Bones, like Castle, is a multi-millionaire author. One of her assistants is one of the richest men in the country.
Are you looking for heroes in the crime-fighting do-gooder sense, or just main characters who are depicted in a sympathetic manner?
If the latter, about half of the characters on Downton Abbey are aristocrats, and while they’re definitely shown to have flaws they’re generally shown in a favorable light. Many of the servants are also depicted positively, but it occurs to me that most of the characters who could be described as villainous are servants.
Good one.
It’s not just a question of wealth but ethos, manner, deportment, upbringing etc. You can be upper class and penniless.
Do-gooding certainly, but not necessarily crime-fighting. Being depicted in a sympathetic manner is not enough.
I’ve not actually watched the series - are any of them heroes?
Not exactly sure what you’re looking for, but if it helps - Emma Frost definitely has the upper-class snobbish/elitist thing going on, but she’s also a reformed villain. Angel is more the American Tycoon type. Psylocke’s background as a British aristocrat admittedly doesn’t play into her character any much these days, as it centers more on her being an assassin in a ninja warrior’s body.
The American author Elizabeth George has written a series of novels set in England featuring Scotland Yard detective Inspector Thomas Lynley (Lord Asherton ) who appears to be a cross between Lord Peter Wimsey and Roderick Alleyn . The aristocratic part is compounded by the fact that he is married to the daughter of his butler , who nevertheless continues to perform his duties , and has an ex girlfriend as a pathologist who also is a Lady in her own right.
Scrooge McDuck.
Veronica Lodge.
Richie Rich.
Doctor Who. They haven’t gone into too much detail about the class system on Gallifrey, and there’s some doubt about whether or not Time Lord is a title or applies to all Gallifreyans {it’s suggested that there is a rank and file} but it’s made clear that before their exiles both the Doctor and his nemesis the Master were aristocrats.
In Robot of Sherwood Robin Hood even explicitly parallels their career paths, both titled nobles who exiled themselves from a powerful but aloof and disinterested aristocracy in order to fight for those who most needed help.
Lady Sybil, the youngest daughter of the family, probably qualifies as a do-gooder. She has for her time/class pretty progressive beliefs about social issues, goes out of her way to help a housemaid achieve her dream of starting a professional career as a secretary, and becomes a nurse during WWI because she wants to do something positive and meaningful.
Thinking of British period dramas I’ve watched on PBS, the main character on Poldark is a do-gooder from an upper class family, although not personally wealthy.
Most of these aren’t from “within the last decade or two”. Bruce Wayne has been a wealthy playboy for almost a century.
Simon and River Tam from Firefly probably qualify.
Jed Bartlet on The West Wing. His ancestors help found the United States.
The Justice Society was originally a (mostly) rich boy club, except for The Spectre, the Atom and Johnny Thunder. Reed Richards and Janet Van Dyne were old money. Namor, T’Challa and the Inhumans are royalty; Black Widow is hinted to be of the Romanovs. Monet and Magma are from old money as well; possibly Xavier too. I believe Wyatt Wingfoot is said to be pretty loaded. Oh, don’t forget the Green Team!
It’s kind of a weird question. Modern Pop culture worships the Rich. It would be harder to find a protagonist who is poor and not a child (usually an orphan).
So is Thor, but let’s maybe not go there.
Malcolm Reynolds mentioned his mother having 40+ hand at her ranch, and he had enough cash, postwar to buy a transport. So he probably was upper class(at least on his home planet)
IIRC, FBI Agent Pendergast from the successful Douglas Preston and Lincoln Childs collaboration is strongly implied to be eccentric and very wealthy. Went to Harvard and Oxford, has multiple Rolls Royces, lives and works in New Orleans, but has both an apartment and a mansion in New York. He is also very much the hero of the stories.
He was definitely a villain, but Dreiberg was a hero and his family seems to have been quite well off.
As an aside, MCU backgrounds:
- Tony Stark; Son of a billionaire.
- Thor: Asgardian royalty.
- Steve Rogers: Working class Brooklyn
- Natasha Romanoff: Not stated.
- Clint Barton: Middle Class
- Hank Pym: Billionaire, not stated if from old money.
- Scott Lang: Professional background., computers.
Also Siddhārtha Gautama, depending on your definition of modern.