2. John Merrick (The Elephant Man)
The Elephant Man tells the tale Joseph Merrick (called John Merrick in the film) and is based on a true story. He is a severely deformed man whose most notable deformity is an abnormally large skull. In the movie, Merrick is discovered by hospital surgeon Frederick Treves in a Victorian freak show in London's East End, where he is managed by a man named Bytes who treats him terribly (calling him an 'imbecile'), beats him and makes him wear a paper bag over his head when he's out in public. He is also hated, feared and mocked whilst out in public and when he encounters new people. Treves, however, treats him with much more respect and wants to learn about his condition to help him as much as he can. It's a great movie and Merrick is a very endearing character for whom the audience feels a lot of sympathy and compassion.