Top 10 Movie Characters with Badass Artificial Limbs
Script written by Dan Deeprose
Top 10 Movie Characters with Badass Artificial Limbs
These characters really put the “art” in “artificial limb.” Welcome to WatchMojo.com and today we’ll be counting down our picks for the Top 10 Movie Characters with Badass Artificial Limbs.
For this list, we’ll be looking at artificial limbs that replace or substitute at least one original missing limb from a person. We’ve excluded characters like Dr. Octopus, whose robotic tentacle arms don’t replace any existing limbs, and Robocop, who’s given a cyborg body, as well as Luke Skywalker, because we never really see his cybernetic arm in action and it’s pretty much indistinguishable from a regular one.
#10: Captain Hook
“Peter Pan” (1953)
This pirate captain’s famous hook-hand is probably one of the first artificial limbs children ever see. He uses his shiny, silver hook for everything, from threatening enemies to playing his fancy grand piano. Despite his cruelty, short temper, and extreme arrogance, Captain Hook is a highly enjoyable character. In addition to being suave and cunning, his hook gives him a touch of originality that a good villain needs. Being a timeless bad guy, he’s appeared in countless other adaptations of “Peter Pan,” most notably Steven Spielberg’s “Hook.” As the song goes, he’s “The world’s most famous crook!”
#9: Kesslee
“Tank Girl” (1995)
As bad guys go, Kesslee is pretty heinously wicked even before he loses his arm and his face. When his underlings fail him, for example, he likes to extract all the water from their bodies and then drink it! But after violent desert creatures called “rippers” disfigure him and tear off his arm, his brand new cybernetic arm and holographic head just make him even more powerful. The arm is metal and covered with razors, which definitely ups his game when it comes to a fight.
#8: Lt. Jean Rasczak
“Starship Troopers” (1997)
This ex-soldier is described in the script as “a rugged veteran who proudly displays his missing hand,” but that only just begins to cover it. He starts off the movie as a teacher, lecturing his students and using his stump to emphasize his point. This makes him pretty memorable to begin with, but then he reappears later on as a squad leader, sporting a prosthetic arm and punching out giant bugs. His missing arm doesn’t slow him down as he proves to be fully badass until the very end.
#7: Mr. Han
“Enter the Dragon” (1973)
Mr. Han has a missing hand, but that doesn’t keep him from being a criminal mastermind. His crime empire runs like oil, and he uses his prosthetic hand to enforce his own strict, if unconventional, moral code. In fact, his prosthetic gives him quite an edge. First he beats a man to death with a cast iron hand, and then he upgrades to a bladed prosthetic perfectly designed to slice and dice his enemies. Consider him the predecessor to the Shredder.
#6: Gazelle
“Kingsman: The Secret Service” (2014)
Gazelle’s job is to fight and her legs are her primary weapons, cutting through foes with endless spinning high kicks. Actress Sofia Boutella had to learn Thai boxing and Taekwondo in order to play the part, and it definitely shows. In the original graphic novel, Gazelle was a man with artificial legs. Turning her into an acrobatic killing machine with razor-sharp bladed prosthetics just made her that much more badass, and then there’s the bonus of adding a strong female character to the story.
#5: Bucky Barnes
“Captain America: The Winter Soldier” (2014)
Bucky Barnes was Captain America’s sidekick, but he died near the end of World War II—or so everyone thought. He was actually captured by the Soviets, who gave him cybernetic arm to replace the one that was torn off in the crash that supposedly killed him. The brainwashed Bucky has been an amazing fighter since his childhood, and his new metal arm just makes him all the more deadly. It makes him as strong, if not stronger than Captain America himself and strong enough to tear open an armored car and smash concrete with just his fist. Also it’s strong enough to play frisbee with Captain’s shield.
#4: Imperator Furiosa
“Mad Max: Fury Road” (2015)
Furiosa is an all-around amazing character, and not just because of her awesome attitude and incredible fighting skills. Unfortunately, Hollywood is still struggling with representation of both female and disabled characters, which makes Furiosa a very refreshing change. With her mechincal arm, unquestionable leadership and quest for redemption, the disabled female lead is not only a fan favorite, but arguably the main character of the movie. She proves that a missing arm doesn’t make her any less capable, and she’s just as competent fighting with her stump as she is with her prosthetic.
#3: Edward Scissorhands
“Edward Scissorhands” (1990)
Edward is an artificial man whose creator died before he was finished creating him, which left the titular character with razor-sharp scissors for hands. And since they’re the only hands Edward has ever known, and scissors aren’t actual human limbs, he’s made the cut for this list. When Edward winds up in a suburban village, Edward’s scissorhands help him artfully trim hedges and make ice sculptures. Before long the villagers start to fear him, though. In their eyes, Edward is monstrous and needs to be “fixed,” but the film shows that the real monstrosity lies at the heart of the normal, non-disabled society. Edward is, in fact, more humane than any of them. Instead of fighting, stealing, and taking advantage of others, he uses his “incomplete” hands to create something beautiful.
#2: Cherry Darling
“Planet Terror” (2007)
It’s hard to get more badass than a machine gun for a leg! Cherry starts out as a down-and-out go-go dancer, but when she loses her leg in a zombie attack, it’s the tipping point in her life. Instead of letting the disability slow her down, she first gets it replaced by a wooden leg and then replaces it with a modified gun, complete with grenade launcher! This leads her to swiftly become the leader of her ragtag team of survivors. Her gun prosthetic ends up giving her way more confidence than she ever had before, and it’s undeniably epic to see swarms of zombies falling under the stream of bullets and grenades.
Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions:
– Big Louie
“UHF” (1989)
Captain Hector Barbossa
“Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” (2011)
– Peter Pettigrew
“Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” (2005)
– Dr. Claw
“Inspector Gadget” (1999)
#1: Ash Williams
“Evil Dead” franchise (1981-)
When an evil force released from the Book of the Dead possesses Ash’s hand,he has no choice but to hack it off. But that just makes an already cool character even more cool. In “Evil Dead II,” he picks up the same chainsaw that he used to self-amputate, and – with Annie’s help – attaches it to his stump and goes on a rampage, sawing his way through the possessed undead hordes. As Ash himself says, “Groovy!” Not only that, but in the sequel, “Army of Darkness,” he find himself in Medieval times and makes himself a metal gauntlet order to keep right on kicking ass.
Do you agree with our list? Who’s your favorite character with a badass artificial limb? For more fantastic Top 10s published daily, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.