American Horror Story: Roanoke – 10 Characters, Ranked By Bravery

FX’s American Horror Story: Roanoke is one of the under-appreciated seasons of the long-running horror anthology series. However, like so many of the other seasons of the series, it is also full of some fascinating characters, men and women who do the best that they can to survive the nightmare that is the lost colony of Roanoke.

The heroes and villains that populate this specific season demonstrate some extraordinary bravery as they all do what they can to come out alive, even if remarkably few of them end up doing so.

10 Sidney James

There are few American Horror Story characters quite as morally reprehensible as Sidney James, who manipulates everyone in order to secure good ratings for his television show.

Though he seems to have no morals, it’s hard to deny that does have at least a bit of bravery, since he is willing to return to the site where so many other gruesome murders have happened. It becomes clear that his ambition outweighs every other consideration and, in a strange way, makes him a remarkably brave character.

9 Agnes Mary Winstead

The legendary Kathy Bates is a remarkable actress with many great roles to her name, and she always manages to make an impression in American Horror Story. In this case, she plays the character of Agnes Mary Winstead, who gradually loses her mind as she comes to believe that she really is the Butcher, Thomasin White.

While she is deranged, she shows that she has a spine of steel, since she actually ends up asking Thomasin to save her life. There are few people who could look that spirit in the face, but she manages to do so.

8 Mama Polk

Another American Horror Story veteran standout is Frances Conroy, and she makes a brief appearance as one of the iterations of Mama Polk, who leads the cannibalistic Polk family.

Though she is as monstrous and murderous as her children, Mama Polk can’t be faulted for cowardice as she is willing to do almost anything for the protection of her children and grandchildren, even if that means that she must murder (and eat) those that happen to get in her way.

7 Matt Miller

Matt is another of those characters in this season that isn’t especially virtuous, since he decides to return to Roanoke simply to be with the creature known as Schatach. However, that being said, it has to be admitted that he still shows a remarkable amount of courage for being willing to return to Roanoke at all, considering that he knows that it could very well end up with his death.

What’s more, the fact that he is willing to engage in a romantic tryst with a centuries’ old spirit shows just how courageous he can be.

6 Shelby Miller

Like Matt, Shelby is hardly a paragon of marital virtue, but she nevertheless shows throughout the season that she has a lot of steel in her spine. Like her husband, she endures quite a lot of torment at the hands of the horrible spirits that inhabit the land and the house that they decide to move into.

While she ultimately takes her own life after murdering Matt in a fit of rage, up until then she shows a level of fortitude that few people would if they were in the same circumstances.

5 Audrey Tindall

There’s no question that Sarah Paulson is one of the most important actresses in American Horror Story, and she always manages to play characters with a great deal of depth and emotional richness. In this season, she plays a number of characters, including Audrey Tindall, one of its bravest.

In addition to surviving all of the other horrors as the rest of her fellow housemates, she also tries to shoot Lee and stop her from killing anyone else, even though doing so results in her own death at the hands of the police.

4 Thomasin White

Thomasin White is, without a doubt, this series’ major villain, and she is the one that leads the ghosts of the other Roanoke colonists on their ritual murder sprees. However, she also has quite a rich backstory, and she endured the rebukes and rejection of the rest of the colonists and yet, because of her bravery, managed to survive in the forest before she came back and executed her revenge against those who had betrayed her.

It took a tremendous amount of bravery to survive, let alone decide to exact her vengeance in the particular way that she did.

3 Ambrose White

As Thomasin’s son, it would make sense that Ambrose would be under her power, especially considering how domineering and influential she was.

However, time and again he shows that he does have a significant amount of bravery, first by rebelling against her during the initial colony and then, once they have become ghosts, by throwing her into a fire and allowing the living sacrifices to escape. Though it is only temporarily successful, he deserves credit for being willing and able to fight back against injustice.

2 Scathach

Lady Gaga is one of the most successful pop stars to have made a transition to acting, and she brings a great deal to this role (even though it’s a small one compared to her appearance in Hotel).

Like Thomas, Scathach endures quite a lot of torment at the hands of those who don’t understand her, and, also like Thomasin, she is determined to endure despite everything. She thus deserves credit for having enough fortitude to endure torments that would have destroyed someone less likely to survive.

1 Lee

Lee is, arguably, the series’ protagonist, but she is deeply flawed and tragic, having endured quite a lot of trauma during her life. More than anything else, however, she shows that she truly loves her daughter and will do whatever it takes to protect her.

In fact, she even volunteers to die so that she can go on and live her life. It’s a moving moment of sacrifice and an indication that she is the bravest character in the season, even if she is also it’s most morally complicated.

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