Van Wilder ranks higher than Ferris Beuller, and Quagmire (who shouldn't be anywhere neat this list) ranks higher than the Fonz and MacGyver?

This list has lost all credibility in my eyes...

RayHill | March 01, 01:56 CET

Riply was originally written to be a male character...

Of course, it's hard to imagine that they knew that.

Shakespeare | March 01, 02:05 CET

Ray, are you implying that it had credibility to begin with? :)

TamaraC | March 01, 02:07 CET

Sometimes it's fun to read a site that's awash in higher cognition-draining testosterone. It's fun and pointless to debate who is on or off the list, the order (I would put Mal above Han Solo, and on this list you should have John Wayne, come on) but this is the most bizarre bit:

"Though not widely known in the United States, Doctor Who is..." Not widely known? He must mean the United States of the Far Edge of the Andromeda Galaxy. This is clearly a geek's list, and just try to find a geek who doesn't know about the Doctor, even if (s)he doesn't like him. That, and Bond is OK but John Wayne is not, shows an odd UK parochial bent. Which just makes the page all the more fun...

RBB | March 01, 02:15 CET

Mal is definitely a personal hero of mine. I didn't always agree with his decisions/actions, but I always respected him.

MySerenity | March 01, 02:25 CET

That's possibly the best list ever posted here. Kratos and Venkman on one list? Pure genius. I'd included Gordon Freeman and Zenith in there as well. Oh and Auron as well.

Simon | March 01, 02:25 CET

If the list included fictionalized caracatures of factual characters and events, I'd nominate Art Spiegelman's (character based on his father's experiences at Auschwitz) MAUS - talk about survival and perseverance!

But Mal, yeah. Obviously.

For female role models, in addition to the obvious candidates from the 'verse, I nominate Morn Hyland from Donaldson's Gap SF quintology. She deals with having inadvertently killed her whole family, has a zone (brain) control implanted in her brain by a sexual pervert, escapes with another to avoid the first (and repercussion for the first two abuses...) - and that's only the first book!

peacemonger | March 01, 02:46 CET

Oh come on! If Han Solo's Numero Uno, then Mal's gotta be #2 and only because we have no confirmation he gets to hook up with the smokin' hot noblewoman in the end...unlike Han;D

That and the Millennium Falcon was armed. Maybe not to the teeth...but at least she could fight back when fighters and smaller ships decided to play rough. Serenity - much as I would give up valuable parts of my body to have - relied on Wash and River's piloting skills to avoid heavy damage or destruction.

Oh...and Mal keeps going cuz he's just too f-ing stubborn to say "Uncle" and let things go. Yeah, Mal's got all kinds of emotional fortitude going for him, but I like to think he's just too dumb (but in a really good way!) to give up his way of thinking;D

BlueEyedBrigadier | March 01, 03:19 CET

What, no Princess Bride love? No Buffy/Angel love, either? Actually, I can see that...

There are a lot of humorous and offbeat choices, but if I got to add only one to this list, it would have been Jack Burton--Kurt Russell's character in Big Trouble in Little China.

jclemens | March 01, 03:32 CET

Hmmm...Does this sound anything like a certain moon-brained female fugitive to anyone else?

browncoatrising | March 01, 04:44 CET

Hmmm...Does this sound anything like a certain moon-brained female fugitive to anyone else?

Come to think of it, I've never seen Matt Damon and Summer Glau together in the same photo!

peacemonger | March 01, 05:23 CET

That list is hilarious if you approach it with the right mindset (otherwise it's completely offensive to pretty much everyone on the planet ;).

Not only does it have a UK bias though but a temporal one (they're clearly fairly young). No Kerr Avon from Blake's 7 for example. Kids today ... sheesh.

(also, John Constantine should be higher)

Saje | March 01, 14:45 CET

Jack "Drop Your Weapon So I Can Torture You With Lamp Cord" Bauer is a role model? What, was Adelai Niska unavailable? So what if Jack tortures you on behalf of the President and Niska does it to make his reputation solid; you still wind up with jumper cables clamped to your nipples, yo. Frankly, I don't think this is a list you want to rank too highly on, IMO. ;-)

billz | March 01, 17:03 CET

I'm not sure I agree with the order but most of these people are still awesome. Brandon from Brick was a good choice. That movie was 7 shades of awesome.

war_machine | March 01, 17:34 CET

Some interesting choices there. I'm not sure I'd rate House so high, though. Interesting character, but not to say one I'd aspire to.

I was glad to see the Doctor in the top 5, though.

kishi | March 01, 19:15 CET

-Saje

I agree completely with how you and billz believe this list should be approached [of course Niska was unavailable, you know he hates being interrupted :P]. That said, Constantine should've definitely been much higher.

browncoatrising | March 01, 19:17 CET

I rather love that the Doctor comes in at number 5, I think that show is my next love after Firefly, if not on a par. I'm dead chuffed it got in at all, let alone that high.

thewatch | March 02, 07:19 CET

I was surprised and pleased that Gregory House came in so high. For kishi he's not a character to aspire to but for me he is. Not someone you'd want to spend time with in real life perhaps but he gets to say and do so much nobody would ever dare to. Don't we just love characters like that deep down - characters with no edit button?! Like Cordelia he seems to follow the philosophy that being diplomatic is just a way of saying stuff that isn't true.

BTW, I'd have put Mal higher up the list. He's exactly the sort of person you want leading you. He's not a brainless, gung-ho hero that will get everyone killed. He's a survivor who has a strong moral compass even if it has a few kinks in it and loyalty to his people so that he not only looks to save his own skin but everyone else's too. And being funny and sexy don't hurt...

nemesis | March 02, 11:17 CET