People love relatable characters who struggle through everyday challenges and come out on top. However, we sometimes want to see extremely tough people do things we could simply never dream of doing. Here are the fifteen toughest movie characters of all time, ranked by how hardcore their on-screen feats are.
John McClane
Bruce Willis’s John McClane starts the Die Hard franchise as a pretty straightforwardly “human” character. He struggles to scale Nakatomi Plaza and deal with Hans Gruber and his henchmen. However, by the later entries in the long-running series, McClane was flipping cars into helicopters, gunning down dozens of bad guys, and surviving things that would end a normal person.
Sarah Connor
Sarah Connor is the beating heart of the first Terminator movie. She starts as a regular person just trying to survive an impossible situation. By the end of the film, though, she’s hardened into a survivor who can handle anything Skynet throws at her. It’s easy to see why her hypothetical son, John, will be such a huge issue for the evil machines in the future.
James Bond
James Bond is downright mythical when it comes to his wits and espionage. The Daniel Craig version of the character might be the toughest, surviving torture, being plunged underwater, and even having an entire house dropped on him. The steely-eyed MI6 agent just keeps barreling on, protecting the UK with his trademark charm intact.
Captain America
While he’s not as outlandish as some other superheroes he works alongside, Captain America is far tougher than any normal human. Thanks to the super soldier serum pumping through his veins, he’s capable of some absurd feats of super strength, such as holding a helicopter in place on the platform with his bare hands. He’s also survived the detonation of explosive a few feet from him.
John Rambo
Like Jonn McClane, John Rambo started his action movie career as a rather relatable everyman. As a solider who was rejected by the world he returned to, he was sympathetic in his quest to defend himself against corrupt police officers. By the final few movies in his franchise, though, Rambo was an untouchable demigod with an endless supply of bullets, mowing down anyone foolish enough to appear opposite him in the frame.
Ellen Ripley
Nothing stops Ripley. Whether she’s trapped on a confined mining vessel with a hostile alien or battling an entire hive of murderous xenomorphs, the space-faring soldier finds a way to come out on top. Sigourney Weaver’s portrayal of Ripley redefined the way sci-fi and horror movies depict women and made her into an icon of both genres.
Ethan Hunt
Perhaps Tom Cruise is the tough one here, given his insistence on doing many of the Mission Impossible franchises’ stunts himself. Either way, watching Ethan Hunt dangle off the side of a moving plane or scale a skyscraper with nothing more than some sticky gloves is nothing short of electrifying.
John Wick
John Wick is a man of few words. Keanu Reeves’ steely portrayal of a man on a mission for revenge is chilling in its brutal efficiency. Once wronged, Wick stops at nothing to deal out cold, calculated justice to those who would dare take away something he loved.
Mad Max
Mad Max Rockatansky is nothing if not a survivor. Despite the collapse of society and the brutal conditions he lives in, he soldiers on through it all. He also keeps his humanity, fighting for innocent people and opposing tyranny in the wasteland. We all hope we would be as heroic as Max if the world ended tomorrow.
Neo
Speaking of Keanu Reeves, he’s known for portraying a lot of very tough people in action movies. In The Matrix, he’s Neo, the “Chosen One” who learns about the nature of his computerized reality and uses this knowledge to do some truly outlandish things. From slowing time to dodge incoming gunfire to flying around performing absurd feats of martial arts, there’s literally nothing Neo can’t do within the Matrix.
Beatrix Kiddo
Beatrix Kiddo, otherwise known as “the Bride,” is revenge incarnate. After being betrayed by her former lover, Bill, and left for dead after what was to be her wedding day, Beatrix wakes from a coma years later. She goes on a campaign of vengeance, brutally eliminating all of the people who helped Bill attack her before finally reclaiming her daughter—and her life.
Everyone Bruce Lee Portrayed
No matter what role he was playing, Bruce Lee made his characters avatars of martial prowess. Whether he was on The Green Hornet as a sidekick or the leading man in kung fu flicks like Enter the Dragon, Lee was kicking butt and taking names. He basically singlehandedly popularized the martial arts genre in the West!
The Hulk
The Incredible Hulk has survived some absurd punishment on-screen. The big gamma-powered monster is functionally unstoppable, having been pummeled by the likes of Tony Stark’s Hulkbuster armor, Chitauri warriors, and even The Mad Titan Thanos himself. Still, Bruce Banner’s mean green alter ego keeps trucking along, smashing stuff and being angry.
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Thor
Is there anything Thor can’t do? After losing his beloved hammer, Mjolnir, he forges a replacement by standing in the direct path of a focusing lens that sends the energy of a star clean through his body. This feat alone would vaporize nearly anyone else in the comics universe, and it nearly ends Thor—before his friends Groot and Rocket help him finish the legendary weapon, Stormbreaker, and it suffuses him with lightning energy that elevates his godhood to new levels.
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Superman
There’s no one tougher than Superman, and I don’t just mean in terms of his physical durability. The Kryptonian who was raised as farm boy in Kansas has a strength of heart and a fortitude of will that makes him the Platonic ideal of a superhero. Sure, he can be slowed down by Kryptonite, but there’s nothing that can shake his belief in the goodness of the human spirit. If that’s not tough, I don’t know what is.
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