7. Vincent Vega - Pulp Fiction
Why He's Awesome: Vincent Vega is a loveable klutz who charms the pants off Mia Wallace (Uma Thurman) by taking her to a 50s-style fast food joint and helping her win a dance trophy. Anyone familiar with John Travolta's work on Grease and Saturday Night Fever - um, everyone - is surely unable to resist the charm of this performance. Though not as sharp and sensible as his pal Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson), his exploits do result in many of the movie's best moments (Marvin getting shot in the face for one).
How He Got Shafted: He ends up being shot dead by Butch Coolidge (Bruce Willis) after he stops to take a dump at the guy's place, but is stupid enough to leave his mini-gun sitting on the kitchen counter. Butch returns home, realises what's up, holds Vincent up, and is then promptly startled by his toaster (Butch thought he was alone and decided to make a snack), causing him to fire the gun into Vincent until dead. Hilarious, but a shame all the same.