We all love a great action hero: wisecracks, impossible stunts, and just enough bruises to prove
they did their own (totally safe) stunts. But for every John McClane or Ellen Ripley, there’s an
action “hero” who makes you root for the end credits instead of the climactic battle.
This ranked list of the worst action heroes of all time looks at characters who had every chance
to be awesome… and still face-planted. These are the leads who tanked franchises, bored
audiences, confused critics, and sometimes even embarrassed the big-name stars playing them.
How We Ranked These Infamously Bad Action Heroes
This list is based on a blend of fan rankings, critic reviews, and pop-culture commentary from
movie and entertainment sites and databases. We looked at:
- Audience reaction: fan voting lists and comment threads that repeatedly dunk on these heroes.
- Critical reception: especially when reviews singled out the main character as a problem, not just the plot.
- Franchise damage: heroes attached to movies that derailed or rebooted big brands.
- Missed potential: characters with beloved source material or mega-stars who still ended up dull, annoying, or badly written.
In other words, these aren’t just “meh” protagonists. They’re the ones fans complain about
years later, long after the explosions have faded.
The 20+ Worst Action Heroes Of All Time, Ranked
1. Goku – Dragonball Evolution (2009)
Few action heroes have disappointed a fanbase the way this live-action version of Goku did.
Anime Goku is a cheerful wrecking ball of power and heart; movie Goku feels like a random high
school kid who accidentally wandered into a bad cosplay photoshoot. The film flattened the
wild, over-the-top energy of the original series into a generic teen fantasy, drained of both
character depth and fight-scene spectacle. Instead of planetary stakes and jaw-dropping battles,
we get awkward dialogue, clunky wire work, and a hero who never feels like the fearless Saiyan
fans know. For a character literally built on training, growth, and epic showdowns, this
version of Goku barely qualifies as an action hero at allmore like a very confused exchange
student with a bad haircut.
2. Cypher Raige – After Earth (2013)
On paper, Cypher Raige is a legendary soldier whose fearlessness borders on myth. On screen, he
’s a stiff, stone-faced dad sitting in a chair and whispering instructions. “After Earth”
tries to sell us a super-soldier, but gives us a monotone lecture instead. Most of the action
falls to his son, while Cypher spends the movie immobile and emotionally shut down. A stoic,
emotionally distant hero can work, but you still need flashes of charisma, humanity, or even
humor. Here, the cold performance and thin writing turn Cypher into a lifeless NPC whose main
power is making audiences check their phones.
3. Derek Thompson – Tooth Fairy (2010)
Derek Thompson, a grumpy hockey enforcer sentenced to serve time as a literal tooth fairy,
could’ve been a fun subversion of the tough-guy action persona. Instead, almost all of his
“heroics” are built around goofy gags, half-hearted slapstick, and learning to believe in
dreams again. That’s fine for a family comedy, but as an action hero, he’s mostly just a guy
in wings complaining. When your lead is played by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and you still can’t
deliver memorable action, something has gone very wrong. Derek feels like an overlong
commercial for glitter dust rather than a legit action protagonist.
4. Rip Thomas – No Holds Barred (1989)
Rip Thomas is an icon of a very specific era: the time when wrestling companies tried to
reverse-engineer Hulkamania into movie stardom. The result is a character who’s basically Hulk
Hogan turned up several notches, minus any self-awareness. Rip grunts, flexes, and smashes his
way through a plot that feels like a parody of 1980s tough-guy movies, only it’s all played
straight. His “heroism” boils down to wide-eyed mugging and cartoonish violence. For fans of
so-bad-it’s-good cinema, Rip is a treasure. As an action hero you’re supposed to take
seriously? He’s a walking cautionary tale.
5. Robin (Dick Grayson) – Batman & Robin (1997)
Robin is a beloved sidekick in comics, animated series, and even earlier films. In
Batman & Robin, however, he becomes a whiny, jealous co-lead who mostly exists to
argue with Batman and make bad decisions. Dressed in a rubber suit with sculpted nipples and
eye-roll dialogue, this version of Robin feels less like a young hero and more like a cranky
roommate. He constantly needs rescuing, undercuts the tone of every scene with sulking, and
never gets a truly satisfying moment of competence. When your action sidekick makes you miss
the villains, something has gone deeply off the rails.
6. Sam Larson – True Memoirs of an International Assassin (2016)
Sam Larson is a frustrated writer mistaken for a real hitman after his over-the-top thriller
gets published as “non-fiction.” That’s a clever setup, but the movie leans so hard on the
premise that Sam never grows beyond “clueless guy in over his head.” He’s constantly
outmaneuvered, rarely drives the plot, and mostly survives by accident. A fish-out-of-water
hero can be fun when they evolve into something braver or smarter. Sam mostly stays stuck in
bumbling mode, which makes the action feel weightless and the jokes predictable.
7. Shane Wolfe – The Pacifier (2005)
A Navy SEAL turned babysitter has comic potential, but Shane Wolfe spends most of his movie in
a strange no-man’s-land between parody and sincerity. He’s supposed to be an elite operative,
yet repeatedly outwitted by small children and a pet duck. When the action finally kicks in,
it’s so exaggerated and kiddie-safe that his earlier tough-guy posturing feels hollow. Unlike
other “tough hero becomes caregiver” films, Shane never really becomes charming or memorable.
He’s just… there, grimacing his way through slapstick chaos.
8. Sgt. Joe Bomowski – Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot (1992)
Sgt. Joe Bomowski might be one of the clearest examples of a star regretting an action-comedy
experiment. He’s a cop overshadowed in every way by his overbearing mother, who steals his gun,
his cases, and every scene. As a result, Joe never comes across as capable, dangerous, or even
particularly funny. He’s mostly a punching bag for the script’s jokes. An action hero who
spends the movie being scolded, humiliated, and outgunned by their own mom isn’t automatically
doomedbut here, the execution leaves him more hapless than heroic.
9. Catwoman – Catwoman (2004)
Selina Kyle has been an intriguing antihero in comics and on screen for decades, but the 2004
film version of Catwoman tossed almost everything recognizable aside. This CatwomanPatience
Phillipsgets powers from a mystical cat, wears an infamously impractical costume, and
parkours through a blend of uneven CGI and stiff fight choreography. The character’s motivations
are shallow, her arc is muddled, and the movie never decides whether she’s a vengeful vigilante
or a cosmetics-brand critic. The result is a lead who feels more like a video game mascot from
an abandoned franchise than a fully realized action heroine.
10. Mutt Williams – Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
Mutt Williams was clearly intended as a handoff charactersomeone who could carry the Indiana
Jones torch into a new generation. Instead, audiences got a leather-jacketed sidekick who
swings on vines with monkeys and spends most of his time arguing with Indy. Mutt’s biggest
issue isn’t just the writing; it’s that he never feels essential. The movie constantly insists
he matters, but he rarely contributes anything only he could do. In a franchise built on
charismatic, scrappy heroes, Mutt feels like a studio note in a bad wig.
11. Agent 47 – Hitman (2007) and Hitman: Agent 47 (2015)
In the games, Agent 47 is a strangely compelling blank slate: icy, methodical, and darkly
funny. On film, he becomes a generic bald guy with guns. Both adaptations struggle to translate
his stealthy, puzzle-like missions into cinematic storytelling. Instead of clever assassinations
and tension, we get choppy shootouts and exposition. The character’s emotional flatness,
interesting in a player-driven game, becomes dull when you’re just watching him stare and
walk down hallways. For a genetically engineered super-assassin, this version of Agent 47 makes
surprisingly little impact.
12. Simon – Simon Sez (1999)
Dennis Rodman playing a secret agent could have been a wild, self-aware blast. Instead, Simon
is a hero with zero grounding and no clear tone. The movie throws neon visuals, bad jokes, and
hyperactive editing at the screen, but Simon never anchors any of it. He has almost no arc, no
emotional stakes, and no sense of danger. He’s more of a walking product placement than a
protagonist. It’s the kind of performance that feels like it was designed in a 1990s marketing
meeting and never updated.
13. Ecks and Sever – Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever (2002)
Having two title characters should give you twice the hero power, but in Ballistic: Ecks
vs. Sever it just doubles the disappointment. Both Ecks and Sever are written as stoic,
tortured badasses, yet neither has a memorable personality or believable motivation. Critics
routinely single out this movie as one of the worst action films ever made, with particular
emphasis on its confusing story and lifeless characters. When your dual leads are this bland,
even the explosions feel like they’re happening by obligation rather than excitement.
14. Sgt. Jake Carter – The Marine 3: Homefront (2013)
Direct-to-video action franchises are built on simple pleasures: tough heroes, clear bad guys,
straightforward revenge. Sgt. Jake Carter checks all those boxes on paper, but brings almost no
unique personality to the table. He’s a template hero, interchangeable with a dozen other
straight-to-streaming leads. The movie keeps telling us he’s unstoppable, but his fights and
dialogue feel pulled from a library of generic tough-guy scenes. He’s not so much the worst
because he’s offensivehe’s the worst because you’ll forget him five minutes after the credits.
15. Alex Shaw – Speed 2: Cruise Control (1997)
Following up a high-octane classic like Speed is tough, but Speed 2 didn’t
help itself by replacing Keanu Reeves’s Jack Traven with the much duller Alex Shaw. While Sandra
Bullock’s character retains some charm, Alex never convinces as a cop capable of handling a
cruise-ship disaster. He lacks the intensity, improvisational flair, and charisma that made the
original film pop. The stakes are huge, yet Alex reacts to most of them with the energy of a man
who’s lost his room key, not his life.
16. Barb Wire – Barb Wire (1996)
Barb Wire, based on a comic, should’ve been a stylish, gritty antihero. Instead, the film turns
her into a shallow mix of camp, cheesecake, and weak neo-noir. The character spends most of the
movie posing rather than truly leading the action. Her decisions rarely drive the plot; she’s
dragged along by it. There’s a version of Barb Wire that could stand alongside cult favorites
like Snake Plissken or Max Rockatansky. This isn’t it. Here, the hero is mostly a costume with
a catchphrase.
17. Nick Morton – The Mummy (2017)
Nick Morton was supposed to launch a whole “Dark Universe” of monster movies. Instead, he
helped bury it. The character is an odd mash-up: part roguish thief, part reluctant chosen one,
part setup for future sequels that never came. He rarely feels like a coherent person, let alone
a compelling action hero. His choices make little sense, his personality shifts from scene to
scene, and the movie focuses so much on world-building that Nick never gets a solid, satisfying
arc. The result is a lead who feels less like a character and more like a franchise placeholder.
18. Lt. Ben Gannon – Stealth (2005)
Lt. Ben Gannon is a hotshot pilot trying to prove he’s better than an AI-controlled jet. That
sounds like a slam dunk for popcorn cinema, but Ben is written as a cliché machine: cocky,
rebellious, and weirdly bland. The movie’s focus on the rogue AI and high-tech visuals pushes
him even further into the background. For someone supposedly at the center of a man-versus
machine story, he rarely does anything memorable. When the robot plane has more personality than
your hero, your action movie has a problem.
19. Chun-Li – Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li (2009)
Chun-Li is one of gaming’s most iconic fightersfast, fierce, and instantly recognizable. The
film version, however, strips away much of that energy in favor of a generic “urban mythic
destiny” storyline. The character spends a lot of time wandering through exposition and mystic
training sequences, while the action scenes feel oddly weightless and poorly staged. The movie
never commits to the outrageous, colorful tone of the games, so Chun-Li comes off as strangely
muted. It’s a tough fall from “legendary fighter” to “forgettable movie lead.”
20. Rayne – BloodRayne (2005)
A half-vampire warrior hunting down her evil father should be catnip for action-horror fans.
Instead, Rayne’s movie debut is a messy parade of flat dialogue, inconsistent tone, and clumsy
fight scenes. The character’s emotional stakes are barely explored, and her combat scenes rarely
showcase the brutal, acrobatic style fans expected from the games. Surrounded by bizarre casting
choices and low-energy direction, Rayne never gets the chance to be the stylish, deadly heroine
she was designed to be.
21. Violet Song jat Shariff – Ultraviolet (2006)
Violet is a genetically enhanced super-soldier in a hyper-stylized future. On paper, she could
belong next to Trinity from The Matrix. In practice, Ultraviolet buries her
under weak CG, incoherent editing, and exposition-heavy monologues. The character is written as
cold and relentless, but without the nuance or charisma to make that compelling. Instead of a
sleek, kinetic heroine, we get a disconnected figure sliding through a digital world that never
feels real. She looks cool in stills; in motion, she’s frustratingly hollow.
22. Gabriel Van Helsing – Van Helsing (2004)
Hunting Dracula, Frankenstein’s monster, and werewolves in one film should make Van Helsing a
gothic action rock star. Instead, this version of the character gets lost in a sea of noisy CGI
and overstuffed plotting. He’s broody without much depth, angsty without clear reasons, and
constantly overshadowed by louder monsters and side characters. The film throws crossbows,
gadgets, and swirling cloaks at the problem, but Van Helsing never develops a distinct
personality beyond “serious guy in a hat who fights everything.”
Dishonorable Mentions
A few other action “heroes” narrowly missed the main ranking but deserve a shout-out. Detective
Tony Costas from Collision Course is often cited as an example of stunt casting gone
wrong, pairing a late-night talk show host with buddy-cop action and getting the worst of both
worlds. Red Sonja’s 1980s live-action incarnation takes a promising warrior heroine and turns
her into a stiff, awkward lead weighed down by clumsy storytelling. Jonathan Cross in the 2002
Rollerball remake is another infamous misfire, a protagonist who feels passive and dull
despite being at the center of an “extreme sports” dystopia. All three show that no amount of
explosions can save a weakly written hero.
What These Awful Action Heroes Teach Us (And Why We Can’t Look Away)
Here’s the surprising thing: bad action heroes can be just as memorable as great ones. If you’ve
ever found yourself hate-watching Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever with friends, or replaying
a scene from Catwoman just to marvel at how bizarre the choices are, you know the
strange charm these misfires can have. They become shared cultural in-jokesthe kind of movies
you quote ironically or put on in the background during a party because everyone can yell at the
screen together.
A lot of viewers have similar experiences with these heroes. Maybe you rented one of these films
as a kid because the cover looked coolvampires with swords, cyberpunk cityscapes, a famous
wrestler scowling into the middle distance. You expected the next Terminator and got
something that felt like a knockoff from the bargain bin. That gap between expectation and
reality is where the frustrationand the comedylives.
For fans of the original comics, games, or cartoons, the disappointment can sting even more.
Seeing Goku, Chun-Li, or Rayne flattened into bland movie versions feels like watching a
favorite band play a sluggish cover of their own greatest hits. You keep waiting for that
electric moment when the character comes alive the way they do in your head. When it never
arrives, you start asking the big questions: Who approved this script? Did anyone involved
actually like the source material? Why is the hero so boring when the concept is so fun?
At the same time, there’s a kind of joy in these failures. They become case studies in how
not to build an action hero. Want to know why charisma matters more than just muscles?
Watch Rip Thomas stumble through No Holds Barred. Curious what happens when a lead is
emotionally flat for two hours? Cue up Cypher Raige. Wondering how overcomplicated world-building
can smother a protagonist? Nick Morton has you covered. These heroes show us that cool weapons,
big IPs, and famous faces aren’t enough. You still need a clear motivation, a believable arc,
and a spark of personality.
Fans and critics also use these movies as a measuring stick. When a new action film comes out,
you’ll often hear comparisons like “At least it’s not Ultraviolet” or “Hey, this might
be messy, but it’s not Batman & Robin-bad.” The worst heroes accidentally help the
genre by setting a low bar for the rest to clear. They remind studios what happens when you
chase trends instead of characters, or when you treat beloved properties like interchangeable
content instead of stories people care about.
And, of course, there’s the nostalgia factor. Many of these movies came out in the VHS, DVD, or
early streaming eras, when you’d pick something based on a cool cover or a trailer that played
before another film. You might have watched Van Helsing at a sleepover, or laughed your
way through Simon Sez on late-night cable. Even if the hero was terrible, the experience
of watching with friends is unforgettable. Over time, the badness becomes part of the charm.
Ultimately, that’s what keeps us talking about the worst action heroes. They’re not just
failures; they’re stories about ambition, miscalculation, and the weird ways movies can go off
the rails. They frustrate us, entertain us, and give us endless material for jokes, rankings,
and “you have to see this to believe it” recommendations. In their own clumsy way, they’re a
crucial part of action-movie history.
Final Verdict: Bad Heroes, Good Lessons
Great action heroes make us cheer. The worst action heroes make us wince, groan, and sometimes
laugh until we cry. But both ends of the spectrum teach us something about what audiences
really want: characters who feel alive, stories that treat them with care, and action that
arises from personality, not just pyrotechnics.
So the next time you stumble across one of these infamous films, you’ve got options. You can
turn it off and rewatch a classicor you can lean in, grab some friends, and enjoy the unintentional
comedy of a hero who never quite saves the day. Either way, these 20+ worst action heroes have
earned their place in movie history… even if it’s on the “do not emulate” list.
