TV’s conspiracy buffs run the gamut, and there is certainly no shortage of them. From alien conspiracies to dark philosophical musings, a good conspiracy character is endlessly fascinating and, more importantly, entertaining. The audience is drawn to them whether the character is likable or not.
If you need further evidence, the real world will happily oblige. Flat-earth theories, moon landing coverups, Area 51, the JFK assassination, QAnon, the Illuminati, government coverups of underground passageways in Antarctica, and so many more that attract millions of followers.
Suspicious thinking and paranoia are nothing new. In fact, many scientists believe it’s entirely natural, a trait handed down throughout the ages as an old survival mechanism.
No matter where it comes from, creative minds know how to tap into the paranoid edge of the human consciousness, conjuring characters that are simultaneously fascinating and suspicious of everything.
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Some of TV’s deepest conspiracy buffs are indeed the greatest fictional characters in the history of the small screen.
Rust Cohle – True Detective S01
The first season of True Detective is one of those shows people will hunt down and watch fifty years from now, assuming we consume entertainment in the same way by then. As it turns out, Cohle was mostly correct in his conspiratorial introspection.
The deep south of Louisiana, already a scene of mysticism and old secrets, is the backdrop of Cohle’s investigation. An archaic sense of dark wonder is pervasive throughout the series. If you don’t come away believing in shadowy conspiracies deeply intertwined with the seedy undergrowth of American crime, you’re flirting with a dose of aphantasia.
Sherlock Holmes – Sherlock
There is no true list of TV’s conspiracy buffs without Sherlock Holmes. If he’s not on there, it’s a bust.
Sherlock Holmes’ fictional life took place in late 19th-century England, otherwise known as the Victorian Era. It’s difficult to disassociate Holmes from Jack the Ripper, a real-life serial killer in the shady underbelly of 1888 London.
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The very nature of Holmes’ private investigation enterprise conjures up theories, investigations, and, yes, conspiracies.
The eccentrically luminous Holmes unravels conspiracies for a living and is probably one of the greatest, if not the greatest, fictional detectives in history.
Fox Mulder and Dana Scully – The X-Files
Why list two? Well, in many ways, this is a necessary combination.
If you could take the consciousness of the entire X-Files series and split it into two parts, Scully would be one, and Mulder would be the other. They are oil and water, yet they somehow combine to agglomerate the ultimate conspiracy investigator.
At its heart, The X-Files is about alien colonization or the attempt at colonization. That extraneous effort is shrouded and enabled by a dark government conspiracy with many tentacles. These tentacles are subsets — other conspiracies with key players revolving around the center.
In short, Mulder’s and Scully’s unique intellectual opposition comes together to tackle a multi-faceted nightmare conspiracy of world-shattering proportions.
Olivia Dunham – Fringe
Olivia Dunham is the perfect follow-up to Dana Scully and Fox Mulder. When Fringe came along, everyone assumed it would be a J.J. Abrams-led rip-off of The X-Files. To be fair, the two shows have a lot in common.
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However, where The X-Files’ overarching theme was an alien invasion coordinated with a shadow government, the Fringe crew is up against Massive Dynamic, a multi-billion-dollar corporation/pseudo-government entity.
Like The X-Files, Fringe is essentially a series of paranormal investigations that serve as filler between primary episodes that cover Massive Dynamic and the alternative universe the company is intertwined with.
Mark Scout – Severance
TV’s most entertaining conspiracy buffs don’t have to work for the FBI or some unelected, secret bureaucracy. Severance takes the boring, traditional office setting and turns it into a brain-twisting hellscape of insidious content moderation, social experimentation, and literal, split personalities.
Nothing is what it seems to be in Severance.
Those who work at Lumon Industries undergo a voluntary procedure known as “severance,” which splits and separates their “at-work” consciousness from their “not-at-work” consciousness. The result is a mind-bending spiral of discovery and insanity.
It’s a treacherous conspiracy, tightly constrained within the home-work dynamic.
Bernard Lowe – Westworld
Bernard Lowe has to be one of the most tortured conspiracy buffs on the list. Westworld is a deep dive into the rabbit hole, with a lot going on in its first season.
Built as an “entertainment” venue for the rich and famous, Westworld is a fantasy version of the Wild West made real and peopled with biomechanical robots.
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Unfortunately, the robots no longer behave as intended, and Bernard Lowe, the head of Delos Programming, is intent on figuring out why. The journey is one of self-discovery, though not in the way that most people think.
There’s a huge difference between discovering hidden or repressed aspects of your character and discovering you are not you. The labyrinthine storyline only gets trippier from there.
Jack Shephard – Lost
Lost is probably one of the most convoluted and controversial series on this list. The ending satisfied some and elicited groans from others.
One thing everyone can agree on is that Lost is a complex tale. It often expands too far and becomes dangerously self-destructive. There’s so much going on here that it’s difficult to summarize it all in a few paragraphs.
Suffice it to say, elements of purgatory, flashbacks, flash-forwards, electromagnetism, time loops, immortality, a flash-sideways world (may or may not be defined as purgatory), and metaphysical questions that will never be answered.
Jack presided over more episodes than any other character, so he earns the “conspiracy buffs” title for one of the most divisive and delirious TV shows of all time.
Valery Legasov – Chernobyl
Of all the conspiracy buffs on this list, Valery Legasov is the only real one, and his journey ultimately led to his suicide.
Russia, during the days of the Soviet Union, was a walking, talking conspiracy theory, the result of an oppressive, tightly controlled regime.
Valery Legasov was one of the Soviet chemists sent to the site of the most well-known nuclear plant meltdown in history to ascertain the damage and assist in cleanup efforts.
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Throughout his time in Pripyat, Ukrainian SSR, Legasov faces the brutal nature of a government hell-bent on maintaining secrecy, controlling information, and spying on its own citizens.
To say that the word “conspiracy” is applicable here is an understatement. During that time period, it was paramount that the Soviet Union never allow its chief rival, the United States, to witness a moment of weakness.
The many deaths and the expansive destruction of the meltdown are direct results of a Soviet PR campaign.
Rorschach – Watchmen
Rorschach is one of those conspiracy buffs who gets a bad rap and one that’s well-deserved. Exposing conspiracies is one thing and arguably a positive.
However, to have the legacy of your labors tarnished by a self-written journal meant to expose the results of those labors is tragic in so many ways. This is especially true in Watchmen.
Rorschach’s published journal was perverted into the foundational mechanism of a white supremacist group. While Rorschach was certainly no angel, his intolerances are exclusive to gender and sex.
The Seventh Kalvary rose from the aftershocks of Rorschach’s journal, along with the general dismissiveness people often conjure in the face of conspiracy theories. Regardless of what the audience thinks about his character, his legacy was not his original intent.
Detective John Munch – Homicide
As characters who indulge in conspiracies go, there are none quite like Detective John Munch, whose portrayal stretches across multiple shows, starting with Homicide: Life on the Street.
Interestingly, the late Richard Belzer coauthored “Hit List,” a book that covers the enigmatic deaths of those associated with the Kennedy assassination.
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Detective Munch is conspiracy personified, often haranguing his fellow detectives with one seditious connivance or another.
Ironically, the character of Detective Munch once did a crossover with The X-Files, where he makes fun of the Lone Gunman with mocking tones and implications of tin foil hat conspiracies.
Dale Gribble – King of the Hill
Like the Simpsons, King of the Hill draws its comedic power from the relationships between the characters, whether it’s family or friends throughout the neighborhood.
This allows creators to develop all sorts of characters and see who sticks. Dale Gribble is that slightly off neighbor that you hate to run into at the grocery store because the milk in your cart will reach room temperature before you can drag yourself away from the conversation.
He is the conspiracy buff of all conspiracy buffs, and the internet is rife with Gribble’s best and most delusional quotes.
Dale covers everything from UN weather shaping to clones and psyop campaigns coordinated by the United States Postal Service. He also questions the existence of Hawaii, which he may as well include Wyoming since both are probably government conspiracies.
What do you think? Are there any conspiracy buffs you think should be on the list as well? Hit us up in the comments, and let us know!