The Most Bad Ass Characters in the Most Un-Bad Ass Professions

We all know that the movie world can be a tad-unrealistic. Therefore the personalities of certain characters may not match how those characters actually act. Therefore, when a character has a boring profession it’s possible for that character to be pretty bad ass. The explanations get shorter as the list gets higher, namely because the element of bad ass in the character is more obvious.

10. Amy Adams as Sister James in Doubt

Doubt was a movie where character after character stand up to each other. But the best scene is one where Sister James stands up to the scariest movie character of 2008 (Behind the Joker). “Well I happen to like Frosty the Snowman!” She stands up for her beliefs, herself, and a (possible) good man for the church. This makes her a bad ass, regardless of the habit she wears.



9. Charles Martin Smith as Oscar Wallace in The Untouchables

Accountants have a rough reputation when it comes to cinema. I originally wanted to make this countdown “10 badass movie accountants” but I could barely find any. Oscar Wallace would be one to originally fit the bill as the stereotypical accountant. He has the dark rimmed glasses and the short stature as he emits a whiny voice moaning about Al Capone’s taxes. Then after Sean Connery gives him a gun, he starts acting like a real agent. Then, once his friend his shot at, during a raid, he begins tearing up bootleggers one by one. How does he finish it all off? By taking a drink of the then illegal liquor, this is nothing short of bad ass.



8. James Stewart as Jefferson Smith in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

Although I have respect for the boy scouts, they aren’t exactly bad asses. And although I have respect for senators they aren’t exactly bad asses. Therefore when you think of a scout master that is selected to become a senator you think of probably the least bad ass person around. But that is exactly what Jefferson Smith is not. In the beginning he’s just an American loving country mouse that doesn’t know what to do with himself when he takes his seat in the senate, but by the end of the movie he is taking on the most powerful and corrupt senators in Washington. He even talks back to his mentor, “NO SIR, I WILL NOT YIELD!” Hell yeah! Sit down, Joseph Paine!



7. Jamie Foxx as Max in Collateral

While accountants have a rough stereotype in the movie business, it’s the exact opposite for cab drivers. They’re profession is not exactly bad ass but they are always portrayed as such. Max is one of these particular cab drivers. In the beginning he acts as any man would when he finds out a contract killer is riding in the back seat of his cab but by the end of the movie he begins to show some attitude, even though he’s not the one holding the gun or in any power.



6. Adam Sandler as Barry Egan in Punch Drunk Love

It goes without saying that the salesman of non breakable plunger handles isn’t very bad ass. But when you mess with his girl, don’t mess with him. Barry starts off as a quiet and shy nervous salesman and grows into someone that doesn’t take shit from anybody. This movie and this guy shows that no matter what your job love turns you into a pretty bad ass.



5. Robert DeNiro as Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver

The second cab driver on this countdown. Travis was a man that saw the city as disgusting and like a true bad ass did something about it by tearing it up. Even though he was nothing but a cab driver he wasn’t a cab driver you wanted to mess with.



4. Joseph Gordon Levitt as Brendan Frye in Brick

Being a student is hardly bad ass. You’re too immature to be cool. You do nothing but study. You can’t get away with anything because you will just be sent to the principal’s office. Brendan Fry doesn’t let any of these weights slow him down. From the first scene to the last Brendan is someone that talks with style and handles himself like nothing short of a badass.



3. Ron Livingston, David Herman, Ajay Naidu as Peter Gibbons, Michael Bolton, and Samir in Office Space

This one is a package deal. These guys have the least bad ass job of anyone on this countdown. It isn’t even sure what they do exactly. They sit behind a desk and type in codes into a system. They also deal with TPS reports. But you should see these guys when they handle a faulty copy machine or implement a virus into their own company.



2. Ed Norton as the Narrator in Fight Club

The Narrator was just an average insurance agent that hated life. He had some bad ass thoughts but never expressed them. Then once he met Tyler Durden he started voicing these horrible thoughts and not caring what people thought about him or what he thought about himself.



1. Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark

What? The gunslinger and Nazi fighter had an unbadass job? Yes because technically his job wasn’t all the action but he was a professor in archeology. So even though he runs away from giant balls and shoots ninjas over his shoulder…he still has a pretty unbadass job.