Sons Of Anarchy: SAMCRO Members Ranked From Heroic To Most Villainous

Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club Redwood Original (SAMCRO) aka “The Mother Charter” only has a few fully patched members but with the number of deep storylines each of them has, there’s no need for a crowd. No one expects gangsters to be moral individuals but some of the club members happen to be more heroic than others.

Like his father, Jax is of the opinion that motorcycle club members don’t have to engage in all kinds of shady business to be cool. Clay, on the other hand, is of the opinion that those who chose this life ought to be as brutal and carefree as possible. Throughout their actions, we can tell which characters have been better for Charming and SAMCRO, and those that are the devil’s favorites.

10 Opie Winston

When he is first introduced in the series, Opie is a newly released ex-convict who spent 5 years behind bars for the club. During that time, he didn’t dare to rat out the members. As a free man, he does everything in his power to provide for his wife Donna and their two children. He even goes back into the world of crime just so he can make more money.

Perhaps Opie’s most heroic act is sacrificing his own life for the club. At the San Joaquin County Correctional Facility, Damon Pope demands a dead Son as revenge for the death of his daughter. According to the villain, that’s the only way there’ll be peace. Without hesitation, Opie steps out and gets beaten to death.

9 Jax Teller

If it wasn’t for Jax, the entire mother charter would have been wiped out by the Irish Kings. In Season 6, he notices a bomb that’s about to explode in the clubhouse and gets everyone out in time. And for the entire series, Jax does everything in his power to get the club out of the gun business. This is responsible on his part since the guns keep falling into the wrong hands, including a young boy who proceeds to shoot up his school.

His brilliant policies aside, Jax has been a prolific villain destroyer. He is directly or indirectly responsible for the death of five of the show’s biggest villains. These include Galen O’Shay, Clay Morrow, Damon Pope, Henry Lin, and August Marks.

8 Otto Delaney

Otto’s case is the bloody type of heroism. He chooses to bite off his own tongue so that he won’t be able to talk and give the authorities. information about SAMCRO. His history states that he once protected Chucky from the Lin Triads for 18 months behind bars. Given how adorable Chucky grew to be, Otto gets bonus points for that.

Otto has every motivation to be an informant. A club member sleeps with his wife and the pain he’s being subjected to by Lee Toric behind bars is too much. Instead, he chooses to remain loyal. He does one better by killing the evil Toric.

7 Chibs Telford

Chibs’ resume is full of heroic acts, including that time he saves his law enforcement love interest, Lieutenant Althea Jarry, from a grenade explosion at Scoops. He is also extremely loyal to Jax.

Chibs’ actions never impact negatively on any character in the series. All the people he kills are baddies who deserve it. He is one of the few people who outsmart villainous ATF agent June Stahl. The best thing he does is killing Jimmy O, who had caused plenty of havoc to SAMCRO for a long time.

6 Piney

Piney served in the Vietnam War hence there is no question about how brave and heroic he is. Without his contribution, the club wouldn’t exist since he is one of the founding fathers aka the First 9.

Suffering from Emphysema doesn’t slow him down as he still prefers to get in the heat of the action. He takes it upon himself to avenge the death of Donna by traveling all the way to Oakland and walking into a One-Niners bar. He also gives Jax a new realization by passing over JT’s letters to him. If it wasn’t for this action, it’s unlikely that Jax would have wanted out of the gun trade.

5 Bobby Munson

Unlike his colleagues, Bobby is even-tempered. He is often the voice of reason when things get out of hand. Another of his admirable traits is that he rarely kills unless it’s extremely necessary.

However, Bobby has proven that he has a dark side. When Clay gives him a job as a bookkeeper Luanne Delaney’s pornography studio, he not only sleeps with her but also helps her cook the books. This action is wrong on many levels because he not only stealing from his brothers but Luann is also the wife of a fellow Son (Otto).

4 Happy Lowman

As quiet as he is, Happy isn’t exactly the nicest person. He has a pretty high kill count. Interestingly, killing isn’t enough for him. He has a habit of tattooing a smiley on his body for every person he kills. A number of Happy’s nasty habits are revealed throughout, one of them being his penchant for reusing condoms.

There is a good reason why he has been labeled the “Master Of Torture.” When SAMBEL member Liam O’Neill is being brutally tortured for trying to blow up members of the mother charter, Happy looks on gleefully while his colleagues are visibly shaken.

3 Juice Ortiz

Juice chooses to be an informant after AUSA Lincoln Potter and Lieutenant Eli Roosevelt threaten to expose his African American heritage to the club. He does this instead of simply discussing the matter with his club brothers. As a result of his snitching activities, a couple of Prospects end up dead.

The often shy member is also an accomplice to the most heartbreaking murder in the series. After Gemma brutally stabs Tara with a barbecue fork, Juice helps her cover it up. He goes as far as to kill Roosevelt who had just pulled up to the crime scene.

2 Tig Trager

Tig’s methods are gruesome as he once drowns a man in a tub of urine. Early in the series, he is quick to go after Opie with the intention of killing him without first confirming if he is guilty. He also doesn’t confirm if it’s Opie in the car. Due to his eagerness to conduct the hit, he accidentally kills Opie’s wife Donna. Tig has also confessed to engaging in necrophilia.

His thirst for blood also ends up causing much pain to his club brothers and his own family. While attempting to run over One-Niners leader Leroy, he runs over Damon Pope’s revenge. Pope retaliates by ordering for Tig’s daughter to be burned alive and for Opie to be beaten to death.

1 Clay Morrow

Clay takes over as President of SAMCRO after causing the death of the more sensible leader John Teller. Such an action is in line with his personality. Not to forget that he was sleeping with John Teller’s wife Gemma. As President, he takes the club deeper into the dangerous and chaotic gun business instead of pulling it out.

Clay also forces Unser to continue working as Police Chief even though the man is suffering from cancer. And after being stripped of the presidency, he tries to undermine Jax’s leadership, even going as far as staging home invasions with the Nomads: Gregg and Gogo. Domestic violence is also not off-limits to Clay. In one of the show’s saddest scenes, he brutally beats up Gemma.

About The Author

Philip Etemesi
(1221 Articles Published)

Philip Etemesi is an author, journalist, screenwriter and film critic based in Nairobi. Kenya. As a child, he preferred watching movies like The Goodfellas instead of Home Alone. His girlfriend constantly has to pull him from the front of the TV but he just keeps returning. Stubborn dude! An animal lover, Philip also has a pet giraffe called Refu.

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