The 14 Smartest Fictional Characters in Movies

Code-breakers, detectives, inventors and quiet prodigies — the movie minds that outthink everyone in the room. Who is the smartest of them all? Cast your vote!

1. 1
   Hannibal Lecter

   The brilliant, cannibalistic psychiatrist of The Silence of the Lambs.
   1000pts
2. 2
   Professor Moriarty

   Sherlock Holmes's criminal-mastermind nemesis.
   689pts
3. 3
   Sherlock Holmes

   The peerless deductive detective adapted across countless films.
   665pts
4. 4
   Will Hunting

   The self-taught janitor math genius of Good Will Hunting, played by Matt Damon.
   596pts
5. 5
   Hermione Granger

   The brightest witch of her age in the Harry Potter films.
   596pts
6. 6
   Doc Brown

   The eccentric time-machine inventor of Back to the Future.
   596pts
7. 7
   Bruce Wayne

   The genius detective-industrialist behind Batman.
   517pts
8. 8
   Ellie Arroway

   The brilliant SETI astronomer of Contact.
   517pts
9. 9
   John Nash

   The Nobel-winning mathematician of A Beautiful Mind.
   423pts
10. 10
    Katherine Johnson

    The NASA mathematician of Hidden Figures.
    310pts
11. 11
    Neo

    The reality-bending hacker chosen one of The Matrix.
    310pts
12. 12
    Tony Stark

    The genius inventor-industrialist behind Iron Man.
    172pts
13. 13
    Alan Turing

    The codebreaking pioneer of The Imitation Game.
    172pts
14. 14
    Lisbeth Salander

    The genius hacker of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
    172pts