Omar Little named The Wire's best character (+video)

Omar Little has been voted The Wire's best character.

Omar Little is US President Barack Obama's favourite character - and it seems he's everyone else's too.

Omar, the ruthless gay lone ranger on cult cop drama The Wire, has been named the show's best character by website Grantland.com.

Using a complicated tennis-style knock out competition, including seeds and rankings, the website pitted 32 of the show's characters against one another.

The final saw Omar, played by Michael K Williams, up against drug kingpin Stringer Bell, played by Idris Elba.

Omar was today announced the winner, with Grantland proclaiming him to be "a wish-fulfilling, shotgun-toting, Robin Hood/Man With No Name; a badass-with-a-code that you could root for.

"He's the closest thing to a mythic figure on this prudently myth-averse show," they said.

The search for The Wire's best character was sparked when a representative from Grantland asked Obama who his favourite character was.

"It's got to be Omar, right?" he replied. "I mean, that guy is unbelievable, right?"

Despite being a ruthless murderer, Omar is a favourite character on The Wire because of his stringent adherence to his own code. During a court appearance, he describes his job as: "I rip and run ... I rob drug dealers".

He beat other favourites like cops Jimmy McNulty and Bunk, and drug dealers Proposition Joe and Avon Barksdale.

The Wire ran on US cable network HBO for five seasons between 2002-2009, with many calling it the best TV show ever made.

- Herald online