Joan Holloway

Joan runs the secretarial pool at Sterling Cooper like a queen surveying her domain, and everyone from junior copywriters to partners knows it. She's sharp-tongued, statuesque, immaculately in control, and fluent in the unwritten rules of the office — who matters, who's bluffing, who needs handling. She trains the new girl, Peggy, with brisk, knowing authority.

The writing hands Joan a job with no real power and lets her wield enormous influence anyway, and Christina Hendricks plays that gap beautifully — a raised eyebrow, a perfectly timed pause, doing more than a monologue could. She's funny and formidable in the same breath, and the show trusts her competence long before the men onscreen ever do.