Ten Awesome Characters out of Movies

I love a good story. Whether it’s written down in a book, drawn out in the complex threads of a TV show, or played out before me in movie form, I’m drawn to interesting plots with well-crafted characters. For me, characters are one of the make or break elements. If I don’t like the characters, you can bet I’m not likely to finish the story. Now, normally when I talk about characters on this blog, I discuss characters in books, but there are plenty of amazing character in movies too. As I’ve been by Candice@O Ye Scribes and Jamie@Through Two Blue Eyes to share ten of my favourite movie characters, that’s what I’m going to do today. I may or may not cheat a little.

Bruce Banner/Natasha Romanov

(The Avengers/Age of Ultron)

Banner is an interesting character for sure. He’s locked in a constant struggle to balance the two sides of his personality. One side is science-y and smart, and the other turns into a big green rage monster. Watching him trying deal with his Hulk-ish side and interact safely with other characters keeps his part of the story very interesting.

Natasha, unlike Banner, seems to have everything together. She’s an expert spy, is part of one of the biggest intelligence organisations in America, and has the smarts to get herself through pretty much any situation. But, as Age of Ultron proved, behind the façade, Natasha is very vulnerable, and is haunted by a dark past that affects many of her decisions. She’s becoming more of a rounded character with the revelation of more backstory, which is excellent.

Megamind

(Megamind)

What do you get when you have a character who is both a hero and a supervillain, and then add in a giant blue head and a genius brain? A very conflicted character who just wants to fit in and have a place in the world. Megamind is a brilliant character, because though a twist of fate turned him into a villain, he doesn’t let that make him bitter, but uses it to his advantage, and is brave enough to step into the covet role of hero when the occasion arises.

The Mad Hatter

(Alice in Wonderland)

The Hatter translated really well from the kid’s animated Alice in Wonderland to the more adult version. This Hatter is haunted by the shadows of his own failings, and is obsessed with putting things right. He’s also very aware of the fact that he’s not completely sane, and sometimes he’s even scared by his own fractured mind. But that doesn’t stop him from being an epic character with a tendency to drop into a Scottish accent when he gets angry. He’s also a surprisingly good dancer.

Marvin/Victoria

(Red/Red 2)

Marvin is the embodiment of a conspiracy theorist, mixed with a dash of young child to season his personality. He is at the same time, paranoid of the government, exceedingly capable when it comes to fighting and espionage, and prone to behaving like a grumpy child when things don’t go his way. He is a slightly mad, but very valuable team member to have around.

Victoria on the other hand, is the epitome of elegance. She’s the sort of assassin who swans around in a fur coat, and pairs an evening dress and combat boots. No matter what the situation, she faces it with elegance, an English accent and a large assortment of guns. Despite the fact that she is very much a strong, independent female character though, she still manages to stay entirely feminine, which I very much approve of.

Captain Jack Sparrow

(Pirates of the Caribbean)

Captain Jack Sparrow is loyal only to himself and his rum. He stumbles through the movie perpetually half drunk, helping whichever side he’s with at that moment, and somehow manages to pull off a rather elaborate plan to help the right people when it matters most. Despite his many setbacks, and Captain Jack rarely achieves his own goals, he’s always got a very positive outlook on life, and plenty of swashbuckling style to boot.

The Doctor/Donna

(Dr Who)

Here’s where my cheating becomes very evident, but how could I leave out The Doctor? He travels through time, saves the universe, and regenerates every time he dies. All versions of The Doctor have good things to offer, but my personal favourite is the Christopher Eccleston version. He alternates between funny and very dark, haunted by the shadows of the Time War.

Donna is the perfect companion for the doctor. She’s strong, independent, adventurous, and keeps The Doctor grounded when he’s too caught up in being an all-powerful Time Lord. Donna is very much his equal. Plus their banter throughout the episodes is simply the best.

Aragorn

(The Lord of the Rings)

There are many amazing characters in this series, but Aragorn is one of my favourites. By rights he’s a king, but he knows his own weakness and fights to be a good man. He’s afraid of taking up the crown in case he makes the same mistakes his ancestors made. But throughout the movies, he learns to trust himself and grows into the true king he was born to be.

Toothless

(How to Train Your Dragon)

You knew there was going to be a dragon on this list, right? Toothless is a funny mix of epic dragon and playful, easily distracted cat. I love the fact that even though he is a dragon, he’s not serious and deadly all the time, even though he can be, but in fact has a very childish playful personality most of the time. Plus he is just so cute!

Jason Bourne

(The Bourne Identity)

Jason Bourne breaks a lot of superspy clichés in his movies. He’s a high skilled spy, but he’s lost his memory. And when he does find out what he used to do, he is disgusted with himself and works to become a better person. Despite the fact that he has so many skills, there’s an almost childlike innocence to him. All he wants is to understand his place in the world, and to find a place to live away from the people who controlled him in the past so he can forget about the bad things he’s done and be normal. But he’s certainly not afraid to use those epic spy senses of his when the going gets tough.

Groot

(Guardians of the Galaxy)

Groot is proof that your character doesn’t have to be smart with snappy dialogue and a huge action role to be an appealing character. Throughout the entire movie, Groot only uses 5 unique words. But he more than makes up for that with his sweet personality. As well as being a bounty hunter, he gives flowers to children, looks after his friends, and is willing to sacrifice his life for his little messed up family. He’s like a kid. A walking tree-like kid who can kill you if you mess with his friends. What could be cuter?

And there we have it, ten of my favourite movie characters. Now it’s your turn. Who is your favourite movie character? What qualities do you admire most in well-written characters? Also, what do you think of the new design of the blog? Like it? Hate it? Let me know!