Special Report

Best Movie Assassins of All Time

American moviegoers love a good assassin. Whether we’re rooting for or against them, there’s something about seeing a steely-eyed character hell-bent on killing that we just can’t look away from.

In real life, the word “assassin” – derived from the Arabic word “hashīshīn,” used to describe members of a medieval Muslim sect that supposedly got high on hashish before murdering enemies – is closely associated with some of history’s most infamous villains. Two prime examples are John Wilkes Booth and Lee Harvey Oswald, who achieved notoriety by assassinating presidents. (These are the most famous assassinations in American history.)

But in the movies, the definition of “assassin” changes. Assassins in the movies are usually killers by trade, either hired guns, secret agents, or hitmen. They may also be lone wolves hell-bent on revenge who also happen to be extremely physically fit and expert marksmen. But they all have one thing in common: they’re out for blood. (Watch them in action in the best assassin movies of all time.)

To determine the best movie assassins of all time, 24/7 Tempo developed an index measuring the popularity and audience reception of the movies they’ve appeared in. Assassin characters were ranked on an index composed of average daily Wikipedia pageviews from the period January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022; average user ratings for all movies featuring the character on IMDb, an online movie and TV database owned by Amazon; and average audience and Tomatometer scores for all movies featuring the character on Rotten Tomatoes, an online movie and TV review aggregator. All measures are weighted equally and are current through December 2022. Actor credits are also from IMDb.

Click here to see the best movie assassins of all time

Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox

25. Agent 47
> Popularity score: 0.49
> Highest rated movie: Hitman (2007)
> Portrayed by: Timothy Olyphant, Rupert Friend

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Courtesy of Film & TV House

24. Machete
> Popularity score: 0.75
> Highest rated movie: Machete (2010)
> Portrayed by: Danny Trejo

Courtesy of Lionsgate

23. Mitch Rapp
> Popularity score: 0.80
> Highest rated movie: American Assassin (2017)
> Portrayed by: Dylan O’Brien

Courtesy of United Artists

22. Francisco Scaramanga
> Popularity score: 0.92
> Highest rated movie: The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
> Portrayed by: Christopher Lee

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Courtesy of Lucasfilm Ltd.

21. Jango Fett
> Popularity score: 1.36
> Highest rated movie: Star Wars Ep. II: Attack of the Clones (2002)
> Portrayed by: Temuera Morrison

Courtesy of United Artists

20. Jaws
> Popularity score: 1.46
> Highest rated movie: The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
> Portrayed by: Richard Kiel

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Courtesy of TriStar Pictures

19. T-1000
> Popularity score: 2.20
> Highest rated movie: Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
> Portrayed by: Robert Patrick, Byung-hun Lee, Gabriel Luna

Courtesy of United Artists

18. James Bond
> Popularity score: 2.27
> Highest rated movie: Goldfinger (1964)
> Portrayed by: Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, Daniel Craig

Courtesy of The Samuel Goldwyn Company

17. Nikita
> Popularity score: 2.32
> Highest rated movie: Nikita (1990)
> Portrayed by: Anne Parillaud

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Courtesy of Artisan Entertainment

16. Ghost Dog
> Popularity score: 2.32
> Highest rated movie: Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999)
> Portrayed by: Forest Whitaker

Courtesy of Lionsgate

15. John Wick
> Popularity score: 2.38
> Highest rated movie: John Wick: Chapter Two (2017)
> Portrayed by: Keanu Reeves

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Courtesy of Miramax

14. The Bride
> Popularity score: 2.39
> Highest rated movie: Kill Bill: Volume 2 (2004)
> Portrayed by: Uma Thurman

Courtesy of Universal Pictures

13. The Jackal
> Popularity score: 2.42
> Highest rated movie: The Day of the Jackal (1973)
> Portrayed by: Edward Fox

Courtesy of Universal Pictures

12. Jason Bourne
> Popularity score: 2.52
> Highest rated movie: The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
> Portrayed by: Matt Damon

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Courtesy of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

11. Léon
> Popularity score: 2.57
> Highest rated movie: Léon: The Professional (1994)
> Portrayed by: Jean Reno

Courtesy of United Artists

10. Oddjob
> Popularity score: 2.57
> Highest rated movie: Goldfinger (1964)
> Portrayed by: Harold Sakata

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Courtesy of Koch Films

9. Wong Chi-ming
> Popularity score: 2.58
> Highest rated movie: Fallen Angels (1995)
> Portrayed by: Leon Lai

Courtesy of Artists International

8. Jef Costello
> Popularity score: 2.79
> Highest rated movie: Le Samouraï (1967)
> Portrayed by: Alain Delon

Courtesy of Hispanic Education And Media Group

7. Anton Chigurh
> Popularity score: 2.85
> Highest rated movie: No Country for Old Men (2007)
> Portrayed by: Javier Bardem

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Courtesy of TriStar Pictures

6. The Terminator
> Popularity score: 2.86
> Highest rated movie: Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
> Portrayed by: Arnold Schwarzenegger

Courtesy of DreamWorks Distribution

5. Vincent
> Popularity score: 2.90
> Highest rated movie: Collateral (2004)
> Portrayed by: Tom Cruise

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Courtesy of Miramax

4. Vincent Vega
> Popularity score: 2.91
> Highest rated movie: Pulp Fiction (1994)
> Portrayed by: John Travolta

Courtesy of Miramax

3. Jules Winnfield
> Popularity score: 2.91
> Highest rated movie: Pulp Fiction (1994)
> Portrayed by: Samuel L. Jackson

Courtesy of Focus Features

2. Ray
> Popularity score: 2.95
> Highest rated movie: In Bruges (2008)
> Portrayed by: Colin Farrell

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Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox

1. Boba Fett
> Popularity score: 3.23
> Highest rated movie: Star Wars Ep. V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
> Portrayed by: Jeremy Bulloch, Daniel Logan

 

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