From a certain perspective, you kind of can’t blame Jabba The Hutt for having a grudge against Han Solo. After all, he was contracted to deliver spices, and Kessel Run or no Kessel Run, Jabba’s out some serious credits. Of course, being a murderous misogynist slug-thing changes your perceptions of stuff, so imagine the charismatic Tony Soprano or Michael Corleone in Jabba’s place, and perhaps it will change your mind? Dating back decades, the untouchable crime lord has gotten a lot of mileage in pop culture: Daredevil’s battles wouldn’t be nearly as compelling without the Kingpin; Mal Reynolds’ interactions with Prudence and Badger were key to establishing his character and the setting of ‘Firefly’; and one of the best Spider-Man stories of all time featured the ongoing clashes between the forces of The Big Man and The Crimemaster. Of course, the greatest use of a crime lord character, in my eyes, is probably Rose Marie (Sally from the ‘Dick Van Dyke’ show) as The Big Man in “Monkees In A Ghost Town,” leading us to today’s humble spice-merchant query…
The MS-QOTD (pronounced, as always, “misquoted”) also loves the Marvel Universe’s version of ‘Goodfellas,’ led by Vincent Price dressed in white cape and tights with the powers of Superman himself, asking: Who’s your favorite ‘Big Man’ of organized crime in a fictional setting?
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Top 3 in no particular order: Jabba the Hutt, Vito Corleone, Wilson Fisk.
The Napoleon of Crime himself, Professor James Moriarty.
I like Lex Luthor. Not only has he had 75 years to absorb all the best traits from other fictional crime bosses, but he proves that no matter how much you have, there will always be something you can never get, and it’s that thing you will always want. He also proves that if you have money and power, you can pretty much do whatever you want (murder, genocide, destroy a city, etc.) and still walk free in your own personal skyscraper or even become president.