John Wick: Strongest Hitmen In The Movies

John Wick Chapter 4 hit new heights for the franchise, and while there are a number of amazing characters who turn up in the latest film, fans are already comparing them to the strength of previous opponents that have been dispatched by Wick throughout his previous cinematic adventures.

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By  Jake Fillery

The Baba Yaga has been plagued by a war against fellow members of the wide-spanning underground. While he sought to escape this life for so long, he has never been able to get out, and things have indeed been getting worse for him over the last few films. With a hit on his head from the high table that never seems to go away, Wick is unable to find peace. But which of his adversaries to date has been the strongest?

Updated on January 14th, 2025, by Chris Harkin: The John Wick franchise feels like it has been slightly dormant in the wake of The Continental's release but with the spin-off Ballerina film starring Ana de Armas on the way, the series is about to take a major step in discovering how much of a future it still has in Hollywood. With John Wick's status currently unknown, but rumors of Keanu Reeves' famous character showing up in the spin-off remaining, it is possible that Ballerina will be a new launching point for all manner of added characters and hitmen to be introduced down the line.

This list contains spoilers for the John Wick movies!

16 Viggo Tarasov

The Crime Boss With Some Fighting Game

• Played By Michael Nyqvist
• Appears In John Wick

The main villain of the first John Wick film wasn't actually much of a hitman himself. Rather, Viggo Tarasov was the sort of man who hired people to perform assassinations, as a crime lord and the head of the Tarasov Mob. Unfortunately for him, having no beef with John Wick himself, his son reignited a dormant volcano by breaking into Wick's house and killing his dog.

Tarasov was forced by the actions of his son into a battle with Wick, knowing of the legend of the Baba Yaga as Wick's former employer, he immediately gives the fear and respect that John has earned to him as he tries to get him to back off, and later attempts to fight him. He manages to somewhat hold his own against Wick in the first film's climactic fight, but the result was almost inevitable, and he has no further chance to prove himself in other fights.

15 Marcus

Expert Sniper, Kills Viggo's Bodyguards While Unarmed

• Played By Willem Dafoe
• Appears In John Wick

Willem Dafoe is an amazing actor, and he appeared in the first John Wick movie as a former mentor of John himself. John is shown throughout the franchise to have a lot of history with different characters in this world, and Marcus is one he seems to have more with than most.

Marcus actually takes the contract from Viggo, the Russian Mob Boss, to kill John. However, while he actually could have sniped John and gotten the kill easily, he chooses not to. Instead, he warns and helps John at great cost to himself. Despite being older, this is an indication he is incredibly wily and survived this long in his career. He also trained John, which means his abilities must have been considerable, making him an impressive hitman indeed.

14 Ernest

Almost Defeated John Wick In The Library

• Played By Boban Marjanović
• Appears In John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum

The villainous characters that John gets into brutal fights with over the course of the John Wick franchise just seem to keep getting better. Ernest is the opening fight from Chapter 3; he attacks John in the New York Public Library. He does this against the rules of the High Table, as John’s excommunicado status had not been activated.

Nevertheless, he does manage to seriously wound John to the degree that Wick had to seek medical help before his excommunicado status went into effect. Ernest may have broken the rules to do this, and John had already been beaten up before their fight, but this was still an impressive feat that marks Ernest as dangerous.

13 Shimazu Koji

A Brave Soul But Past His Best

• Played By Hiroyuki Sanada
• Appears In John Wick: Chapter 4

A man with the immediate aura of a warrior, Hiroyuki Sanada was so excellent as the manager of the Tokyo Continental in John Wick: Chapter 4 that he went on to get a role that contained some similarities to this in Shogun. Shimazu Koji was a former assassin who had retired to management, but showed his skills briefly in a final fight with Caine, as he attempted to defend John Wick.

Shimazu fell to Caine but showed in just a few short moments how great he must have been in his prime. Even at that late point in his life, he was a brave and talented warrior who was clearly a great hitman, capable even then of matching up to many lesser men, but not the devastating Caine, who managed to defeat him, with reluctance, and thus had the rage of Shimazu's daughter directed at him.

12 Perkins

Dared To Attack John At The Continental

• Played By Adrianne Palicki
• Appears In John Wick

One of the other characters who couldn't make it past the first film, Perkins, was a daring young up-and-comer who managed to nearly get away with a true crime, committing "business" on company grounds at the Continental Hotel in New York.

Perkins made many remarks to John during their fight in his hotel room, suggesting that they had a history and that she regarded him with some disdain for having morals in spite of their work. This didn't work out well for Perkins, after killing another older assassin, she herself was killed for conducting business on Continental grounds, proving that it is better to have morals in this world.

11 Charon

Held His Own In Brutal Situations

• Played By Lance Reddick & Ayo Adegun
• Appears In John Wick, John Wick: Chapter 2, John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum, John Wick: Chapter 4 & The Continental

Charon is one of the few characters who has appeared in every entry in the franchise, including The Continental TV series, which means he's appeared in more entries than John Wick himself. A loyal and lovable character, Charon is the receptionist at The Continental in New York and is shown to have been there for many years.

Lance Reddick played the role in the films, while Ayo Adegun took on a younger version of the character in The Continental. Despite not being a real hitman, Charon was shown in John Wick: Chapter 3 to be a dangerous individual, who held his own alongside John in the siege of The Continental. The men sent against them by the High Table were brutal killers, and Charon not only fought and killed many of them, but survived to tell the tale.

10 Cassian

Survived Multiple Fights With John Wick

• Played By Common
• Appears In John Wick: Chapter 2

Cassian is one of the greatest threats that John faces in John Wick Chapter 2. The honorable assassin is fighting to protect Santino D’Antonio, whom John seeks to kill. They encounter each other multiple times over the course of the second chapter in the John Wick saga, but it is on a subway train that their final confrontation occurs.

Cassian is a capable assassin who, again, manages to wound John but is defeated. John leaves the knife he stabs Cassian with still in him, allowing him to seek medical help and possibly survive. He was nearly a match for John, though John was injured in this fight as well.

9 Mr. Nobody

Could Have Killed John Wick But Spares Him

• Played By Shamier Anderson
• Appears In John Wick: Chapter 4

Another recent appearance in John Wick: Chapter 4, Mr. Nobody is just one of the very few characters throughout the franchise who had the opportunity to kill John and didn't. Nobody is a tracker who works with a dog, similar to Sofia. He is always looking for the next big bounty, which by Chapter 4 was definitely John Wick himself.

However, when Nobody arrived at the Osaka Continental, he saved John Wick from the High Table's men in order to keep the bounty for himself. He chose not to kill John when he could have, deciding to wait for the bounty to be higher. Though he changed his mind later and helped John, he proved his worth and talent immediately upon appearing on screen.

8 Sofia

Animal Training Master, Her Dogs Enhance Her Fighting Skills

• Played By Halle Berry
• Appears In John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum

Sofia is a rare assassin who was only a help to John over the course of her time in the movies, at least so far. Having her own majorly helpful assassin dogs, who appear deadly enough themselves, Sofia is also a great assassin who is a major asset in keeping John alive through his excommunicado phase.

Surviving her time in Parabellum, Sofia is definitely one of the few characters open for a possible return in the future. There are certainly few enough characters that would have a chance against her if she does return, especially with her dogs along for the ride. Sofia and other characters in the world could also be taking over the franchise soon, after the ambiguous ending to John Wick: Chapter 4.

7 Akira Shimazu

Surviving The Osaka Fight May Have Killed Caine

• Played By Rina Sawayama
• Appears In John Wick: Chapter 4

Akira, daughter of Koji Shimazu and concierge of the Osaka Continental Hotel, is a supreme fighter. Having been raised in Japanese culture by her father, and having already been in the business of helping run a Continental for years, she was able to hold her own against some of the very best the High Table could send for John Wick.

Although Akira only survived because Caine had no reason to kill her, that did not stop Akira from harboring a grudge against him for killing her father. After showcasing her skills early in John Wick: Chapter 4, Akira turns up at the very end again, pursuing Caine and possibly even managing to kill him. The conclusion to that moment may never be seen in the franchise.