The 25 Greatest Hotheads In Movie History

Say what you will about Marky Mark, but he did do time for assault, and that aggression is put to great use in director Martin Scorsese's Best Picture–winning crime masterwork. It's worth noting that as quick as he was to fly off the handle, Dignam remembered the blue paper shoe covers when he capped Matt Damon at the end.

War changes a man, mostly making him seriously ill-tempered and prone to pulling out guns in public. This is certainly true of Vietnam vet Walter Sobchak (played by John Goodman), a guy you want on your bowling team, especially if an armed skirmish breaks out at the lanes.

Tom Hardy is an actor we're still getting to know, but if you liked him in Warrior, then be sure to check out this brutal and completely insane flick (directed by Drive's Nicholas Winding Refn). Hardy plays Michael Peterson, a prisoner who was sentenced to seven years in prison and ended up spending 30 in solitary confinement, all because he just couldn't stop beating the snot out of people. Oh, and he changed his name to Charles Bronson, because that's clearly a much better name for the guy who's kicking your ass.

Remember this guy? Mola Ram (Amrish Puri) led hundreds of minions in a ceremony praising the goddess Kali, at the end of which he ripped out a dude's still-beating heart with his bare hand? Hothead.

It's hard to say how old J. Jonah Jameson (J.K. Simmons) is; he's got the gray at the temples, but the way he screams, he could be well ahead of schedule there. This guy's angry enough to beat out the Green Goblin and Doc Oc on our list of Spidey's hotheaded nemeses.

No, not that Public Enemy, although this 1931 gangster classic certainly help popularize the phrase. In the film, James Cagney, the go-to hothead of his day, plays Tom Powers, a Chicago kid who rises through the ranks of organized crime. And smashes a grapefruit in this chick's face.

Stanley Kowalski certainly wasn't cinema's first-ever hothead, but Marlon Brando's portrayal of the character in this classic film really drew global attention to the sub-genre of sweaty, shirtless, brooding hothead. And people still scream "Stella!" all the time, even if they have no idea why.

Hellboy (Ron Perlman) is only up this high by virtue of the fact that, per Mike Mignola's comic, his demon name translates to "and upon his brow is set a crown of fire." Given his background, Hellboy is actually a pretty nice guy—which is not to say we recommend getting him angry. Many a supernatural beast has suffered for making that mistake.

Ah, Sonny… You could've had it all, but you were too quick to give a public ass-whooping. Granted, some people have it coming to them (like Sonny's two-faced, wife-beating, brother-in-law), but hotheads sometimes have to pay the piper—by getting shot a hundred times at a toll booth.

Principal Ed Rooney, played by Jeffrey Jones, had his hands full with "righteous dude" Ferris Bueller. Poor Ed's only real outlet for his rage was screaming his secretary's name at the top of his lungs ("GRAAAAACE!"), but that doesn't make his hotheadedness any less valid.

Just to prove that hotheads can be life of the party, we're giving some love to Maverick (Tom Cruise). A real hothead can never be contained, not by an F16, a bitchin' Kawasaki, a beach volleyball court, or a karaoke bar. Too bad the U.S. Navy had to learn that the hard way.

Yes, this is yet another character from a Martin Scorsese film (and there's more to come). What can we say? He just gets hotheads. In this case, he put Robert De Niro in position for an Oscar win with the role of semi-neanderthal boxer Jake LaMotta. LaMotta was a simple man: He liked a good steak, a good poem, and beating people senseless.

Dodgeball is the hothead game, and with all due respect to Billy Madison, White Goodman (Ben Stiller) played it like no other maniac with a Napoleon complex before or since.

Just to prove that hotheads can be life of the party, we're giving some love to Maverick (Tom Cruise). A real hothead can never be contained, not by an F16, a bitchin' Kawasaki, a beach volleyball court, or a karaoke bar. Too bad the U.S. Navy had to learn that the hard way.

Right when you first meet Mr. Plainview (the role that won Daniel Day Lewis his second Oscar), you get the distinct impression he has anger issues. It takes a little while, but eventually he bludgeons someone to death with a bowling pin. Don't mess with his milkshake.

This brutal drill sergeant delivers some of the great four-letter-word-filled tirades in cinema history. R. Lee Ermey's delivery of said tirades was so effective, he was able to forge an entire career out of dressing down sniveling punks.

The school guidance counselor was seriously sleeping on Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka). In addition to beating people up, his interests included motocross and putting on ghoulish skeleton make-up, and while he did partake of the ganja, it did nothing to chill his edge. Johnny's desire to destroy Daniel Larusso (Ralph Macchio) often brought him to the verge of tears—dude, if it's that big a deal, just go ahead and sweep the leg.

Golf is a game for the even-tempered, those who can stay calm in the most stressful of situations, which is why loose cannon Happy Gilmore's titular flick still ranks as one of the classic comedy characters of the '90s. When it came to his golf game, Adam Sandler's bitter, aggressive ex-hockey player was not above wrestling an alligator or going toe to toe with Bob Barker to save a stroke. And, for the record, he did better against the alligator).

Generally speaking, house shoes and a beach cruiser are the gear of someone who's laid back and down for anything. And that would be your first mistake in assessing Deebo, played by former wrestling star Tiny Lister. Deebo lives for two things: jacking your personal belongings and knocking you the you-know-what out.

To call the actor who played Martin Riggs a hothead would be an understatement. This may be the closest we get to the experience of hanging with the real Mel Gibson, but since Riggs spends his time beating up evil, racist villains (instead of being one), we can really cheer on his imbalanced and reckless antics.

Many things can bring out your inner green monster. For Dr. Bruce Banner, it's pure rage that does the trick, and his inner green monster is actually a gigantic outer green monster. Hopefully, he doesn't see this—he'd be pretty pissed about not being number one here. "Hulk smash" this list!

If Tommy DeVito asks, "Do I amuse you?" just slowly back away. DeVito, as portrayed in an Oscar-winning performance by Joe Pesci, is a man whose fuse is as minuscule as, well, he is. But no one ever said you had to be tall to effectively wield a carving knife.

After being double-crossed by Mephistopheles, Johnny Blaze became the Ghost Rider, one of the most famously ill-tempered heroes ever to grace the cover of a comic book. We love him because his weapon of choice is a chain, and because he rides an equally pissed-off looking motorcycle.

Tony Montana's most famous line is, of course, "Say hello to my little friend," which Al Pacino delivered in that timeless Cuban(-ish) accent as he opened fire with a grenade launcher at the end of the 1983 gangster classic Scarface. Tony's anger was pretty righteous, though; as any true gangster knows, the top of the heap is not for the faint of heart.

Should this come as any surprise? Not only is Cartman's temper so short it cannot be measured by science, he is also a devious, selfish glutton to boot. And by God, we wouldn't have him any other way.