Who was the real star of the whole series?

[B5 in Oz]

Just having watched the whole series from start to end I would like some opinions of who really was the star of the series, not just the lead roles but the one who really made it worth watching. In my opinion it was G'Kar. :thumbsup:

 

[vorlonlovechild]

Londo & GKar. Without a shadow of a doubt.

 

[Springer]

For me it was Londo. He drove the story, was at the centre of almost everything whether he wanted to be or not, and it was Londo who was telling the story of Babylon 5 from the beginning. I don't think G'Kar's character arc drove the story quite as much as Londo's did (though the two were, of course, intertwined).

As for Sheridan, yes he was the main star and also drove much of the story, but as we saw with the change from Sinclair to Sheridan, his position wasn't irreplaceable.

 

[Wulf]

Byron.

...Sorry, I was supposed to turn that into a joke, but now I just feel dirty.

 

[Jan]

The ensemble. I just can't imagine it without the entire cast. Londo and G'Kar definitely stand out but all of them had some fantastic moments.

 

[Lennier's Tears]

Interesting question, but difficult to answer. For me, at least. If I were to aim for just answering the "who made the show really worth watching" part of the question, I'd have to go with the perhaps something boring "all of them together!".

Springer makes a great point about whose story this is. Londo is indeed involved in everything. Also, his is one hell of a character arc. Even so, I think B5 is still a story about humans and where they are going. But perhaps you need an "outsider" to tell the story of humanity.

If you had asked me who I think the real hero of the story is, I'd have a much easier time answering. I think it's Vir. He just seems like a legitimately good guy. He has to go against his upbringing and culture to do the right thing, and he does so successfully. Your definition of "hero" might differ from mine

 

[Mororless]

Interesting question, but difficult to answer. For me, at least. If I were to aim for just answering the "who made the show really worth watching" part of the question, I'd have to go with the perhaps something boring "all of them together!".

Springer makes a great point about whose story this is. Londo is indeed involved in everything. Also, his is one hell of a character arc. Even so, I think B5 is still a story about humans and where they are going. But perhaps you need an "outsider" to tell the story of humanity.

If you had asked me who I think the real hero of the story is, I'd have a much easier time answering. I think it's Vir. He just seems like a legitimately good guy. He has to go against his upbringing and culture to do the right thing, and he does so successfully. Your definition of "hero" might differ from mine

The lack of a single central character who everything was built towards definitely helped B5 I would say and we had lots of characters with long and furfilling arcs.

I would personally say Vir is a bit more of an everyman than a central hero, the down to earth character that sees the story all the way though.

If you had to pick out a central hero I think it does obviously follow "the one" moving from Sinclair to Delenn and then Sheridan. Perhaps not in the way JMS ment it with Sinclair becoming Valen but I think the way he wrote season 1 Sinclair is a more obviously central character with Delenn reduced more to a Kosh like potentially teacher or holder of unknown knowledge. The switch to Sheridan seemed to come with a switch to Delenn having a larger more dramatic rather than mysterious role and you could argue earlt on she's the one driving the arc forward more directly. The switch from her to Sheridan being the One seems to be a bit more of a slower change arguably happening though season 3 and being complete by the time of his return in season 4. Maybe you could argue that Ivanova is built up a little in the finale as the character taking on this role somewhat for the future.

 

[Anla'shok Na]

I guess in a sense that the show can be viewed as the Rise and Fall of Londo Mollari.

 

[hypatia]

I've heard people talk about B5 as a story of Londo and G'Kar, actually. In so many ways, those characters drove much of the action that we got to see, from start to finish of the series.

 

[Sinclair]

I'd say it's definitely G'Kar and Londo. Their relationship with one another coupled with their individual growths just kind of cements their legacy throughout the course of the series. Not to mention the trials and tribulations of the Narn and Centauri peoples as a whole just kind of helps to reinforce that.

 

[My_name_is_Lyta]

Honestly, there is more than one star of B5 really, Londo and G'Kar of course stole the show with their storylines, amazing acting skills, and character depth. I honestly feel that those two characters were utterly amazing and their overall development was truly amazing. But , Sheridan, Delenn and Garibaldi were pretty inspiring throughout the series too. :bolian::borg: But I just wish we were able to see more of Lyta, Vir and Lennier together.

 

[Markas]

I'm a little late to this conversation, but thought I'd toss my bit in as well.

I would say there are dual drivers in play in the series.

First, there is Londo. The decions he made for essentially two reasons (the Centauri returning to emminence, and raising his own profile, and House Mollari) caused an emormous amount of the plot to move forward.

Second, there is Delenn. She is the "light" for Londo's "dark." I'm not implying that Londo was evil, but he started down the path with Morden and had little concern for the effects of Morden and the Shadows deeds in his name for a long time. Delenn drove the majority of the light action, developing Sheridan and G'Kar as allies to defeat the Shadows (and in an way, the Volrlons) while being Sheridan's booster/protector/lover and letting him be the big "hero."

Yes, such an ensemble that all were necessary in big and little ways. It is the great strength of this story, that we can't imagine it without the majority of the cast/characters.

P.S. Welcome, My Name Is Lyta.

 

[deaded]

If I am limited to one choice it must be G'Kar. He grew and bloomed as the series did. He illustrated the potential that is in all of us and he turned himself from a warmonger into an enlightened being. Isn't that what the whole series was roughly about?

(I was surprised by my choice too. I was thinking I was going to type Londo or Sheridan, but the fingers said G'Kar)

 

[hypatia]

G'kar was kind of the heart and soul of the series.

 

[RW7427]

Purple wombats.

 

[Psi Cop]

Has to be Al Bester. Should have been in more episodes and the Telepath War should have been covered. His character was the ultimate contradiction - I cheered for him because he stood up for his people in the face of blatant discrimination but on the other hand he was one evil SOB. And Walter Koenig's portrayal was amazing.

 

[hypatia]

That's a pretty good description of Bester. But you actually cheered him? When? Almost everything he did on camera from "our" perspective was pretty intimidating.

RW: *BACK INTO THE CRAZY HOUSE... er, I mean... BACK INTO BABBLEON with you*

Who let him out? :vulcan:

 

[Psi Cop]

Because normals hated telepaths and he stood up for his own kind though sometimes in slightly morally dubious ways

 

[Mororless]

He certainly became more relatable when the fate of his lover was revealed.

 

[Springer]

Well, in the Psi Corps version of B5 that we glimpsed in The Corps is Mother, The Corps is Father, Bester was certainly the star of that!

A spin-off just about the Psi Corps and telepaths, both good and bad, would have been pretty neat actually, exploring all the societal impacts of telepathy.

Because normals hated telepaths and he stood up for his own kind though sometimes in slightly morally dubious ways

Did normals really hate telepaths, or were they just afraid of them and Psi Corps as an organisation? The onset of telepathy was a major change in human society and society was still trying to figure out the best way to deal with it. The Psi Corps didn't work, so as we saw in Crusade society was trying something else instead.

Bester had a very narrow-minded view of what it meant to stick up for telepaths!