3. Daniel Plainview (There Will Be Blood)
Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood showcases legendary actor Daniel Day-Lewis as Daniel Plainview. Plainview is a self-described oil man, a capitalist willing to sacrifice life and limb for his success in digging for black California gold. Though he's technically our protagonist, Daniel Plainview is certainly not a man anyone would describe as our hero, and even the term anti-hero seems a bit too lenient for him. Plainview exploits his adopted child H.W. Plainview nearly from birth. He also is willing to use those he loathes, from the townspeople, to Eli Sunday, to the only person he hates more than the aspiring minister: himself.
Why We Can't Help But Love Him: We love him because he's Daniel Plainview, the most complex character in the last twenty years of cinema. Plus, he revolutionized the way we hear the words "drainage" and "milkshake".