Jean-Claude Van Damme has played many roles and most of his characters are amazing.
His career spans over three decades and, on average, Van Dam appears in at least one film every couple of years. And he is by far one of the most beloved action heroes and an expert in martial arts. Here are his ten best characters.
The Predator was originally cast by the JCVD, but left because he didn’t like the original alien costume concepts. Rumor has it that he was simply fired because Van Dam wanted the Predator to be a kickboxer. The good thing is that there are many other roles to choose from.
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10. Colonel Guile, Street Fighter (1994)
Street Fighter took it to a whole new level when Van Damme brought it to life on the silver screen. The character is somewhat taken from the original video game, such as storylines, catchphrases, and main characters, while other features, such as his military rank and his goal of ending Bison’s corruption and saving a friend, are unique to the film. Both actors play their characters to the fullest. They say that the actors played it as a parody, so the game turned out to be too dramatic.
9. Ben Archer, Wake of Death (2004)
Early 1990s, this character is an interesting mixture of good and evil, making him more dangerous than the average underworld enforcer and martial arts expert. When his wife, an INS social worker, turns up against a local Chinese triad and is murdered, Archer (Jean-Claude Van Dam) must find these perpetrators to avenge her death and save the children she was trying to protect. He is a bad guy who has a chance to do something good and he does it. And yes, this is one of the latest offerings in Van Damme’s library that proves he can still be a classic action hero.
8. Lukas, The Bouncer (2018)
This film could have been a sequel to Death Awakening as it also follows the exploits of an enforcer for the organization, but the tone and setting of the film is completely different. It’s a conscientious French-language film set in Europe, with a few action sequences that only Lucas could pull off, even though he’s older than most of his co-stars. Initially, his job was legal, and one night something goes wrong at the club and he agrees to become a mole for the cops to evade murder charges and prevent his daughter from being swept away by childcare.
7. Chance Boudreaux, Hard Target (1993)
The character must be hardcore to rock this mullet. “Chance” is French for “lucky” and given some of the risks this guy takes, it’s more than just his name. It’s a cult classic due to some crazy action scenes and incredible antics on Chance’s part. With John Woo’s first American directorial debut and Van Damme at the height of his career, this character is highly ranked on the coolness scale.RELATED:
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6. Max Walker, Timecop (1994)
Timecop runs time travel, along with other films such as The Terminator and Back to the Future. Max Walker is a police officer who has a chance not only to catch the criminal, but also to turn back time and prevent the murder of his wife. He must take revenge and first of all erase the tragedy. Walker is good at what he does first and foremost, and when the fight gets personal, he takes it up another notch. The film is known for some of Walker’s hilariously violent jokes, such as the Broadway prank.
5. Luc Deveraux (GR44), Universal Soldier franchise
The JCVD films have inspired numerous sequels, the Universal Soldier films being among the most successful. Dolph Lungren joins the cast as the bad soldier. The backstory is pretty ambitious and takes viewers back to the Vietnam War while adding some high stakes for all the characters involved. Devereaux was a tough soldier from the very beginning, so he was selected to participate in a specially reinforced military unit and was named GR44. Devereaux must use his enhanced powers to remember his past and escape from Dolph Lungren so that he has a future.
4. Frank Dux, Bloodsport (1988)
One of the things that makes this role so amazing is that Frank Dux is not a fictional character, at least not according to him. Tanaka, a ninja master, was apparently a real person who had trained Dax since childhood specifically to compete in kumite or the Bloodsport. After winning a tournament in 1975, he invented his own martial art, Dax Ryu Ninjutsu. The film took liberties for dramatic effect, such as evading military authorities and rescuing a journalist.
3. Kurt Sloane, Kickboxer (1989)
Kurt is a normal guy. He is not a secret agent and not a professional fighter. A dramatic character line that transforms Kurt from a sweet, naive little brother to a vindictive Muy Thai boxing machine. Kurt seeks revenge after his brother is permanently injured in a messy fight. What keeps Kurt from completely plunging into darkness is either love for his brother or Mai Li, his trainer’s daughter. Van Damme acts as the coach, while younger actor Alain Moussy plays the title role.RELATED:
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2. Gibson Rickenbacker, Cyborg (1989)
Many people call this movie a rip-off of Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, the villain is wearing chainmail like Tina Turner as Aunty Entity. The name is also similar – Max is played by Mel Gibson, and the character’s last name is “Rockatansky”. On top of all that, Gibson Van Damme can hold his own in the wasteland and actually plays a tough but grim warrior just as well as Mel Gibson or Thomas Hardy. The escort quest the character takes on is exciting, with the protagonist taking as many hits as they deal. And there are some painful action scenes in this movie, and it’s probably more violent than other dystopian films of the time, even from the Mad Max franchise.