Top 20 Funniest Monty Python Characters

Top 20 Funniest Monty Python Characters

Welcome to WatchMojoUK, and today we’re counting down our picks for the Python’s most hilarious characters.

#20: The “It’s” Guy

Played by Michael Palin, this mess of a man introduces “Flying Circus” episodes. He often wades through horrible conditions to reach the camera, always sporting torn clothes, a shaggy haircut, and a massive beard. Then, he’ll gasp his three-letter catchphrase, and it’ll cut to the next scene immediately. He was a staple of series one, first arriving from the ocean in the show’s opening scene. Palin actually nearly drowned filming this moment. Once the episode was done, we’d have a brief shot of him running off to wherever he came. He doesn’t only say “it’s” as you’d expect; in series 3, he gets his own talk show where he interviews Ringo Starr and Lulu.

#19: Tim, the Enchanter

One of the many whimsical characters added to “Holy Grail” was Tim the Enchanter, portrayed by John Cleese. He has an ominous and slightly harrowing appearance, with goat horns on his head and bones hanging from his chest. He’s talented at conjuring fireballs, but when he finally approaches King Arthur, he’s hardly intimidating. His simple name contrasts so heavily with his appearance that it makes it impossible not to laugh when he introduces himself. Tim then guides the King to the Rabbit of Caerbannog, an amazing moment, but sadly we don’t consider the rabbit to be characterised enough for a spot on our list.

#18: Chicken Knight

Gilliam often played the least appealing characters that others disliked portraying. This included the recurring armoured knight, who ended many sketches in series 1. The other Pythons disliked being put into a full suit of armour, but Gilliam was totally cool with it. The knight doesn’t do much except wander in at the end of a sketch, then hit people with a plucked chicken. It ended up becoming his most recognisable role in “Flying Circus,” despite his face being completely obscured. We’d become more familiar with his appearance as time went on, though, with him later becoming Patsy in “Holy Grail.”

#17: The Colonel

We’d like to begin this entry by apologising for its distinct lack of silliness compared to the others. The Colonel is played by Graham Chapman, and he frequently turns up in the most bizarre “Flying Circus” sketches. Then, he’ll shut it all down for being too whimsical. This meant he was one of the regular choices for ending sketches they couldn’t figure out a punchline for. While he was adored, he was unfortunately only in series 1 of “Flying Circus,” with his last appearance being in “Full Frontal Nudity.” While they didn’t use him for later seasons, he had to return for “And Now for Something Completely Different.”

#16: Arthur Nudge

One of Eric Idle’s earliest defining roles was Arthur Nudge, an irritating gentleman who gets on Terry Jones’ nerves. In the third episode, Arthur approaches him in a pub and starts asking increasingly bizarre questions about his intimate life. It’s notable for being a rare example of a Python sketch with an actual punchline. Fascinatingly, Idle first wrote it for Ronnie Barker, but it was rejected because the script was so confusing that they didn’t expect it to work. Decades later, it’s proven itself to stand the test of time, a fact that would make the two Ronnies jealous if they weren’t so respected already.

#15: The Announcer

One of John Cleese’s most memorable recurring bits is easily the BBC continuity announcer. His primary job is to connect one sketch to another, so overall he’s probably got less screen time than most characters. That doesn’t make him forgettable, though, with his definitive catchphrase being something still widely used today. He was in the first 3 seasons of “Flying Circus,” but our favourite iteration comes from “And Now For Something Completely Different.” He does such a brilliant job of tying the movie’s bizarre scenes together that we don’t think it would work without him.

#14: Sir Bedevere the Wise

Sir Lancelot’s adventures might be the funniest, and brave Sir Robin is clearly the most heroic, but we believe Sir Bedevere to be the most amusing. The King first meets him when he’s overseeing probably the most sidesplitting witch trial in cinema history. He’s so intelligent that he becomes the only knight to be by Arthur’s side for the movie’s cop out ending. Lancelot comes close, but gets booked a few minutes earlier. Many fans will be irritated that we chose Bedevere over Sir Not-Appearing-In-This-Film, but for some reason, we couldn’t find a single scene featuring the latter.

#13: The Gumbys

While they’re a group rather than one character, they’re such a Python staple we can’t avoid mentioning them. They’re always sporting tiny moustaches, handkerchief headcovers, massive wellies, and some classic 50s clothing. The reason they were created was as a satirisation of the average Joe they’d seen increasingly often on television. They’re ridiculously dimwitted, with their most memorable lines being them simply complaining about their heads hurting. They appeared in a variety of sketches during “Flying Circus,” but our favourite may be “Gumby Brain Surgery,” which is exactly what the name suggests. For those unaware, their name was inspired by their “gum boots.”

#12: The Old Man From Scene 24

Also known as the Bridgekeeper, this geriatric quiz enthusiast is one of the final challenges on King Arthur’s quest. He first appears in Scene 24, played by Gilliam, where he guides Arthur and Bedevere towards the Knights Who Say Ni, then mysteriously teleports. He arrives later to ask our heroes three questions each, ranging from being extremely specific to having zero challenge at all. In the end, it’s King Arthur who has the last laugh on account of his superior swallow knowledge. People have pointed out that scene 24 is the bridge scene, not his introduction, meaning his amusing name was foreshadowing.

#11: The Knights Who Say Ni

Michael Palin plays the leader of this intimidating band of knights, who utilise some extremely brutal tactics to get their way. Specifically, they viciously hurl “ni” at their foes, pressuring them into doing their bidding. If this word is ever thrown at you, you’ll be unlikely to come out alive, at least according to King Arthur. It turns out the main thing they desire is an abundance of shrubberies, alongside chopping down trees with a herring, but these can be avoided when learning they detest the word “it.” In “Spamalot,” they altered their Achilles heel to instead be hearing the name “Andrew Lloyd Webber.”

#10: The Lumberjack

While comedy was their main thing, they were also talented songwriters. One of their catchiest tunes comes from episode 9 of “Flying Circus.” You might expect resident musician Idle to have composed it, but it was created by Palin, Jones, Fred Tomlinson, and also former Beatle George Harrison. It turned into one of their best-known musical sketches, so adored that it was remade for “And Now For Something Completely Different.” They also did a sidesplitting German version of “Fliegender Zirkus.” It’s since been referenced in countless pieces of media, and this is likely to continue for decades to come.

#9: Mr Praline

Among fans, the dead parrot sketch is often considered one of their greatest works. It features Cleese and Jones getting increasingly irritated with one another about a deceased pet. The more hardcore fans will already know this, but Cleese is playing a recurring character, Mr Praline. While the parrot sketch is his most recognisable, he also appeared in a lot of episode six, specifically in the sketches “Crunchy Frog” and “Cockroach Cluster,” showing he struggles primarily with pets. Later, he has an uphill battle getting his halibut Eric a Fish License. Sadly, Cleese is pretty tired of doing the dead parrot sketch. This means his favourite Praline moment is actually from “Eric the Half-a-Bee.”

#8: Brian’s Mum

Also called Mrs Mandy Cohen, she’s one of the most memorable ladies Terry Jones ever played. Years before the film, she was taken advantage of by legionnaire Naughtius Maximus. This results in Brian being half Roman, a fact he is severely self-conscious of. She’s only in a handful of scenes, but all her appearances leave viewers with amazing one-liners. Our favourite Mandy moment comes when she finds Brian in bed with a woman, alongside a crowd of locals outside who think he’s the messiah. Another highlight includes the stoning from the start of the movie, which shows the Pythons whimsically pretending to be women pretending to be men.

#7: Dennis the Peasant

It’s impossible to objectively pick the most quotable “Holy Grail” character, but if we asked fans to vote, Dennis would easily be close to the top. While hunting for the Grail, King Arthur stumbles upon this politically savvy commoner, who is unusually proficient in left-wing theory. He believes to be living in an anarcho-syndicalist commune, and is pretty upset when Arthur explains otherwise. It’s a hilarious commentary on the absurdity of feudal politics. While peasants were unlikely to be as class-conscious as Karl Marx, communities like that weren’t impossible. In the Low Countries, an independent peasant republic survived for centuries.

#6: King Arthur

Graham Chapman often played the straight man, and King Arthur was no exception. The primary hero is probably the most normal person in the picture. That doesn’t mean he isn’t extremely amusing. Many of his funniest lines come from the contrast between his deadpan delivery and the silliness of his surroundings. His greatest moments are usually regarding swallows, as a king obviously needs to be well read in such matters. While Chapman isn’t everybody’s favourite Python, it’s still a massive challenge not to fall head over heels for him after watching “Holy Grail.”

#5: The French Taunter

Another one of Cleese’s most quotable roles is easily the savage Frenchman who verbally brutalises King Arthur from his castle walls. His insults have since become immortalised in pop culture. It would be impossible to make a comprehensive list of media that reference this scene. The taunter even claims to have a grail of their own, confusing Arthur immensely. If they’d had a bigger budget, we might have seen Arthur retrieve it at the film’s conclusion. The Frenchman ends up being the last line of defence for Castle Aarrgh, well, until the coppers arrive.

#4: The Spanish Inquisitors

Contrary to their iconic catchphrase, we have a suspicion that most of our viewers expected this to be here. Originally from series 2 of “Flying Circus,” it’s become a staple sketch of theirs. They’ve performed it tons of times over the years, and it’s so adored that it’s become a widely used saying. They first appeared in three separate sketches spread across an episode, where they’d charge in out of the blue as soon as they were name-dropped. In reality, the inquisition would give people weeks of notice, so while it is comical, the real inquisition was often expected.

#3: Mr Creosote

As we’ve already established, Gilliam was the go-to Python for the least appealing characters. One such character is Mr Creosote, whom Jone believed was the perfect role for Gilliam. Well, the American thought the opposite, leading him to successfully convince Jones to take the role. It ended up being a remarkably disgusting performance, peaking with a nauseating explosion after a wafer-thin mint. What follows is some of the most comically exaggerated gore and vomit, although the latter was just minestrone. You might assume it took them ages to get the stains out, but it was cleaned so quickly that a couple got married there the next day.

#2: Pontius Pilate

In reality, Pontius Pilate was a Roman Governor believed to have executed Jesus. In “Life of Brian,” he’s portrayed as a bit of a buffoon. His defining scene is easily when the guards are cracking up at the sound of his friend’s name. This is actually the Python scene with the most myths surrounding it. People claim the extras were told they wouldn’t be paid if they chuckled, but this was a complete fabrication. According to official Python sources, one of the guards couldn’t help laughing, and they organically decided to build the rest of the scene around it. Without it, Pilate is unlikely to have even made our top 20.

#1: The Black Knight

Taking our top spot is one of King Arthur’s most dedicated opponents. Played by John Cleese, this powerful foe guards a relatively small bridge over a pitiful stream. He’s so profoundly loyal to his cause that he barely bats an eye when he loses all four limbs, leading to one of the film’s greatest lines. Interestingly, Cleese was so terrible at balancing that they had to use a local one-legged blacksmith for a couple of shots. Unsurprisingly, this was the hardest moment to adapt for “Spamalot,” requiring Idle to get the help of magicians Penn and Teller to make it work.

Which character made you crack up the hardest, and did we mention them today? Let us know down in the comments below!