Rewatching The Tudors feels a bit like rummaging through an attic and finding a chest full of glittering royal drama, questionable wigs and wildly uneven moral choices. Some characters shine with depth and power, others burn out in impressive fashion, and a few drift around the court like they wandered in from a different show entirely. This ranking looks at how they were written, how they shaped the story and how much they genuinely left a mark.
There is no science behind this, only strong opinions, fond frustration and the kind of energy you get from rewatching historical drama at two in the morning.
1. Catherine of Aragon
Steadfast, sharp and quietly fierce, she ends up carrying half the emotional weight of the early seasons with nothing but dignity and the patience of a saint. She feels like the one adult in a room full of chaotic nobility. Every scene with her lands, not because she is perfect, but because she is painfully human.
2. Anne Boleyn
Anne comes in with fire, intelligence and calculated charm. She is magnetic enough to make the whole mess believable. The show gives her room to be ambitious, vulnerable and a little reckless. She is the spark that changes England, and she owns every second of it.
3. Henry VIII
Chaotic king energy at full volume. Jonathan Rhys Meyers plays Henry with a ferocity that never slides into parody. He is vain, brilliant, petty, genuinely inspiring at times and occasionally unbearable. You do not always like him, but you cannot look away. Historically messy, dramatically excellent.
4. Charles Brandon
The friend who probably should not be trusted, although you keep rooting for him anyway. His arc jumps from loyal companion to scandal magnet, yet it works because he has an easy confidence and a sense of loyalty that holds the show together.
5. Thomas Cromwell
Quiet storm energy. Calculating, observant and oddly sympathetic, even while orchestrating political chess at an Olympic level. The show lets him rise, manipulate, second guess and finally crumble. He adds weight to every plot he touches.
6. Jane Seymour
A calm presence after the emotional hurricane of Anne Boleyn. She is gentle but not bland. Her strength lies in her steadiness and the way she manages to be genuine in a court that treats sincerity like contraband.
7. Mary Tudor
Her slow burn transformation is one of the show’s better long games. She carries a lot of trauma and still finds a way to hold herself together. Her eventual coldness is understandable, not villainous. You feel for her, even when she goes full iron spine.
8. Thomas More
Earnest conviction, stubborn will and the quiet sense that this man is destined for martyrdom. His conflict with Henry is tense because neither side feels cartoonish. He brings a moral gravity that the court usually lacks.
9. Cardinal Wolsey
He starts with swagger, ambition and a shocking level of confidence. The fall is painful to watch, mostly because it strips away his pride layer by layer. He could be infuriating, but he was rarely dull.
10. Anne of Cleves
A short stay, a lasting impact. Smart, grounded and far less easily manipulated than Henry expects. She knows how to pick her battles and exit with dignity, which might be the most impressive survival tactic in the whole show.
11. Katherine Howard
She is written as naive rather than malicious, which makes her storyline rough to revisit. Still, she brings honesty and a kind of raw vulnerability that gives her arc emotional weight even as it rushes toward disaster.
12. Edward Seymour
Ambitious in a cold, methodical way. He feels like the quiet echo of Cromwell, but sharper and less conflicted. A character who rarely shows his hand, which is impressive, but also means he never quite breaks out of the supporting mould.
13. Thomas Boleyn
Opportunistic to a fault, with very little self awareness and even less shame. He adds spice but not much else. You remember him mostly for the trouble he encourages.
14. George Boleyn
Charismatic and tragic. His friendship with Anne adds warmth, but he never gets the space the character deserves. Strong presence, limited room to breathe.
15. Katherine Parr
Intelligent, compassionate and politically smart, though she arrives a bit too late to gain the depth given to earlier queens. Still, she brings a calm maturity in a court that desperately needs therapy.
16. Lady Rochford
Drama follows her like a shadow. She is interesting, even frustrating, but often feels written as a plot device rather than a fully explored character.
17. Francis Bryan
All charm and chaos. Fun to watch, but he tends to drift in and out of relevance like he has his own off screen adventures that are probably more entertaining than half the royal council meetings.
The Seven Swords Takeaway
The Tudors thrives on its characters, even the ones who appear for only a moment and leave fans wondering how they survived that long in Henry’s orbit. Some are written with striking depth, others feel half formed, but the show never lacks personality or tension. The best characters stay with you long after the credits roll, which is why the ranking remains a messy, passionate debate among fans.
If anything, that is part of the charm.
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