5) Harold Meachum
So far, we haven’t been that impressed with the Meachums. The head of the family, Harold Meachum, is a much more interesting character, though, due to his dual role as manipulator and victim.
As becomes clear over the first six episodes, Harold Meachum died, slowly and terribly, from cancer ten years ago. However, he was brought back to life by the evil ninja clan the Hand (they can resurrect people, just accept it), as they needed him to get their hands on Rand Enterprises. We initially see Harold as the master villain, using his son Ward as his pawn for his twisted business strategies while he hides away in a deluxe penthouse.
But the waters are muddied when it turns out he’s a victim of the Hand – they might have granted him his life back, but it’s not truly his own. His traumatic past helps to keep him from being a cardboard villain and, touchingly, he just wants to be able to see his daughter again (who we’re pretty certain is his favourite child). On the other hand, his manipulation of Danny, who still sees him as a surrogate father, keeps him as a fairly interesting antagonist.