# Most Bad Ass Movie Character Ever... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 3, 2003, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-bad-ass-movie-character-ever/179323 "2003-06-03T06:39:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![WonTon\_Sean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/54ee81/32.png) [@WonTon\_Sean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WonTon_Sean)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-bad-ass-movie-character-ever/179323/1 "2003-06-03T06:39:03Z")
I had a discussion about this with some friends today. At first I was tempted to say someone like Indiana Jones or Ash, but then someone else came to mind. Andy DuFresne. He may not strike you as a bad ass ™ at first, but when you get down do it, he really was. The stunt with Hadley the guard on the roof, fighting off rapists, spending 2 months in solitary confinement for calling Warden Norton “obtuse,” and of course, what I think of as the greatest prison escape in cinematic history top off my list for Mr. DuFresne’s induction into the Bad Ass Hall of Fame. ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-bad-ass-movie-character-ever/179323/2 "2003-06-03T06:55:07Z")
Yet he did it all with nary a “Gimme some sugar, baby” or “Groovy.” Ash is clearly superior to Andy. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-bad-ass-movie-character-ever/179323/3 "2003-06-03T07:33:00Z")
One post and somebody beats to me to Ash? Crap. _goes to sulk_ ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-bad-ass-movie-character-ever/179323/4 "2003-06-03T08:07:59Z")
John Russell from _Hombre_. “Hey. I got a question. How are you planning to get back down that hill?” while holding a rifle on an unarmed man. ---
**Author:** ![And\_that\_s\_the\_bottom\_line](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df788c/32.png) [@And\_that\_s\_the\_bottom\_line](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/And_that_s_the_bottom_line)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-bad-ass-movie-character-ever/179323/5 "2003-06-03T08:10:25Z")
Blade And that’s the bottom line ---
**Author:** ![Brutus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Brutus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brutus)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-bad-ass-movie-character-ever/179323/6 "2003-06-03T08:18:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by And that’s the bottom line \* > \*\*Blade > > And that’s the bottom line \*\* From your first (or second?) post, I can tell that you are a man (woman?) of refined character. ---
**Author:** ![Keith\_Berry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/22d042/32.png) [@Keith\_Berry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keith_Berry)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-bad-ass-movie-character-ever/179323/7 "2003-06-03T10:45:49Z")
Clint Eastwood’s repeated incarnations of “The Man With No Name” in the Leone westerns and his self-directed 70’s westerns. Choice lines (some paraphrased from memory) “My percentage goes down, my aim gets worse” “Dying ain’t much of a living, boy.” “Hell with them boys. Buzzards got to eat just like the worms.” And, in “A Fistful Of Dollars”, when he’s asked if he likes or doesn’t like the idea of “peace”: “Kind of hard for a man to like something he doesn’t know anything about.” ---
**Author:** ![Skip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@Skip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skip)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-bad-ass-movie-character-ever/179323/8 "2003-06-03T10:59:42Z")
Snake Plissken (or in fact any character played by Kurt Russell in any John Carpenter Film, besides Elvis: The Movie) ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-bad-ass-movie-character-ever/179323/9 "2003-06-03T11:13:09Z")
Don’t forget the Duke! John Wayne rules. And Wolverine was pretty cool, too. HUgh Jackman did a great job. ---
**Author:** ![skin2skin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee59a6/32.png) [@skin2skin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skin2skin)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-bad-ass-movie-character-ever/179323/10 "2003-06-03T12:13:31Z")
“I ain’t got time to bleed!” ---
**Author:** ![Loneraven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c0e974/32.png) [@Loneraven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loneraven)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-bad-ass-movie-character-ever/179323/11 "2003-06-03T12:25:05Z")
I’ll second Andy Dufresne. I should watch that film again. “Obtuse” - gotta love it. ---
**Author:** ![jinty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dbc845/32.png) [@jinty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jinty)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-bad-ass-movie-character-ever/179323/12 "2003-06-03T12:30:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by don’t ask \* > \*\*John Russell from _Hombre_. > > “Hey. I got a question. How are you planning to get back down that hill?” while holding a rifle on an unarmed man. \*\* I came into this thread thinking of that particular film, but another character in it: Richard Boone’s looming, vicious bad guy (and incidentally, the unarmed man mentioned above). Probably _not_ so incidentally, Boone’s character also shows (at the start of the film) that he has no qualms about shooting an unarmed man (a soldier whose stagecoach ticket Boone wants); I’m sure the parallels of being perpetrator and victim of the same injustice are deliberate. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-bad-ass-movie-character-ever/179323/13 "2003-06-03T12:38:35Z")
John Preston in **Equilibrium**. Definitly a contender. “No. Not without incident.” ---
**Author:** ![merge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9f8e36/32.png) [@merge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/merge)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-bad-ass-movie-character-ever/179323/14 "2003-06-03T12:43:10Z")
Witout a doubt, that would be Pootie Tang ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-bad-ass-movie-character-ever/179323/15 "2003-06-03T12:49:34Z")
Barbara Stanwyck’s Phyllis Dietrichson in _Double Indemnity_. Doesn’t _get_ any badder. “It’s you and me, straight down the line.” ---
**Author:** ![Tyler\_Do\_Urden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Tyler\_Do\_Urden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tyler_Do_Urden)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-bad-ass-movie-character-ever/179323/16 "2003-06-03T13:17:56Z")
I’ll second John Preston. And raise you Rowdy Rowdy Piper from **They Live**. Any man who can issue the phrase: “I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass, and I’m all out of bubblegum” with a straight face gets points in my book. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-bad-ass-movie-character-ever/179323/17 "2003-06-03T13:24:52Z")
Duke Togo a.k.a. Golgo 13 World’s top assassin. Master of hand-to-hand combat. Irresistable to women. Completely devoid of human sentiment. Most famous quote: “…” ---
**Author:** ![WonTon\_Sean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/54ee81/32.png) [@WonTon\_Sean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WonTon_Sean)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-bad-ass-movie-character-ever/179323/18 "2003-06-03T13:36:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sam Hell \* > \*\*John Preston in **Equilibrium**. > > Definitly a contender. “No. Not without incident.” \*\* He’s a ri-dee-do on the tippy tai. Wah dah tah. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-bad-ass-movie-character-ever/179323/19 "2003-06-03T13:43:36Z")
Mr. White - Reservoir Dogs. Tough guy. Thinking guy. Righteous dude. ---
**Author:** ![paulberserker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@paulberserker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paulberserker)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-bad-ass-movie-character-ever/179323/20 "2003-06-03T13:57:50Z")
**Lee Marvin** as Walker in **Point Blank** now thats hardcore. cant go wrong with old school, like **R Lee Ermey** in full metal jacket as well. “Did your parents have any children that lived!!?” etc etc heh. i also second jesse ventura in predator. hes a goddamn sexual tyrannosaur. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-bad-ass-movie-character-ever/179323.md?page=2)