Over the course of the show's seven seasons, The 100 has seen a lot of its characters make horrible decisions and do bad things. Most of those decisions have been based in their survival instincts, creating a complicated world of grey instead of black and white.
John Murphy began his time on the show as an antagonist for many of the main characters. Over time, he's grown to be one of the good guys, even a hero. Murphy doesn't always get the spotlight for the hard decisions like Clarke Griffin has, but he's certainly made his mark as both a villain and a hero.
10 Worst: Murphy Tries To Kill Bellamy
At the beginning of the series, Murphy and Bellamy Blake are allies. That only lasts until Bellamy believes Murphy killed Wells Jaha. Bellamy agrees that Murphy should be executed, but as it turns out, Murphy didn't do the deed.
When Murphy claims that he's forgiven those who turn on him, he's really just biding his time to take them out one by one. He manages to kill two of the teenagers, and he attempts to hang Bellamy just as Bellamy would have executed him.
9 Best: He Cares For Sick Delinquents
For a time, Murphy is gone from the camp made by the teens in season one. When he returns to camp, it's after being tortured by the Grounders for information, and unknowingly infected with an illness. He spreads the illness throughout camp.
Murphy cares for those who are sick, nursing them back to health, despite the way they treated him. The action shows a softer side of Murphy.
8 Worst: He Incites Civil War
Murphy has a knack for starting trouble amongst large groups. He always manages to get the members of the group to turn on one another. While that might mean arguing amongst a group of friends, in a community, it means civil war.
Murphy gets the teenagers at camp to turn against one another when he goes after Charlotte for killing Wells after everyone assumed he did in the first season. He also gets the Eligius prisoners to turn on one another while they're in conflict with Wonkru. The latter conflict causes more bloodshed that the former, but the former also sees Charlotte lose her life.
7 Best: Murphy Takes On Sheidheda
When it becomes clear that Sheidheda has taken over the body of Russell Lightborne, Murphy doesn't take the news lying down. Instead, he helps Indra keep an eye on the former leader of the Grounder clans.
While that initially means literally playing chess with the imprisoned Sheidheda, it also means figuratively playing chess with him. Murphy sacrifices himself to keep Sheidheda occupied and protect others at Sanctum.
6 Worst: He Allies With Josephine Prime
When Murphy discovers that Clarke's body is inhabited by Josephine Lightborne, he doesn't spend a lot of time mourning, and he doesn't immediately tell his friends. Instead, he strikes a deal.
Murphy has always been afraid of what comes after life. Josephine's offer of living forever, his mind being moved to a different body upon each death, is an offer too good to pass up. It's a selfish move born from fear that is more reminiscent of who Murphy is at the beginning of the series than how far he's come in the later seasons.
5 Best: He Puts Madi And Emori First
In the final season of The 100, Murphy finds himself as Sanctum's first line of defense against Sheidheda. While he tries to stall the leader, it doesn't always pan out. When Sheidheda finally assumes command, Murphy's first thoughts aren't of himself, but instead of Madi and Emori.
He's seen the effect Sheidheda has had on Madi, even been the one to calm her down from a panic attack. Murphy doesn't want Madi to have to face the literal embodiment of her worst nightmares as he's become her surrogate parent with Clarke missing. Likewise, he makes sure Emori is in a position to keep herself safe while he takes the brunt of Sheidheda's anger.
4 Worst: Murphy Manipulates His Own Friends
Murphy's survival instincts earn him the nickname of "cockroach" from Raven. He does whatever he needs to do, and has admitted as much. The trouble is that sometimes what he feels like he needs to do includes manipulating his friends into doing what he wants them to do.
The audience sees this most often with Raven. Murphy knows exactly what buttons to push to get her to make decisions in his best interest. He purposely upsets her in order to get her to work on technology she wants to leave alone time and again.
3 Best: He Saves Sanctum's Children
Showing just how much he's grown in the last two seasons of the show, Murphy doesn't just put those he cares about first. He also puts the lives of the innocent children caught in the struggle between factions on Sanctum first.
Murphy allows Emori and Madi safety when he stays out in the open and gets them to hide with the nuclear reactor on Sanctum. He also, however, makes sure that they hide as many of the children and those who previously believed in the glory and grace of the Primes as they can. He even, once he and his friends think they are safely out of Sheidheda's reach, wants to go back to help them.
2 Worst: He Shoots Raven
So many of Murphy's purposeful misdeeds happen early in the series. During his string of taking revenge on the other teenagers, and his attempt at killing Bellamy, he also shoots Raven Reyes.
In fact, Murphy's bullet is the reason Raven has difficult walking. Fragments of the bullet lodged in her body continue to do harm long after she's actually been shot.
1 Best: Murphy Apologizes To Raven
It takes Murphy a few seasons to do it, but he does apologize for his actions. When the two are facing the possibility of the world actually ending, Murphy takes a moment to tell Raven how sorry he is for how his actions affected her life.
Though Raven largely brushes off his apology, the two do continue to trade barbs for years after they've managed to leave the radiation soaked Earth behind. Despite their differences, the two become firm allies after that apology.
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