I was gonna say Steve McQueen in “The Towering Inferno” 
OK, I’ll bite. Whad’ya do?
I’d give a vote to Jake Powell.
FromElysian Fields
As far as bravery goes I’d have to move Jesus pretty low on the list of most brave. Lots of people have sacrificed themselves for a cause, but he did it knowing it would save all humanity, it’s that’s what you believe at least. It seems to me it wouldn’t be so hard to die knowing you are saving everyone else ever to come.
I agree with some others that Jesus doesn’t quite qualify for the OP. I think bravery should be defined by people willingly putting themselves into dangerous situations to help others without reward. Jesus, OTOH, knew or believed that he was the son of G.O.D. and therefore thought he had a pass into heaven.
I think it is impossible to pick “the bravest” person. There are many types of bravery. Cops, firemen-persons(what is the P.C. term for them???) and military personal knowingly go into harms way for others. At the same time the Chinese guy who stood up to the tanks is a good choice. So is the Russian scientist, Sakarov(SP?), who spoke out against the USSR’s regime knowing that he would end up in a gulag. Also, a rape survivor talking about the ordeal is brave.
Heck, I was in a situation once where I was called ‘Brave’. I didn’t think about it that way. In fact I just did what I thought was right. I think most people who do the right things aren’t thinking about their reps. They are probably just doing what they think is right.
Slee
Not in a million years.
I think bravery requires three things and can be measured by the extent of them - you have to risk a fate you are afraid of, the risk has to be high, and you have to have made a real choice to end up in that situation. We just have to think of extremes in these categories.
First, what is one of the worst things that can happen to you? Death is pretty high up there, but not at the top of the list except maybe under certain circumstances. Extreme torture would be higher, as would losing not only your life but those of your loved ones or perhaps your entire community.
Second factor can vary a lot too - the person who is brave when the consequences are not certain or very likely isn’t as brave as when the dire fate is a bigger risk. As an example, if some anonymous person threatened to kill me if I did something my standing up to them would not be as brave as if the person threatening me was standing there with the gun to my head and I knew that they were not bluffing (i.e. they just killed someone in front of me). In the first scenario I can take steps to reduce the risk from the person making threats - notify the police that someone is threatening to kill me, move somewhere safer, etc.
Third factor comes up a lot too, eliminating in my view instances of supposed bravery that are often lauded as being very brave. For instance, a Jew in Nazi Germany who chooses to fight instead of cooperating when they come for him does not fit this third criteria of bravery if he knows what his fate in the camp is likely to be - either way he’s going to die. The model Aryan citizen who chooses to assist Jews in escaping is braver because he is choosing to risk death when he could just sit out the situation safely. Religious beliefs come into this as well in a number of ways. A person who truly believes that he is going to suffer eternal damnation upon his death is a lot braver when he risks his life than someone who is sure they are going to Heaven. This is why religious zealots who refuse to renounce their beliefs even under torture are not necessarily brave - their choices are between temporary torture now followed by eternal happiness or ending the temporary pain but condemning yourself to far worse. They weren’t brave, they were just choosing the lesser of two evils in their minds.
So, by combining these three we can get an idea what the most brave person did. They chose to risk a certain fate far worse than death that they truly dreaded when they could have easily avoided it without negative personal consequences, either physical or spiritual. Lots of candidates, not sure who should top it, but if we are including fictional characters my votes for Satan.
OK, seriously
Rafael Perez
blew the whistle on bad cops in LA as a cop himself, and then went to jail. Is he even still alive?
Bruce Campbell in Army of Darkness.
What?
The first person who decided oysters were edible.
Or the first man who gave an honest answer to the following questions:
“What are you thinking right now?”
“Do I look fat in these pants?”
“Do you think my sister/best friend is sexy?”
The bravest person in the world right now is the woman who is still pushing after many hours of labor.
Anybody who SAT THROUGH Army of Darkness.
As an example of military courage, I’d like to second Audie Murphy. That his Medal of Honor was not awarded posthumously is amazing. If he had any thought or expectation of survival as he covered the retreat of his men against an overwhelming enemy it wasn’t really based in reality, but it’s hard to beat a .50 cal. machine gun for raising your spirits. And as much as I respect the sacrifice of those fellows who got their medals saving their buddies by jumping on grenades (seemingly a cliche, but there were a lot of 'em), I am especially fond of the ones like Murphy who did more than commit suicide.
An example of a brave German speaking out against the evils of Nazism at the cost of his life is Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
This white girl has always thought that the black children and teenagers who integrated schools in the south were very very brave indeed.
The guy who first ate the ‘poisonous’ tomato–and survived. Sauce was never the same.
The guy blocking a line of tanks near Tiannemen Square in Beijing, that was kind of brave.
Thanks for misquoting me. I was making a smartass remark about that smartass remark that Bill Maher got in trouble for.
How about the passengers of flight 93? JET, I realize that you aren’t actually picking Atta.