vigilante

Defendor

In Defendor, Arthur Poppington (Woody Harrelson) is a mentally ill man who adopts the persona of Defendor to fight Captain Industry, who he believes to be responsible for his mother’s death, and generally to make the world a better place.

Travis Bickle

In Martin Scorsese’s movie Taxi Driver, Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) is a US Marine who gets a job as a New York City cab driver. He spirals into depression due to the street crime he witnesses every night and his lack of a love life. He’s starting to get fed up, and about to take things into his own hands.

V for Vendetta

In V for Vendetta, an activist going by the name V starts a violent campaign to bring down a totalitarian government and free the people to rule for themselves. The mask he wears of the real-life Guy Fawkes has been adopted, in turn, by the real-life Anonymous and the Occupy movements.

David Dunn

In Unbreakable, David Dunn (Bruce Willis) is a security guard who realizes that he has super powers after he’s the only one to survive a train wreck. And like in most M. Night Shyamalan movies, his kryptonite is the most common of substances: water. His poncho reads “FSU” (for Franklin State University) in yellow letters on the front, and “Security” on the back.

Colonel Stars and Stripes

After barely escaping an ambush, mafioso Sal Bertolinni (Jim Carrey) decides to leave behind his life of crime in Kick-Ass 2. He becomes a born-again Christian and the masked vigilante known as Colonel Stars and Stripes.

Boondock Saints

In The Boondock Saints, twins Connor (Sean Patrick Flanery) and Murphy McManus (Norman Reedus) become vigilantes whose mission is to rid Boston of crime. Connor has a Veritas tattoo on his left hand, while Murphy has an Aequitas one on his right. You got that straight, right?

Rorschach

In Watchmen, Walter Joseph Kovacs assumes the identity of Rorschach, wearing a mask with constantly morphing ink blots. He’s a ruthless vigilante that sees the world as good and evil with no shades of gray, and will punish the evil at all costs.

The Punisher

Frank Castle is the Punisher, a vigilante willing to cross any boundaries in his fight against crime. After his family is brutally murdered by the mob, he wages an all out war by kidnapping, extorting, and torturing his way to justice.

Casey Jones

Casey Jones is a vigilante in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics, who initially clashes with Raphael. He eventually becomes a member of the Turtles’ group and the love interest of April O’Neil. Bad guys better beware when you hear “Goongala!”

Hit-Girl

In Kick-Ass, Hit-Girl is the young but deadly assassin played by Chloë Grace Moretz. Her upbringing as Mindy Macready has consisted solely of training and crimefighting, and has shaped her into a cold killing machine. Mourn later.

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