So, I'm just now getting into S2 of Star Trek: Discovery. I approached it with some deep reservations.
See, in all of ST lore, my favorite captain was Pike. My favorite ep remains "The Cage." My favorite ST books look back to Pike's command. I suppose some of my adoration stems from there being so little of him in cannon. I was allowed to build him in my imagination.
So, when I heard Discovery was adding Pike to the cast, my reaction was 180° off what you might expect. I was in dread. I had My Pike, and I didn't want CBS messing him up. I need not have feared.
The writers and Anston Mount NAILED my vision of Pike. All the best of Kirk, minus all the stuff that's problematic. He's heroic. He's inspirational. He's 💯 about helping others achieve as part of achieving himself. Simply, he's the best of us. He's Roddenberry's vision of Hornblower for the future that Roddenberry+Shatner and Roddenberry+Stewart (love Sir Patrick tho I do) never quite achieved.
So is there an adaptation that just nailed your vision of a character?