10 Film Characters That Are (Almost) Impossible To Kill

Movies are often about the triumph of good over evil and the obstacles that must be overcome to achieve victory. Some film characters, however, are so tough that it seems impossible to kill them. Whether they're action heroes or everyday people, some characters in films seem to have an invincibility that defies all logic. These characters have proven time and again that they can withstand immense physical punishment without breaking, making them almost immortal.
While it may be more common in action movies, the trope of invincibility is not limited to this genre. In fact, many genres, including comedy, drama, and sci-fi horror, have featured characters who seem to be indestructible. Whether it's for comedic effect or to showcase the character's durability, being practically unkillable adds a unique dynamic to their persona.
In this article, we explore nineteen movie characters who are (almost) impossible to kill. From the iconic James Bond to the villainous Agent Smith in The Matrix, these characters have proven time and again that they are more than just tough - they are, in some cases, functionally unkillable. So, buckle up and prepare for the ride as we dive into some of the most indestructible movie characters of all time.

#1 John Wick

Source: John Wick / Lionsgate

Keanu Reeves' character, an ex-retired assassin, is a virtual killing machine who can dispatch whole mercenary squads with dexterous tactical moves and nearly unachievable headshot combinations. Being difficult to kill might include enduring obscene amounts of damage and overcoming it as Wick does, or it can simply entail being an unstoppable force of nature who can defeat any foe that comes their way.
Using a combination of pistol talent, machine gun expertise, hand-to-hand fighting, and inventive explosives, the titular hitman murders over 299 people in total throughout the course of the first three films in the John Wick trilogy. And horses, too.

#2 James Bond

Source: Dr. No / United Artists

James Bond has an unstoppable onscreen career that spans over 26 films in total, including two non-canonical movies, making him an unstoppable intellectual property cash cow. Over his lengthy career as a secret spy, Bond encounters various wounds, traps, and illogical situations that should have killed him but instead merely caused him trouble. Bond (Daniel Craig) is shot at the beginning of Skyfall with a high-velocity sniper rifle, which causes him to tumble off a speeding train and into a river 100 feet below!
He is poisoned, his masculinity is beaten, and the evil Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Christoph Waltz) physically drills into his head throughout the illustrious franchise. In the movie Goldfinger, the evil Auric Goldfinger (Gert Fröbe) binds James Bond (Sean Connery) to a metal table and uses a laser to slowly slice him in half. Pierce Brosnan's bearded 007 (in the film Die Another Day) uses his willpower and a lot of suspension of disbelief to flatten his own heart and restart it. The point is that you need to be quite indestructible when you've been facing psychotic maniacs intent on world dominance since 1962.
Now, doubters may respond by pointing out that Bond did, in fact, pass away at the conclusion of No Time to Die, ending Daniel Craig's tenure as the character without any chance of retaliation. But, after that death, Bond producers immediately began casting the next James Bond, as is customary. And if not resurrection, then what is that? This is still true.

#3 Indiana Jones

Source: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom / Paramount Pictures

Harrison Ford's portrayal of Indiana Jones, who is known for overcoming insurmountable circumstances, served as the world's introduction to the character. In the opening scenes of Raiders of the Lost Ark, the recognizable history professor who later became a tomb raider steals artifacts while avoiding poison blow darts, spike pits, and a large, speeding rock that almost crushes him (a trap that makes very little sense from either practical, engineering, or reusability standpoints).
In the course of his exploits, Jones overcomes hundreds of Nazis, escapes from a chamber filled with vipers, leaps out of an aircraft on an inflatable raft, escapes the literal magical wrath of God, battles more Nazis, and outwits the traps guarding the Holy Grail. And it was all before Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, in which a much older and unimpressive Indiana Jones escapes a nuclear blast by hiding inside a refrigerator coated with lead.

#4 The Black Knight, 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail'

Source: Cinema 5

Although John Cleese's character, the Black Knight, only appears briefly in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, his whole life in the legendary comedy is based on his obstinate reluctance to die. While King Arthur (Graham Chapman) is walking through the woods, he tries to cross a ridiculously little bridge across a creek, but the formidable Black Knight, who is manning the bridge for some reason, won't allow Arthur through. The combat has just started when Arthur cleanly slices the Black Knight's arm from his body after grudgingly agreeing to duel the knight for the right to cross the bridge.
To Arthur's disdain and complete bewilderment, the Black Knight, however, claims it is "but a scratch," refuses to even recognize the gravity of a lost leg, and resumes the combat. As the struggle goes on, Arthur cuts off his second arm, concluding that he has won. Nevertheless, the Black Knight, who is now bleeding profusely, decides to continue kicking Arthur rather than give up. The Black Knight is eventually reduced to only a torso and a head, shouting at Arthur to return and fight like a man and threatening to bite off his legs as both of his legs are eventually amputated.

#5 The Bride, 'Kill Bill'

Source: Kill Bill Vol. 1 / Miramax Films

Beatrix "The Bride" Kiddo (Uma Thurman) is a vengeance-driven super-assassin who was molded into a weapon of devastation by the greatest martial arts teacher. The Bride is unkillable in the Kill Bill story in many ways, but what stands out is that she survives a pistol blast to the skull at close range.
After abruptly waking up from a coma, she seeks revenge. As a result, she embarks on a journey during which she defeats the Crazy 88 with a sword, receives a shotgun blast to the chest (albeit one filled with rock salt), is buried alive and escapes by punching, and is paralyzed by a tranquilizer dart, and still manages to kill everyone on her hit list. That just serves to demonstrate that you don't betray someone who is an unending fountain of vengeance-fueled wrath.

#6 Captain Jack Sparrow, 'Pirates of the Caribbean' Franchise

Source: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest / Buena Vista Pictures

The charming, rum-loving Jack Sparrow from the Pirates of the Caribbean film series made his name by narrowly escaping death. Johnny Depp. In addition to the stories of his being stranded on an island and teaching sea turtles to rescue him, we also witness him narrowly escaping the death penalty, fending off an army of zombie buccaneers, and physically facing off against a monstrous Kraken with just his sword.
He truly does die as a result of this, and he then finds himself in a bizarre state of limbo from which he is finally freed. He, therefore, doesn't pass away even when he does. He outsmarts magic sorceresses, cannibals, and Bill Nighy's squid-faced Davy Jones all with what appears to be supernaturally strong dumb luck and inebriated charm. Ultimately, it took Depp's tumultuous divorce and a great deal of judicial drama to put a stop to the well-liked pirate's rule.

#7 Ethan Hunt, 'Mission: Impossible' Franchise

Source: Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation / Paramount Pictures

In the Mission: Impossible film series, Tom Cruise plays an unstoppable super spy who resembles a mystical cross between a punching bag and the hanging cat from the "Hang In There" motivational poster. Ethan Hunt is a guy who repeatedly risks his life to save the world by running quickly into peril. Things that would undoubtedly finish off anyone else barely even slow Hunt down, from riding on a train while being pursued by a helicopter in Mission: Impossible to hanging off the side of a plane as it took off in Rogue Nation to being tortured, kidnapped, betrayed, and thrown around like a rag doll by explosions in pretty much every episode of the series.
Hunt has become visibly more resentful of the numerous absurd situations he encounters as the series has developed and as he has aged, yet he has never given up, even when his chances of survival are slim. It seems as though Hunt has accepted that he truly is immortal.

#8 Ellen Ripley, 'Alien' Franchise

Source: Aliens / 20th Century Fox

In the year 2122, Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) is a straightforward warrant officer on the USCSS Nostromo when she and her crew encounter the terrible extraterrestrial threat known as a Xenomorph. This encounter takes place in Ridley Scott's sci-fi/horror masterpiece Alien. Ripley does what no one else on the ship does: she survives while the unsettlingly phallic creature takes out her crew and she is attacked by the deranged android Ash (Ian Holm). She enters cryosleep after killing the Xenomorph, only to be awoken more than 50 years later and forced to battle a large number of Xenomorphs in the movie Aliens.
This time, Ripley defeats the enormous alien queen with the help of only a powered exo-suit after holding her own against a group of skilled space marines. In the opening scene of Alien 3, Ripley manages to escape a spacecraft accident that kills most of the other passengers while also outlasting a whole prison full of seasoned criminals. Yet, it is at this point that Ripley loses her life as she plunges into the molten lead to put a stop to the alien that is pouring out of her. Nevertheless, she is subsequently replicated and basically brought back to life in a similar form known as Ripley 8, proving that even death cannot put an end to the Xenomorphs' terror.

#9 Snake Plissken, 'Escape from New York'

Source: AVCO Embassy Pictures

Kurt Russell's "Snake" Plissken, the ultimate cool antihero, made his film debut in filmmaker John Carpenter's sci-fi masterpiece Escape from New York. After the president's plane crashes in New York City, which has been transformed into an unruly prison island, Plissken, a former Special Forces war hero turned professional criminal, is given a complete pardon to undertake a suicide mission to rescue him. In the sequel, Escape From L.A., Plissken is given a complete pardon in exchange for saving the president's daughter from the city of Los Angeles, which has been transformed into a prison island. If you simply... don't think about it at all, the movies are totally different.
Despite certain recycled narrative ideas, Plissken has earned his place in pop culture because he is a seasoned badass who consistently overcomes obstacles to survive. Plissken is unkillable because he is just too talented at everything to lose his life, regardless matter whether he is forced to shoot free throws in the Los Angeles Coliseum in danger of being executed or pitted against a giant of a man in a bare-knuckle gladiatorial combat. He escapes from a cult of plastic surgeon zombies in the ruins of Beverly Hills, survives an ultralight aircraft accident, surfs a comically impossible tidal wave down the LA River, and launches a hang glider attack on Disneyland (or "Happy Kingdom by the Sea" as they name it in the movie).

#10 Chev Chelios, 'Crank' Franchise

Source: Crank: High Voltage / Lionsgate

In the wacky 2006 action film Crank, hitman Chev Chelios (Jason Statham) is given a special poison that forces him to keep his adrenaline pumped up just to keep his heart beating. This causes him to constantly defy death as he searches for a cure and retribution, which leads to an action-packed, completely irrational thrill ride. The insane man engages in deliberate vehicle accidents and gunfights, ultimately plummeting from a helicopter and crashing into a car, yet the adrenaline keeps him alive (even though that makes no earthly sense).