Fans love Grey's Anatomy for its rich and lovable characters that change steadily throughout the show. Here's how Bailey transformed over the years.

The hugely popular medical drama Grey's Anatomy has been running for the longest time, set to begin its 17th season this year.

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The central protagonist in this ABC Studios drama is definitely Meredith Grey but the series has a range of other extremely adorable characters who have been pivotal to Meredith's journey. One of them is Chandra Wilson's Miranda Bailey, the feisty Chief of Surgery at Grey Sloan Memorial who mentored Meredith, Cristina, and the rest of the gang and held their hands as they stumbled along the way. Here's how Bailey transformed over the years.

In the earliest seasons, Bailey was introduced as the 'Nazi', a reference to the iron fist with which she ruled over the interns, whom she considered the bottom of the food chain.

Bailey was a committed doctor, and extremely good at her job but she was also a tough taskmaster and the interns feared and held her in awe at the same time. But despite her strict demeanor, she had a genuine desire to help people as was obvious from the free clinic she started in the hospital.

Miranda Bailey's personal life was revealed in these seasons as she struggled withone of the problems women have been facing for centuries--balancing family and ambition.

Miranda started developing frictions with her husband as she repeatedly missed out on family time as a result of the harrowing timings of her profession. Miranda made the smart decisionand opted for divorce as her husband was unable to support her in her choice of career.

In seasons 5 and 6, Miranda Bailey, who was now less of a Nazi, and had been shown to have a deeply caring side to her, suffered two counts of major trauma.

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At the end of season 5, Miranda lost her favorite surgical resident, the adorable George O'Malley, to a shocking accident. And even as she struggled to get over it, the hospital became the siteof a devastating mass murder as a grieving husband of a dead patient decided to take it out on Chief Shepherd but killed several others in the process. Miranda showed extraordinary courage as she tried to single-handedly save the life of a surgical resident from Mercy West; it was also her quick-thinking that saved her own life and that of another of her patients even as the gunman came wielding his weapon.

Miranda took a break from work to recover from the trauma of the shooting and came back stronger. She gradually began to put the incident behind her and move on.

The shooting incident further proved that the 'Nazi' had a humane side to her, as she was genuinely upset at the loss of lives and relieved to see the others safe and sound. She also started a fling with the nurse Eli, after breaking up with Ben as she wasn't ready to get into a serious commitment at the moment.

Bailey broke up with Eli and decided to give herself a chance with Ben. She also felt conflicted when she realizes that her mentee Meredith Grey, who she had groomed herself, had causeda major ethical disaster by tampering with Derek Shepherd's Alzheimer's trial.

Her father-daughter relationship with Richard was affected as she could notaccept how he had taken on the blae for something that was clearly Meredith's fault. However, on the personal front, Miranda got further involved with Ben.

Season 9 was crucial for Miranda as she finally agreed to take a huge step and marry Ben. Even on the day of the wedding, she got called away toa life-saving surgical procedure but was happy to realize that Ben would support her all the way through.

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She was also shaken up when she got embroiled in a major investigation by the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) following a disastrous reveal that the MRSA infection she carried, that was harmless for a healthy person, had caused the death of several of her patients who didn't have the same immunity. For someone like Bailey, who was committed to saving lives, this incident came as a huge shocker.

In the aftermath of the CDC investigation, Bailey started developing signs of an obsessive-compulsive disorder. However, she managed to get past that and seek treatment for her condition.

She also went on to undertake a study on human genome sequencing to treat a patient'sterminal condition and got into trouble with the patients' family over ethical issues. Bailey never compromised her patients' well-being and even if her actions breached the ethical code to some extent, she managed to give her patient new hope.

In season 12, she finally achieved her dream by becoming the Chief of Surgery at Grey Sloan Memorial. Miranda had worked very hard and even had a failed marriage as she struggled to attain what she set out to accomplish.

Miranda beat her only rival for the position, backed by her mentor Richard Webber, and after some teething trouble, managed to settle into the life of the Chief.

Miranda went through a period of tensionwhen she first started experiencing the stress of being the Chief. The burden of taking on the responsibility of practically everybody in the hospital became too much for her to take on.

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In season 14, she finally suffered a heart attack but true to her nature she overcame her situation and turned her life around by starting to lead a healthier life. It was, nonetheless, a harrowing time for her.

Bailey goes on to adjust to life as the Chief and also to accept Ben's decision to change his profession drastically.

She also takes a very grown-up decision when she decides to offera young homeless boy, Joey, a home, and a family. This is the start of a new chapter in Miranda Bailey's life, and how she handles being a foster parent would have been seen in the upcoming seasons.

NEXT:Cristina Yang's Slow Transformation Over The Years (In Pictures)

Next Grey's Anatomy: Alex Karev's Slow Transformation Over The Years (In Pictures)

Surangama, or Sue, as she is called by many, has been writing on films, television, literature, social issues for over a decade now. A teacher, writer, and editor, she loves nothing better than to curl up on a lazy afternoon with her favorite book, or with a pen and a notebook (a laptop would have to do!) and a foaming cuppa tea on the side.

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Grey's Anatomy: Miranda Bailey's Slow Transformation Over The Years (In Pictures) - Screen Rant