My Top 10 Favourite Characters

A film, most of the time, relies on it's characters to draw an audience. Whether or not they're a witty badass or a dark and conflicted character really doesn't matter, as long as they're interesting. So let's hop right into my top 10 favourite characters. Keep in mind, this isn't restricted to film.

10. Cl. Hans Landa ~ Inglorious Basterds 

(Christoph Waltz)

This character is just brilliant. Every time he's on screen, you're just entertained. Be it the fact that he's so dark and sinister, or the fact that he's so damn happy. He's totally crazy too, and holy crap does Christoph Waltz kill it in the role. What's so nice to see about this character, is that no matter how entertaining he gets, or how much of an interesting character he is, you don't like him. Because it also shows how much of a sadistic sociopath this guy is. That's a very out of the ordinary way to show a character, and I'm glad this film did it in this way.

9. The Giant ~ The Iron Giant

(Vin Diesel)

This character is really a unique version of the idea behind ET. Instead of some small alien you can dress up as a ghost, it's a 100 foot tall robot. But it's not just the fact that he's a robot, it's his character. It's such a simplistic character, it's kind of charming. He's also seemingly unaware of his size, which is used for some very creative moments. It's in his simplicity that we love him.

8. Billy Bickle ~ Seven Psychopaths

(Sam Rockwell)

Sam Rockwell is a great actor. And although this isn't his best performance or movie, it's pretty high up there. This is such a unique character, mainly because of how insane he is. But it's also the manner of which he's insane. It's funny at some points and dark at others. He's such and oddball and such a lunatic that he becomes incredibly enjoyable to watch. And every line he says is very memorable.

7. Hal ~ 2001: A Space Odyssey

Hal is a vivid and terrifying villain. Not just in his ominous and emptionless voice, but also his lack of emotion in general. He really is a computer without any remorse, who will just flat out murder people if he thinks it's getting in the way of the mission. It's not because of a personal need, or some emotion, it's not even a malfunction. It's completely his programming. This is so brilliant to be worked into a villainous role like this, and I love every minute of it.

6. The Operative ~ Serenity

(Chiwitel Ejiofor)

I think the best villains are mostly the ones you know nothing about. And with the joker and Anton Chigurh it stays that way for the most part, but nowhere is this element more present than with this character. You don't know his name, his backstory- hell, we're barely shown much of his motivation. We just know that he's a soulless killer, and the fact that we know nothing about him makes it even more surreal to watch.

5. Donnie Darko

(Jake Gyllenhall)

I just love the general idea of this character. He's a mixture of what every likable teen protagonist should have. He's odd, he's clearly troubled, but that's not why he's so interesting. The real factor here is how his social problems play into his attitude. Even for someone who seems deranged, he has some great one-liners. In fact, not even one-liners. Almost every scene where he's talking to someone is entertaining, because even if he acts like a jerk, he's still right.

4. Tallahassee ~ Zombieland

(Woody Harrelson)

Zombieland is such an entertaining comedy, filled with unique and colourful characters. The real gold however, comes in the form of Tallahassee. He's funny, he's crazy, he's a complete badass. He's even got a pretty damn interesting backstory, and it works incredibly well with the atmosphere of the film. Every single moment this character is one screen, you're enjoying yourself. Whether or not it's his lines, his demeanour, his character, his wacky mentality, or just the fact that Harrellson is so energetic in the role, it's absolute gold.

3. Rust Cohle ~ True Detective

(Matthew McConaughey)

Of all the characters on this list, this is the most interesting one. He's got all the makings of an intriguing character, and I can't help but want to know more about the character. Not to mention just how dark a character he is. You can tell by episode one that he has some serious demons. But we're not shown exactly what happened (yet), and this creates for an immensely intriguing protagonist to a series.

2. Norman Stansfield ~ Léon: The Professional

(Gary Oldman)

Possibly one of the best villains ever put on screen, and one of the best acted. What's makes him so out of the norm is that he's not just insane and sinister, it's the fact that he's a total weirdo. From how he says every word he says, all the way to his strange obsession with classical music. He's such an offbeat character, and yet he really fits the world of the film perfectly. 

Honorable Mentions

Elsa ~ Frozen (Indina Menzel)

Walter White ~ Breaking Bad (Bryan Cranston)

Dr. King Shultz ~ Django Unchained (Christoph Waltz)

Sam Bell ~ Moon (Sam Rockwell)

The Dude ~ The Big Lebowksi (Jeff Bridges)

Lisbeth Salander ~ The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Rooney Mara)

The Driver ~ Drive (Ryan Gosling)

River Tam ~ Firefly & Serenity (Summer Glau)

The Joker ~ The Dark Knight (Heath Ledger)

Tyler Durden ~ Fight Club (Brad Pitt)

Jack ~ Fight Club (Edward Norton)

And my #1 favourite character is...

Malcolm Reynolds ~ Firefly & Serenity
(Nathan Fillion)

I know, two characters from Firefly? Well, what can I say? Joss Whedon writes great characters, and this is his absolute best. He has everything you could want from a likable protagonist, he's got wits, he's tough, he has some killer one-liners. So already, he's got that Han Solo quality about him. But what separates him from supporting character material to protagonist material is the fact that he has an interesting backstory. Usually in science fiction, whenever there's a big war between a rebellion and the government, the rebels usually win. But in Firefly, the rebels lost, and he was fighting for them. That already creates and interesting backstory, and tons of opportunity for character development. All this piled onto a good actor who can pull of characters like this with ease, and a great setting for the show, and you've got an amazing character.