’t keep a baby she stole to protect, and when it’s clear she’ll lose Sabrina.

Her vulnerability also comes into play when Hilda and Sabrina free her from a Caligari spell her husband, Faustus Blackwood placed her under. As they sit around the kitchen table at the mortuary, she lets herself come to terms with what happened before springing into action and saving another member of her family.

19. David Rose (Schitt’s Creek)

David Rose is all scowls and disdain and harsh judgments, but once you get to know him, you see that these things protect his ever fragile heart from being broken anymore. This guy has been through so much stress, anxiety, and heartbreak in his life he deserves the chance to guard his heart fiercely.

Thankfully, a move to Schitt’s Creek helps him let go of those protections and reveal pieces of himself to first his family and then his best friend, Stevie. This growth happens slowly over the first three seasons, and it is what allows him to be vulnerable enough when Patrick comes along to accept the love he deserves.

David remains guarded, but now that he knows love is there for him he allows his walls to open a little bit more each day. The bond between him and Alexis is solid proof that his kindness and gentle heart aren’t only reserved for his husband.

Schitt’s Creek has made a softie out of the unbreakable David Rose.

20. Rosa Diaz (Brooklyn Nine-Nine)

Every workplace has a Rosa Diaz — the person who acts all indifferent to hide just how much they actually care. On Brooklyn Nine-Nine, her tough nature helps to encourage Boyle and Jake, and it also helps to keep them in line.

Her scowls and constant annoyance at the juvenile happenings at her precinct should make her a character that is hard to love. However, underneath all that is the heart of someone who cares, as witnessed by her occasional laughs and goading comments.

Diaz keeps herself guarded as a line of defense to protect her vulnerabilities. She believes she has to be tough because she is a female cop.

Over time she lets pieces of herself come out, literally and figuratively, in order to maintain a close relationship with her Nine-Nine family.

21. Sawyer Ford (Lost)

One of the great things about Lost is the complex character types being presented. While Ben and Jacob and even Jack are very complicated humans, the most complex out of the whole cast is probably Sawyer.

From the moment the plane crashed Sawyer is on the defensive, and he doesn’t trust anyone. At first, his nicknames and snide comments come across as him being a grade-A dick.

However, everyone on the island soon learns that when the chips are down Sawyer is there to help keep people alive. He even proves time and again that he has what it takes to make the tough decisions while also maintaining emotional ties to the people he cares about.

The most devastating moment in the history of Sawyer is watching him hold Juliet as she dies after trying to save everyone else. Sawyer is tough, but his heart bleeds when it’s broken just like any disguised softie’s heart would.

22. Johnny Lawrence (Cobra Kai)

Any ’90s kid remembers Johnny Lawrence as the jerk-off kid rival from the Karate Kid movies. That is the beauty of Cobra Kai. It introduces this character to a whole new generation of viewers.

Even as a grown-up, Johnny keeps his heart locked up tight. His life experiences have taught him that he can be a better dojo if he puts emotions on the back-burner.

Through his work with his new student, Johnny shows us all that he’s not done growing just yet. His relationship with Daniel LaRusso is still strained, but Johnny is trying his best to redeem himself from his past mistakes.

There is a vulnerability to how he now approaches life as a dojo that isn’t always painfully obvious. However, his heart is totally in it, which keeps us rooting for him.

23. Doc Holliday (Wynonna Earp)

When you fight demons alongside Wynonna Earp in Purgatory, you have to have an edge that keeps you going. For Doc Holliday, that edge is sharpshooting/gunslinging.

He is a true product of the old west and that shows in how he approaches each new situation. His fears and desire for revenge make him out to be a bit closed off.

All of that starts to change when he meets the Earp sisters. He falls in love with Wynonna and forges a familial bond with Waverly. This allows his vulnerabilities to come out a bit more.

More recently, Doc has overcome his time as a vampire and has a desire to make amends for who he was during that dark period.

24. Athena Grant (9-1-1)

Being a cop is never an easy job to have. Being a female cop of color is even more difficult.

Athena walks through life with many thick walls up to keep herself focused and alive while on the job. It makes her a fantastic cop, but sometimes gets in the way of her really letting people in outside of work.

However, her bond with Hen shows us that she has a very kind soul, and she worries about the same things we do. This friendship gives her the release from her job that she desperately needs.

Romantically, her relationship with her ex-husband and current husband shows just how gentle and forgiving she can be when she needs to. Athena worries about everyone she loves but tries her best to hide those worries behind a tough persona. All because she thinks that is what is expected of her.

25. Eliot Waugh (The Magicians)

Sometimes tough characters don’t come off as physically intimidating, instead, they show their tough nature in other ways. For Eliot Waugh on The Magicians, he guards his heart by being more devil may care about everything he does.

His suave nature hides the fact that he is sad and lonely, maybe even a bit broken. There comes a moment early on when he lets Q see the real him for a fraction of a second, but then his walls are back up.

Eliot believes that by not tying yourself down to people you manage to prevent yourself from getting hurt. That slowly begins to change when Q drags him along to the alternate realm known as Fillory.

In Fillory, Eliot allows himself to be a bit more open and free with his feelings and connections. He rules the kingdom alongside his best friend Margo and does his best to always help out Q, Penny, and Alice with their journeys.

Q sacrificing himself in order to save Eliot and the others brings out Eliot’s most vulnerable side yet. He may still be a prickly pear on the surface, but underneath it all, Eliot’s heart is as smooth as a peach.

26. Clive Babineaux (iZombie)

When iZombie first introduces us to Clive Babineaux, he is hard to care about. Mostly because he comes across as a prickly cactus of a man who has no time for what he believes is psychobabble from Liv.

The two take a long time to really hit their stride as partners because of how unwilling they both tend to be about divulging personal information. Liv has her reasons, but Clive originally just comes off as a closed-off, cold individual.

Thankfully, it ends up just being a matter of time and experience to crack Clive’s walls wide open. Once he reveals just how much he respects and cares for Liv, it’s something that can’t be put away.

However, Clive still has his stone-cold professional side that he adopts the majority of the time in order to stay in the right headspace for work. Unfortunately for him, everyone knows that is all just an act to keep himself safe and focused.

27. Raffaela ‘Raffi’ Musiker (Star Trek: Picard)

Being a member of Starfleet usually means you keep your emotions in check and your mind on full alert. For Raffi, that distinction is never more true.

Years ago, she served under Picard as a lieutenant commander of Starfleet in a role that wasn’t necessarily high on her list of fond memories. So when Picard recruits her for an unsanctioned mission, she finds herself hesitating due to their past and her unease with her own demons.

As is soon revealed on Star Trek: Picard, Raffi has a strained relationship with her son on account that she basically abandoned him years ago. However, she is working to be a better person, and mending that bridge is part of that process.

She is a work in progress who wants to change and trusting Picard again is the first major step towards that goal.

28. Tyrian Lannister (Game of Thrones)

When your family is filled with power-hungry individuals that do nothing but manipulate and backstab to get their own way, it’s kind of hard to have a genuine heart. Then again, Tyrian Lannister is nothing like his family from the moment he was born — being a dwarf does that.

For the entirety of Game of Thrones, Tyrian guards his heart as strongly as he guards his family’s best interests. There is a strong fortress around it that very few have been able to really see.

Sansa is privy to it the first night of their arranged marriage when he refused to have sex with her until she was ready. Any other male Lannister would’ve just had their way with her; in fact, Tyrian’s nephew certainly tried.

Tyrian is the Hand of the King because he can be trusted to make the logical choice devoid of human emotion. However, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t care. It just means that he’s really good at separating his heart and his mind.

29. Casey Gardner (Atypical)

Casey Gardner grew up in a family that puts her brother Sam’s autism above all else. This creates a box within her where she keeps all those feelings that get in the way of the family goal.

She may want to kill her brother most of the time, but she would kill for him any day, and she has. Casey is the first to go to bat for Sam against a bully or a mean-spirited stranger.

Unfortunately, this means that no one is there for her when she is having her own crises. Casey bottles everything up because no one in her life has the time or the understanding to allow her room to vent.

She thinks she needs to be hardened in the world because the world has been hard on her. Thankfully, she can never get too far into her head before Sam comes along and says something that makes her smile or laugh.

30. Alex Karev(Grey’s Anatomy)

If you were to tell me during Grey’s Anatomy Season 1 that Alex Karev would become my favorite male character because of his big heart, I would’ve laughed you out of the room. That is how well the show painted him to be this dickish, uncaring doctor.

Watching Alex come into his own as a pediatric surgeon is hands down one of the best character arcs of the whole series. The man started off wanting nothing but “hardcore” plastics and yet ended up saving babies.

He keeps himself under wraps because of all the people who have broken his trust over the years between his parents and his family Alex has the makings of one messed up individual. Thankfully, his bond with the ambitious Christina, the bubbly Izzie, and the kind-hearted Meredith help him to let go of his past traumas.

When you miss your boards because you stayed with a new mom as she said goodbye to her infant son, you sir have a soft side. His tough exterior and soft interior help him to navigate the minefield that is being a doctor and a human.

31. Ron Swanson (Parks and Recreation)

Parks and Recreation is one of those shows that has a surprising amount of complex characters. For a sitcom, they do a great job of exploring depth within each member of the Pawnee Parks and Recreation team.

Ron Swanson is the epitome of a Republican Anti-Government individual. He does all that he can to slash budgets and get rid of services within the Pawnee government.

On the surface, he appears to be a loner who would rather be in the wilderness somewhere completely off the grid. But, Leslie Knope manages to pull his heart out of the steel bunker he’s put it in and allow it to be displayed for all to see.

Over time, Ron shows everyone that he can still be a man’s man and also care about the people he works with — none more so than April and Leslie. If you ever ask him about it though, he will deny it.

32. Captain Cold (The Flash/Legends of Tomorrow)

It isn’t often that a supervillain can also be classified as soft, but Captain Cold is one of the “bad” guys who shows he can be understanding and kind on occasion. He may be the leader of the Rogues and his power may involve cold, but that doesn’t mean his heart is frozen.

While Captain Cold has been an archenemy of Barry Allen’s from the start, he does have his moments where he works with the superhero to take down an even bigger threat. He’s even been asked to kill The Flash before and has warned him instead.

This doesn’t mean he doesn’t make life difficult for the speedster because he does. However, in the realm of supervillains, he’s one that is easily able to be reasoned with.

On Legends of Tomorrow, Captain Cold has spent some time with the team helping them travel through time to defeat other adversaries. He may be rough around the edges, but he’s not all he seems.

33. Daryl Dixon (The Walking Dead)

For some, tough means riding a motorcycle and killing zombies with a bow and arrow. In fact, that is exactly the image that Daryl presents when he first arrives on the scene during The Walking Dead.

He’s a loner type who would much rather stick to himself than being a group joiner. He only trusts his brother to have his back, but even that is out of necessity more than love.

No, it isn’t until he meets Carol that he starts to warm up to the idea of being an active part of a group. Once he joins Rick’s crew, he is the one who does runs because of his tough edge.

Underneath all that gruff exterior beats a heart that would kill to protect any of the people he’s come to call his friends and family. If anyone is going to survive the zombie apocalypse, it’s Daryl.

34. Kelly Severide (Chicago Fire)

Being a firefighter alone makes people tough, but Kelly Severide is a level of tough that is all his own. Created by years of an estranged relationship with his father, Severide tends to close himself off instead of open up.

This makes his role as a Captain at Firehouse 51 on Chicago Fire the ideal place for him. His team never pushes him to open his heart to them, but they know he will divulge when he feels good and ready.

Kelly Severide struggles with love because that means he has to be more vulnerable than he is usually willing to be. However, Stella is slowly chipping away at that wall, and he is slowly opening up and showing her that he has a romantic side as well.

Any time Severide goes after the truth on an arson case we know this is his way of showing he truly cares about the community he lives and works in. To this day, he is still a bit of an enigma, but we know his heart is always in the right place.

35. Amos Burton (The Expanse)

Amos Burton was made in a world that required cunning and lethality in order to survive. This resulted in the man that we see on The Expanse.

A man who despite his rough and mysterious beginnings, shows time and time again that he would kill to protect those he considers his family or are even just good.

Amos Burton shows a different type of softness, one probably more subtle as a man prone to violence. He uses his skills to protect those he is loyal to, so his brand of softness may be a little different from the typical brand, but that’s just Amos.

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Who are your favorite TV tough characters with a soft spot? Sound off in the comments below.

Additional Contributions from Lauren Busser, Samantha Colley, Amanda Reimer, Sarah Fields, and Kat Pettibone.

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