10 Great Sci-Fi Movies Ruined By One Character

9. Mad Max: Fury Road - The People Eater

Star Wars Rogue One Saw Gerrera
Warner Bros

Sadly not of the one-eyed, one-horned, flying variety, the People Eater is a character in George Miller's return to his beloved apocalyptic wasteland with 2015's Mad Max: Fury Road.

Played by Australian actor John Howard, the People Eater is an obese man whose body has been ravaged by gluttony. His nose has been taken by leprosy, meaning he has to wear a metal cap to cover it. His foot is swollen. He has handcuff-shaped clamps on his nipples.

All in all, the kind of guy you wouldn't want to take home to your parents.

He's the commander of Gas Town, a roving fleet of mercenaries who serve the film's big bad, Immortan Joe.

And really, that's all the People Eater is - a mid-tier boss that Max has to get through to get to Joe.

He is entirely superfluous to the plot of the movie, serving as a thinly veiled metaphor for greed. His death is unspectacular too, as he gets shot whilst Max uses him as a giant human shield.

Pointless, annoying, and pretty disgusting to look at, Mad Max audiences have as much time for the People Eater as he himself has for organic vegetables.

Contributor
Contributor

Jacob Simmons has a great many passions, including rock music, giving acclaimed films three-and-a-half stars, watching random clips from The Simpsons on YouTube at 3am, and writing about himself in the third person.