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
25. Agent 47
> Popularity score: 0.49
> Highest rated movie: Hitman (2007)
> Portrayed by: Timothy Olyphant, Rupert Friend
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24. Machete
> Popularity score: 0.75
> Highest rated movie: Machete (2010)
> Portrayed by: Danny Trejo
23. Mitch Rapp
> Popularity score: 0.80
> Highest rated movie: American Assassin (2017)
> Portrayed by: Dylan O’Brien
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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21. Jango Fett
> Popularity score: 1.36
> Highest rated movie: Star Wars Ep. II: Attack of the Clones (2002)
> Portrayed by: Temuera Morrison
20. Jaws
> Popularity score: 1.46
> Highest rated movie: The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
> Portrayed by: Richard Kiel
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19. T-1000
> Popularity score: 2.20
> Highest rated movie: Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
> Portrayed by: Robert Patrick, Byung-hun Lee, Gabriel Luna
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
17. Nikita
> Popularity score: 2.32
> Highest rated movie: Nikita (1990)
> Portrayed by: Anne Parillaud
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16. Ghost Dog
> Popularity score: 2.32
> Highest rated movie: Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999)
> Portrayed by: Forest Whitaker
15. John Wick
> Popularity score: 2.38
> Highest rated movie: John Wick: Chapter Two (2017)
> Portrayed by: Keanu Reeves
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14. The Bride
> Popularity score: 2.39
> Highest rated movie: Kill Bill: Volume 2 (2004)
> Portrayed by: Uma Thurman
13. The Jackal
> Popularity score: 2.42
> Highest rated movie: The Day of the Jackal (1973)
> Portrayed by: Edward Fox
12. Jason Bourne
> Popularity score: 2.52
> Highest rated movie: The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
> Portrayed by: Matt Damon
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11. Léon
> Popularity score: 2.57
> Highest rated movie: Léon: The Professional (1994)
> Portrayed by: Jean Reno
10. Oddjob
> Popularity score: 2.57
> Highest rated movie: Goldfinger (1964)
> Portrayed by: Harold Sakata
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9. Wong Chi-ming
> Popularity score: 2.58
> Highest rated movie: Fallen Angels (1995)
> Portrayed by: Leon Lai
8. Jef Costello
> Popularity score: 2.79
> Highest rated movie: Le Samouraï (1967)
> Portrayed by: Alain Delon
7. Anton Chigurh
> Popularity score: 2.85
> Highest rated movie: No Country for Old Men (2007)
> Portrayed by: Javier Bardem
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6. The Terminator
> Popularity score: 2.86
> Highest rated movie: Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
> Portrayed by: Arnold Schwarzenegger
5. Vincent
> Popularity score: 2.90
> Highest rated movie: Collateral (2004)
> Portrayed by: Tom Cruise
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4. Vincent Vega
> Popularity score: 2.91
> Highest rated movie: Pulp Fiction (1994)
> Portrayed by: John Travolta
3. Jules Winnfield
> Popularity score: 2.91
> Highest rated movie: Pulp Fiction (1994)
> Portrayed by: Samuel L. Jackson
2. Ray
> Popularity score: 2.95
> Highest rated movie: In Bruges (2008)
> Portrayed by: Colin Farrell
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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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