John Sheridan

John Sheridan takes command of Babylon 5 partway through its story, arriving with a reputation as the man who once won a decisive battle against the Minbari. He's affable, plainspoken, and quick with a joke, but there's a steel underneath the folksy charm — a career officer who trusts his instincts and expects to be tested.

Boxleitner plays command as warmth rather than gravitas, which makes Sheridan easy to underestimate and fun to watch prove people wrong. The writing hands him an unusually stable moral center for a space opera lead, then spends years quietly pressuring it — and Boxleitner never lets the decency curdle into naivety.