The 12 Coolest Movie Masks of All

“Nobody cared who I was ’til I put on the mask,” Tom Hardy’s Bane says with a metallic rasp in The Dark Knight Rises.

His mask is not only a disguise, but a source of power: It gives him a steady supply of pain-relieving gas. When Batman (Christian Bale) figures this out, that’s pretty much the end of Bane.

As in many Christopher Nolan movies, Nolan hides some important infomation in plain sight: When Bane tells a CIA agent that removing his mask would be “extremely painful — for you!” he’s concealing the fact that it would bring him great pain, too. And the mask tips of the viewer that there’s something misleading about Bane’s identity as we see his backstory unfold in flashbacks.

Many, many Scream characters have worn the Ghostface mask, which resembles the face in Edvard Munch’s painting “The Scream.” It’s cast-off, cheap quality adds to the terror of the films: Whoever dons the mask seems to regard life as cheap, and to take an almost pulpy delight in dispensing his (or her) victims.

The easy availability of the mass-produced mask also means anyone can becomes Ghostface, as long as they have a few bucks, a knife, and a phone.

Hannibal Lecter technically wears two famous movie masks in the greatest Thomas Harris adaptation, The Silence of the Lambs. The first is his terrifying muzzle, a Jason Vorhees-esque mask with bars blocking his mouth.

The second is not nearly as stylish — it’s the actual human face of Sergeant Jim Pembry, one of his unfortunate guards in Memphis.

The first mask is more often referenced in pop culture. Versions of it have been worn by Billy Crystal, at the Oscars, and Eminem in his “You Don’t Know” music video, among others.

Fascinatingly, the mask that would become the trademark of Friday the 13th — and slasher movies in general – didn’t make it to the screen until Friday the 13th Part III, released in 1982.

One of the most iconic of all movie masks, it’s quite often referenced by other films, from Heat to Bride of Chuckie to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

The Jason mask has evolved in the Friday the 13th movie to adjust to new locales like Manhattan and space, but we like the classic version the best.

The Venetian masks that appear in the secret party sequence of Eyes Wide Shot represent exactly the kind of extravagance and costume work we expect from a Stanley Kubrick film.

They are ethereal and refined — beautiful pieces of ironic characterization designed to protect the identities of those about to become intimate. The moment when Tom Cruise’s Dr. Bill is forced to remove his rented mask is one of the most tense scenes on film.

These are among the most jarring and tragic movie masks.

The most obvious, and inevitable choice for any list of movie masks: Darth Vader’s helmet/mask is still the most awe-inspiring in the history of movie villains. And his heavy, labored breathing quickly became one of the most menacing sounds in cinema.

Darth Vader’s mask made countless other filmmakers realize great movie masks are among the most cost-effective storytelling devices. But none of have beaten it.

Tom Hardy often turns up wearing movie masks — he’s the only actor to appear on this list twice, and we haven’t even gotten into his incredibly cool flyboy mask in Dunkirk.

Though he spends the majority of his time in Mad Max: Fury Road trying to remove his mask/trap, it adds to his gritty, almost rabid appearance. He’s like a dog on a chain.

Respect also to the horrifying mask worn by Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne). The character (and the mask) return in Furiosa.

Simplest is best.

Guy Fawkes, who was involved in the attempted regicide of King James I in the 1605 Gunpowder Plot, was a famous figure long before Alan Moore and David Lloyd used his image as a mask for the protagonist of their 1980s graphic novel V for Vendetta.

The release of the graphic novel’s movie adaptation in 2005 gave a wider platform to the rhyming swashbuckler (Hugo Weaving), and made his disguise into one of the most influential movie masks.

The mask was later adopted by the international activist and hacktivist collective Anonymous, and we have to think V for Vendetta was a factor.

The Dread Pirate Roberts mask allows simple farmboy Wesley to check in on – and kidnap/save — his beloved Buttercup after the evil Prince Humperdink demands her hand in marriage.

In his disguise, with an Errol Flynn mustache, he is able to interrogate her about whether she remains in true love with the boy she once knew.

He reveals his true identity only after she sends him rolling down a hill, toward the Fire Swamp. As you wish.

Again, what we love best about this mask is its simplicity.

Many Zorros have appeared onscreen, but Antonio Banderas’ incarnation will be the most familiar to modern audiences. The 1998 film is an absolute delight, reveling in the charisma of Banderas, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Anthony Hopkins while paying respect to the old Zorro films.

Zorro is so influential, in fact, that he helped inspire the next character on our list to become a crimefighter.

There are ten Batman movies, with many versions of the mask. But in every version of the story, Bruce Wayne grows up to become a vigilante after his parents are gunned down in a robbery outside a theater.

Frank Miller’s Dark Knight established in 1986 that the movie that young Bruce and his family were attending at the theater was the 1940 film The Mark of Zorro.

What Batman mask is your favorite? We love them all.

Movie masks don’t get much simpler — or effective – than the one worn by Michael Myers in the Halloween films.

Tasked with finding a suitable mask for Michael Myers, the monster of John Carpenter and Debra Hill’s horror masterpiece, production designer Tommy Lee Wallace went to a Hollywood Boulevard magic shop, where he found a Captain Kirk mask designed to look like Star Trek star William Shatner. He painted it white, changed the hair, and Michael Myers was born.

Wallace later directed Halloween III: Season of the Witch — which is all about masks. Specifically, a plot to take over people’s minds through microchipped Halloween masks.

You might also like this List of the 15 Best SNL Characters (featuring the Bronx Beat ladies, above) or this list of the 15 Best SNL Sketches.