Pontius Pilate, the Roman prefect who condemned Jesus to crucifixion, has been portrayed in a number of ways throughout history.

The bit in the Biblical Canon that speaks of Pilate tells the following story: Jesus was brought to Pilate, and Pilate examined Jesus in private. He decided that there was really no crime to execute Jesus over, but he was very freaked out over the large crowds clamoring for Jesus' blood. When he went out to tell the mobs that Jesus wasn't guilty of anything, he heard them mention that Jesus was from Galilee. So Pilate then sent Jesus to Herod, who had jurisdiction over that area, in the hopes that Herod would be able to find some solution. Herod mocked Jesus a little and sent him back, having found no real fault. Forced to finally confront the crowds once and for all, Pilate went out and told them that he could find no fault with Jesus, and that he would let Jesus go.

The crowd cried out that they would rather have Barabbas, a Jewish rebel or robber, freed instead, and they continued to cry out for Jesus' blood. Really frightened that he would have a rebellion on his hands, Pilate sent Jesus to be whipped, beaten, and humiliated, hoping that a good thrashing would be enough for the them. They continued to demand crucifixion, however. Pilate then had a brief conversation with Jesus, which just convinced him even more that Jesus should be freed. He then debated with the crowds some more, and then they began to accuse Pilate of treason against the Roman Empire and insult him. Finally, Pilate allowed Jesus to be crucified, saying that he washed his hands of the whole thing. To this, the crowd cried, "His blood be on us, and on our children." And so Jesus was taken away to be murdered.

As for what happened to Pilate next, there are a few different stories of his ultimate fate.

The "The Paradosis of Pilate" (also known as "The Giving up of Pilate") tells that after Jesus was crucified, "darkness and the earthquake had happened to all the world," so Romans all around sent letters to Caesar telling of what Pilate had done. Caesar proceeded to bring Pilate before him and question him, and when he asked Pilate why he crucified Jesus, Pilate replied, "I did it because of the transgression and sedition of the lawless and ungodly Jews." Pilate continued then to reveal that he believes Jesus to be "greater than all the gods whom we venerate." So Caesar had Pilate beheaded, and an angel appeared to receive him into heaven, along with his wife, who, being so overjoyed at the angel's coming, died and ascended with him.

Another document, sometimes called "The Death of Pilate, Who Condemned Jesus," tells a very different story. In it, Tiberius Caesar, the Roman emperor, became very sick. Having heard of a man called Jesus who has been going around working all kinds of miracles and healing all kinds of people, Tiberius sent a messenger to Pilate with the order to send Jesus to heal him. Pilate admitted to the messenger that Jesus was dead, however he lied about the cause: he told the messenger that Jesus was plotting a rebellion, and was therefore crucified. At his lodgings, however, the messenger heard a very different story: a woman told him that Jesus was killed for no reason, and, upon hearing this, Tiberius immediately sent for Pilate. Pilate was dreadfully frightened, for he knew that Tiberius would be incredibly angry, but he had a trick under his sleeve--he wore the coat of Jesus when he went to see the emperor. When Tiberius saw Pilate, he was immediately mollified and couldn't get angry with Pilate, so he sent Pilate away. But as soon as Pilate left, he grew livid again, and when he recalled Pilate, he was again placated. This happened a few times--Pilate was recalled, sent away, recalled sent away--until someone revealed to Tiberius what was going on. Pilate was stripped of the coat, and Tiberius ordered Pilate to a "most ignominious death," and so Pilate killed himself instead of facing it.

Now here's the crazy part: first, the Romans tied Pilate to a big stone and sunk it in a river, but demons and evil spirits congregated around it, causing lightning and storms. The Romans then dragged him back up and sunk him in another river, but the same thing happened again. The townspeople of the city near the river refused, of course, to withstand the presence of evil spirits, and so the Romans dredged up the corpse again, and this time buried it in a "pool surrounded by mountains," where "sundry diabolical contrivances are said to issue forth" to this day.

Both of these documents--"The Death of Pilate, Who Condemned Jesus" and "The Paradosis of Pilate" are generally thought to have originated from the Middle Ages, and therefore they are either fiction or tradition rather than primary source.

As for modern portrayals, Pilate has been presented mainly as either an evil, corrupt Roman official or as guy who tried really hard to do the right thing but was literally forced into crucifying Jesus, and therefore is faultless. The latter seems to be the most common view nowadays.