9 Awful Characters Who Nearly Ruined Awesome Movies

Truly outstanding movies can come in all shapes and sizes.

However, one thing pretty much every universally adored feature has in common is the presence of some seriously compelling characters, all forcing you to give a damn about the riveting story unfolding on the big screen.

Sadly though, not every face involved in some of our favourite films is equally adored or celebrated. In fact, there are a number of characters who very nearly spoilt the experience entirely, acting as a sudden unwanted shower on an otherwise glorious summer's day.

Whether they were minor characters who simply seemed to lack any purpose (other than being absolutely infuriating) or even highly anticipated arrivals which completely screwed up their landing, each of the following personalities managed to find a way to be memorable for all the wrong reasons.

Luckily, none of the culprits on this list completely derailed any of the outstanding features they were present in. But that still didn't make our time spent with them any less painful or stop us wondering why they were even included in these greats in the first place.

When it comes to high-octane action-packed thrill rides, few films hold a candle to Bruce Willis' first Christmas adventure in Die Hard.

Battling against a team of terrorists trying to takeover Nakatomi Plaza, Willis' police detective John McClane quickly became everyone's favourite everyman hero thanks to his improvised offence and epic one-liners. It also didn't hurt that he was taking on one of the most memorable villains in movie history - Alan Rickman's despicable Hans Gruber.

Throughout the tense thriller, McClane is regularly in contact with LAPD sergeant Al Powell (Reginald VelJohnson) who attempts to aid the lead character in his quest to bring down the terrorists without risking the lives of those taken hostage by Gruber and co. However, this alliance is suddenly disturbed by the deeply unwanted arrival of the LAPD Deputy Chief, Dwayne T. Robinson.

The Deputy quickly commandeers the situation, forcing Powell to take a back seat. Yet, the infuriating Robinson simply acts as a contrived obstacle for McClane, routinely making idiotic decisions and constantly pulling us away from the action we really wanted to see.

Roger Ebert seemed to share these sentiments about Robinson, as he noted in his review:

"As nearly as I can tell, the deputy chief is in the movie for only one purpose: to be consistently wrong at every step of the way and to provide a phony counterpoint to Willis' progress."

The two FBI agents, Agent Johnson and Special Agent Johnson, who takeover from Robinson didn't improve the situation either, only further adding to the all-out nonsense going down away from McClane's pulsating quest.