Quentin Tarantino’s Best Characters

Quentin Tarantino has cemented himself as one of the best filmmakers in Hollywood with his directing and writing bringing forth some truly iconic characters. Across a career that spans decades, Quentin Tarantino has been extremely precise in the characters he brings to the big screen. Through their bloody actions, witty dialogue, and often crude language, the best Quentin Tarantino characters have become hard to forget

So, having said that why not look back through Reservoir Dogs (1992) to Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019) to see which characters and their actors deserve to be ranked as Tarantino’s best characters?

8

Dr. King Schultz

A Dentist Turned Bounty Hunter Who Only Wants to See Good in the World

• Played by: Christoph Waltz
• Featured in: Django Unchained (2012)

A complete inverse of Hans Landa, Dr. King Schultz is kind and compassionate in a time in the Old West where that was seen as an irredeemable quality to have. Christoph Waltz’s portrayal as Dr. King Schultz is one of a gentle nature and a cunning determination to see love flourish in a violent world, and the fact that he would commit himself to helping a former slave, even at the cost of his own life and reputation of the time, shows just how great of a man Dr. King Schultz is.

This former dentist and now professional bounty hunter is a wicked gun of the West, and his training of Django couldn’t make him more proud. Schultz’s refusal to bend his knee to slavery and racism shows how his one flaw in life seems to be total intolerance for the intolerable.

7

Aldo Raine

An American Lieutenant Who Just Wants to Kill Nazis

• Played by: Brad Pitt
• Featured in: Inglourious Basterds (2009)

Aldo Raine is a highly charismatic American lieutenant who has his own business of killing Nazis in World War 2. Aldo Raine might not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but he doesn’t care how blunt he is, so long as that tool ends up killing Nazis in the most brutal of ways to get one step closer to putting a bullet in Hitler’s head.

Aldo’s division, the Basterds, is all equally brutal and fun, but Aldo as the leader has the most charm. Not only is there interest in his backstory as a survivor of a lynching from the KKK, and how he’s nicknamed the Apache for scalping Nazis, but it’s his patriotic and often cruel violent nature that makes him a career to root for in a war against Nazis.

6

Calvin Candie

The Sadistic Plantation Owner of Candyland

• Played by: Leonardo DiCaprio
• Featured in: Django Unchained (2012)

A sadistic slaver who takes immense joy in owning people and making them commit atrocities just so they can live another day, Calvin Candie is one of Tarantino’s most diabolical and twisted characters, and everyone can celebrate the fate this character received. His boastful attitude towards his plantation being the largest in Mississippi shows he cares about wealth and nothing else.

Calvin Candie isn’t just an irredeemable racist, but also a moron and that’s what makes him such an interestingly hateful villain. Calvin’s foul language and behavior highlight the incredible talent of Leonardo DiCaprio who plays him with such honesty and true evil that it’s hard not to see the devil in his eyes.

5

Beatrix Kiddo “The Bride”

The Ultimate Killer Out for Revenge

• Played by: Uma Thurman
• Featured in: Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003), Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004)

Formerly known as the deadly Black Mamba for her time in the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, Beatrix Kiddo is killed at her own marriage rehearsal by her former allies at the request of her former lover, Bill. With everything she ever knew, including her fiancé and unborn child dead, The Bride comes back for revenge against those who took her life from her.

The Bride is the epitome of cool, and her violent odyssey of revenge is filled with fun violence and Uma Thurman’s cold, kickass performance. The sheer resilience of Beatrix Kiddo and the build-up to her origins makes her an action hero to remember, and easily one of the most violent ones.

4

Jules Winnfield

A Highly Philosophical Hitman

• Played by: Samuel L. Jackson
• Featured in: Pulp Fiction (1998)

Jules Winnfield is easily one of Samuel L. Jackson’s greatest characters, and his performance solidifies Tarantino’s writing with his loud confidence and cackling charm. Jules Winnfield’s careful wordplay makes him an interesting smith with one flaw of his hitman days being that of his discussion and understanding of philosophy, where his iconic quote of the Bible passage of Ezekiel 25:17 brings forth furious vengeance to those he kills.

While Jules doesn’t have more screen time than the other protagonists of Pulp Fiction, he is easily the most memorable of them all due to what he wants out of life. Jules does not care for glory and money, and in the end, he just wants to walk the earth and see what happens to him in the meantime.

3

Cliff Booth

A Cool Stuntman, Loyal to His Best Friend and Potential Wife Killer

• Played by: Brad Pitt
• Featured in: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019)

Cliff Booth is the kind of friend everyone could use. Someone who doesn’t prefer to be in the spotlight, and instead just wants to sit back and enjoy his time with a couple of beers and a pal to make jokes with and feel right at home. Cliff Booth’s dedication to the art of being a stuntman is impressive, as is his naturally cool and laid-back attitude to everyone in this groovy life.

Cliff Booth doesn’t need the limelight to enjoy life, and as long as he has his dog and his instant mac and cheese, then he’s doing just fine, and that’s alright with Cliff. Cliff might not be overly complex, but that’s what makes him so fun, and his friendship with Rick Dalton offers an insight into true chemistry, even if he might be labeled as an unconfirmed, but pretty much implied, wife killer.

2

Rick Dalton

A Struggling Actor in the Golden Age of Hollywood

• Played by: Leonardo DiCaprio
• Featured in: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019)

Rick Dalton is one of the protagonists in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’s depiction of Hollywood in the 1960s, and his flash attitude and fragile ego provide an insight into his interesting mental state, while also being rather comedic. Rick Dalton’s career as an actor is an interesting one to watch, and the established stories help to make Dalton such a believable character, especially one who just wants to succeed in life.

Rick’s charisma and self-doubt provide audiences with a Hollywood hero who is deeply insecure and emotional, and his self-sabotaging tendencies are rather hilarious to witness, as is his amazingly charming friendship with Cliff Booth that proves this duo as one of the greatest.

1

Hans Landa

A Despicable, Highly Intelligent SS Officer

• Played by: Christoph Waltz
• Featured in: Inglourious Basterds (2009)

Hans Landa is one of cinema’s best villains, and arguably one of Tarantino’s most well-written characters. Not only is the cold-blooded and sophisticated performance by Christoph Waltz the only one that Tarantino could see to bring this character to life, but the hateful traits and almost antagonistic, antisemitic Sherlock Holmes presented here make for a chilling villain with no redeeming qualities as his smugness and intellect take hold of every scene.

Hans Landa is the kind of character that takes the audience’s breaths due to how he captures every scene with an incredible presence of evil. His sadism, ability to be the smartest man in the room, and unwavering loyalty to a diabolical cause to eradicate Jewish people, present an irredeemable character of unwavering evil that’s hard not to be fascinated by.