Hollywood movies are full of perfect, cookie-cutter heroes, but more often than not the most interesting leads have a bit of a rude tinge to their characters. While everyone might get a little grumpy every now and again, these heroes (or antiheroes in some cases) take things up a notch. Rudeness is just a part of their personality, and they’re unashamed of it. It’s what makes them who they are.
From comic book stars and New York thugs to interstellar icons, the movies are full of larger-than-life characters, many of whom have even bigger mouths.
10 Sherlock Holmes
Robert Downey Jr. has taken on an eclectic number of roles over the years, and his part in the Sherlock Holmes movies is perhaps one of the strangest he's played. Downey Jr. embraces the mad genius of Sherlock with open arms. It's almost as if he's operating by a different set of rules than the rest of us, and this translates right into how unapologetic his character is.
Sherlock questions authority, fights dirty and provokes his friends for a laugh. His bromance with Jude Law's Watson knows no bounds: Sherlock can savagely needle his sidekick whenever he feels like it, and they still get on like the best of pals.
9 Deadshot
Will Smith’s Deadshot is a character as big and loud as Smith’s personality. A hitman who supposedly has never missed a shot, Deadshot’s first appearance in the film sees him blackmailing the mob into wiring him $1 million — twice — in a matter of seconds in order to take a hit. Later, when he’s being instructed to prove himself on the firing range, Deadshot takes his “allies” hostage at gunpoint just for the fun of it. And with the success of the rebranded The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker, fans can expect more TV show spin-offs down the road.
8 Jack Sparrow
Whether he’s cheating in duels, betraying his best friends, or simply questioning authority, it’s hard to find a pirate more full of themselves than Jack Sparrow. Despite claiming to be friends with Will Turner — who saved Jack’s life on more than one occasion — Jack is always willing to switch sides if it means he comes out on top.
For instance, the time he told Commodore Norrington that he would lead Barbossa’s crew into the open to be slaughtered, only to aid the pirates in butchering the crew of the Dauntless instead. What really makes Jack unique though is his soliloquizing. He’s always talking big, taunting even immortal foes like Davy Jones (“Oi, fish-face! I got a jar of dirt!”). Without an iconic legend like Jack, the future of the franchise is certainly in question.
7 Han Solo & Princess Leia
It’s no surprise Han Solo made his first appearance in Star Wars in a wretched hive of scum and villainy. Han is known for his carefree, hard-man attitude. Whether he’s shooting first or shouting at C-3PO to never tell him the odds, Han is always going to speak his mind.
Leia isn’t far behind Han on the rudeness scale, either. She’s called Han a “scruffy-looking nerf herder” and even called Chewbacca “a big walking carpet” while he was rescuing her. Even Luke Skywalker deserves an honorable mention here. His first impression of the Millennium Falcon? “What a piece of junk!”
6 Travis Bickle
Robert De Niro brought the character of Travis Bickle to life in Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver. Travis, a Vietnam War veteran with PTSD living in crime-ridden New York City, is hell-bent on cleaning up the streets. He’s extremely problematic, but this antihero does have a soft side.
When he’s not planning the assassination of US Senators just because his crush works for him, Travis trains to become a vigilante. Calling the people and environment of New York “an open sewer full of filth and scum,” it’s hard for Travis to act more degradingly toward the city he lives in. Thankfully, it’s his hatred for the violent crime of Fear City that motivates Travis to do an ounce of good by the film’s conclusion.
5 Tyler Durden / Narrator
Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club got one hell of a film adaptation with Brad Pitt starring as the psychopathic Tyler Durden and Edward Norton co-starring as the Narrator. The film and book are all about transgression: leaving behind the role society dictates people have and replacing it with a new, self-made identity. The problem of course is that things get out of hand.
Tyler is about as unapologetic as they get. He picks fights, brainwashes strangers, and even blows up the Narrator’s apartment. Even the Narrator has a dark side, infiltrating support groups for testicular cancer in order to feel better about himself. He even leaves an acquaintance to OD on pills after getting a call for help, leaving Tyler to take responsibility.
4 Batman / Bruce Wayne
While Batman may have a “no-kill” rule, that doesn’t stop him from being more than a little rude to the villains of Gotham City (or even the police). Take that time in Batman Begins where the Caped Crusader snatches a crony off the street. Batman dangles him upside down from the top of a skyscraper before repeatedly dropping him within inches of the ground.
Batman might shun lethal methods, but he also never signed up to the Geneva Conventions. After all, when the police fail to get any intel out of Heath Ledger’s Joker in The Dark Knight, Batman decides to make his own rules and smash his archenemy’s face in.
3 Lt. Aldo Raine
Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds is a savage portrayal of the horrors of World War II, and the leader of the Basterds, Aldo Raine, is no exception. Aldo plays by his own rules, carving swastikas into the heads of any Nazis they release (so that they can be identified as Nazis forever) and scalping the rest.
Part of what makes Inglourious Basterdsone of Tarantino’s best films is its characters, and Aldo never disappoints. He cuts his own deals, and when Nazi Colonel Landa tells Aldo he’ll be shot for his deceitful ways, Aldo simply replied, “Nah, more like chewed out. I've been chewed out before.” Aldo has his morals, and he sticks to them. After all, Aldo only wants one thing, and one thing only: "killin’ Nazis."
2 Joker / Arthur Fleck
Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker flips the traditional Batman narrative on its head, with Joker (whose real name is Arthur) perceived empathetically at many times throughout the film. What’s fascinating about the film is Arthur’s transformation from a well-meaning member of society into a psychopathic vigilante and figurehead for revolution.
At the start of the film, Arthur seems to be as polite as they get, despite being constantly bullied, beaten up, and let down by Gotham’s (lack of a) mental health system. But by the time the film reaches its climax, Arthur has transformed into a cold, remorseless killer. It all comes to a head when he appears on the Murray Franklin Show, berating society for its phoniness and addressing the people of America directly for their lack of morals and civility. Saying it is one thing — but Arthur takes things a little further.
1 Deadpool
The merc with a mouth really takes just about everything to another level: violence, jokes, and backtalk are all ramped up to 11 in Deadpool. When Deadpool sets (what’s left of) his mind to a task, nothing is going to stop him — whether it’s torture, brutality, or even making fun of his enemies’ prowess in bed.
There’s even a hilarious scene where Deadpool chases someone around an ice rink threatening to slowly run them over with a zamboni, even as the man bleeds out. It’s these quips during Deadpool’s fight scenes that make the movie such a great watch. There’s nothing quite so rude as taunting someone seconds before decapitating them.