Colonel Hans Landa
Quentin Tarantino movies have delivered some fantastic villains over the years, but Colonel Hans Landa has to be the very best of them.
Inglourious Basterds hit the big screen in 2009 and saw Christoph Waltz take on the role of Landa; it was the role that was to change the direction of his acting career.
Hans Landa is an Austrian SS officer who has an ability to locate people who are hiding throughout occupied France.
Landa is cruel, ruthless and intelligent and yet he mixes this with charm and wit and this makes his a fascinating and riveting character.
Inglourious BAsterds see Waltz at his very best; one minute he is laughing and telling anecdotes, the next a darkness passes over him and he is ready to kill.
Landa was the most terrifying bad guy to hit the big screen that year, and he really does remain one of the best villains of the last decade.
His finest moment comes in the opening scene where Landa drops in on an unsuspecting farmer. It is a masterful scene both in the writing and the delivery.
Waltz shows us the several sides of this character's personality, while turning the dramatic screw with every word.
Waltz's performance gained rave reviews from critics - he really does steal the movie - and the awards started rolling in.
Waltz won the Best Supporting Actor Bafta, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild award, before wrapping up the awards season with the Oscar.
As for Inglourious Basterds it was a huge box office success and was the most successful Tarantino movie; it is since become the second most successful film behind Django Unchained.
Tagged in Christoph Waltz