This is the beginning of my “Greatest of the 00′s” series. I am starting with Film Characters today, and will be updating the site throughout the next few weeks with other categories such as quotes, male performances, female performances, scenes, etc. The top 10 lists will culminate with my top 100 Greatest Movies of the 00′s. This list only contains characters that were original to film this decade. So while James Bond and Darth Vader both made appearances in the 00′s, they will not be eligible for this list. You may wonder then why The Joker would be eligible for this list. The reason is that The Dark Knight is under a different film franchise than any other movie that included The Joker before. My list, my rules. 
So without further ado, my top 10 Greatest Characters of the 00′s after the jump…
10. Maximus Decimus Meridius (Russell Crowe in Gladiator, 2000)
9. Beatrix Kiddo, aka The Bride (Uma Thurman in Kill Bill Volume 1 and Kill Bill Volume 2, 2003 and 2004)
8. Borat (Sacha Baron Cohen in Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glourious Nation of Kazakhstan, 2006)
7. Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King, 2001, 2002, and 2003)
6. Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood, 2007)
5. Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Dead Man’s Chest, and At World’s End, 2003, 2006, 2007)
4. The Joker (Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight, 2008)
3. Gollum/Smeagol (Voiced by Andy Serkis in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King, 2001, 2002, and 2003)
2. Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem in No Country for Old Men, 2007)
1. Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2009)
(Honorable Mention: Patrick Bateman (Christain Bale in American Psycho, 2000), Jason Bourne (Matt Damon in The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum, 2002, 2004 and 2007), Neytiri (Zoe Saldana in Avatar, 2009), Col. Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz in Inglourious Basterds, 2009), Shrek (voiced by Mike Myers in Shrek, Shrek 2 and Shrek the Third, 2001, 2004 and 2007), Napoleon Dynamite (Jon Heder in Napoleon Dynamite, 2004) and Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist (Heath Ledger and Jack Gyllenhaal in Brokeback Mountain, 2005)
Now you have my list… what are your ten greatest characters of the decade?
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My top 10 greatest film characters of the decade(listed by character name, actor/actress and film title/year released date in parentheses):
10.) Howard Hughes, Leonardo DiCaprio(The Aviator/2004)
9.) Anton Chigurh, Javier Bardem(No Country for Old Men/2007)
8.) Beatrix Kiddo, a.k.a. “The Bride”, Uma Thurman(Kill Bill: Vol.1/2003,Kill Bill Vol.2/2004)
7.) Clementine Kruczynski, Kate Winslet(Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind/2004)
6.) Randy “The Ram” Robinson, Mickey Rourke(The Wrestler/2008)
5.) Roy Waller, Nicolas Cage(Matchstick Men/2003)
***4.) Charlie Kaufman/Donald Kaufman, Nicolas Cage(Adaptation/2002)
3.) Christopher McCandless, Emile Hirsch(Into the Wild/2007)
2.) Juno MacGuff, Ellen Page(Juno/2007)
1.) Maggie Fitzgerald, Hilary Swank(Million Dollar Baby/2004)
Honorable mentions: Daniel Plainview, Daniel Day-Lewis(There Will Be Blood/2007), Miles, Paul Giamatti(Sideways/2004), Hauptmann Gerd Wiesler, Ulrich Muhe(Das Leben der Anderen, “The Lives of Others”/2006), Jason Bourne, Matt Damon(The Bourne Identity/2002, The Bourne Supremacy/2004, The Bourne Ultimatum/2007), Col. Hans Landa, Christoph Waltz(Inglourious Basterds/2009), Timothy Treadwell, Timothy Treadwell(Grizzly Man/2005)
***Okay, I cheated a little on this one. This is actually two characters, not one. Nicolas Cage plays twin brothers in this film.
Great list! I don’t think you cheated with the Kaufman’s as one entry. Sometimes a duo must be considered as one. Think of it like this: you couldn’t put just Bonnie or just Clyde as a top 100 character by themselves, they just don’t hold up on there own. However, when you put them together on the list, they almost seem like no brainers, right? Juno was a great addition too!
Thanks for the feedback! As you can see, I tend to go for the smaller “real life” characters as opposed to the fictional larger than life ones that you have on your list. Nothing wrong with your choices though. Like em too! To each his own I guess huh? You are right with your Bonnie & Clyde analysis. Looking forward to your 10 best female performances of the decade list. I’m already chewing on mine.
My list is:
10. Walt Kowalski(Clint Eastwood)- Gran Torino
9. Anton Chigurh(Javier Bardem)- No Country For Old Men
8. Vincent(Tom Ctuise)- Collateral
7. John Nash(Russel Crowe) – A Beautiful Mind
6. Jack Sparrow(Johnny Depp) – Pirates of the Caribbean
5. Marv(Mickey Rourke) – Sin City
4. Bill(David Carradine) – Kill Bill vol 2
3. Col. Landa(Christophe Waltz)- Inglorius Basterds
2. The Joker(Heath Ledger)- The Dark Knight
1. Bill The Butcher(Daniel Day Lewis)- Gangs of New York
Awesome list! Marv was one of my favorite’s as well! So is Bill the Butcher. Daniel Day-Lewis is the man!
I agree with your lists but Smeagol/Gollum isn’t only voiced by Andy Serkis but is represented too with the Motion Capture System.
Other great performance of the decade are Philip Seymour Hoffman for “Capote”, Javier Bardem for “Mar Adentro”, Matthieu Amalric for “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”.
[...] If you have missed any of my prior top 10 lists of the decade, feel free to check out my Characters, Male Performances, Female Performances and Quotes [...]
[...] If you have missed any of my prior Top 10 lists of the decade, feel free to check out my Characters, Male Performances, Female Performances, Quotes and Songs [...]