2. Maverick (Top Gun)
Often actors become so synonymous with one role, it is hard for them to break out. A lucky few actors are able to transcend that tricky stigma and move seamlessly from role to role and become undeniable movie stars. One actor that has managed this career feat is Tom Cruise, who at least early in his career (before fame overwhelmed him), has been able to play numerous famous movie characters over the years. But no character has better defined his early career like Maverick in 1986s
Top Gun. With the help of Goose, aka the greatest wingman in history, Cruise became the epitome of cool in the mid 80s. But that is not all, he also had the help of Randy Duke Cunningham.
Top Gun was officially based on the magazine article Top Guns, about fighter pilots training at Miramar Naval Air Station. Cunningham, a Vietnam veteran who served as an instructor at Miramar, was the last fighter pilot to achieve ace flying status. Though he did not graduate from the TOPGUN program, he was famous for having gunned the quasi-mythological North Vietnamese ace Col. Nguyen Toon, aka "Colonel Tomb. He was also known for clashing with higher ranking officers and the hit the brakes and hell fly right past maneuver, both a trait and technique shared by his cinematic counterpart. Cunningham was later elected the U.S House of Representatives out of California and later imprisoned for conspiracy. And who knows, with the long rumored
Top Gun sequel, so will Maverick (doubt it).