Do we like them?

Do we like Jason Bourne?

A character from The Bourne Identity (1980 (novel); 2002 ()

Our score: 8 out of 10. Yes, we'd back him. He's a reluctant, conscience-driven fighter who just wants the truth and to be left alone, and he's far more careful with innocents than the people chasing him.

Jason Bourne first appeared in Robert Ludlum's 1980 novel The Bourne Identity. Most people know him from the 2002 film with Matt Damon. A fisherman pulls him from the sea with gunshot wounds and no memory. He soon finds he can fight, speak several languages and evade pursuers, and he doesn't know why.

He is hard to dislike. He is quiet, resourceful and wary, and he is more troubled by what he might have done than proud of what he can do. He teams up with a stranger who helps him, and he keeps her out of the worst of it. His violence is quick and defensive. He wants answers, not revenge.

He earns an 8 for his moral compass. He is dangerous, and his past is dark, but he spends the story trying to understand it and to stop the people who would use others the way they used him. He loses a point because the body count behind him is still real.