Do we like them?

Do we like Draco Malfoy?

A character from Harry Potter (1997–2007)

Our score: 4 out of 10. A spoiled, sneering bully who spends years making other kids miserable. He's more scared than wicked, though, so we'd keep him at arm's length, not cheer him on.

Draco meets Harry in a robe shop before their first term at Hogwarts. He originally tries to befriend Harry because being friends with someone so famous seems cool. Harry turns him down, and Draco becomes his main rival, who becomes an enemy.

Draco is a classic school bully. He is snobbish, boastful and bigoted, and he is always sure that rich, pure-blood families like his are better than everyone else. It especially galls him that Muggle-born Hermione outperforms him in lessons and Harry outflies him in Quidditch. He is also a follower: as a prefect he gets the power to take House points from people he dislikes, and he enjoys it. He is a coward who talks big and lets his father and his friends do the dirty work.

Later in the series the stakes rise sharply and Draco is pushed into something far darker than schoolyard teasing. He gets in over his head, and the cracks in his arrogance start to show. Under the swagger is a frightened kid who can't live up to what his family expects of him.

We score him a 4. He is cruel and entitled for a long time, and he picks on people for things they can't help. But he's also a product of the family that raised him, and he is more fearful than wicked. That keeps him from being a true villain, though he never quite earns our backing.