In John Wick’s line of work, friends are hard to come by. Because the guy regularly has a bounty on his head, most of the people he knows either want nothing to do with him in a time of crisis, or they set out to collect the reward. That being said, there are a few people the Keanu Reeves character has been forced to lean on in the movies we’ve seen so far, to pair with our ranking of Wick's greatest opponents, it feels healthy to take a look back on those whom the titular hero can call an ally.
The primary thing that separates these characters from one another is their loyalty, dictated through their shared history with John Wick, and the degree to which their relationship is transactional, and we figured that would be a fun metric to rank. Let’s dig in, starting with one of the Baba Yaga more morally neutral friends...
13. Winston (Ian McShane)
If this list opted not to include the events that play out at the end of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, Winston would definitely rank much higher, as demonstrates a good deal of respect for John in the first two films and gave him an hour head start after declaring him Excommunicado in Chapter 2. A lot of that good will went out the window at the end of Chapter 3, however, when Winston selfishly shoots John five times, causing him to leap off the roof of the Continental. Ian McShane has defended the character's actions in the aftermath, and he does earn some forgiveness from the boogeyman in John Wick: Chapter 4.
12. Nobody/Tracker (Shamier Anderson)
The decision to include Nobody/Tracker in this ranking was admittedly one that I internally debated. After all, the character is only featured in John Wick: Chapter 4, and he spends far more of his time in the film as an adversary instead of being a friend. What ultimately earns him a spot, though, is where things end up. When John saves Nobody's dog from being killed, it earns the protagonist a fealty that no bounty can match. In the conclusion, I'd argue his loyalty is of a superior strength than Winston's, hence him taking #12.
11. The Director (Anjelica Huston)
John Wick finds himself extremely desperate at the start of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, cashing in everything he has to escape New York. That means going to a mysterious figure known as The Director, who gives him passage to Casablanca after he presents her a meaningful rosary. She’s included on this list because she helped the hero on his journey, but she ranks incredibly low because she probably hates him now due to the punishment she was given by the High Table (a sword through the hands) after swearing future service.
10. Sofia (Halle Berry)
As demonstrated when she leaves John Wick stranded in the desert with only a tiny bit of backwash in a bottle, Sofia isn’t much of a fan of the franchise’s central character. The only reason she helps him during his trip to Casablanca in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum is because she has a debt to pay through an Oath Marker. She’ll probably be extremely happy if she never sees the assassin’s face ever again, but we rank her higher than a few others simply because of the history between Sofia and John involving the former’s daughter.
9. Charon (Lance Riddick)
Looking back on the end of the third John Wick movie, Charon doesn't exactly do much to stop Winston from opening fire on the hero, seemingly because his loyalty to Winston outweighs his loyalty to John. That being said, he ranks a few slots higher than his boss because of both the courtesy he has regularly shown, and the fact that he actually picked up a gun and fights at John’s side during Parabellum’s third act battle (while Winston relaxed inside of a giant safe).
8. The Bowery King (Laurence Fishburne)
The Bowery King has a long history with John Wick, as the latter once sliced the former’s throat during a mission – forcing the future king to decide between shooting John in the back, or keeping pressure on the cut. Out of gratitude for his life being spared, he assisted the eponymous assassin in John Wick: Chapter 2, but in the sequel, their relationship gets taken up a few notches. They still don’t love each other (hence the middle of the pack ranking), they do have a shared interest in revenge on the High Table, which leads The King to rehabilitate the hero in the aftermath of John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum so that he can go on his ass-kicking tour in Chapter 4.
7. Harry (Clarke Peters)
Featured in the first John Wick, Harry is a perfect character to be featured right square in the middle of this list. The character doesn’t exactly get a lot of screen time, and John does have to pay him a gold coin to watch over Ms. Perkins, but Harry clearly had a history with his room neighbor at the Continental, and did do him a courtesy by not executing John when his rumble with his would-be killer tumbled out into the hallway.
6. Jimmy The Cop (Thomas Sadoski)
In a world where assassins seem to be a part of everyday life, it’s hard to tell where police operate in the grand scheme of things, but at the very least we can say that John Wick has a friend in Jimmy. As featured in John Wick and its first sequel, the cop turns a blind eye to the work that the killer does, and just tries not to get in the way. It’s hard to know if we’ll see him again after John’s house blew up in Chapter 2, but if he does appear, it will likely be in a friendly capacity.
5. Doctor (Randall Duk Kim)
The relationship between John Wick and the Doctor at the Continental is transactional on its surface, as John pays the medical professional for his services, but digging deeper there is a whole lot of respect demonstrated. In John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, in the moments when the entire world is ready to turn on the titular character, the Doctor not only makes the decision to help him, but allows himself to get shot for the courtesy.
4. Aurelio (John Leguizamo)
There aren’t many who would have the testicular fortitude to punch the son of a local gangster in the face out of loyalty to a friend, but that’s where the bar is set in the relationship between Aurelio and John Wick in the franchise’s first movie. Caring much more about John than his employer, it’s actually the chop shop owner who tells our hero who was responsible for stealing his car and killing his dog, setting in motion the grand story arc that we know thus far as the John Wick series.
3. Marcus (Willem Dafoe)
As hopefully demonstrated through this list, there aren’t many people in the John Wick universe who are willing to do something for nothing, but that very much speaks to the awesomeness of Marcus – may he rest in peace. The fellow assassin had multiple opportunities in John Wick to take a shot that would have earned him retirement-level money, and yet he chose in each of those moments to try and help his friend. He dies a loyal ally in the film.
2. Koji Shimazu (Hiroyuki Sanada)
"Friendship means little when it's convenient." That line really says everything that you need to know about Koji Shimazu. In the opening act of John Wick: Chapter 4, he stands to lose everything as the Marquis' army invades the Osaka Continental, and yet he sacrifices everything – including his life – because of his relationship with the Baba Yaga. He is unquestionably John's most loyal human ally in the whole of the franchise.
1. Dog
Because of John Wick’s canine-related intimacy issues following the death of Daisy, Dog doesn’t have a real name, but he owns the top spot of this ranking uncontested by being an extremely good boy. He asks for nothing but basic necessities, and will surely be at John’s side whenever he is needed. He is seen running out of the Continental into the street at the end of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, so we don’t know precisely at this point how John Wick: Chapter 4 will bring them back together, but surely it will.
Do you agree with our rankings? Who do you think is the most loyal John Wick ally? Hit the comments with your own Top 11, and stay tuned here on CinemaBlend for future updates about this ass-kicking franchise.
