Of the many things that could be said about the TV show that was 24, one is that it had a ton of characters appear throughout its years on the air. It ran for eight seasons between 2001 and 2010, and then had a ninth season (of sorts) in 2014 called 24: Live Another Day. During that time, there were more than 200 episodes, and there was only a single actor who appeared in all of them: Kiefer Sutherland, who portrayed the show’s protagonist, counter-terrorist agent Jack Bauer.
24 was about Jack Bauer continually clashing with terrorists and authority figures, waging a one-man war against various forces who all wanted to destabilize the U.S. from within for their own reasons. Events would occur in real-time, and the level of danger was always high for anyone who wasn’t Jack, meaning characters often died and needed to be replaced by others. As such, it’s hard to define a main cast for the entire show, but the following characters – and their actors – appeared in the most episodes out of anyone who at one point was in the main cast. They’re ranked below by how likable they were, roughly from worst to best by that particular metric.
10 Charles Logan
Appearing in 45 episodes between season 4 and season 8, Charles Logan was also only in the main cast for season 5, which is where he naturally made the biggest impact. During that (overall excellent) season, he was President, and easily the overall worst (and least likable) of any of the show’s commanders-in-chief.
His emergence as a truly weaselly and conniving villain makes him one of the most hateable characters in 24, even before taking into account the fact he was at least partially responsible for the deaths of some major (and sympathetic) characters. But he’s a love-to-hate sort of character, and improved the show immensely through his presence, being played to slimy perfection by the late Gregory Itzin.
9 Kim Bauer
While no one could call Kim Bauer the most likable of 24’s main characters, she’s also a little over-hated at times. The only daughter of Jack Bauer, and a frequent damsel-in-distress type of character, she spends much of seasons 1 and 2 of 24 in constant danger, gets a job at her father’s workplace (CTU) in season 3, and then only shows up again on a handful of occasions between seasons 5 and 8.
At least for the first season, she’s a teenager, and teenagers aren’t exactly known for not doing stupid things. The show handled her character a little awkwardly, perhaps, in seasons 2 and 3, but Kim was never a monster. She was a character who could make certain problems worse or more stressful, however, so it’s understandable why she’s not usually topping fan-favorite character lists.
8 Tony Almeida
Okay, here’s where things get tricky. It’s easy to point to Charles Logan as an unlikable character, thanks to his incompetence and villainy, and it’s easy to pick on Kim, because the writers didn’t always know what to do with her. But suggesting that Tony Almeida isn’t among the show’s most likable leads could ruffle some feathers.
It’s true that for many of the 116 episodes he appeared in, Tony was a loyal ally to Jack, and one of the few people that was genuinely reliable. However, he spent a good chunk of season 1 clashing with Jack, and then essentially became a villain in season 7, thanks to a traumatic series of past events. He’s a complex character, with his endearing qualities shining through in some seasons more than others.
7 Wayne Palmer
No offense to Wayne Palmer, but he does exist in his brother’s shadow, and isn’t exactly the most memorable of 24 characters. He’s introduced as the brother of David Palmer during season 3, and continues to be part of the show in seasons 5 to 6, including being promoted to the main cast during the latter.
He’s loyal to his brother, and can generally be counted on by Jack and his allies. He doesn’t really do much wrong, and doesn’t seem like a terrible person, but also doesn’t do a great amount to stand out from the pack… hence kind of feeling like he’s just there sometimes, though admittedly, not in a bad way.
6 Michelle Dessler
Michelle Dessler appears throughout seasons 2 to 4 of 24, being in the main cast during the third season, and briefly appearing at the start of the fifth season. She works for CTU for much of that time as a federal agent, and has an off-and-on-again romance with Tony Almeida, who also worked for CTU at the same time as her.
Michelle can sometimes come across as cold, but that’s more due to her having a no-nonsense approach to much of what she does, which is appropriate, considering the danger inherent in her job. She’s particularly courageous during season 3 (the season where she’s featured the most), and even if she doesn’t always seem to be one of Jack’s closest allies, she is frequently reliable.
5 David Palmer
During season 1, David Palmer was a senator with aspirations to be elected President, though much of the conflict during that original season comes about because assassins want him dead. Jack was instrumental in saving Palmer’s life, and for the next several seasons (and while Palmer’s President), the two have a forged-in-fire type of relationship.
He’s easily the most likable President in the show, and it naturally helps that he tends to trust Jack (who is, after all, almost always right). His exit from the show may have been sudden and unfortunate (albeit a twist that was not entirely unexpected), but during his 80 episodes, he remained likable for most, with some of his flaws and darker aspects from his past ultimately serving to humanize him.
4 Audrey Raines
Getting involved romantically with someone like Jack Bauer isn’t always the best idea, seeing as bad things tend to happen to those he cares about. Audrey Raines (later Boudreau) learns this the hard way, suffering a great deal after being shown to have a relationship with Jack in season 4, appearing subsequently in seasons 5 and 6, and then in the show’s sort-of ninth season, Live Another Day.
She’s in a total of 64 episodes, and is immensely sympathetic because she doesn’t really deserve most of what ends up happening to her. She may not get involved in the action of the show enough to make her a fan favorite exactly, but you’d be hard-pressed to find someone that actively dislikes her, or doesn’t at least feel sorry for her after her various misfortunes.
3 Jack Bauer
Few actors are as great in spy/thriller shows as Kiefer Sutherland is, and through his committed performance – and the fact he’s the show’s only character who appears in every episode – he inevitably emerges as 24’s best character, and one of the most compelling TV protagonists of the 21st century so far.
But this doesn’t automatically make him the most likable. Jack’s a complicated guy. He does some things that not all viewers would be on board with, and the show even gives him a somewhat villainous arc in the divisive (and not entirely great) eighth season. Yet his determination and (generally) heroic behavior makes him generally easy to root for, and he’s likable much more often than he’s not.
2 Bill Buchanan
Seeing as 24 tends to revolve around Jack and what he’s doing to save the world in various, usually extreme ways, the most likable side characters tend to be the ones that most frequently help Jack out. And few allies can claim to have been as handy for Jack as Bill Buchanan, who was the rare CTU director who seemed incapable of being morally compromised.
He also didn’t clash with Jack, like most CTU directors, instead realizing quickly something that most viewers had already worked out: Jack is (almost) always in the right. For being calm and collected, heroic, and a genuinely good friend to the show’s hero, Bill stands as one of its most lovable characters.
1 Chloe O’Brian
Besides Jack, no other character in 24 felt protected by plot armor… at least until Chloe O’Brian came into her own as a fan favorite, arguably in season 4 (she got to fire a big gun; that was cool), and certainly by season 5. The writers would’ve been foolish to kill her off at that point, and indeed, she stuck around, appearing in all seasons from 3 onwards, and being in the second-highest number of episodes, after only Jack.
Sure, she was grating in season 3, but seeing how she grew to be a better person ultimately made her more endearing. She was Jack’s closest ally and right-hand-woman for much of the show, and as such, its most likable main character.
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