Greatest Movie Characters

[ManPerson]

Not sure if this is worth being a list, but if we make one, here's my rough draft for the top 20.

Criteria: Influence, Acclaim, Popularity
1. The Tramp (Charles Chaplin) - City Lights (1931)
2. James Bond (Sean Connery) - Dr. No (1962)
3. Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) - Psycho (1960)
4. Darth Vader (David Prowse / James Earl Jones - voice) - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
5. Mickey Mouse (Walt Disney) - Steamboat Willie (1927)
6. Bugs Bunny (Mel Blanc) - Porky's Hare Hunt (1938)
7. Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) - The Godfather (1972)
8. Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) - Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
9. Scarlett O'Hara (Vivien Leigh) - Gone with the Wind (1939)
10. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) - The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
11. Charles Foster Kane (Orson Welles) - CItizen Kane (1941)
12. Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) - The Godfather (1972)
13. King Kong (n/a) - King Kong (1933)
14. Godzilla (n/a) - Godzilla (1954)
15. Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland) - The Wizard of Oz (1939)
16. Atticus Finch (Gregory Peck) - To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
17. The Wicked Witch of the West (Margaret Hamilton) - The Wizard of Oz (1939)
18. The Man with No Name (Clint Eastwood) - A Fistful of Dollars (1964)
19. Frankenstein's Monster (Boris Karloff) - Frankenstein (1931)
20. Hal-9000 (Douglas Rain) - 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
21. Hans Beckert (Peter Lorre) - M (1931)
22. The Queen (Lucille Laverne) - Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
23. Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) - Casablanca (1942)
24. Marshal Will Kane (Gary Cooper) - High Noon (1952)
25. Tony Montana (Al Pacino) - Scarface (1983)
26. Joker (Heath Ledger) - The Dark Knight (2008)
27. Forrest Gump (Tom Hanks) - Forrest Gump (1994)
28. Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) - Star Wars (1977)
29. George Bailey (James Stewart) - It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
30. Han Solo (Harrison Ford) - Star Wars (1977)
31. Batman (Christian Bale) - Batman Begins (2005)
32. Popeye the Sailor (Billy Costello) - Popeye the Sailor (1933)
33. Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) - Rocky (1976)
34. The Moon (Georges Melies) - A Trip to the Moon (1902)
35. T.E. Lawrence (Peter O'Toole) - Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
36. T-800 (Arnold Schwarzenegger) - The Terminator (1984)
37. Joan of Arc (Renee Jeanne Falconetti) - The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
38. Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) - Taxi Driver (1976)
39. Totoro (Hitoshi Takaga) - My Neighbor Totoro (1988)
40. Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) - Alien (1979)

[Dubrow555]

I mean based on the criteria...Mickey Mouse could arguably be #1, right?

[ManPerson]

Maybe, but a pretty large part of the Mouse's popularity is from television and Disney's overall brand image, though most of his influence would definitely go to the films. I might move him up to #5.

[Tim]

Technically it's Frankenstein's Monster, Man.

[Tim]

So if we are to roughly split this in heroes/villains category:

Heroes:

1. The Tramp (Charles Chaplin) - City Lights (1931)
2. James Bond (Sean Connery) - Dr. No (1962)
3. Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) - Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
4. Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland) - The Wizard of Oz (1939)
5. Atticus Finch (Gregory Peck) - To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
6. The Man with No Name (Clint Eastwood) - A Fistful of Dollars (1964)
7. Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) - Casablanca (1942)
8. Marshal Will Kane (Gary Cooper) - High Noon (1952)
9. Forrest Gump (Tom Hanks) - Forrest Gump (1994)
10. Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) - Star Wars (1977)
11. George Bailey (James Stewart) - It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
12. Han Solo (Harrison Ford) - Star Wars (1977)
13. Batman (Christian Bale) - Batman Begins (2005)
14. Popeye the Sailor (Billy Costello) - Popeye the Sailor (1933)
15. Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) - Rocky (1976)
16. T.E. Lawrence (Peter O'Toole) - Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
17. Joan of Arc (Renee Jeanne Falconetti) - The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
18. Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) - Alien (1979)

Villains:

1. Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) - Psycho (1960)
2. Darth Vader (David Prowse / James Earl Jones - voice) - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
3. Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) - The Godfather (1972)
4. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) - The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
5. Charles Foster Kane (Orson Welles) - CItizen Kane (1941)
6. Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) - The Godfather (1972)
7. The Wicked Witch of the West (Margaret Hamilton) - The Wizard of Oz (1939)
8. HAL-9000 (Douglas Rain) - 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
9. Hans Beckert (Peter Lorre) - M (1931)
10. The Queen (Lucille Laverne) - Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
11. Tony Montana (Al Pacino) - Scarface (1983)
12. Joker (Heath Ledger) - The Dark Knight (2008)
13. T-800 (Arnold Schwarzenegger) - The Terminator (1984)
14. Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) - Taxi Driver (1976)

Grey area characters:

1. Mickey Mouse (Walt Disney) - Steamboat Willie (1927)
2. Bugs Bunny (Mel Blanc) - Porky's Hare Hunt (1938)
3. Scarlett O'Hara (Vivien Leigh) - Gone with the Wind (1939)
4. King Kong (n/a) - King Kong (1933)
5. Godzilla (n/a) - Godzilla (1954)
6. Frankenstein's Monster (Boris Karloff) - Frankenstein (1931)
7. The Moon (Georges Melies) - A Trip to the Moon (1902)
8. Totoro (Hitoshi Takaga) - My Neighbor Totoro (1988)

[ManPerson]

I added Bugs Bunny and Dorothy Gale to the top 20.

[ManPerson]

Expanded it to 40.

[Dubrow555]

Thinking about characters from the 2000's - I would consider maybe Captain Jack Sparrow or some of the characters from LOTR over Bale's Batman, just a thought. Ledger's Joker seems appropriately placed though.

[ManPerson]

I'm counting every iteration of Batman, not just Bale's, since that's clearly what the hero and villain lists were doing as well.

[Dubrow555]

Yes but currently on the OG Villains list have separate entries for Ledger's Joker + Jack Nicholson's Joker (and I'm assuming once we update the list we will include Phoenix as well). So is there no room to include Keaton's Batman as well?

*probably no room for Jared Leto's "interpretation" of the Joker...sadly

[ManPerson]

I'm not sure I agree with separating them, since the list is ranking characters and not portrayals, but others may feel differently.

[Fido]

Cool list idea! I agree with Tim that it should be Frankenstein's monster.

[ManPerson]

Corrected.