Breaking Bad ended almost nine years ago, but many of the show's iconic quotes remain in the fans' minds. According to a Reddit , there's one quote in particular that describes a categorical feeling that fans get when witnessing a powerful character onscreen. Walter White says "I am not in danger, Skyler. I am the danger. A guy opens his door and gets shot and you think that of me? I am the one who knocks."
Walter White is supposedly just a small business owner and former chemistry teacher, but his Heisenberg persona certainly fits the one-who-knocks concept. And Reddit s have pointed out many movie characters that could also fit the same description.
Keyser Söze - The Usual Suspects
Redditor The Usual Suspects, the sole survivor puts together the pieces that led up to a horrific gun battle on a boat, which began when five criminals met at a seemingly random police lineup.
In the center of it all is Keyser Söze: a notorious criminal mastermind who puts into practice a complex plan to kill the man who could identify him to the police. Söze establishes his one-who-knocks status from the get-go, but the mystery of whether he really exists and who is the face behind the name is also part of his genius.
Marv - Sin City (2005)
Suggested by Sin City franchise. Unpredictable and unstable, his violent tendencies are difficult to tame, and he turns into a dangerous beast in a matter of seconds. The world of Sin City alone is brutally challenging, and it's almost an impossible task to survive without the use of force.
In a dreadful neo-noir atmosphere, Sin City follows a series of characters caught up in violent corruption. Marv stands out as a hulking figure covered by countless scars, a former convict troubled by a mental condition that causes distressing hallucinations and paranoia.
Joey Cusack - A History of Violence (2005)
In one of Viggo Mortensen's best partnerships with David Cronenberg, A History of Violence follows an average family dragged into the media spotlight after the father commits a seeming self-defense murder at his diner. Viggo plays Tom, an average family man who leads a simple life alongside his beloved wife and two kids, but he harbors an unimaginable secret: he used to be Joey Cusack, an unstoppable killing machine.
FreeLook93 suggests Joey because that's the personality that takes over the narrative. When the past catches up with him, Tom and Joey blend into a single person as he goes after the people threatening his peaceful new life. Like a one-man army, Tom/Joey fights until returning to where his previous life started in a final attempt to get rid of those violent roots.
Léon Montana - Léon: The Professional (1994)
Léon is a top hitman in NYC who happens to witness his next-door neighbors being brutally murdered. They were the family of a girl named Mathilda, whom he unwillingly takes into custody. As she ferments revengeful thoughts, she decides to follow Léon's footsteps and become an assassin herself.
As suggested by junkyardpig, Léon is such an engaging character because he proves to be much more than a merciless killer through his interactions with Mathilda. While he's far from being a good person, he still manages to get his job done and protect Mathilda from any danger.
Martin Lang - The Killing of A Sacred Deer (2017)
Shying away from the typical badass character armed to the teeth and fit to put up any fight, Martin Lang is the one pulling all the strings in The Killing of A Sacred Deer. The movie follows Steven, a renowned surgeon with an enviable life and a beautiful family. As he becomes closer to the peculiar young man Martin, he's forced to make an unthinkable sacrifice after his new friend's behavior turns sinister.
Redditor TJTrapJesus states, "there's something that is really meek and unassuming about him yet super intimidating at the same time." As Martin begins to act completely insensitively towards the man who took him under his wings, and after giving Steven an ultimatum that feels almost like a curse, Martin ends up beaten, tortured, and taken hostage, but still remains unbeatable. Martin is the one who knocks, but he does that softly.
Joker - The Dark Knight (2008)
Just like the Joker steals the scene in The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight, the hero often feels like a mere puppet in Joker's game.
Independent of the police's efforts and Bruce Wayne's attentive look, the Joker always seems to be one step ahead of anyone who's trying to stop him. Even when he finds himself trapped, he manages to get inside the mind of his opponents. Suggested by bandit4loboloco, Ledger delivers such an incredible performance that it feels like the Joker has won even when he's lost.
Anton Chigurh - No Country For Old Men (2007)
Anton Chigurh is the main antagonist of No Country For Old Men and calmly dictates the fate of the innocents who cross paths with him by flipping a coin. Brought up by hefzul, Chigurh is the embodiment of pure evil, not demonstrating a single human reaction as he makes his way in a search for a missing satchel containing over $2 million that he was assigned to retrieve.
In Chigurh's hands, those who make out alive only get away because he wants to. In a performance that earned him an Academy Award, Javier Bardem does the amazing job of playing a killer who calls all the shots, yet is devoid of any emotions.
Thanos - Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
Thanos is an easy pick for "the one who knocks" status according to Infinity War "it's clear the Hulk can't even compete with him in a fist fight, then he kills a major villain in the first scene." Rightfully said, the movie indicates from the very beginning that Thanos isn't there to mess around, he's returned with full force and is there to win.
All the desperate, arduous plans put into practice by each Avenger seem small when compared with Thano's power as he grows stronger. With a snap of his fingers, he's got the fate of the entire universe in his hands.
Bryan Mills - Taken (2008)
Liam Neeson is famous for playing only badass roles, but it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Bryan Mills could take all of his characters one by one if they ever kidnapped his daughter. He's a retired CIA agent fighting his aways across Europe in search of his daughter who went missing in Paris.
As mentioned by Taken was such a successful movie that Mills returned for two other great films where the character escalates into a chaotic unstoppable force.
Hannibal Lecter - The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
In The Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal Lecter advises the promising agent Starling in a puzzling case as she tries to obtain precious insights out of him, but there's a catch: he is a violent serial murderer, serving a life sentence for various acts of cannibalism. thriceness shares interesting insights about the iconic Hannibal Lecter, "even from behind the glass he's so incredibly menacing and you feel like maybe you're the one who's trapped."
While indirectly helping Starling with her case, Hannibal slowly gets inside her head and simultaneously takes action in a risky attempt to get out of prison. Always a step ahead of both his allies and opponents, he often has everything figured out beforehand and will take down anyone unlucky enough to cross paths with him.
