Reviews by Kyle Ellis

Appearance: [Link removed - login to see] (1986)

Creator: James Cameron

Performer: Bill Paxton

Defining moment: The character’s a certifiable quote-machine, especially when he goes into panicky gobshite mode. After Ripley reasonably points out how long little girl Newt survived, he brilliantly ripostes, “Why don’t you put her in charge?”

Fascinating fact: Hudson’s most repeated line in the movie — “Game over, man, game over!” — was improvised by Paxton on set.

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Appearance: [Link removed - login to see] (1982)

Creator: Philip K. Dick, Hampton Fancher, David Webb Peoples

Performer: Rutger Hauer

Defining moment: The incredible sense of loss that comes with the “I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe” dying speech… “All those moments will be lost in time like tears in the rain. Time to die.”

Fascinating fact: Roy’s birthday – or rather, his inception – was celebrated on January 8, 2016. He’s three years and ten months old when he dies.

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First Appearance: V for Vendetta #1
Best Writer: Alan Moore
Best Artist: David Lloyd

Appearance: The [Link removed - login to see] series (1995–)

Creator: John Lasseter

Performer: Tom Hanks (voice)

Defining moment: “YOU ARE A TOY! You aren’t the real Buzz Lightyear! You’re... you’re an action figure! You are a child’s plaything!” Woody doles out some tough love to his deluded new friend suffering delusions of grandeur.

Fascinating fact: Toy Story 3 director Lee Unkrich revealed on Twitter that Woody’s last name is Pride.

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Appearance: [Link removed - login to see] (1997), [Link removed - login to see] (2012)

Creator: Chuck Dixon, Doug Moench, Graham Nolan

Performer: Jeep Swenson (Batman & Robin), Tom Hardy (The Dark Knight Rises)

Defining moment: After a major fist fight, Bane breaks Batman’s back and symbolically throws away the broken mask in The Dark Knight Rises.

Fascinating fact: Hardy based Bane’s strange voice on Romany Irish boxer Bartley Gorman.

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Appearance: [Link removed - login to see] (1994)

Creator: Stephen King

Performer: Morgan Freeman

Defining moment: His final parole board. “To tell you the truth, I don’t give a shit.”

Fascinating fact: In the novella, Rita Hayworth And Shawshank Redemption, Red is a white Irishman. He gets his name from his mop of crimson hair.

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Appearance: The [Link removed - login to see] series (1996–)

Creator: David Koepp, Steven Zaillian, Robert Towne

Performer: Tom Cruise

Defining moment: Hunt’s penchant for defying gravity, physics and fear reached its apotheosis in part four, with the daring climb up the side of the Burj Khalifa – aka the world’s tallest building – in Dubai.

Fascinating fact: Rumour has it that Hunt was going to die in Ghost Protocol, but the character survived due to production rewrites.

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First Appearance: The Force Awakens

Although her scenes in The Force Awakens are few, Phasma is the definition of badass female character, as not only the commander of her own elite Stormtrooper unit, but also a member of the triumvirate that leads the First Order in its evil doings, which also includes General Hux and Kylo Ren. Most notable is her appearance. Her chrome armor is made out of a material called chromium salvaged from a Naboo yacht that once belonged to Emperor Palpatine. Many have called this imposing Stormtrooper a successor in popularity to the mysterious bounty hunter Boba Fett.

First Appearance: Return of the Jedi

While Oola the dancer might be a surprise on this list, she’s one of those characters who has gathered a life outside the films with cosplay and parody comics. One of these parody comics is from [Link removed - login to see], which rescued both Oola and Biggs Darklighter from their untimely deaths in the Original Trilogy, giving them their own Quixotic adventures in side-strips called appropriately “The Tale of Oola and Biggs.” Surviving Jabba’s palace—and the rancor pit—is a pretty big triumph, even if it’s not canon.