Who Was Overlooked in the '100 Greatest Movie Character' List?

 by Jonathan Crow December 2,  2008

Any time anyone compiles a "Best of" list they are practically begging for an argument. And
British movie magazine Empire has thrown down the gauntlet by releasing its list of the 100
greatest movie characters of all time. Here are their choices for the top 25:

25. Yoda (Empire Strikes Back)

24. Ash (Evil Dead)
23. Harry Callahan (Dirty Harry)
22. Red (The Shawshank Redemption)
21. Michael Corleone (The Godfather series)
20. Forrest Gump (Forrest Gump)
19. Jules Winnfield (Pulp Fiction)
18. Travis Bickle (Taxi Driver)
17. Hans Gruber (Die Hard)
16. Neo (The Matrix trilogy)
15. Ferris Bueller (Ferris Bueller's Day Off)
14. The Terminator (The Terminator series)
13. Gollum (The Lord of the Rings trilogy)
12. John McClane (Die Hard series)
11. James Bond (007 series)
10. Vito Corleone (The Godfather I & II)
9. Ellen Ripley (Alien quadrology)
8. Captain Jack Sparrow (Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy)
7. The Dude (The Big Lebowski)
6. Indiana Jones (Indiana Jones series)
5. Hannibal Lecter (Silence of the Lambs)
4. Han Solo (Star Wars trilogy)
3. The Joker (The Dark Knight)
2. Darth Vader (Star Wars series)
1. Tyler Durden (Fight Club)
See the full list >>

There are a few problems with this list. First, "Fight Club" is a great flick,
but number one? Is Tyler Durden really better than Indiana Jones, James Bond, or Charles
Foster Kane? Really?

Second, there are numerous characters from the same film series. "Star Wars" gets a whopping
six characters -- including Boba Fett, who looked cool but had maybe ten minutes of screen time
in the first trilogy. "The Lord of the Rings" gets three slots and "Anchorman" gets two. While these
are all fine films, think of how many characters from other great movies didn't make the cut as a
result?

Third, the list skews young and male, which makes sense since Empire's readership does as
well, but it does make the final product unsatisfying. Only twelve out of the hundred characters
are female, only eight characters are from films made before 1970, and only two are from non-
English language movies. To put this in prespective, the nation of France -- the country that
invented cinema -- has the same number of movie characters on this list as the "Saw" franchise:
one.

Fourth, there were a lot of major, iconic characters that were just plain absent. So we've compiled
a list of 25 other characters that weren't on the Empire list, but should have been. Of course, by
posting this, we know we are also just asking for a fight.

25. Willy Wonka (Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory)

24. Khan (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan)
23. Tony Manero (Saturday Night Fever)
22. Dr. Evil (Austin Powers series)
21. Mad Max (Mad Max trilogy)
20. Annie Wilkes (Misery)
19. John Rambo (Rambo series)
18. Superman (Superman, Superman II)
17. Popeye Doyle (The French Connection)
16. Michael Dorsey/Dorothy Michaels (Tootsie)
15. Jake La Motta (Raging Bull)
14. Annie Hall (Annie Hall)
13. Will Kane (High Noon)
12. Norma Desmond (Sunset Blvd.)
11. Harry Lime (The Third Man)
10. Gordon Gekko (Wall Street)
9. Yojimbo (Yojimbo, Sanjuro)
8. Tracy Flick (Election)
7. T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia)
6. Colonel Kurtz (Apocalypse Now)
5. Shaft (Shaft)
4. Jake Gittes (Chinatown)
3. Holly Golightly (Breakfast at Tiffany's)
2. Mr. Miyagi (The Karate Kid series)
1. The Tramp (Charlie Chaplin's films)

Honorable Mention: Dr. Strangelove (Dr. Strangelove), Howard Beale (Network), Fletch (Fletch),
Margo Channing (All About Eve), Max Bialystock (The Producers), Otto (A Fish Called Wanda),
Inigo Montoya (The Princess Bride), McLovin (Superbad), Madison (Splash), Navin R. Johnson
(The Jerk), Inspector Clouseau (Pink Panther series)