The 25 most memorable characters in the 'Fast & Furious' franchise

The man at the center of it all. Vin Diesel’s Dominic Toretto has been key to this franchise from the beginning. In fact, Diesel’s enthusiasm/hubris is probably why the series actually exists. Sure, he took a couple of films off, but when Dom returned, the franchise really took off, and he’s the ostensible lead of it all.

“The Fast and the Furious” was a straightforward action film trying to draft off of street racing. Dom was the criminal, and Brian was the cop trying to talk him down. Paul Walker’s Brian is actually the one in the second film, and he would eventually joins Dom’s crew and become, well, family. Walker died tragically, but Brian technically lives on in the world of the films.

Sure, maybe she was thought dead at one point. Did Letty get amnesia? Absolutely. Eventually, though, Michelle Rodriguez’s character got her bearing back and eventually married her love, Dom.

Dom’s sister, played by Jordana Brewster, when the series begins Mia is just a nice young woman who doesn’t know what Dom is up to. Eventually, she would be, like, jumping from one speeding car to another while pregnant. Brian and Mia end up together, with child, which of course complicated matters when Walker died in real life.

When Diesel didn’t return for “2 Fast 2 Furious,” Brian needed a new criminal to pair off with. That would be Roman, played by Tyrese Gibson. Roman has become sort of the “comic relief” of the franchise, and he also managed to overcome the fact he was introduced in the consensus worst film in the franchise,

The other character largely used for comic relief, Tej replaced a character played by Ja Rule in the original, as Ja Rule tried to throw his weight around with the producers but failed. Thus, Ludacris stepped in, and now he has been in several movies. Somehow, he became one of the world’s greatest hackers because why not? That’s “Fast & Furious” in a nutshell.

Han was introduced in “Tokyo Drift,” and he was so dynamic they decided to bring him back. Even though, well, he dies in “Tokyo Drift.” They literally had the next few films happen earlier in the chronology of the movie to make that work…and then they brought Han back from the dead anyway.

This franchise really took off as an action-movie epic with “Fast Five.” A key addition there was Hobbs, played by Dwayne Johnson. Things got complicated when Diesel and Johnson had so much beef that they refused to work together, but the studios got smart, moving Hobbs over to his own spinoff series.

Johnson’s spinoff series is “Hobbs & Shaw,” so meet the Shaw. The trajectory of Jason Statham’s Shaw speaks to the “Yeah sure whatever” nature of this franchise. Deckard was originally a villain. Like, a real villain. He was the one who killed Han…before Han turned out to be alive. Eventually, though, he ended up on the team, and then teamed up with Hobbs to take on worse baddies.

Giselle is, to date, arguably the only significant “good” character who died and has stayed dead. She’s in a couple of films, but has yet to return. Perhaps that is because Giselle was the first significant role for Gal Gadot. She became Wonder Woman, and she has disappeared from Dom’s family.

Ramsey is, probably, the world’s greatest hacker. At the very least, she’s up there. Introduced in the seventh film, Ramsey has been in the mix ever since. She also, notably, can’t drive, which brings some comedy relief in a franchise built around cars.

Dom is all about family…but his brother Jakob never came up until the ninth film, almost as if though the franchise was grasping at straws to keep the story momentum going. There’s a reason “F9” fell flat with a lot of people. Although, Jakob is still obviously a significant character, and he’s played by John Cena to boot.

With all due respect to the primary actors in this franchise, none of them will win acting Oscars. There are one or two Oscar winners in the mix, among the ancillary actors. Helen Mirren, a venerated British actress beloved for generations, wanted to be in the “Fast” franchise, so, of course, she got the chance. She brings her gravitas to Magdalene, aka “Queenie,” the matriarch of the Shaw crime family.

What brought Magdalene and Deckard into Toretto’s crew’s world? It all started with Owen. Owen Shaw, played by Luke Evans, is the cerebral villain of the sixth film. He fails in his quest, and is left in a coma. Then, of course, he pops up in the eighth movie to help save Dom’s kid, because that’s how this franchise goes.

Another villainous character played by an Oscar winner. Although, Charlize Theron has never been afraid of genre work. Cipher is a cyberterrorist who is, effectively, the main antagonist of the series. That is true both in what we see and also in retconning what has happened. So far, Cipher has remained all bad, as opposed to the Shaw family.

Brixton Lore only popped up in the spinoff “Hobbs & Shaw,” but that’s still the world of “Fast & Furious.” While the world of this franchise has gotten increasingly out there, Idris Elba’s antagonist takes things to the next level. He’s basically a cyborg.

There are an assortment of law enforcement types in “Fast & Furious,” but FBI agent Michael Stasiak is one of the ones who stick out. It helps that he’s played by recognizable character actor Shea Wigham. Also, he’s in three movies. Oh, and Brian broke his nose, and at the very least, you likely remember that.

Elena’s role in this series is…weird. She’s a Brazilian police officer Hobbs recruits because she’s the only incorruptible person in Rio. Then, she has Dom’s child. At this point, she becomes cannon fodder. Elena is in four films, but she’s also straight-up shot in the head at the behest of Cipher.

If you are going to have a shadowy government agent in your movies, why not have him played by Kurt Russell. That’s smart casting. Mr. Nobody can pull any string needed…or at least he could. Russell’s character may or may not be dead. With this franchise, we can’t say for sure.

One more “Hobbs & Shaw” character, and also one more Shaw family member. Hattie is the sister of Owen and Deckard, though Vanessa Kirby has “happy accident” vibes given her relative age compared to her canonical brothers. They wanted to cast Kirby, and we get it, because she definitely makes a splash as Hattie.

We’re getting a little more tertiary now. Vince is in the first film as a member of Dom’s crew. In fact, he’s the most-prominent member of said crew. Then, he shows up in the fifth film, though it is to serve as a character who can die to give Dom extra motivation.

Well, maybe Sean isn’t tertiary, but in a way he is. He’s the protagonist of “Tokyo Drift,” but that is definitely the outlier in the series. It’s better than, say, “2 Fast 2 Furious,” but it is from a time when the studio thought they were going to be churning out cheap car flicks with no stars and changing casts. That ended up not being the case, leaving Sean something of an anomaly.

Twinkie is Sean’s best friend in “Tokyo Drift.” Also, he goes by Twinkie. Also, he’s played by Bow Wow. Of course, we remember him! Bow Wow played a dude who goes by Twinkie!

We haven’t really talked about any of the one-off villains, mostly because they are unmemorable. Carter Verone is the villain in “2 Fast 2 Furious,” so why is he the one who makes the cut. Well, the Latino villain is played by Cole Hauser chewing the scenery. He definitely made himself memorable.

We end with another “2 Fast 2 Furious” character for a simple reason: His name is Orange Julius! Like the mall food stall! That’s a delightfully silly name. Also, he wears all orange. In a world of faceless racers, we will forever remember Orange Julius.