Braeden was hesitant to work on a soap opera, but eventually signed a contract, and has remained on the series as a regular cast member for over 40 years.

He was briefly married to a woman named Hope Wilson (Signy Coleman) and they had a son together, Adam Newman (Mark Grossman), who grew up without knowledge of Victor being his father.

Considered an icon and leading man of the soap opera genre, Braeden's distinct performance of Victor has garnered widespread praise from critics, who have described him as legendary and "enthralling".

Apart from popularity and critical praise, Braeden has also garnered numerous accolades for his performance; most notably a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, presented to him in 2007.

She also noted that he's been jailed, thrown in a psychiatric ward and shot, had amnesia, epilepsy among other events, but "like all villains worth their salt, he's survived it all and inspired respect, if not adoration".

In June 2011, Michael Logan of TV Guide felt that Victor was "pushing it with the fans", stating: "The megalomaniacal patriarch earned considerable viewer backlash last month when he threw his ex-wife [Diane] from the back of an ambulance and left her bruised and bloodied.

The actor also stated he does not like women defeating Victor, admitting that he wasn't pleased in a 2003 scene where his daughter Victoria (portrayed by Heather Tom) slaps him.

What insanity that war was, and all because of a man with a huge superiority complex.For over three decades, Victor has been romantically linked with Nikki Reed (Melody Thomas Scott).

The writers of The Young and the Restless detailed their characters to marry and divorce or depart from each other in some form or fashion in a continuous cycle, which is a take on the original supercouple formula.

[18] Soap Opera Digest relayed the beginning of the pairing's creation and their impact, described as an "inspired decision", led to Victor and Nikki becoming the series' most successful supercouple.

"[25] In a 1994 interview with The Los Angeles Times, the newspaper reported that Victor's relationship with Nikki had "registered an enduring appeal among viewers", with Braeden replying that, "Arguably, it's the idea of this incredibly powerful, wealthy man taking a woman who comes from the wrong side of the tracks into his life, and shaping her and forming her more to his liking.

"[29] The Museum of Television and Radio wrote: "Combined with a series of social-issue storylines covering everything from AIDS to date rape to the plight of the elderly, as well as featuring a group of popular young African-American characters, and several long-term romantic and professional relationships, Victor and Nikki's love story has kept viewers enthralled for many years."

Joshua Morrow, who portrays Nicholas, told Soaps in Depth that he was "always kind of surprised that Nick just accepted this from his dad", and that "there were never any scenes showing legitimate anger".

[47] In 2009, Braeden experienced multiple contract negotiation issues, leading to former executive producer and head writer Maria Arena Bell writing both Victor and Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott) out of the series.

Victor created his own company, Newman Enterprises, and ended up cheating on Julia as well, with Eve Howard (Margaret Mason) and later Lorie Brooks (Jaime Lyn Bauer).

On their wedding night, Victor was shot and Nikki returned to him; the mentally unstable Mari Jo Mason (Diana Barton) was revealed as the gunwoman.

Victor later falls in love with Sabrina Costelana (Raya Meddine), but she dies in a car accident with Nikki's devious husband, David Chow.

Victor went searching for him in Canada and met Meggie McClaine (Sean Young); he brings her to Genoa City and she works as Nikki's assistant, but causes her to relapse into alcoholism.

A subsidiary of the newly merged conglomerate, named Bonaventure Industries, later produced an illegal speed drug that Summer Newman (Hunter King) ended up overdosing on.

It was later revealed that Victor had hired a lookalike to his granddaughter Cassie, named Mariah Copeland (Camryn Grimes), to haunt Sharon and learn a supposed secret she has.

With the real Jack back in Genoa City, the Newman Abbott merger comes to an end and both companies return to their separate states.

"[57] Chris Jancelewicz of The Huffington Post described Victor as "the very definition of daytime TV icon" and noted that, "Even people who have never seen an episode in their lives know his name, his face, and his powerful low voice.

"[62] In 1997, The Museum of Television and Radio wrote that with the arrival of the character, who was an "enigmatic stranger popular with women", "the show's revived tableau was complete", saying it was an "amazingly seamless transition" and praised William J.

[68] BuddyTV noted the storyline where Victor locked his wife Julia's lover in a bomb shelter as "the turning point" in the character's life, making him a villain.

[70] In the adverts, Victor breaks the proverbial fourth wall, and begins speaking to the Zellers shopper on the other side of the television screen, praising her admirable combination of style and thrift.

Not only does it perform the considerable task of balancing an affordability message with strong branding, it does so in a category seldom noted for the quality of strategic thinking that goes into its advertising.

"[75] On Victor's rivalry with Jack Abbott (Peter Bergman), Allison Waldman of AOL TV said: "After all, their characters' on screen feud has been the stuff of soap legend.

[80] Shelley Fralic of the Winnipeg Free Press named Braeden along with Susan Lucci (who portrayed Erica Kane on All My Children) to be the soap opera genre's biggest icons.

[13] Fralic stated that he is the "eye of the Genoa City hurricane" and that "the thought of Y&R without Victor Newman – his character is recovering from a heart transplant and was going to "disappear" to Belgium for rehabilitation – is hard to imagine, rather like Dallas without J.R. Ewing, or The Sopranos without Tony.

Then again, you also have a pretty good hunch that you're the stuff of legend when, as Eric Braeden's womanizing character has (well, should have), you have a former-wives wing at the American Museum of Natural History that rivals Henry VIII's.