- 1 week ago
They're the characters we can't help but root for, despite their questionable methods! Join us as we explore the most unpredictable, morally ambiguous protagonists from film and television. Our countdown includes Travis Bickle, Dexter Morgan, Tony Montana, and more! Which chaotic anti-hero keeps you on the edge of your seat?
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00:00Sigvis Pacum Parabellum.
00:02If you want peace,
00:04prepare for war.
00:06Welcome to WatchMojo,
00:08and today we're counting down our picks for the most erratic,
00:10unpredictable, and or free-spirited antiheroes.
00:12From now on, it will be total organization.
00:14Every muscle must be tight.
00:18Number 10. Christopher Smith, Peacemaker.
00:20DCEU, DCU.
00:22This is Christopher Smith,
00:24known as Peacemaker.
00:26In his hands, anything is a deadly weapon.
00:28His father was a soldier who trained his son
00:30how to kill from the moment he was born.
00:32This guy is far from your average DC superhero.
00:34In the 2021 version of The Suicide Squad,
00:36he's a toxic ally that seems poised to join the dark side.
00:40Keeping the peace is worth any price.
00:42Including the life of a hero like yours, sir.
00:44So please...
00:46Don't make me do this.
00:48John Cena's portrayal finds edgy humor in Peacemaker's Origins,
00:52costume, and overall vibe.
00:54The character was a standout of that film,
00:56and later received his own spin-off show.
00:57Peacemaker!
00:58Yes!
00:59You're that racist superhero!
01:01No!
01:02You only kill minorities, man!
01:03I killed a fair amount of white people, too.
01:05The race show is suspect, is all I have to say.
01:07On his own TV series, Chris Smith works with a black ops team,
01:10and later enters another parallel universe.
01:12This all puts his own ego and allegiances to the test.
01:15Just explain to me what is happening here.
01:18With?
01:19How did you get here in the first place?
01:21I stumbled in here by chance.
01:23And I never meant to hurt anyone.
01:24I just want to look around.
01:25Is he someone you can trust, or will he look out for himself?
01:28The HBO Max series explores this question with a few shocking twists,
01:31asking viewers to empathize with a nuanced vigilante.
01:34It just seems like under the surface you're kinda angry about it.
01:36I'm not.
01:37It seems like you are.
01:38Well, I'm not at all, dude.
01:39Okay, the way you said dude right there?
01:40What?
01:41It seems miffed.
01:42I said it like I always say it.
01:43You know what?
01:44If anything, you should be grateful.
01:45Number 9.
01:46Deadpool.
01:47Deadpool franchise.
01:48The Merc with the Mouth is a hero that's super and surprisingly meta.
02:01He also has a few methods that are less than heroic.
02:04So what's it gonna be, huh?
02:05Long, sullen silence?
02:07Or mean comment?
02:08Go on.
02:09You got me in a box here.
02:12Across multiple sequels, Deadpool shows that he tries to do the right thing in crooked ways.
02:17He's not above a dirty joke or frequent references to the larger genre.
02:21Fun fact about the icebox.
02:23But no one's ever seen it.
02:25They keep a monster in the basement.
02:27Right next to a huge steaming ball of foreshadowing.
02:31Ryan Reynolds' performance capitalizes on the character's many quirks, turning this role
02:35into a pop culture juggernaut.
02:36I can tell you have a sort of don't get too close, I'll only break your heart vibe going
02:40here.
02:41But every other Wolverine would have really hurt me by now.
02:43And I'm sort of on the tick-tick, so upsy-daisy, here we go.
02:46Wade Wilson is even harder to pin down when he has an ally to work alongside.
02:50Whether it's Domino or Wolverine, his friends inspire him to mouth off and improvise.
02:54I didn't want it to come to this.
02:56Either you help us, or my friend here is gonna sing the entire second act of Music Man.
03:01With zero warm-up.
03:02Number 8.
03:03Lou Bloom, Nightcrawler.
03:04I'm looking for a job.
03:06In fact, I've made up my mind to find a career that I can learn and grow into.
03:09Who am I?
03:10I'm a hard worker.
03:11I set high goals, and I've been told that I'm persistent.
03:14When there's an accident, this guy shows up to film the wreckage.
03:16His name is Lou Bloom, and he's not to be trusted.
03:19What channel?
03:20Whoever pays the most.
03:22What do you get for something like this?
03:24Not nearly enough.
03:27On the hunt for some graphic footage, the wannabe journalist maneuvers his way onto the local
03:32news.
03:33Bloom isn't above lying or hurting people in order to get the job done.
03:36I run a successful TV news business.
03:39We film breaking stories.
03:42Maybe you saw my item this morning with fatal carjacking.
03:44He journeys to some scary locations, putting himself and others in dangerous situations.
03:48How did you get inside the house?
03:50The door was open.
03:51They allowed you.
03:52I heard somebody yell to come in, and when nobody was inside, I left.
03:55And the only shot of the couple is through a window.
03:57The police were shutting it down.
03:59The creepy mirror scene should be enough to know this man shouldn't be trusted.
04:02Jake Gyllenhaal's tense performance worries you every step of the way, keeping the audience
04:06on edge with an unsettling delivery.
04:08I'm not going to list the many benefits of this piece.
04:10I think it's probably best to just watch it for yourself.
04:13I could have had someone out there by now.
04:15Why didn't you call it in?
04:16To increase your need and improve my bargaining position.
04:18Number 7.
04:19Vic Mackey.
04:20The Shield.
04:21In this groundbreaking series for FX, Vic Mackey stretches the definition of a cop.
04:25I'm drawing a blank on this whole pliers thing.
04:28Feel free to ask any of my guys, but I don't think they'll remember it that way either.
04:32You're a disgrace.
04:33That's funny.
04:34I don't recall signing up for ethics class from a scumbag drug lawyer.
04:37He's frequently bending the rules to clean up the streets of Los Angeles, dragging his allies down with him.
04:42Mackey and his division rack up a list of crimes throughout the show.
04:45Bees on your feet!
04:48You're all busted!
04:49Oh, oh, oh, Felipe, where are you going?
04:53You're not an A.
04:54You want to call him a villain at various points, with Mackey employing deceptive and intimidating tactics to keep people in check.
04:59And Claudette and I will get him.
05:01Claudette?
05:02She overheard.
05:03There's nothing I can do about it.
05:05We've got to do it by the book now.
05:07The detective ends up turning on his crew, betraying the department's trust and leaving a trail of bodies in his wake.
05:12I wish I'd never met him.
05:15I see it all now.
05:17There's no apologies I can make, no explanations I can give.
05:21He's an engaging character that tries to save his skin, but ultimately you can't stop watching him.
05:26Number 6.
05:27Alex DeLarge
05:28A Clockwork Orange
05:29As the leader of a gang, Alex DeLarge seems focused on inflicting misery upon people.
05:33I don't want to live anyway.
05:34Not in a stinking water like this.
05:38Oh?
05:40And what's so stinking about it?
05:43He's a power-hungry man that drinks milk and sings show tunes during Awful Crimes.
05:48And I'm singing.
05:50Just singing.
05:54In the rain.
05:55In almost every scene, you're wondering whether he's going to turn on people or do something horrible.
05:59Once he's given a controversial therapy, the antihero finds himself back in society and cursed by his past mistakes.
06:05Violence is a very horrible thing.
06:08That's what you're learning now.
06:10Your body's learning it.
06:12I just don't understand about feeling sick the way I did.
06:15It's ultimately unclear whether or not you can trust the man in his apparent rehab.
06:19A Clockwork Orange sets up a moral and socially complex message, asking viewers to question DeLarge's psyche altogether.
06:24We put you right.
06:26You're getting the best of treatment.
06:27We never wished you harm.
06:30But there are some who did.
06:32Number 5.
06:34Patrick Bateman, American Psycho.
06:36I'm 27 years old.
06:38I believe in taking care of myself.
06:41In a balanced diet and a rigorous exercise routine.
06:45Despite his slick exterior, Patrick Bateman is a complete mess on the inside.
06:49He's a yuppie by day and a deranged serial killer by night.
06:52You like Huey Lewis in the news?
06:54They're okay.
06:58Their early work was a little too new wave for my taste.
07:02This makes his corporate and personal life erratic at best.
07:05He's also showing signs of serious mental problems.
07:08But he can wear a convincing mask at the office.
07:10New card.
07:11What do you think?
07:12Whoa.
07:13Very nice.
07:16Look at that.
07:18Picked them up from the printers yesterday.
07:19His violent outbursts show that there's an evil murderer lurking underneath.
07:23By the end, he doesn't pay for his crimes and lives with the knowledge that he can't be cured.
07:26But even after admitting this, there is no catharsis.
07:31My punishment continues to elude me.
07:34And I gain no deeper knowledge of myself.
07:37Bateman's ability to hide his impulses might be his most disturbing trait.
07:41Number 4. Billy Butcher. The Boys.
07:43Name's Butcher. Billy Butcher.
07:48Listen, I was thinking that you and me should have a little bit of a chat.
07:52This character from The Boys is not your average hero.
07:55In a TV show full of complicated and dangerous criminals, Billy Butcher is certainly one of the few that you try to support.
08:02The main reason that you won't hear about it is because the public don't want to know about it.
08:08See, people love that cozy feeling that soup's given.
08:12His plan to go after masked heroes and caped creeps is not the most foolproof either.
08:16With a ragtag group of allies, the vigilante seems to have a death wish.
08:19Your wife? Is she missing? I can help you find her.
08:25The fact that he's even alive shows that he's insane and courageous enough to keep going.
08:29Butcher starts to slowly evolve throughout the series, walking the line between a positive and negative badass.
08:34I appreciate what you're doing here for me.
08:36Not one bit of this is for you.
08:39Alright then.
08:42Give me phone. We got work to do.
08:45Number 3. Tony Montana. Scarface.
08:47Okay. So what do you call yourself?
08:50Huh? Como se llama?
08:52Antonio Montana.
08:54And you? What you call your son?
08:57Where would pop culture be without Tony Montana?
08:59The lead character in Scarface is an open book, letting nothing stop him on the way to the top.
09:04This country, you gotta make the money first.
09:06Then when you get the money, you get the power.
09:10Then when you get the power, then you get the woman.
09:12He's a Cuban exile that gets involved with cartels, violence, and much more.
09:17Al Pacino's work creates one quotable and entertaining scene after another.
09:21For you.
09:22A man ain't got his worth.
09:27It's a cockroach.
09:30Montana runs around Miami as a problematic mess, with his unhappy marriage and wild escapades making things worse.
09:35I'm not hungry.
09:37You're not hungry?
09:39Do you even know about the trial?
09:41What did you order it for?
09:42I lost my appetite.
09:45Pacino chews up the scenery and makes you second-guess as every move.
09:49In the film's climax, the antihero goes down in a blaze of glory that feels like a fever dream.
09:53Happy night with you.
09:55Come on.
09:58Okay.
09:59You wanna play with us?
10:00Okay.
10:02Say hello to my little friend!
10:04If that's not chaotic, we don't know what is.
10:06Number 2. Dexter Morgan. Dexter Franchise.
10:08So, why are you here?
10:11It's a crime scene?
10:12Yeah.
10:13You do blood spattern.
10:14So?
10:15So?
10:16There's no blood here.
10:18What was that?
10:20As a bloodstain pattern analyst, Dexter Morgan seems like a helpful and smart guy.
10:24The only trouble is that he's using his skills for crimes.
10:27I couldn't help myself. I couldn't. I just...
10:30Please, you have to understand.
10:34Trust me, I definitely understand.
10:36Hunting down serial killers, he's going after bad people and getting away with it.
10:40This involves evading the authorities and his cop sister.
10:43Hey. How was your day?
10:45The whole afternoon of getting doors shut in my face.
10:48Sorry.
10:50You?
10:53Okay.
10:54While he means well, he's still breaking the law and living with many lies.
10:57Morgan nearly gets found out several times despite his best efforts.
11:00So this is the way it ends.
11:04Regardless of how we got here, one of the two killers in this cabin has to go away.
11:10He lives by a code.
11:11But that doesn't mean he's someone to root for.
11:13The anti-hero can never live in peace either.
11:15Help me out here. What were you doing with Saxon?
11:18I went in to do a GSR test.
11:21But you don't even work here anymore. How are we gonna explain this?
11:23While harboring sociopathic tendencies, this conflicted man gives viewers one moral conundrum after another.
11:29What Morgan?
11:31What now?
11:35I killed my father.
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11:51Number 1. Travis Bickle, Taxi Driver
11:56So what do you do now?
11:58You know, ride around nights mostly, subways, buses.
12:02Figuring, you know, I'm gonna do that, I might as well get paid for it.
12:05In this Scorsese classic, Robert De Niro becomes the troubled veteran Travis Bickle.
12:10This cab driver explores his loneliness and misanthropy in scary ways.
12:14What taxi driver?
12:15That one, the one that's sitting there.
12:17How long has he been there?
12:18I don't know, but it feels like a long time.
12:21Does he bother you?
12:22No.
12:23Rejected by women and misunderstood by colleagues, he later considers assassinating a politician.
12:28His personal transformation comes with the buying of a small stockpile of weapons.
12:31It's nickel-plated, snub-nosed.
12:34Otherwise, it's the same as a service revolver.
12:37That'll stop anything that moves.
12:39A magnum, I use that in Africa for killing elephants.
12:41Talking to himself in a mirror, this man is a powder keg waiting to blow.
12:45You talking to me?
12:49You talking to me?
12:53You talking to me?
12:55His impulses lead him to free a girl from a terrible situation.
12:58The final shootout presents him as a possible folk hero, but it's unclear if he deserves any accolades at all.
13:04There is no way we can repay you for returning our iris to us.
13:08We thought we had lost her, and now our lives are full again.
13:13Scorsese's gritty drama makes you question what isolation does to a man.
13:17Did we forget another antihero that you can't pin down?
13:20Let us know in the comments below.
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