10 Toughest Movie Heroes Ever

Don't worry, at least one Arnie character gets a nod...

Kate Beckinsale Jolt
Amazon Studios

Have you ever played that game where you ask yourself, if pushed to the limit, which movie character could you take in a fistfight? While you really should give up playground games when facial hair starts developing, the question still lies about who you could hold your own against if you found yourself thrust into a cinematic universe.

Or maybe you flip the scenario? You're a world-famous celebrity and you need a fictional character to watch your back when you tuck yourself in at night. Your first instinct might be to go with an ultra-powerful member of the Justice League, or maybe the entire crew aboard the Starship Enterprise. But in reality, what you're searching for is a tough-as-old-boots badass whose resume of holding their own against hordes of enemies stretches far and wide.

We're talking about the ones with the martial arts and weapons training who don't rely on dumb luck, just their very own grass-roots skill. They're fearless against any enemy, and more often than not, they come up tops with just a scratch on their forehead. These are the heroes to remember.

For this list, we'll be capping off the top ten movie heroes who were so tough, so gosh-darned badass and hard as nails that they could crack walnuts by winking at them. For the purposes of realism (and fun!), this list is going to exclude superheroes, aliens, cyborgs and enhanced individuals. So no Wolverine, Batman, Optimus Prime or Obi-Wan Kenobi's I'm afraid.

10. Indiana Jones - Indiana Jones Franchise

Kate Beckinsale Jolt
Paramount Pictures

There are many reasons why Indiana Jones might be one of the best action-adventure heroes of all time; a perfect blend of brains and brawn, with just the right amount of swashbuckling to make Indy one of the slickest, most charismatic and all-around fun protagonists on screen.

What makes Indiana so tough? Besides the obvious that no matter how many times he takes a punch, he's back up on his feet ready to throw one twice as hard at a Nazi henchman or cultist's henchman. Indy's place on this list isn't just his adept skill at throwing a punch or two. His survival rate for any situation makes him one of the most resourceful and dependent heroes on this list, (not counting fridge-gate).

His ability to recognise and assess the odds of a situation makes him almost bulletproof, with an encyclopaedic knowledge of temple mythology, Indy has developed a second sense for booby traps and elaborate ancient mechanics that have allowed him to escape even the trickiest of situations, which makes him kind of a superhero in some way.

Between narrowly avoiding razor-blades, bouldering rocks and poison dart traps, as well as punching enemies with such might it sounds like two planks of wood getting down and dirty, Indiana Jones never backs down and never stops until the job is done.

Usually, that involves snatching something to stick in a museum, but we don't have to address that issue just yet.

Contributor

I overthink a lot of things. Will talk about pretty much anything for a great length of time. I'm obsessed with General Slocum from the 2002 Spider-Man film. I have questions that were never answered in that entire trilogy!