Succession Main Characters, Ranked By How Evil They Are

Contains spoilers for "Succession" Season 4 and all previous seasons

Away from the beautifully observed performances and multi-layered dialogue, one of the most prominent critiques leveled at Jesse Armstrong's seminal "Succession" is that none of the characters are likable. On a personal level, they are all monstrous. What Armstrong and his writers have deftly accomplished is creating people who are largely abhorrent, and putting them in situations that bring out universal feelings of rejection and appeals to parental approval that we all recognize and identify with. Logan Roy's (Brian Cox) family and their various competitors, advisors, and lackeys are a self-serving, cynical bunch of hopelessly entitled near-sociopaths, but what makes them so compelling is that despite their moral failings, they are full of all-too-human traits and flaws.

Are any of the Roy family truly evil, though? Maybe not. But callous, hard-hearted, and unscrupulous? 100%. The only thing preventing most of these characters from being Machiavellian arch-manipulators is that most of them are just too inept. As we near the end of "Succession," what better time to take a look at how the main characters compare in terms of sheer ruthlessness -- after all, it's what Logan values most.

Willa Ferreyra

In a lesser drama, Willa (Justine Lupe) would be the standard fare chiseling gold digger, simply out for as much money as possible. However, her characterization in "Succession" is a lot more nuanced than that. She's a call girl who is given an offer she really can't refuse, handed everything she ever wanted, so long as she sticks with the one, slightly unhinged client, Connor Roy (Alan Ruck). As far as gilded cages go, it's not a terrible situation, especially given the amount of infighting and sycophancy that goes on among the rest of the clan. As she puts it herself to Tom in a rare moment of viciousness "At least I'm only getting f***ed by one member of this family." 

The problems arise when the perpetually oblivious Connor misreads the situation as more than purely transactional, and yet Willa carries on humoring him. There is a palpable disconnect between Connor's heartfelt gestures and Willa's uncomfortable reactions. However, as of Season 4, the two actually have a fairly healthy relationship (one of the few in the show) but it's unclear exactly what their status is. It seems she does grow to love Connor after a fashion, giving him genuinely sound advice and looking out for him when Logan ignores him. It remains to be seen just how their dynamic will fare in the fallout from Logan's death. 

At the end of the day, she is a pragmatist, someone who has sold a portion of her soul to achieve her last dreams. As we'll see, other characters have done a lot worse.

Frank Vernon

There's a bit in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" when The Judge -- a demon who can burn the humanity out of anyone he touches -- incinerates a vampire lackey with the words "This one is full of feeling. He reads" -- the implication being that reading is in itself indicative of a soul. If this is true, Frank Vernon (Peter Friedman) is one of the few main characters in "Succession" to emerge with his soul intact, if his habit of dropping Shakespearean references into any conversation is an indicator.

Of the three enduring members of the old guard -- Frank, Karl (David Rasche), and Gerri (J. Smith-Cameron) -- Frank is the one who seems both the most benevolent and reasonable, despite being perhaps the most old-fashioned. His paternal instinct toward Kendall (Jeremy Strong) makes him endlessly likable, especially since most of his machinations are on behalf of Kendall, or at least will benefit him. This relationship has become even more poignant in the wake of Logan's death. The moment where he calls Kendall "son" while calmly telling him that no, the pilot can't come to the phone, is one of the most quietly devastating moments of an episode packed with them.

If nothing else, Frank is a survivor. He's fired in the very first episode and yet keeps getting rehired, managing to find new ways to make himself essential to the company's success in all of its different forms, no matter who is at the helm.

Karl Muller

Yes, Karl. The guy who memorably suffered a panic attack at the Turkish hotel. However, beneath his owlish exterior, the Waystar Royco CFO is one of the more caustic characters on the show. Along with Frank and Gerri, Karl has been quietly keeping the Waystar ship afloat for three seasons. In the midst of the power vacuum that forms in Season 4, the three of them begin making power moves, and it becomes apparent exactly why they have stayed alive in the cutthroat business world for so long.

Karl, in particular, reveals his more ambitious side in the wake of Logan's death, when all three of the old guard mobilize. Just look at his utterly brutal takedown of Tom during Logan's wake. He leaves no doubt that Tom is out of the running and does it with a genial smile and a warm hand on his shoulder: "You're a clumsy interloper and no one trusts you, the only guy pulling for you is dead, and now you're just married to the ex-boss' daughter, and she doesn't even like you!"

He might just be angling for his golden parachute, but the jocular bonhomie masks some serious desires. Without the presence of Logan to intimidate him into submission, he is emerging as one of the more astute "Succession" characters.

Roman Roy

It's a testament to the level of character development on display in "Succession" that Roman (Kieran Culkin) has emerged as the least cutthroat of the Roy siblings, especially since he is introduced in the first episode taunting a child with a $1 million check, only to callously rip it up in front of him. Roman's established as perhaps the family's most antisocial member. He has no boundaries, and is unwilling (or unable) to make meaningful connections with anyone outside the clan -- the one exception to this is Gerri, with whom he has a relationship that is both characteristically warped and perhaps the warmest of the entire series.

Culkin himself has said that his approach to the character is someone who is just not concerned with suffering any consequences, and as such, he plays Roman as impulsive, apathetic, and emotionally immature. And yet, this abrasive, almost nihilistic outlook to everything and everyone covers a wealth of vulnerability, and despite the veneer of indifference, he might be the most sensitive, empathetic member of the Roy family. 

He shows genuine concern for his siblings throughout the series and is the one most affected by the backstabbing, as demonstrated in the Season 3 finale, where he visibly crumbles after being cut off by his father, and even more painfully, Gerri. It's apparent in every interaction he has with Logan that he is desperately seeking validation, and this yearning doesn't dissipate after his father's death. It's evident in the final negotiation with Matsson, where he finally unloads all his grief in a focused tirade at Matsson's inhuman negotiation tactics.  

Gerri Kellman

The General Counsel for Waystar ranks slightly higher on the ruthlessness scale than the other members of the old guard of advisors mainly for her competence and ability to stay in her role throughout the series. The key difference between Gerri and the other "greybeards" is that she is clearly the most capable of the three. She's shrewd, resolutely unflappable, and level-headed, so naturally, she is underestimated by everyone else in the company.

It often seems like the superficially callous Roman is using her, but it soon becomes apparent that he is a lot more attached to Gerri than she is to him. Roman jumps to her defense constantly, and while it's plain she has some affection for him, it doesn't stop her from cutting him loose in the Season 3 finale. Her self-preservation in that last scene is especially cold; when he turns to her for help, it's that pointed delivery of her previous advice for avoiding mess: "How does it serve my interests?" that proves the breaking point for Roman.

Hugo Baker

Hugo hasn't been a part of the comms team for as long as Karolina (Dagmara Dominczyk), but Fisher Stevens' communications advisor represents the more cold-blooded side of the business. Brought in to help manage the cruises scandal, he's the embodiment of the vindictive, cynical side of comms and is always the one to proffer the most repellant, hurtful media campaigns and offer up solutions that involve throwing someone under the figurative bus.

Most of his scheming happens in the background (or in snatches of seemingly throwaway dialogue), but from his very first appearance, he comes out swinging. He undermines Karolina at every opportunity, and even strongly hints that Logan fires her when looking for a blood sacrifice -- Logan immediately sees through this though, and calls Hugo out for what he is, "a nasty b***ard."

Crucially, in the wake of Logan's death, it's Hugo who first floats the idea of releasing stories of Kendall and Roman steering the Waystar ship over the months prior, saving the company from Logan's ailing health and weakening mind. It's initially shot down -- vehemently by Roman -- but later approved by Kendall, and Hugo gets to keep his hands clean because it's not his decision.

Stewy Hossaini

Kendall's "third oldest friend," Stewy (Arian Moayed) is a constant source of dry humor, and gains points for his honesty about being completely unreliable. When Kendall asks if he can trust him, Stewy replies immediately, "No." So, he can hardly be blamed when it emerges that he's been working with the family's chief rival, Sandy Furness (Larry Pine) behind Kendall's back the entire time, and has essentially been providing Sandy with a direct line to the Waystar board.

We never get too much insight into the Sandy and Stewy relationship, or see much of Stewy's personal life at all, but we do know that he has no qualms about getting Kendall to deliver the killing blow to Logan's company on the day of his daughter's wedding. There is even a convincing argument to be made that he bears some responsibility for Kendall's fall, offering him cocaine when he knew he was a recovering addict, in order to make sure he and Sandy could push him out of their deal later on.

He is the most practical, mercurial character in the show, whose loyalty extends to whoever can make him the most money. He can best be summed up in his response to Kendall ahead of the board vote, where he says: "I am ethically, morally, spiritually, and financially behind whoever wins."

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Siobhan Roy

Perhaps the best encapsulation of one of the show's recurring themes: characters thinking that they are much cleverer than they actually are. Siobhan "Shiv" Roy (Sarah Snook) is clearly the smartest, and most media-savvy of Logan's children, but she has ill-deserved confidence and a sense of superiority over her brothers, despite lacking Kendall's business brains and Roman's instincts. She's the most unsentimental of the Roy siblings, having inherited her father's cold, calculating streak, and it's a testament to Snook's performance that we still feel for her despite her endless machinations. 

On paper though, her actions seem much worse than her brothers -- she repeatedly cheats on Tom, tells him she wants an open marriage on their wedding night, coerces a former employee and sexual assault victim into reversing her testimony, and writes a damning letter detailing all of Kendall's faults when he splits from Waystar. She even attempts to pressure Connor and Roman to sign it -- something they both refuse to do, with Roman calling it horrible. When Roman is the moral arbiter in the room, you know you've gone too far.

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Ewan Roy

On the surface, Logan Roy's older brother Ewan (James Cromwell) seems like he should be a moral center for the series. He's anti-capitalist and a staunch environmentalist who despises his brother's business empire and everything he stands for. Ewan also takes a moral stand against what he perceives as the corruption of his impressionable young nephew, Greg (Nicholas Braun).

He's the worst kind of self-righteous, morally superior hypocrite, utterly humorless and devoid of compassion and warmth. He insists that Greg sever his connection to Logan and Waystar (under the threat of disinheriting him), but he doesn't do this himself. He condemns Logan in no uncertain terms, but still keeps his seat on the board and his shares of the company. His disapproval of the family rings hollow when he was in a position to help Greg and instead ignored him for years.

At the start of the series, Greg is in a pretty rotten situation, and while Logan has his flaws (we'll come to that), he makes Greg feel included and provides him with an income and advice. The morally upright Ewan has been absent and only has words of criticism and disdain for his nephew.

Tom Wambsgans

On the surface, Tom Wambsgans (Matthew Macfadyen) might seem less ruthless than Shiv, given his status as an underdog, his warmth towards Shiv, Greg, and Logan, and his generally bumbling nature. However, as someone who wasn't born into wealth, his ambition knows no bounds, even exceeding that of the Roys. After years of doing whatever it took to remain on Logan's good side, even going so far as volunteering to be the fall guy for the cruises scandal, his heartless side is beginning to surface.

It takes until Season 3 for Tom's pragmatic side to come out in earnest, as he finally pushes back against Shiv in his own way by informing Logan of the siblings' planned coup. He throws his wife under the bus in a naked attempt to grab more power. Even now, he is scrambling to attach himself to whoever is going to come out on top, shamelessly exploiting his relationship with Shiv and throwing platitudes at both Roman and Kendall. He might even be Logan's true successor himself.

The one apparently warm relationship he has is built on his own insecurity. He takes Greg under his wing not out of altruism, but because he feels threatened by this new addition with blood ties to Logan. So Tom keeps Greg close, ostensibly as his assistant, but primarily to keep Greg in his place and insulate himself from any blowback.

Greg Hirsch

This might seem like a high ranking for such a mild-mannered character who has so little influence, but arguably more than anyone, Greg is the perfect embodiment of how power corrupts. In Season 1, he's our audience identification figure and is shown to have at least a hint of a conscience, trying to tell Tom about Shiv's infidelity and doing his best to keep Kendall away from drugs. Even in Season 2, he has a moral backbone, voicing his concerns about working at ATN and supporting Kendall in the final episode. 

However, in Season 3 he tries to sue Greenpeace, and in Season 4 he's unrecognizable from the guileless innocent of the first season, calling himself a "disgusting brother" and living a hedonistic, sleazy lifestyle that's even too excessive for his mentor, Tom.

In the words of Glen Cullen from "The Thick Of It," Greg is "a man-worm, a writhing mollusk without any strategies or convictions." Kendall gets it right when he calls him out for being a complete parasite, and at this point, Greg has very few redeeming features. He's similar to Nate (Nick Mohammed) in "Ted Lasso," a similarly meek character who seems nice by dint of his bumbling demeanor, but who actually has a much more obnoxious side that comes out once he is given the slightest taste of power. Even now Greg's on the outs with the Roy siblings, he still unctuously tries to worm his way into the inner circle. But it feels like his cousins have finally cottoned on to Greg, and see him for what he is.

Marcia Roy

I can't be the only person who let out a little cheer when I noticed Hiam Abbass' name in the opening titles of a Season 4 episode, can I? Aside from briefly turning up in Season 3, Logan's estranged wife hasn't made a significant onscreen appearance since confronting Logan for his affair with Rhea Jarrell (Holly Hunter) back in Season 2, demonstrating that she isn't to be trifled with.

Upon her husband's death, she has made her presence felt once again, not-so-subtly solidifying her claim to her share of Logan's wealth, and once again setting the cat among the pigeons.

She may have an outwardly gentle, soft-spoken demeanor, but she is possessed of a will of iron and will not back down without a fight. It's there in her confrontations with both Rhea and Kerry (Zoe Winter) -- pointedly questioning the former on whether she is regularly tested for STIs, and having the latter unceremoniously removed from Logan's wake, and sent back to her "little apartment."  

Her delivery of the line, "I have fought and I have lost and I have fought and won, but when I lose, the other one will generally lose an eye or a soul" drips with menace and illustrates exactly who she is. She's a fighter, and utterly determined to get what she is entitled to. Marcia was Logan's greatest ally, but in the wake of his betrayal and death, she is out for herself. And we are here for it.

Kendall Roy

The heir apparent of Waystar has a complicated relationship with morality. Presented as the closest thing the series has to a protagonist, it's easy to forget -- or maybe tempting to forgive -- some of the truly awful stuff Kendall has done, primarily because he's shown torturing himself more than anyone else possibly could. Strangely enough, Kendall's worst act actually makes him more sympathetic because he finds himself utterly wracked with guilt over his actions -- not enough to turn himself in, but still, it's at least an indication that he owns a soul.

He's a neglectful father (hey, remember Kendall's kids?), but he also cares deeply about his siblings, leaping in to protect Roman after Logan hits him. Ever since that fateful moment in the Season 1 finale, he has beaten himself up over the accidental death of the waiter, and it's only in light of Logan referring to the waiter as one of the many "No real people involved" that he is galvanized into action again. 

Unfortunately, the new improved motivated Kendall is simply a regression to the out-of-touch yuppy of the first season. He's incredibly entitled and arrogant with potential partners. He's so out of touch, and the face he presents to both Vaulter and Dust is that of an arrogant, cocksure try-hard who rubs them both the wrong way. When he doesn't get what he wants, he clings to his grudge like a petulant child, and goes full scorched earth with his retaliation, burning both companies to the ground.

Nan Pierce

Don't let the hail-fellow-well-met demeanor fool you. The matriarch of the Pierce family (Cherry Jones) is a shrewd, formidable opponent, and one of the few characters who isn't intimidated by Logan in the slightest.

The smug, pompous Pierces make the dysfunctional Roys seem like normal people, which is quite an achievement. The first scene with both families is supremely awkward, with Nan oozing faux humbleness as she refers to "our funny little house" while the Roys visibly cringe in discomfort.

Nan herself is the biggest hypocrite of all. She tries to depict herself as somehow above the pettiness of all the corporate wrangling, talking about money as a "social construct" from a position of incredible privilege. Her affected moral superiority always feels more performative than anything -- she outwardly views the negotiations as distasteful, but still holds out for as high an offer as possible. She also takes the credit for the roast dinner while the family chef stands ignored at the back of the room, which might be the worst thing anyone has done in the entire run of the show.

Connor Roy

The final season of "Succession" has done a great job making Connor (Alan Ruck) appear a lot more grounded and likable than previous appearances would suggest -- his whole "superpower" speech is especially heartbreaking -- but he remains a character who has no foot in the real world and no grasp of morality. He has a genial, warm nature that belies a very warped perspective.

Kieran Culkin has gone on the record as saying he thinks that Connor is the most despicable of all the Roys, calling him "Terrifying and unpredictable," and it's difficult to disagree. He's the oldest of the Roy children and yet the one with the least business acumen or any kind of personal accountability, and he's essentially bought a person in Willa. The fact that he seems completely oblivious of the moral implications of that doesn't excuse him in the slightest, and might actually make him worse. The wide-eyed, slightly crazed look he gets when he is talking to her about getting married would be terrifying if it wasn't so funny and illustrates just why he's an awful person.

Thin-skinned and petty, the minute something doesn't go his way he throws a tantrum -- see the gala dinner he hosts for Logan, where his emotions spin on a dime. Alan Ruck himself said about developing the character, "build[ing] the idea of this guy who is marching to the beat of a drum that nobody else can hear," and this rings true -- he's both the most self-involved and the least self-aware character in the entire series.

Lady Caroline Collingwood

Harriet Walter has carved out quite a niche playing variations on the same cold, calculating characters -- portraying similar roles in "Killing Eve," "This Is Going to Hurt," and "The Last Duel." As Logan's ex-wife and the mother of Kendall, Roman, and Shiv, she makes Caroline a truly horrible character; self-centered, bitter, and utterly lacking in any maternal instincts. 

Her lack of moral conviction or any warmth for her children makes her a truly abhorrent character. She plays on her children's affections, twisting the knife when they come to her to ensure her loyalty to Wayster. She gives them a vindictive deal to take to Logan, that all but forces him to acknowledge that he would rather save a buck than spend time with his family. At the same time, she manages to see past her hatred of Logan if it means she gets a little bit more money, when she betrays her kids at the end of Season 3, and then simply doesn't engage when they hold her to account.

The worst thing she does is be so non-committal when her eldest son is clearly suffering and going through a severe crisis of conscience. Kendall wants to confess about the dead waiter, but she first puts off listening to him, and then simply leaves before he wakes up the next morning. She simply doesn't want to be a mother to her kids, and in her own way is just as damaging to them as their father.

Lukas Matsson

Of all the potential business partners that the Roy family deal with over the course of the series, Lukas Matsson (Alexander Skarsgård) is the most inscrutable and terrifying. With a poker face and disarming manner, he's like an alien who has studied a book on how humans behave and isn't doing a particularly good job of emulating them. In his first meeting with Roman, he callously asks when Logan is going to die, and this sets the tone for every subsequent interaction.

Brilliantly brought to life by Skarsgård, he's a well-observed variation of the volatile, Alpha Male tech bro. His direct approach clearly unsettles the Roys, and the negotiating scenes might be the most uncomfortable of the whole series.

Logan has repeatedly said that you need to be a killer to run a corporation like Waystar, and out of every character in the series, Matsson comes closest to feeling like a genuine killer. He has no filter, which makes him seem vaguely sociopathic, and the various outlandish stories that circulate about him only add to this feeling -- sending bags of his own blood to his chief of communications and wearing noise-canceling headphones during sex are pretty big red flags.

If we spent more time with him, he might even take the number one spot, but as it is, his appearances have been limited to just a few episodes. In that time though, he is shown to be just about the most unfeeling, cold-blooded character in the series, using Logan's death as leverage over the other siblings, or at the very least showing a heartless disregard for their feelings.

Logan Roy

Well, who else, really? 

The patriarch of the Roy family is first introduced as irascible and business-focused but with a set of values and decency lacking in his offspring. Yet, as the series goes on, the veil lifts on an unfeeling, capricious, and brutal character.

Kendall isn't far off the mark when he accuses Logan of being jealous of the life he has given to his children. He constantly pits his kids against one another, leading each of them to believe that they are his chosen successor, but even when he gets them onside, he makes them destroy the things they love. He orders Kendall to gut Vaulter and severs Roman's one positive relationship by making him fire Gerri. And yet, in his final scene with his children, it's apparent that he doesn't think any of them have what it takes -- dismissing them all with the words, "You are not serious people."

His treatment of each of his children is appalling (it's heavily implied that he beat Roman as a child), but especially so in the case of Kendall. He twists the knife with his knowledge of the waiter's death at every opportunity to ensure Kendall remains under his thumb and then reprimands him for not being "a killer," the only kind of businessman he respects. Indeed, the one acknowledgment he gives to his son is that half-smile when Kendall finally turns on him.

Even his final act -- shunning Connor's wedding so he can close the deal with Matsson -- is indicative of his nature. If he'd gone to his son's wedding, he would have died surrounded by people who love him unreservedly. But he chooses to put business first again, and as such dies alone.

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