Looking through our fingers and ranking the best, scariest, dumbest, etc. characters in classic, creative, and totally forgettable horror movies.

Night Terrors

Best Movies

All of the <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/the-best-slasher-movies/all-genre-movies-lists?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">best slasher movies</a> understand one simple rule: it&#39;s the characters that make a film great. No matter how many chases through a cornfield with a chainsaw, skinny dipping sessions with attractive lovers, or scenes where people decide to inexplicably &quot;split up,&quot; a slasher movie rarely hits its mark if the characters don&#39;t resonate with the audience.

Slasher movies have been around in their current form since the &#39;80s, and they really haven&#39;t changed much since. But as their legacies have come and gone, what&#39;s remained is the iconic characters that they&#39;ve left behind - whether they&#39;re the ones doing the slashing or the ones getting slashed.

These slasher characters are more than the screaming blonde teenagers or the mindless knife-wielding maniacs that the worst slasher movies have in spades. It&#39;s the great characters that are equal parts stupid, funny, fearless, maniacal, and cowardly. Whether you&#39;re a Voorhees or a Myers fan, there&#39;s no denying that it&#39;s the characters in slasher movies that keep us all coming back for more.

So slap on a bathing suit, ignore the no swimming past dark signs, and vote up the best slasher characters. And if your personal favorite character(s) is missing, add them to the list!

The Best Characters In Slasher Movies

Fictional Character

The Best Characters In Slasher Films, Ranked

Ranker Entertainment

Are you a Marvel fanatic? Vote on these lists of the best, funniest, dumbest, most underrated, etc. characters in the MCU to have your voice heard.

MCU Character Power Rankings

Marvel Memes

When it comes to funny Marvel characters, the MCU has the market cornered. Whether they&#39;re poking fun at their friends, enemies, themselves, or just the absurd situations they wind up in, the funniest&nbsp;heroes always have the ability to&nbsp;capture the audience&rsquo;s attention. It&#39;s no surprise that some of these heroes are also among the <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/luckiest-mcu-characters/math-erao" target="_blank">luckiest characters in the MCU</a>.

The type of humor for each of these <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/weirdest-marvel-comic-book-characters/stephanroget?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">funny Marvel superheroes</a> may vary, but the&nbsp;Marvel Cinematic Universe&nbsp;is known&nbsp;for its laughs - and everyone from Tony Stark to Korg brings the wisecracks.

While supporting and side characters play an important role in fleshing out the joke-filled world of the MCU, it&#39;s the big names that really bring down the house - so vote up your favorite <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/funny-superheroes/ranker-comics?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">funny Marvel heroes</a>.

The Funniest Characters In The MCU

Film character

The 20+ Funniest Characters In The MCU, Ranked

Math Erao

Fails

There's nothing more frustrating than a film with the potential to be great, only to be held back by a boring main character. A bland protagonist can bring down an otherwise solid story and make mediocre movies downright unwatchable. Sometimes the characters are simply poorly written in the screenplay, whereas other times the problem is with their conception at the very root of the narrative. Even if there are no issues with the script, the main character can be held back by the performance itself. Whether the actor lacks the talent to carry the film or just isn’t right for the role, a miscast lead can be detrimental to the overall experience.Some of these films are good despite an uninspired main character. Others are barely watchable but might have been improved with a more engaging protagonist. Because these are the characters the audience spends the most time with, they often have the greatest impact. In some cases, they can be overshadowed by more interesting supporting characters who steal the show. Other times the narrative is more preoccupied with spectacle, and the protagonist is almost secondary to the action, special effects, and massive set pieces. In all cases, the film would have been improved with a more interesting main character.

16 Movies Held Back By A Boring Main Character

Film

16 Movies Held Back By A Boring Main Character

Ryan Izay

Looking closer at the heroes, villains, and supporting characters of sci-fi.

Science Fictional Characters

Comedy

Science-fiction movies have a long history of showcasing funny characters. Whether these movies are hilarious unintentionally, or because a movie is self-aware enough to include some sort of comedic relief, science-fiction can sometimes be the perfect genre for when you&rsquo;re looking for a good laugh.

Which sci-fi character do you think is funniest? William Shatner was one of the first actors to successfully blend sci-fi and comedy in his classic role as James T. Kirk in Star Trek, but Dark Helmet (played by Rick Moranis) may have taken the laughs a step further in Spaceballs. Jeff Goldblum has made meme history with his role as Ian Malcolm in the Jurassic Park series, and Bill Murray has played multiple funny sci-fi characters throughout his career.

Vote up your favorite comedic sci-fi characters to see who tops the list.

The Funniest Sci-Fi Movie Characters

The Funniest Sci-Fi Movie Characters Of All Time, Ranked

Entertainment

We’re ranking all of Ben Affleck’s movie love interests, from best to worst. Whether he's producing his own films or starring in old-school romantic comedies, Ben usually finds himself opposite some of Hollywood’s hottest leading ladies - in some cases that on-screen chemistry spills over to real life. In fact, he started dating Jennifer Lopez on the set of Gigli, and Jennifer Garner after the two were reunited on the set of Daredevil.Among Ben’s long list of movies, some of his&nbsp;more recent movie wives and girlfriends include Sienna Miller from Live By Night, Rosamund Pike from Gone Girl, and Rebecca Hall in The Town. Which of these movie couples do you think had the best chemistry?Vote up the characters you think worked best with Ben, and if you think this list is missing someone special, be sure to add them!&nbsp;

All The Love Interests In Ben Affleck Movies, Ranked

Ranking Every Love Interest In Ben Affleck Movies

One of the great things about the cinema is that death is only permanent if the story calls for it. Anyone who dies on-screen can come back to life at any time thanks to magic, faith, science, or just because. As much as it may sound like a cheat, there are dozens of characters from movies who died and returned to life through various means.

<a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/major-movie-characters-who-almost-died/mike-mcgranaghan" target="_blank">On-screen revivals</a> can feel cheap if they&#39;re done incorrectly, but sometimes a character has to return for the sake of the story. For instance, if the main character of a movie dies somewhere in the second act, you can rest assured&nbsp;they&#39;ll be on their feet by the time the credits roll.

None of the revived characters included here were brought back through cloning - these returns from the grave&nbsp;are all (okay, mostly) natural. Vote up the characters who made the most of their second life.

15 Movie Characters Who Literally Came Back From The Dead

General

Jacob Shelton

Just like the real world, plenty of awful parents exist in the <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/marvel-movies-unsung-heroes/williamsbrianjake" target="_blank">MCU</a>. What&#39;s an easy way to have audiences connect with the beautiful&nbsp;superpowered beings on the big screen? Give them a little emotional trauma courtesy of bad parenting, of course! How will viewers identify with a billionaire superhero who gets pretty much anything he wants? Boom: a childhood marked by a fractured relationship with his dad.

Peter Quill is a childlike a-hole who leads other childlike a-holes around the galaxy? Give him a mother who succumbed to cancer just before he was captured and taken into space as a child. Even villains aren&#39;t immune to this phenomenon. What on Earth would make Hela so evil, so hellbent on conquering everything in sight in&nbsp;Thor: Ragnarok? Well, her father imprisoned her in Hel for thousands of years. Okay, yeah, that makes sense. Break out the box of tissues -&nbsp;we&#39;re running through some of the MCU&#39;s biggest characters with serious parental issues.

MCU Characters Saddled With A Heroic Amount Of Baggage From Their Parents

MCU Characters With A Lot Of Baggage From Their Parents

T.W. Mitchell

Unforgettable Film Characters

Everyone loves to love a good cinematic love/hate dynamic. From the sports-comedy tandem of Chazz Michael Michaels and Jimmy MacElroy, to the unforgettable stepsibling duo of Brennan Huff and Dale Doback, to other pairs of characters that don&#39;t include Will Ferrell, movies are littered with &quot;frenemy&quot; pairings of two characters with&nbsp;genuine conflict but also, at some point in their relationship,&nbsp;legitimate respect or affection for each other.

Vote for your favorite and least favorite movie frenemies in the list below!

Movie Frenemies With Chemistry We Could Watch Forever

Alex Kirschenbaum

It has become a common trope in film to have characters on the verge of retirement who are given one last mission or assignment. Often these are protagonists in the crime genre, with the law enforcement hero letting the audience know that they are “too old” for the conflict, before proceeding anyway. Whether they survive or meet their demise, the final assignment&nbsp;often proves to be one of the craziest of the character’s time on the job. This may be a straightforward assignment that goes terribly wrong or a threat more dangerous than faced in the past, leading to a tense situation in the final days, weeks, or cases of the character’s career.It may be a detective investigating a particularly severe series of murders or an astronaut on a mission with extreme complications, but the situations these characters face prior to their retirement tests their abilities and resolve. Sometimes, the retiring character is joined by a younger partner, whose inexperience contrasts with the veteran's time&nbsp;on the job. The retiring character could provide a parallel for the younger partner that is actually the focus, or the senior character may take the lead and provide guidance for the foolhardy rookie. When the character intending to retire ends up dead instead, this trope is often referred to as “retirony,” though they commonly survive thanks to the years of experience on the job. In some cases, they even outlast the younger partner.Vote up the characters who face the biggest obstacles just before retirement!Warning: Spoilers Ahead!

15 Movie Characters Who Have One Big Mess To Clean Up Before Retirement

Superhero & Comic Book Movies

Everybody loves major heroes like Captain America and Iron Man, but there are plenty of beloved <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/mcu-characters-not-from-the-comics/stephanroget">MCU characters</a> who only show up in one movie. One-off characters give some special flair to an MCU project and make each film feel a little bit different. Seeing as the Marvel Cinematic Universe is adding multiple films and television shows every year, having some <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-mcu-bystander-characters/tyler-mitchell">unique characters</a> that don't keep showing up on a regular basis is pretty important.Whether it's Skurge in Thor: Ragnarok with his collection of Earth oddities and eventual turn against Hela or Abraham Erskine in Captain America: The First Avenger putting his faith in Steve Rogers, the following one-off MCU characters have left an indelible mark on the franchise over the years. Some of them should even make a return appearance in the MCU sometime in the future!

12 One-Off MCU Characters That Left A Lasting Impact

12 MCU Characters Who Only Appear In One Film

We&rsquo;re ranking the funniest characters in horror history. In the grand scheme of things, there are probably way more <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/funniest-horror-movies/ranker-horror?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">funny horror movies</a> than there are legitimately scary ones. It&#39;s hard to make a truly terrifying horror movie, and more often than not, that horrifying clown the director thought would make us shield our eyes turns out to be one of the <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/dumbest-friend-groups-horror-movies/megan-summers" target="_blank">dumbest&nbsp;characters</a> in the film.

But who are the funniest horror characters ever? Both intentionally and *unintentionally* hilarious characters count, so funny characters from great horror films, like Shaun of the Dead, and not-so-great horror films, like Troll 2, should be included. Which horror character do you think is the funniest?

Vote up your favorite funny horror characters. And if your favorite characters aren&#39;t on the list yet, add them!

The Funniest Characters From Your Favorite Horror Movies

The 25+ Funniest Characters In Horror Movie History, Ranked

In their classic song “Once in a Lifetime,”&nbsp;Talking Heads frontman David Byrne sings, "You may say to yourself, 'My God, what have I done?'" The following movie characters have all been in that exact situation. Few things in life shake you up as much as the realization that you've made a colossal mistake or misjudgment that has had the effect of hurting someone important to you or screwing up something you'd worked hard to achieve. Such moments fill you with a unique sense of dread.Watching fictional characters go through such things provides intense drama. Movies are designed to get us rooting for the protagonists - to make us feel like we're on their journey with them. When they experience terrible consequences for their actions, it can affect us almost as emotionally as if we'd been the one it happened to. For a movie to get the full effect of the phenomenon, its story&nbsp;has&nbsp;to be carefully calibrated, allowing the audience to understand what the hero wants to achieve and why the repercussions of their actions are so dire.Which of these movie characters who had a "My God, what have I done?" moment paid the heaviest price for what they did? Vote up your picks.&nbsp;

15 Times A Movie Character Has A 'My God, What Have I Done?' Moment

Mike McGranaghan

Warning: There are spoilers for the films withholding a body-sharing twist from the audience.

In a typical film narrative, we expect each character to have a consistent personality throughout, as an indicator of good acting and screenwriting. But in the case of these films, one character actually contains two (or more) people sharing one body. These may be characters with <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/famous-cases-of-dissociative-identity-disorder/christopher-myers" target="_blank">dissociative identity disorder</a> (split personalities), characters whose bodies are being controlled by another consciousness (supernatural or otherwise), or those who physically transform from one person to another within the same body (often through scientific experimentation). In each case, differences in personality, behavior, and even physical appearance occur within a single character at various points in the story.

Some of the films below take a humorous approach to the concept, while many horror/thriller films use it as explanation for aggression coming from an otherwise docile character. In each case, what is most significant is that multiple human identities are contained within a single physical body. Characters with split personalities can also be found regularly within <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/anime-characters-with-split-personalities/tamara-jude" target="_blank">anime films and series</a>, though the following only contains live-action examples.

Which of the following characters best represent this cinematic trope? Vote up your favorites.

18 Movie Characters Who Are Actually Two People Sharing One Body

Some movie protagonists are unquestionable, driving the narrative from beginning to end and clearly functioning as the film’s main hero. Other times, the main character is basically a sidekick to a supporting protagonist with a more active role in the outcome of the narrative. This isn't to say these protagonists are unlikable or inactive in the film’s story, but simply that the supporting characters surpass them. In some cases, the secondary protagonist may have motivations that drive the narrative, might have skills required by the main character to achieve goals, or could simply kick the most a** in the action sequences.These supporting characters are often so memorable, they surpass the primary protagonist in the audience’s mind. For the most part, this is a credit to the unforgettable quality of the supporting character. In the best cases, each relies on the other to complete the vision of the film.

15 Movie Protagonists Who Are Actually Just The Sidekick

Action

In The Godfather: Part III, <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-gang-characters/ranker-entertainment" target="_blank">Michael Corleone</a> famously says, &ldquo;Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!&rdquo; While Al Pacino isn&rsquo;t exactly an action hero, that quote does evoke one of cinema&rsquo;s greatest cliches: retired <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/the-most-badass-big-screen-action-heroes?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">action hero movies</a>.&nbsp;Years after rejecting their calling, then getting really good at it, and supplying audiences with <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/most-underrated-historical-action-epics/mike-mcgranaghan" target="_blank">some of the best action in history</a>, the cop, soldier, mercenary, or superhero is begrudgingly drawn back into the life because they&rsquo;re simply too cool. That, or the new generation finds themselves in a desperate situation and requires assistance.&nbsp;

The ritual of coming out of retirement for &ldquo;one last job&rdquo; is as old as the action hero itself. This list will compile action movies that follow the trope of reactivating a bad*ss character while avoiding obvious, super popular examples like John Wick and focusing on those&nbsp;movies that deserve more attention. Here are heroes (or anti-heroes) who did not go gently into that good night.&nbsp;

14 Underrated Action Movies About Characters Pulled Out Of Retirement

Josh Plainse

Some bad guys just want to watch the universe burn.

Villains and Bad Guys

Heroes are great and all, but our favorite part of a film is usually the villain. They get the best lines, they have awesome gadgets, and they know what they want out of life. The one drawback to being a film villain is that for the most part, you&#39;re stuck with an ugly mug. Whether movie <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/disgusting-movie-villains/orrin-grey" target="_blank">villains earn their ugliness</a> through a Dorian Grey-esque bad deed-a-thon&nbsp;or they were just drawn that way is up for debate. However, the one thing that is definitely a fact, is that the fictional characters on this list have faces that only a mother could love.

Vote up the movie villain characters you think are the ugliest.

The Ugliest Movie Villains In Film History

Jacob's Ugly Mug

Ugly Movie Villains | Ugliest Villain in Film

Movie character lists: Best & worst film characters, etc.

Film character lists on Ranker

The Best Film Lists - Find or Make a Film Characters List  | Ranker  | Ranker - A World of Lists

Film Characters

Gambit

Magneto

Rogue

Mike Wazowski

James P. Sullivan

WALL·E

Aragorn

Gandalf

Samwise Gamgee

Hermione Granger

Professor Minerva McGonagall

Professor Severus Snape

Lists about the wizarding world that captured the imaginations of children and adults alike and forever changed the way we view owls, brooms, and round eyeglasses.

The Universe of Harry Potter

The top Harry Potter characters come from a rich universe crafted on the page and adapted to the screen, giving us some of the <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/best-film-adaptations-of-young-adult-novels/randolph">best movie adaptations from books</a> of all time. Since the Harry Potter universe is one where there are 75 (75!) main characters in the Harry Potter movies and books, there&#39;s little surprise that they are some of the most beloved (and hated) characters of all time.

That said, the question in front of us is &quot;who are the best Harry Potter characters?&quot; and it is a tough one to answer. Do you go for the obvious and choose Harry the hero, or pay respect to Voldemort, one of the <a href="http://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/the-best-movie-villains-of-all-time">best movie villains of all time</a>? Do you go for brains with Hermione or charm with George &amp; Fred? These are the questions we&#39;re confronted with when attempting to name the greatest Harry Potter characters ever.

Since both the Harry Potter books and movies can be taken into account, almost every Harry Potter character is here, so it&#39;s up to you to decide if you want to vote for the popular Harry Potter characters as you imagined them or as they were portrayed on screen. Since the books are among the <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/best-selling-book-series-of-all-time/jeff419">best selling series of all time</a>, there&#39;s a good chance you&#39;ve read them and can compare notes with the movies. Your choice is yours, though; nobody&#39;s breaking out the Imperius curse so cast your vote for your favorite characters and make vote down the ones you don&#39;t like. And if there&#39;s a supporting Harry Potter character you feel belongs on the list, make sure to add them to this list of the top <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/luckiest-harry-potter-characters/renata-carmen" target="_blank">Harry Potter characters.</a> Of course, if you&#39;re forgetting some of the names, curious about which Hogwarts houses they were sorted in,&nbsp;or need pictures to jog your memory, you can use the list as a reference.

The Greatest 'Harry Potter' Characters

The Top 50+ 'Harry Potter' Characters, "Sorted" By Fans

Ranker Community

Looking closer at the Lord of the Rings trilogy books and movies, The Hobbit, and everything else in J. R. R. Tolkien's beloved universe.

Welcome to Middle-earth

Best Characters

The best characters from The <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/small-mistakes-in-lord-of-the-rings/tpetersccc?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">Lord of the Rings</a> universe including all book and movies as well as The Hobbit&nbsp;film trilogy. These are all the best Lord of the Rings&nbsp;main characters (and minor ones as well), here for you to vote on and add to. Some of the best characters in literature and cinema have come from the adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien&#39;s books, and now you can vote on them.

The best LOTR characters are a mix of heroic warriors, tragic heroes, and classic villains all brought together in the struggle that ensues as good seeks to triumph over evil. Whether you&#39;re a fan of the J.R.R. Tolkien Lord of the Rings&nbsp;books, or a new fan of Peter Jackson&#39;s Lord of the Rings trilogy or the newer The Hobbit films, this is the place to voice your opinion on who you think the greatest Lord of the Rings characters are -- be they human, dwarf, elf, <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-hobbits/eric-vega" target="_blank">or hobbit. Especially hobbit.</a>

Make sure to vote up your favorite Lord of the Rings characters, and add any of the greatest LOTR characters that we might have missed. From your favorite famous character from Lord of the Rings, to the more minor, but still great characters (some of which have awesome names), vote up&nbsp;all the best on this LOTR character list.

And if you&#39;re a fan of Tolkien&#39;s style of writing, make sure to check out the rest of the <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/best-fantasy-authors?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">best fantasy writers</a>.

Gollum

The 50+ Best 'Lord Of The Rings' Characters

Best 'Lord of the Rings' Characters | LOTR Character List

Rankings and lists about films and characters from the studio that brought you mindblowing animation from A Bug's Life to Wall-E, to infinity and beyond.

All Things Pixar

Fun facts, fan theories, and rankings of Disney's most memorable human and creature characters.

The Characters of Disney

Family Entertainment

Pixar has been creating beloved, generation-defining characters since its very first crack at the big screen. 1995’s&nbsp;Toy Story brought a new classic buddy duo to audiences in Woody and Buzz Lightyear - and that was just two of a smorgasbord of great supporting characters who have appeared over the course of the&nbsp;Toy Story franchise.The animation studio’s subsequent efforts have delivered the same, from the superheroic Parr family, Frozone, and two fantastic villains in the&nbsp;Incredibles movies to Dory,&nbsp;Finding Nemo’s breakout star. From the brilliantly wordless robots WALL-E and EVE to the most tragic romantic couple in Pixar history, Carl and Ellie. From Remy the Rat to Sully the scary bedtime monster.More recent Pixar films like Turning Red and Soul have brought their own share of fan favorites. And to bring it full circle, we even got&nbsp;another&nbsp;Buzz Lightyear, this time the “movie <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/movies-within-movies/jacob-shelton?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">within the movie</a>” version voiced by Chris Evans.But which Pixar characters are the best of all? Does Forky make the cut? Is Edna Mode a darkhorse candidate? Does Jack-Jack have a case? Let your votes decide.

Elastigirl

The All-Time Greatest Pixar Characters

The 50+ Best Pixar Characters Of All Time, Ranked

Lists about Marvel's team of superhuman mutants in all its variations.

Who Xes the X-Men?

Superheroes

We&#39;ve all been big fans of X-Men for quite some time now. Now is your chance to let your comic book knowledge shine. We&#39;re turning to you, our Ranker Community to make lists of your favorite X-Men Mutants in action of which you&#39;d like to see star in their own film next summer. Let the world know who has the best back-story that could be developed into a prequel. We&#39;re looking to shine light on other comic book legends that deserve a chance to share their story, like bombshell Jean Grey or powerful Beast. If it were up to the Ranker&#39;s Staff, we&rsquo;d like to see Rouge or Mystique star in a movie sometime soon.

Which x men deserves their own movie?