2023 ushered in a fantastic year for movie and TV characters who took us on profound inner journeys and left an indelible impact. From complex villains to inspiring heroes, we met unforgettable personalities that moved us emotionally and imprinted cinematically.
When ranking such a standout crop, we considered qualities like depth and growth, cultural resonance, creative execution, and performances that leapt from spectacular writing into three-dimensional life. Exciting backstories merged with socio-cultural undertones as visionsary directors and skillful actors collaborated to gift us small screen gems and silver screen icons.
Allow me to preview the cream of the crop with 2023’s top movie and TV creation: Barbie, an unexpected force for revolutionary change starring Margot Robbie. Through Barbie’s tale, we’ll glimpse how art and entertainment spotlighted inclusiveness while upholding virtuous themes of courage, compassion and self-belief against all odds.
Everyone on this list reminded us how sacrificial love or an unyielding conscience can transform people, permeating pop culture with purpose. So grab your popcorn my friends as we countdown characters that redefined heroism by conquering inner demons or toppled social barriers, leaving behind profound legacies.
#10 Monkey D. Luffy – One Piece
Iñaki Godoy sailed right into viewers’ hearts as Monkey D. Luffy, anchoring Netflix’s live-action adaptation of the beloved anime One Piece. Though I began my voyage into Luffy’s world without nakama, Godoy’s magnetic charm soon had me donning a straw hat and ready to set sail with the Straw Hat crew.
Godoy captures Luffy’s essence – his devilish grin, voracious appetite for adventure, and fierce loyalty toward his fellow pirates. Yet the actor also brings something unique to the role through profound emotional authenticity. We feel Luffy’s driving dream to become King of the Pirates, not for glory or wealth, but because it represents ultimate freedom to chart one’s destiny. In upholding that effervescent free spirit, Luffy persuades comrades and watchers alike to treasure dreams society may label impossible.
As the carefree captain who views limits as mere suggestions, Luffy leverages unbounded optimism to uplift his crew during storms of adversity. And while chaos surrounds constantly thanks to his overeager improvisations, these mishaps fuel much hilarity! Still, when lives hang in the balance, Godoy reveals astounding depths of sincerity in Luffy’s commitment to protect his adoptive family.
In many ways, joining Luffy’s crew gives us license to rediscover childhood’s innate joy for adventure without abandoning heart-led compassion. That special brew of courage, loyalty and unjaded wonder cements Iñaki Godoy’s Monkey D. Luffy as one of 2023’s standout small screen creations destined to anchor pop culture for years.
#9 John Wick – John Wick: Chapter 4
After three brutal chapters, John Wick finally writes the last blood-soaked page of his redemption story. But the road to reckoning remains ruthlessly hostile, a gauntlet of lethal assassins blocking the path to freedom. Chapter 4 matches the iconic antihero against ever-amplifying dangers, including the towering High Table, as Wick wages war without allies. To depict this solitary warrior battling overwhelming adversarial forces, Keanu Reeves summons awe-inspiring grit shadowed with profound sorrow.
Fans thrill at balletic sequences capturing Wick’s lethal precision while Reeves channels the character’s mounting exhaustion. We sense the traumatic echoes of every soul sacrificed on this crusade for emancipation from his criminal past. With minimal dialogue, Reeves wordlessly evokes Wick’s isolation, the emotional armor sealing off vulnerability from his harsh reality. In perhaps his most courageous acting challenge, Reeves lays bare the residuals of trauma borne by heroes who safeguard innocence through morally injurious violence.
When the smoke clears on a bullet-riddled finale, John Wick emerges bloody but unbroken, finally granted well-earned peace. With soulful artistry, Reeves illuminates moral complexities in humanity’s darker chapters while honoring the invincible human spirit that rises after life’s severest tests.
#8 Rocket Raccoon – Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
While the Guardians films orbit around the connections binding Marvel’s misfit hero team, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 breaks format to orbit around Rocket Raccoon. Voiced by Bradley Cooper, the gun-toting beast serves up serious soul beneath his devil-may-care smokescreen.
When tragedy reopens unhealed wounds from Rocket’s agonizing origins, the creature once more faces the sinister High Evolutionary who ruthlessly experimented upon his innocent form. Thus Rocket confronts the external creator who sadistically shaped his existence. Cooper conveys profound trauma as Rocket grapples internally with self-loathing and the inability to embrace loving connection. We glimpse the someways hero’s profound capacity for sacrifice despite feeling undeserving of affection due to past abuses.
As the film honors interwoven human-animal bonds, Guardians Vol. 3 transforms Rocket Raccoon from snarky comic relief to complex central protagonist. His sarcasm shields deep shame and secret belief that friends tolerate rather than genuinely accept this fractured creature. Yet when the Guardians risk all to stand by Rocket’s side, their unflinching loyalty helps the furry hero write a new origin story where he is enough because of who he is, not what others engineered him to become.
#7 Strauss – Oppenheimer
Few film villains in recent years seethed as quietly yet potently as Lewis Strauss in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. Shadowed in history books yet illuminated now by Robert Downey Jr.’s cunning portrayal, Oppenheimer’s vengeful rival simmers with professional envy beneath an eerily pleasant veneer. From their first meeting’s subtly menacing pleasantries to every meticulous effort to discredit Oppenheimer’s legacy, Strauss’ slick façade thinly veils ruthless intentions.
Yet one masterful reaction shot after losing his most cutthroat power play hints at Strauss’ deeper motivations. In that brief unguarded moment, Downey evokes profound humiliation and impotent rage, spotlighting how toxic masculinity and fragility fuel Strauss’ vindictive agenda. Unable to surpass Oppenheimer’s brilliance through merit alone, Strauss weaponizes bureaucracy and seduces allies through cynical manipulation.
Downey mesmerizes by unveiling the ugliness behind Strauss’ amicable mask. With mannered charm and restrained volatility, the antagonist epitomizes how embittered outcasts cab orchestrate horrific harms, especially when their target threatens entrenched hierarchies. As an indictment of intellectual envy’s corruption, Downey’s nuanced turn as Lewis Strauss surely deserves awards attention.
#6 Mahito Maki – The Boy and the Heron
Animation icon Hayao Miyazaki caps his storied career by modernizing his coming-of-age heroic archetype through Mahito Maki, protagonist of The Boy and the Heron. Still reeling from personal tragedy, teenager Mahito reluctantly relocates to the countryside where solace remains elusive. An omnipresent grey heron haunts Mahito until curiosity overrides caution, leading the youth through a magical portal. In this metaphysical landscape suspended between life and death, Mahito undergoes extraordinary trials of courage to uncover life’s purpose and manage grief’s permanence.
Miyazaki fans will recognize his trademark themes contemplating humanity’s relationship with nature and technology. The legendary director also revisits the necessity of sacrifice when combatting cruel injustice. Yet The Boy and the Heron feels more introspective, emphasizing Mahito’s emotional odyssey toward understanding mortality and celebrating life’s evanescence.
Miyazaki’s heroes have long modeled adolescent self-actualization, promoting environmental stewardship against industrial domination. But Mahito integrates the auteur’s ecological pleas with philosophical ruminations on honoring those we’ve lost by fully engaging each moment. Brilliantly voicing the titular heron, Daniel Dae Kim partners with Miyazaki to extend the acclaimed filmmaker’s legacy for another generation. Their collaboration gifts cinema an enlightened hero for markedly uncertain times.
#5 Miles Morales, Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse
After debuting as Marvel’s freshman web-slinging star, Miles Morales confronts an even bigger challenge protecting the entire multiverse in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Still adjusting to superpowered responsibility, Miles faces reality-threatening peril when The Spot’s portals jeopardize the myriad parallel worlds.
As protagonists clash over methodology, Miles’ approach isolates him from veteran Spider-allies. But isolating adversity only strengthens Miles’ heroic mettle. Despite impossible odds seemingly destined for absolute defeat, the teenage underdog’s spirit remains unbroken. And Miles soon discovers how the very ideology separating him from associates may empower this unlikely hero to achieve the unachievable.
By spotlighting Miles Morales across literal universe of possibility, Spider-Verse celebrates the unlimited imaginative horizons achieved by diversifying perspectives. His Afro-Latinx heritage informs Miles’ stylistic signature as Spider-Man yet pales beside courage under pressure. Because when confronting catastrophic loss, giving up cannot be an option for heroes protecting those most vulnerable. Uplifted by hope’s light even on the darkest days, Miles Morales inspires us all to persevere.
#4 Ken – Barbie
Dolled up as Barbie’s blonde bellbottom beau, Ryan Gosling parodies chauvinistic machismo with cheeky panache in 2023’s kitschy smash. Initially oozing plastic perfection as Malibu doll royalty, Gosling soon upends assumptions after Ken crashes into reality. His subsequent identity crisis elicits hilarious misguided attempts at hyper-masculine reinvention before wonderful self-realization that Ken is enough, just as he is.
Producers astutely harnessed Gosling’s underrated comedic brilliance to humanize and parody male stereotypes. Strutting through dance numbers with startling gusto, Ken proudly pronks his stuff like an oblivious peacock. Yet when his puffed-up pride meets sharp reality checks, Gosling mines exquisite pathos depicting Ken’s private pain. These sensitive glimpses beneath cultural armor unveil the cost for men conforming to societal expectations around projected toughness.
But Barbie reserves its boldest strokes for a subversive third act twist. After realizing toxic standards fuel detrimental self-judgment, Ken spearheads a campaign encouraging guys to embrace their multi-dimensional selves beyond binding gender norms. Gosling makes clear that clothes don’t define the man… only confidence and compassion can help boys become emotionally whole men. Through its superficial icon turned enlightened advocate, Barbie argues real men reject repression to champion diversity while guiding others toward self-acceptance.
#3 Joel Miller – The Last of Us
Post-apocalyptic perils forge fiery bonds between smuggler Joel Miller and tween charge Ellie Williams in television’s The Last of Us. After outrunning fungal hordes collapsing civilization, the pair treks across hazardous wastelands where infected creatures mimic zombies. Pedro Pascal powerfully depicts Joel, a bereft father commissioned to transport Ellie cross-country for a long-shot cure based on her immunity. Initially brusque toward his precious quarry, ice encasing Joel’s heart gradually melts as her playful spirit kindles latent paternal warmth.
The Last of Us probes trauma’s lingering impacts with Joel, haunted by his daughter’s death when the outbreak erupted. Having witnessed humanity’s depths of depravity amid anarchy, Joel turned survivor-for-hire, hiding vulnerability behind a barricade of barbed wit and weathered weariness. Into these shadowed recesses barrels Ellie, igniting emotional sparks her new guardian can scarcely withstand… yet cannot resist stoking despite the pain promise of renewed loss.
Pascal excels accentuating subtle shifts as Joel evolves from escorting his payload to defending his surrogate daughter. When deception and danger close in, Joel reverts to his vicious survivor instincts with brutal precision. But Pascal channels the character’s dichotomy, juxtaposing loving fidelity against ruthless violence wielded for Ellie’s preservation. In declaring “You have no idea what I’m capable of,” Joel brands himself with the marks of murky morality forged under apocalyptic duress.
#2 Marie Moreau – Gen V
One of 2023’s breakout heroines, Marie Moreau rewrites her destiny across Gen V’s first blood-drenched season. Portrayed by brilliant young actress Jaz Sinclair, Marie begins darkened by grief having accidentally killed her superpowered parents. Exploiting her orphan status, a fraudulent guardian enrolls the anguished girl in his academy training the next generation of heroes. This campus however camouflages a corrupt corporation economically exploiting young “supers” crafted into commercialized celebrities.
Among her flashy privileged peers, Marie initially feels isolated by modest mutant abilities compared to classmates boasting brawn or telekinesis. Yet her underground ascent traces a classic heroic arc beginning with alienation. Marie also epitomizes the marginalization facing heroes of color and those battling mental health challenges. But after unlocking newfound confidence, Marie soon soars as one of Gen U’s most indispensable saviors.
With empathy and edge, Sinclair depicts Marie working through grief-induced insecurities and imposter syndrome. That poignant internal growth parallels expanding exo-kinetic powers enabling Marie to forge weapons from blood, her climate change activism informing creative manipulation of bodily fluids. Soon wielding sanguine daggers with dexterous grace, Marie conquers adversaries while conquering personal demons.
When Gen V’s headmaster is exposed as a fraud trafficking his wards for profit, only Marie grasps the institutional exploitation. Having honed sharp survival skills keyed to reading corrupt systems, Marie rallies her peers to tear down the hierarchy hindering their self-determination. Sinclair brings stirring conviction to Marie’s emancipation declaration that her magic flows strongest when fighting for justice. Upending establishment gatekeepers, Marie Moreau models heroic courage as a catalyst calling out oppression then uniting communities to forge positive change.
#1 Barbie – Barbie
Doll-faced yet iron-willed, Barbie ignited cultural revolution strutting across silver screens in her live-action debut. Portrayed with bubbly moxie by Margot Robbie, 2023’s Barbie redefines modern heroism without vanquishing a single foe. Instead, this pint-sized fashionista conquers calling out societal barriers then champions marginalized communities through radical acts of joy.
When Barbie frees herself from the punitive conformity of Barbieland, her plastic resplendence clashes garishly with our stark reality. Bullied for standing out while admiring differences, Barbie unwittingly sparks rebellion simply by honoring outsiders’ dignity. Her earnest encouragement empowers friends to embrace quirks rather than shrink themselves to fit arbitrary molds.
As Barbie awakens to life’s vibrant complexity outside sterile Barbie Dreamhouses, she discovers her own complex interiority beyond a pre-programmed smile. Relishing new depth, Barbie sheds one-dimensional expectations pinging her as eye candy lacking substance between those coveted ears.
Barbie argues implicitly that systemic oppression sustains power by cultivating self-doubt and dividing marginalized groups. But when Barbie incites a merry musical revolution welcoming all who feel cast out for flaunting their truth, she provides an exuberant template for cultural transformation.
Gerwig’s blockbuster masterstroke however comes through converted villain Ken who condemns masculinity standards warping men through repression. By promoting radical self-acceptance, Ken embodies Barbie’s central thesis: Every body has beauty and worth when inhabiting their identity with courage.
An unusual heroine defined by compassion not combat, Barbie models heroic growth by questioning conformity rather than conquering some great foe. Her superpower lies in reflecting every person’s struggles just to feel comfortably themselves within society’s narrow lines. So Barbie doesn’t merely reflect the culture but refracts scattered light to reveal our boundless human potential. When we view our collective future through Barbie’s kaleidoscopic lens, a more inclusive world rife with vibrant color comes dazzlingly into view.
