# AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains

AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes & Villains is a list of the one hundred greatest screen characters (fifty each in the hero and villain categories) as chosen by the American Film Institute in June 2003. It is part of the AFI 100 Years... series. The list was first presented in a CBS special hosted by Arnold Schwarzenegger. The program was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Nonfiction Special.

## Criteria

The jurors were limited to feature-length (at least 60 minutes), narrative, English-language films with significant financial and/or creative backing from the United States. All characters, whether hero or villain, were to "have made a mark on American society in matters of style and substance" and "elicit strong reactions across time, enriching America’s film heritage while continuing to inspire contemporary artists and audiences".

## The list
### Heroes

The AFI defines a hero as "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."
| Rank | Hero | Sex | Actor(s) | Film | Year | Notes |
| 1 | Atticus Finch | Male | Gregory Peck | To Kill a Mockingbird | 1962 | Received Academy Award |
| 2 | Indiana Jones | Male | Harrison Ford (1) | Raiders of the Lost Ark | 1981 | |
| 3 | James Bond | Male | Sean Connery | Dr. No | 1962 | |
| 4 | Rick Blaine | Male | Humphrey Bogart (1) | Casablanca | 1942 | Nominated for Academy Award |
| 5 | Marshal Will Kane | Male | Gary Cooper (1) | High Noon | 1952 | Received Academy Award |
| 6 | Clarice Starling | Female | Jodie Foster | The Silence of the Lambs (1) | 1991 | Received Academy Award |
| 7 | Rocky Balboa | Male | Sylvester Stallone | Rocky | 1976 | Nominated for Academy Award |
| 8 | Ellen Ripley | Female | Sigourney Weaver | Aliens | 1986 | Nominated for Academy Award |
| 9 | George Bailey | Male | James Stewart (1) | It's a Wonderful Life (1) | 1946 | Nominated for Academy Award |
| 10 | T. E. Lawrence | Male | Peter O'Toole | Lawrence of Arabia | 1962 | Historical figure; nominated for Academy Award |
| 11 | Jefferson Smith | Male | James Stewart (2) | Mr. Smith Goes to Washington | 1939 | Nominated for Academy Award |
| 12 | Tom Joad | Male | Henry Fonda (1) | The Grapes of Wrath | 1940 | Nominated for Academy Award |
| 13 | Oskar Schindler | Male | Liam Neeson | Schindler's List (1) | 1993 | Historical figure; nominated for Academy Award |
| 14 | Han Solo | Male | Harrison Ford (2) | Star Wars (1) | 1977 | |
| 15 | Norma Rae Webster | Female | Sally Field | Norma Rae | 1979 | Based upon southern mill worker Crystal Lee Sutton; received Academy Award |
| 16 | Shane | Male | Alan Ladd | Shane | 1953 | |
| 17 | Harry Callahan | Male | Clint Eastwood | Dirty Harry | 1971 | |
| 18 | Robin Hood | Male | Errol Flynn | The Adventures of Robin Hood | 1938 | |
| 19 | Virgil Tibbs | Male | Sidney Poitier | In the Heat of the Night | 1967 | |
| 20 | Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid | Male | Paul Newman (1) and Robert Redford (1) | Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid | 1969 | Historical figures |
| 21 | Mahatma Gandhi | Male | Ben Kingsley | Gandhi | 1982 | Historical figure; received Academy Award |
| 22 | Spartacus | Male | Kirk Douglas | Spartacus | 1960 | Historical figure |
| 23 | Terry Malloy | Male | Marlon Brando | On the Waterfront | 1954 | Received Academy Award |
| 24 | Thelma Dickinson and Louise Sawyer | Female | Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon | Thelma & Louise | 1991 | Both nominated for Academy Award |
| 25 | Lou Gehrig | Male | Gary Cooper (2) | The Pride of the Yankees | 1942 | Historical figure; nominated for Academy Award |
| 26 | Superman | Male | Christopher Reeve | Superman | 1978 | |
| 27 | Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein | Male | Robert Redford (2) and Dustin Hoffman | All the President's Men | 1976 | Historical figures |
| 28 | Juror #8 (Davis) | Male | Henry Fonda (2) | 12 Angry Men | 1957 | |
| 29 | General George Patton | Male | George C. Scott | Patton | 1970 | Historical figure; received Academy Award |
| 30 | Lucas "Luke" Jackson | Male | Paul Newman (2) | Cool Hand Luke | 1967 | Nominated for Academy Award |
| 31 | Erin Brockovich | Female | Julia Roberts | Erin Brockovich | 2000 | Historical figure; received Academy Award |
| 32 | Philip Marlowe | Male | Humphrey Bogart (2) | The Big Sleep | 1946 | |
| 33 | Marge Gunderson | Female | Frances McDormand | Fargo | 1996 | Received Academy Award |
| 34 | Tarzan | Male | Johnny Weissmuller | Tarzan the Ape Man | 1932 | |
| 35 | Alvin York | Male | Gary Cooper (3) | Sergeant York | 1941 | Historical figure; received Academy Award |
| 36 | Rooster Cogburn | Male | John Wayne | True Grit | 1969 | Received Academy Award |
| 37 | Obi-Wan Kenobi | Male | Alec Guinness | Star Wars (2) | 1977 | Nominated for Academy Award |
| 38 | The Tramp | Male | Charlie Chaplin | City Lights | 1931 | |
| 39 | Lassie | Female | Pal | Lassie Come Home | 1943 | |
| 40 | Frank Serpico | Male | Al Pacino (1) | Serpico | 1973 | Historical figure; nominated for Academy Award |
| 41 | Arthur Chipping | Male | Robert Donat | Goodbye, Mr. Chips | 1939 | Received Academy Award |
| 42 | Father Edward Flanagan | Male | Spencer Tracy | Boys Town | 1938 | Historical figure; received Academy Award |
| 43 | Moses | Male | Charlton Heston | The Ten Commandments | 1956 | Biblical figure |
| 44 | Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle | Male | Gene Hackman | The French Connection | 1971 | Based upon New York City Police Detective Eddie Egan; received Academy Award |
| 45 | Zorro | Male | Tyrone Power | The Mark of Zorro | 1940 | |
| 46 | Batman | Male | Michael Keaton | Batman (1) | 1989 | |
| 47 | Karen Silkwood | Female | Meryl Streep | Silkwood | 1983 | Historical figure; nominated for Academy Award |
| 48 | The Terminator | Und. | Arnold Schwarzenegger (1) | Terminator 2: Judgment Day | 1991 | Character also appears on Villains list. |
| 49 | Andrew Beckett | Male | Tom Hanks | Philadelphia | 1993 | Loosely based upon Geoffrey Bowers; received Academy Award for performance |
| 50 | General Maximus Decimus Meridius | Male | Russell Crowe | Gladiator | 2000 | Received Academy Award |

### Villains

The AFI defines a Villain as "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."
| Rank | Villain | Sex | Actor | Film | Year | Notes |
| 1 | Hannibal Lecter | Male | Anthony Hopkins | The Silence of the Lambs (2) | 1991 | Received Academy Award |
| 2 | Norman Bates | Male | Anthony Perkins | Psycho | 1960 | Loosely based upon Ed Gein |
| 3 | Darth Vader | Male | David Prowse (voiced by James Earl Jones) | The Empire Strikes Back | 1980 | |
| 4 | The Wicked Witch of the West | Female | Margaret Hamilton | The Wizard of Oz | 1939 | |
| 5 | Nurse Ratched | Female | Louise Fletcher | One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest | 1975 | Received Academy Award |
| 6 | Mr. Potter | Male | Lionel Barrymore | It's a Wonderful Life (2) | 1946 | |
| 7 | Alex Forrest | Female | Glenn Close | Fatal Attraction | 1987 | Nominated for Academy Award |
| 8 | Phyllis Dietrichson | Female | Barbara Stanwyck | Double Indemnity | 1944 | Nominated for Academy Award |
| 9 | Regan MacNeil (as possessed by the demon "Pazuzu") | Female / Demon hybrid | Linda Blair (voiced by Mercedes McCambridge) | The Exorcist | 1973 | Nominated for Academy Award |
| 10 | The Evil Queen | Female | Voice by Lucille La Verne | Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs | 1937 | |
| 11 | Michael Corleone | Male | Al Pacino (2) | The Godfather Part II | 1974 | Nominated for Academy Award |
| 12 | Alex DeLarge | Male | Malcolm McDowell | A Clockwork Orange | 1971 | |
| 13 | HAL 9000 | Und. | Voice by Douglas Rain | 2001: A Space Odyssey | 1968 | |
| 14 | The Alien | Und. | Bolaji Badejo | Alien | 1979 | |
| 15 | Amon Göth | Male | Ralph Fiennes | Schindler's List (2) | 1993 | Historical figure; nominated for Academy Award |
| 16 | Noah Cross | Male | John Huston | Chinatown | 1974 | |
| 17 | Annie Wilkes | Female | Kathy Bates | Misery | 1990 | Received Academy Award |
| 18 | The Shark | Male | "Bruce" | Jaws | 1975 | |
| 19 | Captain Bligh | Male | Charles Laughton | Mutiny on the Bounty | 1935 | Historical figure; nominated for Academy Award |
| 20 | "Man" | Male | N/A | Bambi | 1942 | |
| 21 | Mrs. Eleanor Iselin | Female | Angela Lansbury | The Manchurian Candidate | 1962 | Nominated for Academy Award |
| 22 | The Terminator | Und. | Arnold Schwarzenegger (2) | The Terminator | 1984 | Character also appears on Heroes list. |
| 23 | Eve Harrington | Female | Anne Baxter | All About Eve | 1950 | Nominated for Academy Award |
| 24 | Gordon Gekko | Male | Michael Douglas | Wall Street | 1987 | Received Academy Award |
| 25 | Jack Torrance | Male | Jack Nicholson (1) | The Shining | 1980 | |
| 26 | Cody Jarrett | Male | James Cagney (1) | White Heat | 1949 | |
| 27 | Martians | Und. | Various | The War of the Worlds | 1953 | |
| 28 | Max Cady | Male | Robert Mitchum (1) | Cape Fear | 1962 | |
| 29 | Reverend Harry Powell | Male | Robert Mitchum (2) | The Night of the Hunter | 1955 | Loosely based upon Harry Powers |
| 30 | Travis Bickle | Male | Robert De Niro | Taxi Driver | 1976 | Loosely based upon Arthur Bremer and Lee Harvey Oswald; nominated for Academy Award |
| 31 | Mrs. Danvers | Female | Judith Anderson | Rebecca | 1940 | Nominated for Academy Award |
| 32 | Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker | Male / Female | Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway (1) | Bonnie and Clyde | 1967 | Historical figures; both nominated for Academy Award |
| 33 | Count Dracula | Male | Bela Lugosi | Dracula | 1931 | |
| 34 | Dr. Szell | Male | Laurence Olivier | Marathon Man | 1976 | Nominated for Academy Award |
| 35 | J.J. Hunsecker | Male | Burt Lancaster | Sweet Smell of Success | 1957 | Based upon columnist Walter Winchell |
| 36 | Frank Booth | Male | Dennis Hopper | Blue Velvet | 1986 | |
| 37 | Harry Lime | Male | Orson Welles | The Third Man | 1949 | |
| 38 | Caesar Enrico Bandello | Male | Edward G. Robinson | Little Caesar | 1931 | |
| 39 | Cruella De Vil | Female | Voice by Betty Lou Gerson | One Hundred and One Dalmatians | 1961 | |
| 40 | Freddy Krueger | Male | Robert Englund | A Nightmare on Elm Street | 1984 | |
| 41 | Joan Crawford | Female | Faye Dunaway (2) | Mommie Dearest | 1981 | Historical figure; received Razzie Award |
| 42 | Tom Powers | Male | James Cagney (2) | The Public Enemy | 1931 | |
| 43 | Regina Giddens | Female | Bette Davis (1) | The Little Foxes | 1941 | Nominated for Academy Award |
| 44 | Baby Jane Hudson | Female | Bette Davis (2) | What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? | 1962 | Nominated for Academy Award |
| 45 | The Joker | Male | Jack Nicholson (2) | Batman (2) | 1989 | |
| 46 | Hans Gruber | Male | Alan Rickman | Die Hard | 1988 | |
| 47 | Tony Camonte | Male | Paul Muni | Scarface | 1932 | Loosely based upon Al Capone |
| 48 | Roger "Verbal" Kint / Keyser Söze | Male | Kevin Spacey | The Usual Suspects | 1995 | Received Academy Award |
| 49 | Auric Goldfinger | Male | Gert Fröbe (voiced by Michael Collins) | Goldfinger | 1964 | |
| 50 | Detective Alonzo Harris | Male | Denzel Washington | Training Day | 2001 | Received Academy Award |