Who Is The Greatest Quentin Tarantino Character Ever? We Pitted The Most Iconic Against Each Other To Find Out

best quentin tarantino characters bracket

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The term “world-building” gets thrown around a lot these days, usually in regard to a television show that excels in crafting an expertly constructed universe. One of the best examples in recent memory is Game of Thrones, which did a fantastic job at world-building (although not so much in world-ending.)

Movies, on the other hand, generally don’t get enough credit for their world-building but there’s one filmmaker in particular who has managed to master it over the course of their career: Quentin Tarantino.

Tarantino’s movies operate in an alternate universe, and in turn, they play by different rules. He doesn’t just mess with known historical events; he makes us question our beliefs and rethink what’s right and wrong. His characters speak in different ways, act in different ways, and behave in different ways; ways that all make sense in the particular world he is building at the time.

Tarantino creates amazingly unique characters, and by so deftly building a specific world for his films, he assembles a fascinating playing field that lets those characters shine even brighter than they would if under the guide of any other director.

I wanted to figure out a way to determine which Tarantino character was the greatest, and based on personal experience, I find the best way to do that is via a March Madness-style tournament.

I ultimately selected 32 of his most iconic characters, with the one main rule being that there couldn’t be more than four from any one film. This left Pumpkin, Honey Bunny, and Captain Koons from Pulp Fiction out of the running as well as Donny “The Bear Jew” Donowitz and Bridget von Hammersmark from Inglorious Basterds (I also decided to include some characters from True Romance, which Tarantino wrote but didn’t direct).

The tournament’s overall number one seed is Jules Winnfield of Pulp Fiction fame. The other number one seeds are Colonel Hans Landa and Lieutenant Aldo Raine from Inglorious Basterds as well as The Bride from the Kill Bill movies.

Here is how the bracket looks.

best quentin tarantino characters bracket

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How are the winners picked? Great question!

How memorable a character is plays a major factor. The same goes for how big of a role they played in their movie. Quotes will factor in as well, and if a match-up is extremely close, it might just come down to personal favoritism.

Let’s get to it (and if you’re so inclined, here’s some musical accompaniment for your browsing pleasure).

Jules Winnfield (1) vs. Louis Gara (8)

best quentin tarantino characters bracket

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You remember Louis, right? It’s Robert De Niro’s character in Jackie Brown. My dude kills Bridget Fonda and smokes a lot of weed. Frankly, I can only support one of those things but I’m not going to say which.

Nah, I’m just kidding. It’s smoking weed.

Louis is a good sidekick for Odell Robbie (Samuel L. Jackson), providing a nice balance for his more flamboyant partner. There is a quiet menace to Gara, and while I can’t prove this, a quiet menace might be the most menacing of all menaces (although we’ll dive into that later on).

Of course, Jules (also played by Jackson) is his own kind of menacing, and in this house, we give credit where credit is due. Jules’ form of menace trumps Louis’ form of menace.

Jules advances

Alabama Whitman (5) vs. Clarence Worley (4)

best quentin tarantino characters bracket

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In a tournament like this, the seeding is part of the fun. It creates draws like this one featuring the doomed love birds from True Romance. In a perfect world, these two would find themselves on opposite sides of the bracket.

But life in the bracket—just like life in the world of True Romance—is unforgiving.

First, there’s Clarence (Christian Slater,) an avatar for Tarantino if there ever was one. Clarence is a lowly video store clerk harboring an almost unhealthy obsession with obscure movies and Elvis Prestley. He and Alabama (Patricia Arquette) meet when she is hired to have sex with him, the kids fall in love, and one murdered drug dealer later, they’re hitting the road.

It’s a truly classic love story.

Yet they wouldn’t have ended up in nearly as much trouble as they did if Clarence had just looked inside the bag after killing said drug dealer.

Details matter, Clarence.

Alabama advances

Rick Dalton (6) vs. Ordell Robbie (3)

best quentin tarantino characters bracket

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Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) kills a murderous hippie with a damn flamethrower. That’s impressive. He keeps it in his pool house. That’s both impressive and sensible. It’s where I’d keep my flamethrower too.

Ordell Robbie does his killing the old-fashioned way: he just shoots dudes. Granted, he does it while wearing a pretty fierce Kangrol hat, but compared to murdering someone with a flamethrower, it’s kind of weak.

And no, this isn’t recency bias so don’t even think about that.

This is about flamethrowers.

Flamethrowers are just, like, super cool.

Rick Dalton advances

Major Marquis Warren (7) vs. Mr. Blonde (2)

best quentin tarantino characters bracket

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Samuel L. Jackson has been in damn near every Tarantino movie but he’s never really been the main character. He comes closest in The Hateful Eight, playing Warren, a bounty hunter with a nose for trouble and a treasured letter from Lincoln.

Warren gets points for being one of the last ones standing in the movie. However, this is Mr. Blonde (Michael Madsen) we’re talking about.

Mr. Blonde is a monster who would have killed Warren in an incredibly grotesque way the minute he stepped into Minnie’s Haberdashery.

Mr. Blonde advances

Jules Winnfield (1) vs. Alabama Whitman (5)

best quentin tarantino characters bracket

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You can definitely make an argument that Tarantino’s movies aren’t especially friendly towards female characters, but at the same time, he does have a track record of creating strong ones—he just doesn’t make a lot of them.

So I guess I get the criticism (at least kind of).

Alabama is one of those strong female characters, though. She is tough and relentless, loyal and fierce, and, dude, she kills James Gandolfini’s character after he beats the shit out of her. She truly deserved every ounce of happiness she eventually gets as she and Clarence are able to walk away from their troubles and escape to Mexico.

She’s not beating Jules, though.

Not Jules, the recently reformed hitman with the wallet that says “BAD MOTHERFUCKER” on it.

Not Jules, the foot massage expert with a need for a refreshing beverage to wash his tasty burger down.

Not Jules, the Bible-quoting, afro-sporting tool of Marsellus Wallace’s evil deeds.

Not Jules. No way.

Jules advances

Rick Dalton (6) vs. Mr. Blonde (2)

best quentin tarantino characters bracket

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I thought it was interesting that Rick Dalton had a speech impediment that comes out when he is at his lowest points and feeling the most insecure. It’s not cool (like the aforementioned flame thrower is) but it is certainly interesting and adds some depth to the character.

Dalton is confident at times and broken at others. He’s fragile and reckless, and while he knows his limitations, he also believes he doesn’t have any. Additionally, he enjoys margaritas after a long day, and come on, don’t we all?

Going up against Dalton is Mr. Blonde, who is possibly one of the scariest characters Tarantino has ever created. The wild card in the crew is not a new concept but Mr. Blonde seems like the wild card on steroids.

He is just always so calm—even while cutting a dude’s ear off.

Who is calm in a situation like that? Psychos, that’s who.

This is tough because we’ve seen the Actor Struggling With Life Past His Prime trope before and we’ve seen The Loose Cannon In The Crew one before as well. Both of these characters are slight tweaks on both of those archetypes, though, and to be honest, that makes it even harder. Going in, I felt like Mr. Blonde was a lock but now I’m not so sure.

So who wins this one?

Mr. Blonde does. I saw Reservoir Dogs over twenty years ago and still remember how much the character stuck with me. Plus, “Are you going to bark all day little doggy or are you going to bite?” is an amazing quote.

Mr. Blonde (barely) advances

Jules Winnfield (1) vs. Mr. Blonde (2)

best quentin tarantino characters bracket

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How do you feel about a character changing their ways?

If you’re cool with that, then you’re cool with Jules. If not, you’re more likely to go with Mr. Blonde, who obviously never gets the chance to seek redemption or attempt to change (but we all know that that probably wasn’t going to happen). Cutting off a cop’s ear and almost lighting him on fire isn’t something you come back from.

I for one like seeing a character undergo a transformation, which is what makes Jules so interesting.

Jules is cool as a hitman with a penchant for using Bible verses before killing people, but when he has his epiphany of sorts, he becomes a character worth investing your time in. The Jules we get in the diner at the end of Pulp Fiction is a man both at peace and attempting to make sense of his life up until that point. He’s trying to connect the two, which can be hard.

Saying you are going to change is easy, but actually doing it is difficult, which is what Jules realizes in the midst of Pumpkin and Honey Bunny’s robbery.

Jules could have laid waste to both Pumpkin and Honey Bunny. He probably could have killed everyone in the diner, which is what Mr. Blonde would have done. That’s not interesting.

Jules talking his way out of the situation is interesting—a lot more interesting.

Give me interesting any day of the week.

Jules advances

Let’s move on to the next region of the bracket.

The Bride (1) vs. Mr. Pink (8)

best quentin tarantino characters bracket

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I think we can figure this one out pretty quickly.

Mr. Pink (Steve Buscemi) gets all sorts of bent out of shape because he is given the name Mr. Pink. He doesn’t want it and asks a few of the other ramblers to change with him but that is quickly squashed by Joe (because of course it was).

He is also upset about the way the robbery goes down (which I suppose is understandable) but then is also upset about the scene in the rendezvous spot after.

The constant here? Mr. Pink being upset and whining about it. Plus, his philosophy on tipping is just flat-out wrong and misguided.

Then you have The Bride (Uma Thurman.)

I feel like we’re done here.

The Bride advances

Stuntman Mike (5) vs. Calvin Candie (4)

best quentin tarantino characters bracket

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Hey now! We’ve got ourselves a couple of villains here!

Coming in as a five-seed is Stuntman Mike (Kurt Russell) from Death Proof. What’s his move? He murders women by driving them off the road in his indestructible car.

His opponent is Calvin Candie (DiCaprio), the owner and operator of a plantation dubbed “Candyland.” Whereas old Stuntman Mike gets his kicks vehicularly murdering young women, Candie enjoys watching slaves beat the shit out of each other.

It’s a real race to the bottom here and I’m not sure how to make a decision.

However, after some deep reflection, I’ve decided Calvin Candie wins.

Why?

There’s more to Candie than Stuntman Mike, who would win if this were to be determined by which character’s name was better.

Calvin Candie advances

Drexl Spivey (6) vs. Winston Wolfe (3)

best quentin tarantino characters bracket

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If you don’t know who Drexl is (or have possibly forgotten about Drexl), let me help refresh your memory.

Yes, that really is Gary Oldman. The same Gary Oldman who has played Commissioner Gordon, Winston Churchill, and Sirius Black shows up in True Romance sporting dreads, a cloudy eye, and certain way about him that one wouldn’t normally associate with someone like Oldman.

It’s a hell of a flex on his part.

As for Winston Wolfe (Harvey Keitel), my man just solves problems. The Wolf’s not here to talk. He’s just here to clean up whatever mess you’ve found yourself dealing with.

Wolfe is a man shrouded in a fair amount of mystery. Why is he wearing a tux so early in the morning? Who the hell knows. What’s important is that if you find yourself needing to get rid of a dead body quickly, he’s the man to call.

You can’t sleep on value when talking about someone’s contributions to an organization.

The Wolf advances (but Drexl should never be forgotten)

Mia Wallace (7) vs. Cliff Booth (2)

best quentin tarantino characters bracket

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Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) is the kind of Tarantino character that you’d want to hang out with. He seems like a good dude to drink some beers with and shoot the shit with, especially because (unlike a lot of Tarantino characters) he doesn’t talk all that much. He’s more of a silent type, which is a rarity in the director’s world.

It should be noted that Cliff almost certainly killed his wife—albeit possibly accidentally—and, you know, that’s just not cool.

However, would you want to hang out with Mia?

Well, I guess you would—provided you didn’t have a bag of heroin in your pocket that she would mistake for blow before snorting it and overdosing to the brink of death. If that was off the table, Mia actually seems like a pretty good hang.

Here’s a hypothetical for you: if Mia (like Cliff) was confronted by bloodthirsty hippies, how would she respond? I could see her holding her own but I’m not sure she’d be as effective as Cliff, who seems to do a much better job handling his drugs than she does.

Mia was fantastic but there is just something special about Cliff.

Cliff advances

The Bride (1) vs. Calvin Candie (4)

best quentin tarantino characters bracket

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Again, I understand the criticism levied against Tarantino for the role of women in his movies, and while I don’t necessarily agree with all of it, I’m down to listen to his detractors.

Part of the reason I’m not on board is the very fact that Tarantino built a combination kung-fu-spaghetti-Western-revenge-film around an incredibly badass female character. I think that’s important to remember when making claims that he doesn’t give women prominent roles in his movies.

However, is the revenge-seeking warrior that original of a character regardless of their gender?

I mean, not totally. But neither is the sadistic, slave-owning plantation owner.

Candie advanced before because it was either him or another terrible human being. That’s not the case here, so he’s done.

The Bride advances

Winston Wolfe (3) vs. Cliff Booth (2)

best quentin tarantino characters bracket

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Is Cliff Booth a leader? He strikes me as more of a worker bee. There’s nothing wrong with worker bees. Too many cooks in the kitchen is a very real problem. Some people are best left to receive directions as opposed to giving them.

Mr. Wolfe, however, is very much a leader.

His leadership style is admirable and one I very much appreciate. I am someone who responds positively to clear and concise directives, and when I’m in a leadership position, that’s how I like to roll as well. Time might not always be of the essence but that doesn’t mean we can’t act like it, am I right?

If the scene at Rick’s house in Hollywood had really gotten out of control and had possibly gotten to a point where calling the authorities was not an option, who would you want in charge of handling that particular situation? Cliff or Mr. Wolfe?

Yeah, you’d want Winston Wolfe in charge.

Sorry, Cliff. For what it’s worth, I love your dog.

Winston Wolfe advances

The Bride (1) vs. Winston Wolfe (3)

best quentin tarantino characters bracket

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This is a tough one. It really is.

However, I’m going to go with Winston Wolfe and I will happily tell you why.

When Mr. Wolfe shows up in Pulp Fiction, it is during a moment where the movie needs a calming, rational presence. We’ve gotten past the various episodes of Butch—episodes that included The Gimp, a samurai sword, and the boxer mowing down Vincent in his bathroom with a machine gun. We also have gotten past Jules and Vincent’s near-death experience that was followed up by the latter accidentally killing Marvin thanks to a lack of trigger discipline.

The movie had reached a crescendo. Someone had to come in settle things down and land the plane.

That someone was Winston Wolfe.

Normally, I’d side with the person at the center of the storm, which in this case would be The Bride. However, I just don’t think we can sleep on how important Mr. Wolfe is to Pulp Fiction.

But wait! There’s one major piece of evidence I forgot to take into consideration.

Welp, there’s no topping that. Disregard literally everything I just said.

The Bride advances

On to the next region!

Colonel Hans Landa (1) vs. Stephen (8)

best quentin tarantino characters bracket

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Samuel L. Jackson again! Has this dude been in every Tarantino movie?

Beyond the roles he’s most known for, he had a small part in True Romance and popped up briefly in Kill Bill: Volume 2. Jackson was also in Inglorious Basterds, where he served as a narrator at one point. He wasn’t in Reservoir Dogs or Once Upon a Time in Hollywood but those are about it.

So, to answer the previous question: almost.

Jackson’s role in Django Unchained is definitely a unique one for him, as he plays a loyal servant of Calvin Candie who blows up Django’s attempt to reunite with his special lady friend. It’s a hell of a heel turn by Stephen and his death might be one of the more satisfying ones in the movie (and for Django Unchained, that’s saying a lot).

If we’re talking bad guys, though, it’s hard to overlook Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz). We talked about levels of menace awhile ago and the Nazi officer is in a league of his own.

Stephen is a snake. Landa is a snake with a thousand-watt grin.

Landa advances

Mr. White (5) vs. Shosanna Dreyfus (4)

best quentin tarantino characters bracket

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Much like The Bride, Shosanna (Mélanie Laurent) is motivated by revenge. Those damn Nazis killed her family, and in turn, she is going to kill them. Or most of them. There are a lot of Nazis. In all fairness, an eye-for-an-eye situation is out of the question.

You have to respect the long game, though.

As for Mr. White (Keitel), I’ll never forget just how cool he is. Hell yeah, man. Let’s go get a taco. Who doesn’t love a good taco?

However, he does get soft and breaks the rules. No names, guys! Joe was very clear about that but that didn’t stop Mr. White from revealing his true identity to Mr. Orange. If it wasn’t for them all dying in a hail of gunfire, that could have been problematic.

Shosanna advances

Daisy Domergue (6) vs. Nice Guy Eddie (3)

best quentin tarantino characters bracket

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Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh) is a simple rough and tumble gal being transported by a bounty hunter to what is assumed to be her final destination.

I know. Super relatable.

Some of the criticism about female characters in Tarantino’s movies we’ve talked so much about really got some wind in its sails courtesy of The Hateful Eight, which sees Domergue routinely on the wrong end of several Angry Dudes venting their Angry Dude frustration. It is a tough look but it also overlooks the character’s toughness and smarts.

Also, in a movie where literally every character dies, her being one of the last ones to go should count for something.

Meanwhile, Nice Guy Eddie was a man who enjoys a comfortable windbreaker and a gigantic cell phone.

Also super relatable.

I love Nice Guy Eddie, but just like that cold, sterile warehouse, this is where his journey ends.

Daisy advances

Max Cherry (7) vs. Vincent Vega (2)

best quentin tarantino characters bracket

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In the world of Quentin Tarantino, the death of Vincent Vega (John Travolta) is a little bit of tragedy.

Vega is a hitman. He murders people. I get that. I really do.

But to go out like he does? My man deserved better.

He educates the world about fast food in Europe and is integral in ushering in a helpful, useful conversation about foot massage etiquette into the general lexicon.

We owe this man a thank you, but instead, he is murdered upon leaving the commode.

Tragic indeed.

Max Cherry (Robert Forster) is a good, solid dude, but it’s Vincent Vega a.k.a “My man in Amsterdam” who gets the W here.

Cherry never had a shot.

Vincent Vega advances

Hans Landa (1) vs. Shosanna Dreyfus (4)

best quentin tarantino characters bracket

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Well now. Isn’t this a fitting matchup?

Landa murdering Shosanna’s family is what led her to Paris, where she ended up operating the cinema she eventually uses to stage her revenge. It would have truly been poetic justice if Landa was one of the Nazis killed as part of Shosanna’s revenge plot but he was too conniving and we should have known he wasn’t going to go out like that.

Instead, Landa gets the hell out of dodge and crosses into Allied territory because (again) Landa is conniving and conniving people often succeed in achieving their goals, which Landa ultimately does (albeit with a swastika carved into his forehead).

However, I can only assume his conniving nature led to him eventually growing out bangs to cover it up when he presumably fled to South America.

Au revoir, Shoshanna!

Landa advances

Daisy Domergue (6) vs. Vincent Vega (2)

best quentin tarantino characters bracket

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Part of what makes this particular matchup tricky is that a general consensus ranking of Tarantino movies would definitely have Pulp Fiction near the top and The Hateful Eight close to the bottom. I don’t think many people would argue with that.

Yet if we simply dismiss The Hateful Eight as Tarantino’s least successful movie, then we are allowing ourselves to sleep on Daisy, who is perhaps the best character in that entire film.

Daisy is foul-mouthed and vengeful and not the least bit intimidated by her situation—a situation that we eventually find out she had a hand in planning. Tarantino’s twists are fun like that, as the ones we least expect to be something more turn out to be exactly that and even more so.

I love Vincent Vega and I love Pulp Fiction, but if I’m approaching this like a professional (which is something I feel like Vincent would appreciate) I have to go with the upset here.

Daisy advances

Hans Landa (1) vs. Daisy Domergue (6)

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Did you watch that last clip of Daisy? If not, take two minutes and six seconds and do so. I can wait.

I was particularly struck by a moment about a minute in after Kurt Russell’s character, John Ruth, strikes Daisy. How Daisy responds to getting violently elbowed in the face is fascinating. There’s something about the look she gives Warren—not once, but twice—and how he responds to those looks. It’s at that moment where we should have been keyed into the idea that she is more than she appears to be and that she has a trick or two up her sleeve.

That look, it’s kind of (wait for it)…menacing.

So far we know that Mr. Blonde is Wild Card Menacing, Louis Gara is Quiet Menacing, and Landa is Snake-Like Menacing. How would we then characterize Daisy’s style of menacing? I’d go with Confident Menacing, a form of menace where you know you know something no one else does.

The battle between Landa and Daisy, therefore, comes down to a battle between two different styles of menace.

This is where Landa gets the upper hand, as he also dabbles in Confident Menacing (in addition to having traces of Wild Card Menacing in him because you never really know what he’s going to do next).

Ultimately, Landa is just plain evil whereas Daisy isn’t. Landa would have sniffed out Daisy’s plan immediately and turned the tables on her before she even realized it.

Landa advances

Now to our last region.

Lieutenant Aldo Raine (1) vs. Floyd (8)

best quentin tarantino characters bracket

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Brad Pitt versus Brad Pitt! There’s so much cool handsomeness in this matchup it’s disgusting.

You probably already know Pitt’s character in Inglorious Basterds is going to win this one, so let’s just take a moment to appreciate his turn as Floyd in True Romance.

There have been many great stoner roommates in popular culture (and for some of us, in our very own lives) but few (if any) have matched the heights Floyd reaches.

I don’t think Floyd even works. He’s just good at directions, likes Soundgarden, and wants some cleaning products. He’s also cool under pressure and a very polite host, offering up a toke to anyone who comes by, no matter how dangerous they might look.

So here’s to Floyd.

With that said…

Aldo Raine advances

Trudi Fraser (5) vs. O-Ren Ishii (4)

best quentin tarantino characters bracket

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If you’re wondering who Trudi Fraser (Julia Butters) is, then you either never saw Once Upon A Time in Hollywood or did see the movie but (for good reason) were too busy thinking about the flamethrower.

If you do know who Trudi is, then awesome. Good for you. If you’re unfamiliar with her, you should know she is the delightful young child actor who gives Rick Dalton a hell of a pep talk while the two of them are hanging out between takes.

She might have been one of the best parts of what was an amazing movie. She is definitely one of those Tarantino “comets”; a character that flashes across the screen, leaves you wanting more, and ensures you’ll never forget witnessing them (for however briefly it may have been).

There’s also O-Ren Ishii (Lucy Liu), a former member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad and the head of the Yakuza in Tokyo. As with a lot of Tarantino’s characters, O-Ren is driven by revenge and diligently works to carry it out.

And she does. How about that?

I love you Trudi Fraser but you can’t mess with a woman whose parents are murdered by the Yakuza, trains to be an assassin, kills the head of the Yakuza, and then becomes the new boss. That there is what willpower and determination truly look like.

O-Ren advances

Django (6) vs. Dr. King Schultz (3)

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Man! This is another tough draw. Who the hell did the seeding for this thing?

Oh. Right.

There are two knocks against Schultz here. The first is that the character is a bit of a white savior and the second is that it at times feels like we’re simply rehashing Hans Landa. Admittedly, part of that is because both roles were played by Waltz. My dude can’t help it if he has a certain style to him.

On the other hand, we have yet another Tarantino character driven by revenge in Django (Jamie Foxx). A slave seeking revenge is not a new concept but Tarantino makes Django’s quest personal.

Django just wants his lady back.  It’s as simple as that.

Given the complexity of some of Tarantino’s characters—especially when it comes to their motivations—I appreciate the single-mindedness of Django.

Dude’s got style, too.

Django advances

Elle Driver (7) vs. Jackie Brown (2)

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These two women couldn’t be more different.

Jackie Brown (Pam Grier) is a patient and methodical person who is willing to play the long game if it’s what needed for her to succeed.

Elle Driver (Daryl Hannah) is an effin’ wrecking ball.

You have to give it to Jackie Brown here, if only because in Jackie Brown, she carried the movie, whereas, in the first Kill Bill, Driver was just one of a handful of worthy foes for The Bride.

Jackie Brown advances

Aldo Raine (1) vs. O-Ren Ishii (4)

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I’ll say this about both of these characters: if Tarantino ever wanted to explore either of their backstories—possibly in the form of a six or eight-episode limited television series—I’m down. I am so down. Even if it’s on a streaming service I don’t subscribe to, I’m down.

I want to know how a good ol’ boy like Raine ends up in command of a motley crew of dudes whose objective is to hunt down and kill Nazis during World War II. What did he do before that? Why did he join the military? Can we get him to channel his inner Joker and treat us to a monologue about how he got that scar on his neck?

>With O-Ren, we know that the Yakuza killed her parents and that led her down the path she eventually went down but I wouldn’t mind seeing her actually go down that path. I think that path sounds pretty entertaining (to watch, not to personally embark on).

Can one of these happen? Does anyone have Tarantino’s number or email? Why do I feel like Tarantino doesn’t really use email and prefers hand-written correspondence?

In the case of Raine versus O-Ren? I’m making a snap judgment here.

O-Ren advances (but, like, just barely)

Django (6) vs. Jackie Brown (2)

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Now, let’s pose this question: in each of their respective movies, who are you rooting for more? Django or Jackie?

I ask because you (or at least I did) really want them both to succeed. You want Jackie to find happiness and you want Django to find Broomhilda. Both characters have fallen victim to the harshness of reality and both are trying to figure out ways to overcome the obstacles put in their way.

Of course, for Django, we’re talking about slavery, which is one hell of a giant obstacle and a massive example of the harshness of reality.

Thankfully, they both win in the end but that honestly only makes this decision harder.

In the end, I’m going with Jackie Brown. She’s a more interesting character, and of the two of them, she’s the one I want to know more about.

It’s a close one, though.

Jackie Brown advances

O-Ren Ishii (4) vs. Jackie Brown (2)

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Do you have to turn to crime to make things right in your life? No, not always.

But yes, sometimes you might have to. No one said life was fair (although things do have a way of working out for Tarantino’s protagonists). They might not always see the end of the movie but they usually get some form of justice.

O-Ren is not a protagonist. Jackie is.

O-Ren is not the main character in her movie. Jackie is.

While I would’ve liked to see more of O-Ren’s journey, we weren’t able to. We do, however, get an informative look at the life of Jackie Brown, and for something like this, that matters. Plus, I just keep coming back to how strong of a character Jackie is; how she stands up to drug dealers and cops and takes care of her business herself.

Jackie Brown is a character you can admire. That’s not always the case in Tarantino World.

Jackie Brown advances.

And now, we have our Final Four.

It’s Jules Winnfield versus The Bride and Hans Landa versus Jackie Brown.

Guys, there are no losers here. Only winners. But in the end, one must prevail.

Jules Winnfield vs. The Bride

best quentin tarantino characters bracket

The Weinstein Company


Before doing this, I thought Jules was the heavy favorite. No one would take my bets and there was little action to be had but that’s how I felt coming into the tournament.

Then, slowly but surely, I started to change my mind. The more I thought about The Bride, the more I thought about how amazing of a character she is and how unique it is to have a revenge-driven action movie steeped in kung-fu that stars a woman as the lead.

And The Bride isn’t just the star—The Bride is the movie. Every aspect of both of the Kill Bill films flows through her and her actions and emotions.

Jules is a sentimental pick but The Bride is the right one in the end.

The Bride advances to the finals

Hans Landa vs. Jackie Brown

best quentin tarantino characters bracket

The Weinstein Company


I’d love for Jackie Brown to win this because she’s a sympathetic character and it’s impossible not to root for her.

However, a lot of this tournament has come down to good guys and bad guys and Landa might be the best villain in the Tarantino canon. Calvin Candie is up there but the Colonel ultimately takes it.

As for good guys (and gals), Jackie Brown might be in the top five but fails to crack the top three.

There’s simply no way she can beat out Landa. Whenever Landa is on screen in Inglorious Basterds, he’s mesmerizing and impossible to take your eyes off.

Inglorious Basterds is a great movie and Landa is a major reason why.

Landa advances to the finals

The Championship: The Bride vs. Hans Landa

best quentin tarantino characters bracket

The Weinstein Company


It’s hard not to pick Landa, but yet…

Image result for kill bill gif

In the end, The Bride wins based on sheer badassery.

I’d like to thank you for coming along on this ride with me, and if you’re curious, here’s a look at how the tournament ultimately broke down.

best tarantino character feature

Brobible


Thanks for playing, everyone.