Indiana Jones beats James Bond and Han Solo to top spot in poll of movie fans

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Intrepid archaeologist played by Harrison Ford topped poll of 10,000 fans
Top TV characters also rated, with Breaking Bad’s Walter White coming top
Tyrion Lannister (Game of Thrones) and Homer Simpson finish top three

By Sam Creighton, Showbusiness Reporter For The Daily Mail

Published: 18:20 EST, 22 June 2015 | Updated: 02:03 EST, 23 June 2015

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Compared to the explorers and soldiers and the knights and spies who have won over cinema audiences, an archaeologist might seem an unexpected choice as the greatest movie character of all time.

But Indiana Jones, the intrepid scientist known for raiding lost arks and doomed temples in a series of four films, has topped a poll of 10,000 movie lovers asked to name their favourite character ever.

Played by Harrison Ford, 72, Professor Jones beat James Bond into second place and Han Solo – also played by Ford – into third.

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Number one: Indiana Jones played by Harrison Ford, 72, was rated the number one film character by 10,000 movie fans

Second place: James Bond, seen here played by Daniel Craig in Skyfall, was number two in the list of favourite movie characters

The quest for the grail in Indian Jones and the Last Crusade

With the top TV characters also ranked, Breaking Bad’s science teacher turned drug dealer Walter White, Game of Throne’s scheming Tyrion Lannister and hapless cartoon father Homer Simpson claim the top three spots.

100 greatest: The poll was conducted by Empire magazine

Indiana Jones, created by George Lucas, the man behind Star Wars, appeared in four films between 1981 and 2008: Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Temple of Doom, The Last Crusade and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. The films were directed by Hollywood favourite Steven Spielberg.

Armed with his trademark fedora and whip, the scientist balanced giving university lectures with travelling the globe to recover lost and mystical artefacts, battling cults and Nazis along the way, as well as wooing a succession of distressed damsels.

The vote was conducted by film magazine Empire and its editor Morgan Rees said: ‘It was truly heartening to see one of my personal favourite film heroes voted as the Empire readers’ greatest-ever movie character —Indiana Jones, played so brilliantly by Harrison Ford in Steven Spielberg’s evergreen pulp adventure series.

‘It’s not hard to see why he’s so beloved: handsome, heroic, capable, but he’s also got flaws — not only is he afraid of snakes, he also makes mistakes. You can relate to Indy. He’s human, not superhuman.

Hero: Han Solo (far right), also played by Ford in Star Wars, came in at three. The Hollywood star is reprising the part of the roguish space smuggler in the franchise’s upcoming new instalments

TOP TEN GREATEST MOVIE CHARACTERS

1. Indiana Jones

2. James Bond

3. Han Solo (Star Wars)

4. Batman

5. Ellen Ripley (Alien)

6. The Joker

7. John McClane (Die Hard)

8. Tyler Durden (Fight Club)

9. Darth Vader (Star Wars)

10. The Dude (The Big Lebowski)

'There’s an element of knowingness and irony to him, too, that only heightens his appeal further. Plus of course, he really knows how to rock a fedora’.

James Bond was knocked down to second place. The secret agent has been played by seven actors and this year’s Spectre will be the 24th film of the official series based on the novels by Ian Fleming.

In third came Han Solo, played by Ford between 1977 and 1983. He will be reprising the part of the roguish space smuggler in the franchise’s upcoming new instalments.

The other film characters to make the top ten are Batman, Ellen Ripley from Alien, The Joker, Die Hard’s John McClane, Tyler Durden from Fight Club, Darth Vader and The Dude from The Big Lebowski.

In terms of television, modern shows proved to have the most popular characters.

Kingpin: Breaking Bad's Walter White was voted greatest TV character. Actor Bryan Cranston portrayed the chemistry teacher turned crystal meth dealer

The top ten were rounded out by The Doctor from Dr Who, crime boss Tony Soprano from The Sopranos, Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sherlock Holmes, teenage vampire hunter Buffy Summers, American counter-terrorism agent Jack Bauer from 24, criminal Omar Little from The Wire and ambitious politician Frank Underwood from the American remake of House of Cards.

TOP TEN GREATEST TV CHARACTERS

1. Walter White (Breaking Bad)

2. Tyrion Lannister (Game of Thrones)

3. Homer Simpson (The Simpsons)

4. The Doctor (Dr Who)

5. Tony Soprano (The Sopranos)

6. Sherlock Holmes (Sherlock)

7. Buffy Summers (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

8. Jack Bauer (24)

9. Omar Little (The Wire)

10. Frank Underwood (House of Cards)

The full list stretches to 100 characters across film and television and will be included in this month’s edition of Empire, released on Wednesday.

Lower down the ranking are famous characters such as Marty McFly and Doc Brown from Back to the Future, Daniel Radcliffe’s Harry Potter, Jim Carey’s pet detective Ace Ventura and Johnny Depp’s Captain Jack Sparrow from the Pirates of the Caribbean films.

Sir Anthony Hopkins’ serial killer Hannibal Lecter from the Silence of the Lambs franchise also finds a place, along with Forrest Gump, Lord of the Rings heroes Gandalf and Bilbo Baggins and Sylvester Stallone’s battered boxer Rocky Balboa.

Luke Skywalker and Yoda both join Han Solo as favourites from the Star Wars universe, while homesick alien ET, Star Trek’s Captain Kirk and the X-Men’s violent mutant Wolverine are other inductees from the world of science fiction.