Stephen King villains, including It, Randall Flagg, and Annie Wilkes. Through their ability to scare audiences and make King's horror feel palpable, the antagonists are sometimes more memorable than the protagonists, and become staples of popular culture.

However, without the protagonists, the stories in best protagonists in Stephen King movies, especially since many of the adaptations frame the story differently than the source material.

10 Holly Gibney

Holly & If It Bleeds

Before being the protagonist in Holly and If It Bleeds, Holly Gibney was first introduced in King's 2014 novel Mr. Mercedes. Holly Gibney's other appearances are in the Mr. Mercedes sequels Finders Keepers and End of Watch, The Outsider, and the 2025 book Never Flinch. Holly's unique journey from ing character to protagonist puts her in a class of her own that distinguishes her from other King protagonists.

The character's insightful, unfiltered, and awkward nature makes her equally endearing and engaging to follow. Her investigative skills allow her to be a particularly good fit in King's crime thriller books and the number of books she has appeared in over the past decade speaks to the quality of her character. That being said, the Bill Hodges trilogy and The Outsider are stronger stories than Holly and If It Bleeds, largely because Holly is a character who works better in a ing capacity than as a protagonist.

9 Paul Sheldon

Misery

Annie Wilkes undeniably steals the show in the Misery novel and in the 1989 film adaptation starring Kathy Bates. One of the many reasons Annie works well is because of how she is depicted through Paul Sheldon's point of view. Paul's perspective creates the terrifying sensation of helplessness while being trapped and tormented. He makes it easy to sympathize with him and to fear what Annie will decide to do next.

Paul is more than a victim, though, and demonstrates considerable determination and resourcefulness as he fights to survive and escape his captor. From Ben Mears in Salem's Lot to Jack Torrance in The Shining, Paul is only one of many Stephen King characters who are writers. Being an author is deeply intertwined with why Paul is being kept captive and whether he escapes, which makes him one of King's most fascinating writer protagonists. At the same time, Paul is overshadowed by Annie, who is the face of Misery.

8 Stu Redman

The Stand

The Stand has a large ensemble of characters, but the protagonist is ultimately Stu Redman. Stu is a reserved and thoughtful individual who strives to do the right thing, even when it is hard. From his humble days in Texas to becoming a leader of the Boulder Free Zone, Stu undergoes his own version of the hero's journey. He is not a flashy hero who seeks glory or who strives to be heroic, but is simply someone who tries to help others when he can.

Gary Sinise plays Stu Redman in the 1994 miniseries while James Marsden plays him in the 2020 miniseries.

Stu is the perfect protagonist to have opposite the conniving, sinister, and self-serving Randall Flagg. The Stand deals with the battle of good and evil on an epic scale and wrestles with some difficult questions about society and the human condition. Stu's calm, reflective, and kind demeanor makes him the perfect character to ground such a weighty story. While Stu is an effective protagonist, he is not quite as compelling as Flagg, Nick Andros, Nadine Cross, and some of The Stand's other characters.

7 Bill Denbrough

It

Due to the structure of It, the novel explores the lives of Bill Denbrough and the other of the Losers Club when they are children and as adults 27 years later. This is valuable in understanding and seeing the growth of all the characters in the Losers Club, but it is particularly valuable for Bill as the protagonist of the story. King helps the reader see how Bill thinks as a child mourning the death of his younger brother, Georgie Denbrough, to how he thinks as an adult.

The psychic battles are standout moments in the novel because of the unique way it is depicted from Bill's childhood and adult perspectives.

Bill is equally captivating to follow in both stages of his life, which is why the novel is able to seamlessly alternate between the past and present, including both times performing the Ritual of Chüd. The psychic battles are standout moments in the novel because of the unique way it is depicted from Bill's childhood and adult perspectives. Bill confronts the scariest enemy possible as a child and as an adult, and walks away stronger for it. Bill is a perfect protagonist for the coming-of-age story, even though the antagonist is ultimately more memorable than him.

6 Andy Dufresne

Rita Hayworth & The Shawshank Redemption

Before he was played by Tim Robbins in the 1994 adaptation, Andy Dufresne was first depicted in King's novella Rita Hayworth & the Shawshank Redemption. Andy proves to be a fiercely intelligent and resourceful individual. He uses these traits to be a beacon of hope in a place where hope is very much needed. Beyond proving his own innocence and eventually finding a way to escape, Andy positively impacts the other prisoners and even the guards.

Rita Hayworth & the Shawshank Redemption is among the most uplifting stories that King has written, and this is in large part due to Andy. He is an inspiring character, especially because he chooses to continue living and to make the best of his situation. However, due to the shorter length of a novella, Andy does not receive as much development as some of King's other protagonists.

5 Jake Epping

11/22/63

Time travel and going back in time to stop someone from dying are well-worn territory in fiction at this point. Despite these concepts being integral to the premise of 11/22/63, it is a phenomenal book with one of Stephen King's best endings. The protagonist, Jake Epping, is one of the key reasons the book works. Jake is a comionate and brave character whose time-traveling adventures are rooted in genuinely wanting to help others and to make the world a better place, which makes the actual results all the more tragic.

In addition to Jake's comion and bravery, his ability to adapt makes him a worthy protagonist to follow. After traveling to 1958 and living in this time period as he prepares to stop the assassination of John F. Kennedy, it is intriguing to see how Jake adapts and builds a life for himself in an entirely different era. Jake's positive traits add more merit to his romance with Sadie Dunhill, which is the heart of the story. Compared to some of King's other protagonists, Jake is a more straightforward character, but still among the author's all-time best.

4 Carrie White

Carrie

Carrie White is a perfect example of how a protagonist does not mean have to be a hero. King does a masterful job of making the reader understand and sympathize with Carrie as she is repeatedly humiliated and tormented at home and at school. She gets no reprieve from her tortuous life and when she is finally given something nice, it is ripped away from her with a dousing of pig's blood. The death and destruction that follows is wrong, but it is difficult to completely condemn her given what has transpired up to this point.

King's use of capitalization and a lack of punctuation at times helps communicate Carrie's unfiltered rage and stream of consciousness as she loses control. The writing style gives more weight to her telekinetic powers and how they manifest the trauma and various emotions that she had been repressing for years. From an outsider's perspective, Carrie might seem like the monster, but when seeing so much of the story through her perspective, it is a tragedy. She is not as complex as some of King's other protagonists, but she is still one of his best.

3 Johnny Smith

The Dead Zone

The Dead Zone is one of Stephen King's best books about mind powers. After injuring his head at six years old, and after a car crash puts him in a coma for four and half years during adulthood, Johnny Smith begins experiencing psychic visions when touching some objects or people. Much of the book takes place within Johnny's mind and the novel is not as plot-driven as some of King's other books. Nevertheless, The Dead Zone is a gripping read because of Johnny's inner turmoil.

It is fascinating to see Johnny trying to resist his visions and to cling to a normal life, all while part of him knows that he must embrace the visions and use them to help others in need.

Johnny wants to just be an everyday person teaching high school English and being with the woman he loves, Sarah Bracknell. Unfortunately, such normalcy is not an option for him. It is fascinating to see Johnny trying to resist his visions and to cling to a normal life, all while part of him knows that he must embrace the visions and use them to help others in need. The idea of psychic powers being both a gift and a curse shines through Johnny's perspective and makes the culmination of his story bittersweet.

2 Danny Torrance

The Shining & Doctor Sleep

While Bill Denbrough's childhood and adulthood are explored in It, these stages of Danny Torrance's life are explored across two novels. In The Shining, Danny is a five-year-old child, and it is terrifying to experience the Overlook Hotel and a possessed Jack Torrance from his point of view. Beyond being a child trapped in a horrifying situation, Danny is also defined by having the Shine. By the end of The Shining, there is definitely more of Danny's story to tell, including what the Shine means for him, and that is explored with further depth in Doctor Sleep.

Danny's story in The Shining is now even stronger than it already was due to knowing what lies ahead for him in Doctor Sleep. The sequel also benefits from having the backstory of his traumatic childhood in The Shining. Unlike many characters and some other protagonists, Danny learns and grows from his past, even from the most painful parts, and uses these lessons well by helping the teenage Abra Stone who has the Shine. Danny ends up having some of the best character development in King's stories and is only beaten by a protagonist with even more opportunity to develop.

1 Roland Deschain

The Dark Tower series

With the gunslingers gone, and Roland Deschain being the last of their ancient order, he had the potential to be a traditional hero. He does some heroic deeds, but he also chooses to ruthlessly sacrifice those who have put their trust in him, which he justifies in the name of his quest for the Dark Tower. The first Dark Tower book, The Gunslinger, is largely spent inside Roland's head as he pursues the Man in Black across the desert. The Gunslinger is never boring, though, due to Roland being a deeply flawed and nuanced character.

Roland continues to be an engaging protagonist to follow through the rest of The Dark Tower series, as he grapples with his obsessive need to complete his quest, the love he feels for his ka-tet, and the remorse he has for past mistakes that still haunt him. It is a rare feat for a protagonist to feel as though they are worth following across eight novels and a novella written over the course of multiple decades. This solidifies Roland as the best protagonist in all of Stephen King's books.