I’ve been riffing off the American Film Institute’s mid-2000s lists for a long time now, and the one that I assumed I’d never touch was the Heroes and Villains list. I’m compelled more by the idea now than I used to be. Granted, I still think Joseph Campbell deserves at least one good swirly from everyone who’s ever had to listen to someone talk about the “Hero’s Journey” unironically, but as a moviegoer, I’m no longer burdened by this idea that heroes or villains are simplistic.

The AFI isn’t necessarily that simplistic with their definitions either. I’ll be following those on my own lists. For heroes:

a character(s) who prevails in extreme circumstances and dramatizes a sense of morality, courage and purpose. Though they may be ambiguous or flawed, they often sacrifice themselves to show humanity at its best.

And for villains:

a character(s) whose wickedness of mind, selfishness of character and will to power are sometimes masked by beauty and nobility, while others may rage unmasked. They can be horribly evil or grandiosely funny but are ultimately tragic.

The usual rules apply for me here: characters have to come from credibly American movies, the movies have to be narrative features, I can’t reuse heroes and villains from the original AFI lists. The one place where I’m allowing myself some leeway is that I, not the movies, get to decide if the characters in question are heroes or villains. I don’t think I’ve stepped out on a ledge too much with any of these people.

I’ll be updating this as I go along so you can keep track of all links below.

Heroes

1. –
2. –
3. –
4. –
5. –
6. –
7. –
8. –
9. –
10. –
11. –
12. –
13. –
14. –
15. –
16. –
17. –
18. –
19. –
20. –
21. –
22. –
23. –
24. –
25. –
26. –
27. –
28. –
29. –
30. –
31. – Divine, AKA Babs Johnson (Divine) / Pink Flamingos
32. – Ethan Edwards (John Wayne) / The Searchers
33. – Ernst Toller (Ethan Hawke) / First Reformed
34. – Son of the Hunter (Francis Kee Teller) / Navajo
35. – Mary Kate Danaher (Maureen O’Hara) / The Quiet Man
36. – Barney Greenwald (Jose Ferrer) / The Caine Mutiny
37. – Rocky Sullivan (James Cagney) / Angels with Dirty Faces
38. – Bub (Sherman Howard) / Day of the Dead
39. – Annie Johnson (Juanita Moore) / Imitation of Life
40. – Mary Stevens (Kay Francis) / Mary Stevens, M.D.
41. – Gitl (Carol Kane) / Hester Street
42. – Harry Morgan (John Garfield) / The Breaking Point
43. – Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) / Star Wars Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace
44. – Marta Hanson (Irene Dunne) / I Remember Mama
45. – Colonel Dax (Kirk Douglas) / Paths of Glory
46. – Sister Luke (Audrey Hepburn) / The Nun’s Story
47. – Captain Alan Thorndike (Walter Pidgeon) / Man Hunt
48. – Mame Dennis (Rosalind Russell) / Auntie Mame
49. – Kelly (Constance Towers) / The Naked Kiss
50. – Sally Albright (Meg Ryan) / When Harry Met Sally…

Villains

1. –
2. –
3. –
4. –
5. –
6. –
7. –
8. –
9. –
10. –
11. –
12. –
13. –
14. –
15. –
16. –
17. –
18. –
19. –
20. –
21. –
22. –
23. –
24. –
25. –
26. –
27. –
28. –
29. –
30. –
31. – Cal Hockley (Billy Zane) – Titanic
32. – Rocky Gravo (Gig Young) – They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?
33. – Candyman (Tony Todd) – Candyman
34. – Old Scratch (Walter Huston) – The Devil and Daniel Webster
35. – Julianne Potter (Julia Roberts) – My Best Friend’s Wedding
36. – Frank Enley (Van Heflin) – Act of Violence
37. – Otto Hasslein (Eric Braeden) – Escape from the Planet of the Apes
38. – Slim Dundee (Dan Duryea) – Criss Cross
39. – Long John Silver (Tim Curry) – Muppet Treasure Island
40. – Dracula (Gary Oldman) – Bram Stoker’s Dracula
41. – Wolf Larsen (Edward G. Robinson) – The Sea Wolf
42. – Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalban) – Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
43. – James Longstreet (Tom Berenger) – Gettysburg
44. – John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) – Jurassic Park
45. – Stanley Kowalski (Marlon Brando) – A Streetcar Named Desire
46. – Swan (Paul Williams) / Phantom of the Paradise
47. – Waldo Lydecker (Clifton Webb) / Laura
48. – Fredo Corleone (John Cazale) / The Godfather Part II
49. – Rupert (Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.) / The Prisoner of Zenda
50. – Adam Pontipee (Howard Keel) / Seven Brides for Seven Brothers