I’ll go first:
- Tony Soprano - The Sopranos
- Enoch “Nucky” Thompson
- Thomas Shelby - Peaky Blinders
Not the main character but Gus Fring was a remarkably intelligent gangster.
Basically all of the high up characters in the Gilliverse are super smart. Mike, Walt, Jimmy, Lalo, Gus, Hector. Eladio and Tuco are the only ones I can think of who ever exhibit any amount of stupid
Walter White. What other mob/cartel boss could actually engineer their criminal product?
Always the accountant.
For sure Thomas Shelby
SPOILERS but Reason why I knocked Tommy Shelby down a bit is because my wife and I are rewatching it now, and I kinda thought Tommy telling John it’s okay that he threatened the sons dad was dumb. That event got Grace killed.
It has been a bit since I did a full rewatch, but fair enough. I will add it to my todo :)
Stringer Bell in The Wire is clever, though he still makes a few mistakes
Not a main character per se, but Stringer Bell from the wire.
Tom Hagen from the Godfather (not a show, but whatever!)
Probably some supervillain. It’s pretty easy to write a character that thinks impossibly far ahead if you don’t mind being campy.
Genny and Ciro in Gomorrah, and Don Minu in ZeroZeroZero.