15 Greatest Character Names In American Film History

7. Gordon Gekko ("Wall Street")

Oliver Stone's attack on 1980's excess in particular and capitalism in general, remains a relevant film to this day. We follow a naive stockbroker portrayed by Charlie Sheen who gets caught in a destructive spiral of greed and is taken under the wing of the highly charismatic but morally unsound Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas). Gekko's famous motto reads "Greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right. Greed works." For his energetic performance, Douglas received a well-deserved Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. Gordon sounds like the first name of someone who really thinks he's something. It has a vaguely Victorian ring to it, as well. But the surname; Gekko, is the real masterstroke of invention. Now, realistically, no one would ever go by that name in the real world. But metaphorically it is perfect: The character is snake-like. Like the serpent that tempted Adam and Eve, Gekko manipulates the innocent working class-figure Bud Fox into the excesses of the "good life". To Fox's naive eyes; the corrupted world of finance would at first glance appear as Eden.