# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![FairyDust](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ccd318/32.png) [@FairyDust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyDust)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-bad-ass-movie-character-ever/179323/41 "2003-06-03T17:01:35Z")
[Leon](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0110413) played by Jean Reno. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-bad-ass-movie-character-ever/179323/42 "2003-06-03T17:02:09Z")
Cant believe no one’s mentioned [Billy Jack…](http://www.teleport-city.com/movies/reviews/action/billyjack.html) He was a righteous badass! ---
**Author:** ![BF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5ac83/32.png) [@BF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BF)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-bad-ass-movie-character-ever/179323/43 "2003-06-03T17:16:33Z")
Another vote for the man with no name, hence the sig… ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-bad-ass-movie-character-ever/179323/44 "2003-06-03T17:58:19Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by godzillatemple_ > \*\*Sorry, I thought you were joking. > > Ash was the character played by Bruce Cambell in the three “Evil Dead” movies (including the third one that was called “Army of Darkness”). > > Not too bright, but full of wisecracks and able to defeat an army of the undead with a shotgun and a chainsaw attached to the stump of his arm.\*\* And here I was thinking that you were talking about Sgt. Ash on _Brimstone_ (played by Teri Polo). She was hotter than burning sulfer! ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Sexchange](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@Dr.Sexchange](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Sexchange)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-bad-ass-movie-character-ever/179323/45 "2003-06-03T19:14:35Z")
Clint Eastwood in pretty much anything, bust most notably Dirty Harry and the Man with No Name. (in High Plains Drifter he kills 3 people and rapes a woman within the first 20 minutes of the movie) ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-bad-ass-movie-character-ever/179323/46 "2003-06-03T19:24:31Z")
If I had to hire one character from any movie ever to protect my butt (ignoring God, Superman, and other non-humans) (and also assuming that they would be protecting me in a society where they were familiar with the rules, technology, etc.), I would go with **Li Mu Bai** , Chow Yun Fat’s character from **Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon**. My logic is simple: That young girl was enough of an ass-kicker that she could casually fight her way through an entire restaurant full of tough, experienced fighters, and come out the other end, basically bored at the experience. And Li Mu Bai was such an ass-kicker that he could outduel her when she had the Green Destiny Sword and he had just a stick. ---
**Author:** ![vl\_mungo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc8723/32.png) [@vl\_mungo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vl_mungo)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-bad-ass-movie-character-ever/179323/47 "2003-06-03T19:40:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Skip \* > \*\*Snake Plissken (or in fact any character played by Kurt Russell in any John Carpenter Film, besides Elvis: The Movie) \*\* Yeah… **Jack Burton** in Big Trouble in Little China. When some wild-eyed, eight-foot-tall maniac grabs your neck, taps the back of your favorite head up against the barroom wall, looks you crooked in the eye and asks you if ya paid your dues, you just stare that big sucker right back in the eye, and you remember what ol’ Jack Burton always says at a time like that: “Have ya paid your dues, Jack?” “Yessir, the check is in the mail.” ---
**Author:** ![fruitbat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58f4c7/32.png) [@fruitbat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fruitbat)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-bad-ass-movie-character-ever/179323/48 "2003-06-03T20:29:52Z")
\*\* Jake Heke\*\* I know most dopers haven’t seen the New Zealand film Once Were Warriors. Jake Heke in this film is the scariest man on the planet. Temuera Morrison plays him as a man with a limitless potential for sudden violence. I’m really shocked Morrison hasn’t become an international star yet (although you may recognize him as Jango Fett in the crapfest Attack of the Clones). He is not a heroic bad ass, but he is the person I would least want to offend in the celluloid world. ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-bad-ass-movie-character-ever/179323/49 "2003-06-03T21:21:56Z")
If it’s any consolation, **fruitbat** , I can honestly say that when Temuera pulled off his helmet in that Star Wars flick I said out loud, “WTF is Jake doing in this picture?” As a consolation prize, he is the projenitor of an entire army of easily confused badasses with very poor aim. Lemme toss out a couple for your consideration: [Drexl Spivey](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0108399): “He must have thought it was white boy day. It ain’t white boy day, is it?” [The Reverend Harry Powell](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0048424) ---
**Author:** ![jack\_ss](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c77e96/32.png) [@jack\_ss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jack_ss)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-bad-ass-movie-character-ever/179323/50 "2003-06-03T21:54:56Z")
I’m gonna go with Clint Eastwood as [Will Munny](http://www.cinemateket.org/2002/bilder/unforgiven.jpg). His line about killing everything that walks, crawls or creeps was good. So was the one about burning down your house and killing your wife & dog. ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-bad-ass-movie-character-ever/179323/51 "2003-06-03T21:59:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Skip \* > \*\*Snake Plissken (or in fact any character played by Kurt Russell in any John Carpenter Film, besides Elvis: The Movie) \*\* I gotta go with Sgt. Todd 3465 in _Soldier_: Sandra: What are you going to do [against 17 men]? Todd: I’m going to kill them all, sir. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-bad-ass-movie-character-ever/179323/52 "2003-06-03T23:36:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MaxTheVool \* > **If I had to hire one character from any movie ever to protect my butt …** How’s this for a benevolent, low-key badass: Mr. Miyagi from the Karate Kid movies. In four movies and numerous fight scenes against younger, fitter foes, Miyagi has _only been hit once_ – with a spade across the back by one of the Japanese gangsters in Part 2. In every other fight, Miyagi dominates his opponents without breaking a sweat. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-bad-ass-movie-character-ever/179323/53 "2003-06-03T23:50:42Z")
I agree with Keith Berry - Clint’s spaghetti western persona. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-bad-ass-movie-character-ever/179323/54 "2003-06-04T00:22:30Z")
Since we seem to be including both heroes and villains, here are one of each: **Hero:** Rutger Hauer’s character in _Ladyhawke_. After being shot with a crossbow, he rides up to the crossbowman, pulls the bolt out of his own chest, and stabs the man with it. **Villain:** Max Cady, played by Robert Mitchum in the 1962 version of _Cape Fear_. Cady sneaks up on a deputy sheriff who’s on guard duty waist-deep in a river, and mercilessly holds him underwater until he drowns, remarking in a conversational tone: “I’m gonna kill you and not leave a mark on you.” Then when the deputy’s dead, Cady pats him on the back and says “Just got too big for your pants!” Though I’m surprised nobody’s nominated Dr. Hannibal Lecter. If they ever made a movie of _Watchmen_, I’d put forth Rorschach… although I’m not sure how to classify him. ---
**Author:** ![fruitbat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58f4c7/32.png) [@fruitbat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fruitbat)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-bad-ass-movie-character-ever/179323/55 "2003-06-04T00:27:02Z")
\*\* Sofa King\*\* Great call on Mitchum in Night of the Hunter. One of my favorite movies of all time as well. Strange that given the thread title I keep thinking of villains. For my hero vote it would have to be Paul Newman in Cool Hand Luke. Shares quite a bit in common with Andy Dufresne, plus the fifty eggs of course. ---
**Author:** ![Drastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Drastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drastic)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-bad-ass-movie-character-ever/179323/56 "2003-06-04T00:36:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by sturmhauke \* > \*\*I gotta go with Sgt. Todd 3465 in _Soldier_: > Sandra: What are you going to do [against 17 men]? > Todd: I’m going to kill them all, sir. \*\* Extra bonus points gained by Russell doing large parts of the role with a broken ankle. ---
**Author:** ![shy\_guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@shy\_guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shy_guy)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-bad-ass-movie-character-ever/179323/57 "2003-06-04T01:07:23Z")
Adding to the Darth Vader love. “I find your lack of faith… disturbing.” “I am altering the deal. Pray I don’t alter it any further.” Too bad he wimped out in Jedi and spent the first 18 years of his life as the most annoying kid in the galaxy. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-bad-ass-movie-character-ever/179323/58 "2003-06-04T01:48:48Z")
First of all, until it was explained, I thought Ash was the robot who gets his head ripped off in _Alien_. Second of all … **Tyler Friggin’ Durden**! ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-bad-ass-movie-character-ever/179323/59 "2003-06-04T02:15:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jinty \* > \*\*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. \*\* Yet another character from [Hombre](http://us.imdb.com/Details?0061770), the Mexican Bandit, played by Frank Silvera. I dunno about _bad_ass, meaning evil, but talk about _tough_. I mean, the guy gets drilled not quite dead center, and comes up with, “'Ey, hombre! You put a hole in me-e-e.” DD ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-bad-ass-movie-character-ever/179323/60 "2003-06-04T02:53:41Z")
And here I thought I’d be the first to say Lucas “Cool Hand Luke” Jackson. 😉 _Sometimes nothin’ can be a real cool hand._ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-bad-ass-movie-character-ever/179323.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-bad-ass-movie-character-ever/179323.md?page=4)