10 More Movies That Killed Completely The Wrong Character

The Death: Patches O’Houlihan spends plenty of his time in Dodgeball teaching the inept members of Average Joe’s gym how to play the game. Dip, dive, dodge, duck and…dodge again. It’s ironic because for all his insistence you should always see something coming, he is never able to predict that a falling sign would cut an end to his time as teacher, leaving Vince Vaughn to emerge as Average Joe’s talismanic figure for the rest of the film.

Who Should Have Died Instead: Justin

Dodgeball came out 14 years ago but still Patches is revered as one of the best characters introduced in the film. Whether it is lines such as ‘Why do I drink my urine? It’s sterile and I like the taste’ and ‘You’re about as useful as a c*ck-flavoured lollipop’ only serve to increase his popularity and make audiences genuinely fond of his character.

Patches bites the bullet and, though Dodgeball continues to be funny after his accident, it isn’t quite the same. Vaughn’s character leads the team in battle against Ben Stiller’s Globogym but is unable to rival Patches when it comes to the comedy stakes, with Rip Torn thriving in the role of the wrench-throwing maniac.

It begs the question. Why couldn't Justin Long's character Justin have gone instead? The teenager spends the majority of the film being pushed around, chasing after a girl well out of his league and dropping chubby cheerleaders right on his face. Right before the team's semi-final clash, he abandons his team at the crucial moment. And, for that reason, he deserved a big sign saying the words 'luck of the Irish' to fall right on his head.

In a comedy movie, you've got to be funny. And Justin just isn't. He's mopy, petulant and scared at anything, by far the least funny character in the entire film and the fact he gets a happy end, while Patches doesn't, just simply isn't fair.