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Hollywood’s Coolest Badasses

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Pop culture has given us some ass-kickingly cool characters -- but these few good men and women are the ones you'd be lucky to have on your side during a brawl. Helen Mirren in "Red" When an assassin threatens his life, former CIA agent Frank Moses (Bruce Willis) reassembles his old team in an effort to survive. Most Badass Moment Mirren channels her inner Martha Stewart and John Rambo by alternating between arranging flowers and shooting guns.

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Bryan Mills in "Taken" When his daughter is kidnapped and sold as a sex slave, Bryan does what any father would do -- any father who used to be a spy, that is. He hops a plane to Europe, breaking, shooting or stabbing any thing or person that stands in his way. Most Badass Moment Shooting his friend's wife in the leg to get information on his daughter's location.

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Jack Bauer in "24" Whether you have to take out a terrorist cell leader, shady government official or double agent, Jack Bauer is a one man interrogation/assassination squad. Despite the morally gray behavior, he is one of the most ethical characters in the history of TV. Most Badass Moment With a terrorist in a headlock, Jack runs up a wall and flips down, snapping the baddie's neck.

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Sydney Bristow in "Alias" There is not one mean bone in Sydney's body, and yet she'd break all of yours trying to save the world. Most Badass Moment From the kitchen to the bedroom, Syd's season-two ending fight with the Francinator was "Alias'" most intense brawl.

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Nikolai in "Eastern Promises" Being the defacto bodyguard for an entire family of Russian mobsters is a tough job. Getting Nikolai to drop his steely visage is even tougher. Most Badass Moment Battling -- and brutally beating -- two giant thugs while completely nude.

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Frank Martin in the "Transporter" movies While it's never a good idea to break the rules when working for insidious organizations, if you are going to, make sure you're trained in every form of fighting (including half-naked oil wrestling) because you never know which will come in handy. Most Badass Moment After realizing there is a bomb under his car, Frank speeds up, hits a ramp and flips his auto using a crane hook to dislodge the device while upside down.

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Buffy Summers in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" For most people, high school was hell on earth, so imagine how tough Buffy had to be to deal with cliques, gym and actual hell on earth every week. Most Badass Moment Dispatching a group of demon bounty hunters while babysitting Cordelia and wearing a homecoming gown.

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President James Marshall in "Air Force One" The most take-charge president to ever grace the big screen, James Marshall single handedly took out an entire team of terrorists -- and looked cool while doing it. Most Badass Moment "Get off my plane!!" *smack*

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Samantha Caine/Charly Baltimore in "The Long Kiss Goodnight" Charlie was such an amazing assassin that she was hunted down and shot in the head by her own people. Unfortunately for them, she survived, and after overcoming a slight case of amnesia, exacted her revenge. Most Badass Moment As the memories slowly started to come back, Samantha (channeling Charly) honeed her knife skills on a variety of vegetables.

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Vic Mackey in "The Shield" Taking bribes, stealing, police brutality and murder was all in a day's work for Detective Mackey. Most Badass Moment Allowing a police attack dog to mutilate a suspected rapist's, um, weapon of choice.

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Tyler Durden in "Fight Club" Tyler was slick, strong, suave and almost too good to be true. OK, not almost. Most Badass Moment After letting Lou wail on his face, a bloodied Tyler pins him down, screaming, "You don't know where I've been. Just let us have the basement, Lou!"

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Captain Kara 'Starbuck' Thrace in "Battlestar Galactica" Galactica's wild child, Starbuck drank, smoked and frakked with reckless abandon. Although she eventually found her calling, perhaps Hot Dog's call sign would have been more appropriate nickname for her during the first few seasons. Most Badass Moment After goading Lee into a boxing match, Kara proceeds to give as good as she gets, ultimately embracing her one-time lover ... in front of her new lover.

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Detective Elliot Stabler in "Law & Order: SVU" The juxtaposition of Elliot, the family man, and Stabler, the aggressive cop has been one of this spin-off's most enjoyable aspects. Most Badass Moment Although Stabler's anger issues had been slowly working their way to the surface for quite a while, actually seeing him cross the line and beat an abusive father uncoscious was rather shocking.

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Ethan Hunt in "Mission: Impossible" Ethan, never more badass than in the original, was capable of outmaneuvering any operative, assuming any identity and deciphering any plan -- but he was incapable of betrayal. A fact many accusers learned the hard way. Most Badass Moment Blowing up an entire restaurant to make a watery getaway

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James Bond in "Casino Royale" Any incarnation of 007 would be worthy of a spot on this list, but the newest tux-wearing superspy gets my vote thanks to a killer combination of gritty realism and jaw-dropping action. Most Badass Moment After chasing Mollaka through Madagascar during the franchise's most impressive fight sequence, James nonchalantly shoots him and blows up the Nambutu embassy as a distraction while he escapes.

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Bud White in "L.A. Confidential" Bud White is the LAPD's most feared and violent officer, so when he arrests up suspects for the Night Owl murders, they're nervous before even entering an interrogation. Most Badass Moment Bud's frustrations over an interrogation that's going nowhere lead him to snap the back off a chair using only his forearm strength.

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Jason Bourne in "The Bourne" films From the second he is rescued at sea, Jason Bourne sets off on a high adrenaline quest that leads him to multiple countries, all with baddies waiting to throw down. Unfortunately for the faceless villains Jason meets, he's capable of turning anything into a weapon. Most Badass Moment In "The Bourne Supremacy," Jason uses a rolled-up magazine to not only beat his assailant unconscious, but also blown up his apartment. MacGyver, who? Who is your favorite pop culture badass? Weigh in at PopWrap !