Jack Bauer

Kiefer Sutherland, "24"
One wonders if there is anyone walking the halls of our government’s Counter Terrorist Unit that has had to do half of the things that Jack Bauer has done in order to protect his country. There is no witness too valuable to torture (or kill, as our definitive badass moment will attest), no agent too important to disfigure (fare thee well, Chase Edmunds’ left forearm), no relative of a bad guy too innocent to shoot in the leg, and there is certainly no shortage of opportunities to yell “Dammit!” when times are tough. Jack Bauer is not just a super agent, he’s a Method agent, getting addicted to heroin in order to worm his way into a Mexican drug ring. You can question his methods – everyone else does – but there is no arguing with his results: if you’re hatching a plan to attack the United States, Jack Bauer will find you. And when he does, oh yes, there will be blood.

Definitive badass moment: When he shot and killed a federal witness and brought his severed head to the guy responsible for bombing CTU in order to gain his trust.

Classic badass line: “You are gonna tell me what I want to know, it's just a matter of how much you want it to hurt.”

Indiana Jones

Harrison Ford, "Raiders of the Lost Ark"
Who says college professors can’t be badasses? Dr. Henry “Indiana” Jones may not have time for love, but he always makes time for an archaeological expedition.  Indy’s first and foremost a historian, but to find his inner adventurer, he needs only remove his glasses, don his fedora and grab his trusty bullwhip.  A profound desire to see precious antiquities in museums rather than on the black market has found him ankle-deep in adders, poisoned by the Chinese mafia, dragged under a tank by Nazis, and almost flattened by a giant boulder…but that’s all in a day’s work for Indiana Jones.

Definitive badass moment: When facing a sword-wielding assassin who boastfully demonstrates his dexterity with his blade, Jones shrugs, pulls out his revolver, and shoots the guy dead in his tracks.

Classic badass line: “You want to talk to God? Let's go see him together. I've got nothing better to do!”