Wednesday, June 2, 2010

The 100 Greatest Characters in the Last 20 Years

Yesterday, Entertainment Weekly came up with another pop culture list: the 100 greatest characters in the last two decades.

The list:

100. Tim Riggins from Friday Night Lights
99. The Bride from
Kill Bill
98. Lisbeth Salander from
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and its sequels
97. Violet Weston from
August: Osage County
96. Bernie Mac from
The Bernie Mac Show
95. Wilhelmina from
Ugly Betty
94. Truman from
The Truman Show
93. Game Boys: Nathan Drake from the
Uncharted series; Kratos from the God of War series; and Niko Bellic from Grand Theft Auto IV
92. Christopher Boone from
The Curious Incident of the Dog in Night-Time
91. Hancock from
Hancock

90. Marge Gunderson from
Fargo
89. Wikus van de Merwe from
District 9
88. Napoleon Dynamite from
Napoleon Dynamite
87. Tony Stark from the
Iron Man series
86. Karen Walker and Jack McFarland from
Will & Grace
85. Daniel Plainview from
There Will Be Blood
84. Dr. Gregory House from
House, M.D.
83. Jen Yu from
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
82. Tracy Flick from
Election
81. Amanda Woodward from
Melrose Place

80. Gorillaz, the animated rock band
79. Elphaba from
Wicked
78. Patty Hewes from
Damages
77. Mimi Marquez from
Rent
76. Tyler Durden from
Fight Club
75. David Brent from
The Office (original version)
74. Don Draper from
Mad Men
73. Catherine Trammell from
Basic Instinct
72. Kara “Starbuck” Thrace from
Battlestar Galactica
71. Det. Alonzo Harris from
Training Day

70. Mary Katherine Gallagher from
Saturday Night Live
69. Miranda Priestly from
The Devil Wears Prada
68. Effie White from
Dreamgirls
67. Borat from
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
66. Allie and Noah from
The Notebook
65. Lorelai and Rory Gilmore from
Gilmore Girls
64. Maximus from
Gladiator
63. John Locke from
Lost
62. Jimmy Corrigan from
Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth
61. Vic Mackey from
The Shield

60. Mary Jones from
Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Saphhire
59. Master Chief from the
Halo series
58. Thelma and Louise from
Thelma & Louise
57. Clayton Bigsby from
Chappelle’s Show
56. Barney Stinson from
How I Met Your Mother
55. Tracy Jordan from
30 Rock
54. Juno from
Juno
53. Edward Cullen from the
Twilight saga
52. Annie Wilkes from
Misery
51. Omar Little from
The Wire

50. Pearl the Landlord from
FunnyorDie.com
49. Vivian Ward from
Pretty Woman
48. Red from
The Shawshank Redemption
47. Corky St. Clair
Waiting for Guffman
46. Jerry Maguire from
Jerry Maguire
45. Stewie Griffin from
Family Guy
44. Jack Bauer from
24
43. Cal Stephanides from
Middlesex
42. Sydney Bristow from
Alias
41. Harold and Kumar from the
Harold & Kumar series

40. Ron Burgundy from
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
39. Gob Bluth from
Arrested Development
38. Elmo from
Sesame Street
37. Keyser Söze from
The Usual Suspects
36. Gollum from
The Lord of the Rings
35. Dexter Morgan from
Dexter
34. Cher from
Clueless
33. Sarah Connor from
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
32. Beavis and Butt-Head from
Beavis and Butt-Head
31. Forrest Gump from
Forrest Gump

30. “Stephen Colbert” from
The Colbert Report
29. Vincent Vega and Jules Winnfield from
Pulp Fiction
28. Madea from several Tyler Perry films and plays
27. Frasier from
Frasier
26. Kavalier and Clay from
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
25. Woody from the
Toy Story series
24. Felicity Porter from
Felicity
23. Austin Powers from the
Austin Powers series
22. Eric Cartman from
South Park
21.
Roseanne Conner from Roseanne

20. Ally McBeal from
Ally McBeal
19. Morpheus from
The Matrix series
18.
Sue Sylvester from Glee
17. Lara Croft from the
Tomb Raider franchise
16. Bridget Jones from the
Bridget Jones series
15. Shrek from the
Shrek series
14. Jeff “The Dude” Lebowski from
The Big Lebowski
13. Jack Sparrow from the
Pirates of the Caribbean series
12. Fox Mulder and Dana Scully from
The X-Files
11. Cosmo Kramer from
Seinfeld

10. SpongeBob SquarePants from
SpongeBob SquarePants
9. Carrie Bradshaw from
Sex and the City
8. Hannibal Lecter from
The Silence of the Lambs and its sequels
7. Edward Scissorhands from
Edward Scissorhands
6. Rachel Green from
Friends
5. The Joker from
The Dark Knight
4. Tony Soprano from
The Sopranos
3.
Buffy from Buffy the Vampire Slayer
2. Harry Potter
from the Harry Potter series
1. Homer Simpson from
The Simpsons


I am particularly happy to note the inclusion of Daniel Plainview from There Will Be Blood (no. 85), Miranda Priestly from The Devil Wears Prada (69), and Gollum from The Lord of the Rings (36).

Also on the list: Christopher Boone from The Curious Incident of the Dog in Night-Time (92), Cal Stephanides from Middlesex (43), and, Kavalier and Clay from The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay (26).

Also included are: Karen and Jack from Will & Grace (86), Starbuck from Battlestar Galactica (72), Lorelai and Rory Gilmore from Gilmore Girls (65), Barney Stinson from How I Met Your Mother (56), and, Fox Mulder and Dana Scully from The X-Files (12).

But John Locke from Lost at no. 63? I would say Benjamin Linus is a greater character.

Sydney Bristow from Alias (42) should be ranked higher than Felicity Porter from Felicity (24).

Sue Sylvester from Glee (18) is too high, and so is Pearl the Landlord from FunnyorDie.com (50).

Carrie Bradshaw from Sex and the City (9) is higher than SpongeBob SquarePants (10)?

Rachel Green from Friends (6) is a great choice- and I will allow that she might belong in the top ten- but higher than Edward Scissorhands (7) and Hannibal Lecter (8)?

And Edward Cullen from the Twilight saga? I don't think they should be here.

I am most thrilled that The Joker from The Dark Knight (5), Buffy from Buffy the Vampire Slayer (3), and Homer Simpson from The Simpsons (1) top the list.

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