Alfie
The Antihero: A womanising reprobate who couldn’t care less how many hearts he breaks, so long as he gets his leg over.
Effortless Cool: Michael Caine plays the character as a seedy, amoral snake, a thoroughly bad egg with a dangerously powerful hold over women. Forget Jude Law’s smug playboy, Caine’s Alfie is the real deal.
Tony Montana
The Antihero: Tony Montana is living the American dream. So what if he’s killed a few people along the way? Rules are there to be broken…
Effortless Cool: Burying your head in a veritable mountain of cocaine before grabbing hold of a machine gun the size of a small child is one hell of a way to go out.
Snake Plissken
The Antihero: War hero turned criminal Snake nabbed two Purple Hearts before turning over to the dark side. Not a man you’d go out of your way to cause trouble with…
Effortless Cool: He’s only got one eye, which automatically gives him a boost in the cool stakes. Then he goes and saves the President, which isn’t too shabby either.
Jules Winnfield
The Antihero: The jheri-curled hitman who metes out furious vengeance upon those who displease Marsellus Wallace. Having seen the cruelty with which he offs Brett and his pals, we should be terrified by Jules, but then again, he is one cool cat.
Effortless Cool: Check his wallet. It will tell you all you need to know.
Gordon Gekko
The Antihero: A role model for a host of braying, braces-wearing fucktards who appear to have entirely missed the point that Wall Street was a satire. That said, you can’t help but grudgingly admire his total devotion to lining his own pockets!
Effortless Cool: Noone has made a blue shirt-white collar combo look even vaguely cool before or since, which should tell you something about the character’s charisma.
Marv
The Antihero: Despite thriving on violence and visiting prostitutes at every possible opportunity, Marv has actually got a heart of gold, providing you're willing to look for it. It’s quite well hidden you see…
Effortless Cool: Who would have thought that hideous facial disfigurement could work so well as a look?
Max Rockatansky
The Anti-Hero: Watching your wife and child get run over by a gang of rapists and murderers would be enough to tip anyone over the edge, and so it is with Max. Put simply, he goes mad.
Effortless Cool: Motorcycle leathers have never looked so kick-ass. Perhaps it’s the way Max accessorizes them with a sawn-off shotgun that does it…
D-Fens
The Anti-Hero: A divorced, unemployed, middle-aged man who loses his rag amid the heat of a steamy LA summer. Thankfully, most mid-life crises don’t manifest themselves in the form of an uzi-assisted rampage…
Effortless Cool: Be honest – who among you hasn’t wanted to go postal in a fast food restaurant at one time or another? D-Fens is just liberated enough to actually go through with it. Or should that be unhinged enough…?
Batman
The Antihero: A gravel-voiced, black-clad avenger, who takes the law into his own hands on a nightly basis to deliver something that measures up to his personal view of morality. We’d say that makes him an antihero rather than a superhero…
Effortless Cool: He’s got some pretty nifty gadgets in his locker. Our favourite? The bat-shaped throwing stars. Badass…
John Rambo
The Antihero: You do your bit, serve your country and come home to be treated like a bum? Well some people might stand for that sort of treatment, but not John Rambo. Now, where’s that M60…?
Effortless Cool: Rambo offers his aggressors a way out on numerous occasions, but they singularly fail to heed his warnings. “Don’t push it,” he advises, “or I’ll give you a war you won’t believe.”
