Bullet Train: 10 Best Characters, Ranked

Bullet Train is based on the 2010 novel Maria Beetle by Kotaro Isaka, which premiered in Paris on July 18, 2022. The director and cinematographer who made John Wick and Deadpool 2, David Leitch and Jonathan Sela respectively, came together again to make this film that was initially slated to be a serious action thriller.

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However, during development, the film became an action comedy. The movie stars Brad Pitt who plays an assassin who considers himself unlucky and has anxiety. He has to fight other assassins on the fast-moving bullet train since he is stopped from getting off the train whenever he tries. Let’s take a look at the best characters in this entertaining and action-packed movie that’s available to stream on Netflix.

10 Maria Beetle

Maria Beetle, portrayed by Sandra Bullock, is Ladybug’s handler and contact. She sends him on his missions and is with him on the phone throughout the movie. Ladybug is replacing a sick colleague named Carver. Ladybug is reluctant since his lousy luck results in accidental deaths. However, Maria assuages his fears by reiterating that all he has to do is steal a briefcase.

Maria is only a voice that talks to Ladybug and tries to help him get through his mission until the end. She goes to pick up Ladybug after his crazy ordeal. Unfortunately, the car she drove to pick him up in ended up being smashed by a falling pole.

9 The Wolf

The Wolf, played by Bad Bunny, is an assassin who boards the bullet train while Ladybug tries to leave with the stolen briefcase. He’s there to kill the person who murdered his wife. The Wolf recognizes Ladybug from his wedding, where his bride and guests were poisoned. Thinking Ladybug is one of her killers, he attacks a confused Ladybug.

The Wolf isn’t a character that is lured to the train by anyone; he is simply a man caught in the crossfire to avenge the death of his poisoned bride. He was following The Hornet and caused his own demise when his knife is deflected back to him.

8 The Hornet

The Hornet, played by Zazie Beetz (who fans hope gets to reprise her Deadpool 2 role in Deadpool 3), is an assassin known for killing her victims with snake poison. She is anonymously hired to kill The White Death’s son, which she does successfully, and steal a briefcase. Since Ladybug has the briefcase, she attacks him and ends up being dosed with her own poison by him.

The Hornet had inadvertently caused the death of The White Death’s wife by killing the cardiovascular surgeon she needed two days before her accident. The cruel way in which her victims die and the number of people she kills make her a sadistic but efficient killer. However, her oversight in not having extra antidotes leaves her trailing behind other characters.

7 The Elder

Shigeru Kimura known as The Elder, portrayed by Hiroyuki Sanada (who recently played Scorpion in Mortal Kombat), is the father of The Father. His grandson was pushed off a roof, and his son follows a lead to the person responsible. After his call goes unanswered, The Elder boards the train to save his son.

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Once he learns The White Death will be waiting for the train, he’s determined to get revenge since he killed his wife years ago. The Elder doesn’t have much screen time, however, his fight sequence is great, and he leaves a guardian to watch over his grandson, nullifying The Prince’s threat.

6 The Father

Yuichi Kimura, The Father, portrayed by Andrew Koji, follows a trail leading to the person responsible for pushing his son off a roof. He finds The Prince; however, she tells him that she’s left someone with his son to kill him if she doesn’t check in with the killer. Kimura is ordered to help her kill The White Death to keep his son safe.

The Father is shot by Lemon and left for dead in a bathroom, but he ends up being one of the train crash survivors. He goes through quite a lot of turmoil. He knows trying to kill The White Death may kill him, watches as The Prince rigs a gun and a briefcase with explosives, gets shot, and survives a train wreck.

5 The White Death

The White Death, played by Michael Shannon, is the shadow buyer who hires The Hornet, Tangerine and Lemon, and Carver to go to the train, so they can all kill each other and his son. He holds them all responsible for killing his beloved wife.

Though The White Death is the reason everyone is on the train, whether directly or indirectly, he isn’t seen until the end of the movie. However, he sends his goons to do his bidding at different train stops, making things more difficult for some of the assassins.

4 Tangerine

Tangerine, played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson, is one of The Twins, a famous assassin duo. They are hired to get The White Death’s son and his briefcase to him. Once he and his brother discover that the son’s been poisoned and the briefcase is missing, they devise a plan to get the briefcase back and find the son’s killer.

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The great chemistry between the brothers and the comedic dialogue is one of the film’s highlights. Tangerine is one of the characters with the most fighting sequences. Had he lived or outlived The Prince, he would’ve gotten a higher position on the list.

3 The Prince

The Prince, played by Joey King, is the White Death’s disowned daughter who wants him dead for overlooking her as his successor. She pushed The Father’s son off the roof to have him kill her father, but her plan backfires. She does succeed in handing her father the rigged gun that kills him and is the last villain standing before being run over by Lemon.

The Prince plays an innocent young girl well and can fool most of the assassins on the train before being found out by each. Though she doesn’t have a combat sequence, she cleverly uses misdirection and blackmail to get through death threats. She manages to kill her father, fulfilling her end goal indirectly.

2 Lemon

Lemon, portrayed by Brian Tyree Henry, is Tangerine’s brother. They’re tasked with bringing The White Death’s briefcase and son to him, but they end up losing the case and returning to find the son dead. Lemon discovers that The Prince is one of the main villains on the train and tries to warn his brother before passing out.

His obsession with Thomas the Tank Engine is one of the funniest highlights of the movie that crops back up throughout the film. He is one of the four characters left alive that boarded the train and avenges his brother’s death by killing The Prince. Had he been on the train during the crash and made it, he would’ve knocked out the first-place character.

1 Ladybug

Brad Pitt portrays Ladybug as a veteran assassin suffering from anxiety and a long string of bad luck who is reluctant to fill in for Carver, a fellow assassin who called in sick. His bad luck is in full force as, time and time again, he gets stopped from getting off the train and attacked by other assassins. He accidentally causes multiple deaths throughout the movie and is one of the last characters left alive.

Ladybug is the only other character bringing comedy and levity to an otherwise deadly, action-packed movie. His reluctance to hurt anybody and the accidental deaths around him offer some of the funniest scenes. Ladybug is also the character that gets in the most fight scenes in his bid to survive. Unsurprisingly, he’s one of the characters with the highest kill count by the end, whether intentional or not.

NEXT: Wednesday: 10 Best Characters, Ranked