The filmography of the late visionary filmmakerDavid Lynchboasts some of the most unusual and mysterious characters ever captured on film. With a distinctive style that was characterized by dreamlike logic and surreal imagery, it’s no surprise that Lynch’s characters were just as cryptic and unknowable as the visual language that he used. Whether it’s entities from another realm or characters whose backstories conjure more questions than they answer, audiences could speculate for decades about the true nature ofLynch’s greatest characters.
Thebest Lynch moviesfeatured all types of enigmatic characterizations, as the filmmaker’s unique style meant that some were wildly comedic while others bordered on absolutelyterrifying in their villainous nature. Whileit’s a fool’s errand to try and understand everything in Lynch’s films in a literal sense, the probing psychological questions and deeply spiritual themes of his movies mean that trying to decipher the intentions he had when creating these characters was part of the fun of enjoying his work.
10The Yellow Man
Blue Velvet (1986)
While most will point to Dennis Hopper’s role as Frank Booth when it comes to the most sinister villains in all of David Lynch’s filmography, it was the Yellow Man inBlue Velvetwho was shrouded in mystery.This cryptic character’s real name was Detective Tom R. Gordon, and he received his nickname for his distinctive yellow suit. While the Yellow Man only briefly appeared inBlue Velvet, his dual role as a police officer and accomplice of Frank’s hinted at a fractured identity and double life as a criminal and a law enforcement officer.
While Fred Pickler’s role as the Yellow Man was a small one, he had a big impact on the narrative as he first appeared at Dorothy Vallen’s apartment, where he distracted the lounge singer while Jeffrey Beaumont stole her spare key in his bid to uncover the mystery of the severed human ear. While the true nature of the Yellow Man’s connection to the bigger conspiracy ofBlue Velvetdoesn’t get a definitive answer, his crude lobotomy and eventual death at the hands of Frank Booth proved he knew too much and needed to be dealt with.
9Lost Girl
Inland Empire (2006)
David Lynch’s final feature film,Inland Empire, was a notable difficult-to-decipher release that blended the realms of reality and fiction and acted as a metacommentary on the relationship between a filmmaker and their viewer. With a stream-of-consciousness style, one of the strangest characters to appear was the Lost Girl, a woman trapped in a state of limbo who was married to the man who was, or became, the Phantom.
Whilethe exact details of what constituted the Lost Girl and Phantom’s relationship are not fully known, the implications were that their marriage was littered with affairs, and her husband was physically abusive. With an otherworldly performance from Karolina Gruszka, the Lost Girl was a Polish woman trapped in another realm that was depicted as a hotel room, and she sat watching an omnipresent TV screen that showcased events from the past, present, and future.
8The Man from Another Place
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992)
The world ofTwin Peakswas packed with mysterious happenings and strange, unknowable characters. One of the most recognizable was The Man from Another Place, also known as The Arm, who appeared in not just the prequel movieTwin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, but also the TV show and as a luminescent tree inThe Return. Asan inhabitant of the Black Lodge, despite being a realm of evil, this short-statured man, played by Michael J. Anderson, provided Agent Dale Cooper clues into the true nature of his nemesis, Bob.
As a spirit who commonly appears to Cooper as a dwarf in a red suit and dress shirt, The Man from Another Place spoke in reversed speech. InFire Walk with Me, the Man was revealed to be connected to the faceless spirit entity MIKE and was actually the severed arm that he had cut off in an effort to distance himself from Bob. WhileTwin Peaksnever fully made clear what the man’s reasons for wanting to help Cooper were, it was clear that, unlike any inhabitants of the Black Lodge, he was a force for good.
7Bum
Mulholland Drive (2001)
As an entity that exists in both dreams and reality, the appearance of a character simply known as Bum inMulholland Driveonly added to the film’s cryptic appeal. As an unkempt, homeless, and downright frightening figure, Bum was one of the strangest and most memorable characters who appeared deeply connected with the psychoanalytical undertones ofMulholland Driveand acted as a representation of Diane’s (Naomi Watts) deepest fears.
With a villainous and unpredictable nature, the way Bum spread fear into the hearts of anyone who encountered them was truly jarring. As a kind of embodiment of Diane’s own mental anguish, the lack of explanation around the appearance of Bum made them a true abstraction onto which the audience could project their own innate fears and worries. Perhaps more so than anything, Bum represented the way thatLynch’s movies were designed to be experienced on a subconscious levelrather than truly understood in a literal sense.
6Fred Madison / Pete Dayton
Lost Highway (1997)
The unknowable nature of identity was a major theme of David Lynch’sLost Highway, a film where the main character’s sense of self was not even firmly rooted. This was becauseLost Highwayfollowed two narratives, one about the musician Fred Madison (Bill Pullman), who was receiving unmarked videotapes of himself and his wife before being convicted of murder, and another about the young mechanic Pete Dayton (Balthazar Getty.)
However,the Lynchian twist was that Fred and Pete were one and the sameand that Fred inexplicably found himself replaced with another man and injected into a life that was not his own. In typical Lynch fashion, the true nature of this supernatural event was never fully explained, and whether audiences should take it as a literal happening or a symbolic representation of reinvention was up to one’s own personal interpretation. Either way, the mystery of Fred and Pete provided a lot of food for thought surrounding the true nature of selfhood.
5Lady In The Radiator
The industrialist landscape of David Lynch’s extraordinary feature debut,Eraserhead,included many mysterious characters who laid the groundwork for what audiences could expect from his unique body of work. From the alluring appeal of the Beautiful Girl Across the Hall to the strange visions of the Man in the Planet, Henry Spencer encountered many unusual characters in this surreal black-and-white film. The most mysterious of them all was the Lady in the Radiator, whose true purpose was never revealed but who has beenat the center of plenty ofEraserheadtheories.
While there was no true antagonist inEraserhead, there was something unnerving about the Lady in the Radiator that gave her a villainous streak. As an entity that felt like a foreboding symbol of impending death, her song “In Heaven” appeared to hint at Henry’s potential suicide or even the murder of his child, as somebody crossed over into another realm. While audiences will never get a definitive answer on the true nature ofEraserhead, the Lady in the Radiator remains central to viewers making their own meaning from this cult classic.
4The Log Lady
While many of the most mysterious characters inTwin Peakscame from the otherworldly realm known as the Black Lodge, the Log Lady was a Twin Peaks resident with a connection to events that had not yet occurred and who would carry a cut of log that gave her insights into not just the murder of Laura Palmer but also all the supernatural happenings that plagued the tight-knit community.The Log Lady’s real name was Margaret Lanterman, and although she was perceived as mentally ill by many of the residents, on more than one occasion, she proved her prophecies correct.
As a character deeply connected to the lore ofTwin Peaks, the Log Lady became one of the show’s most recognizable figures, and she appeared in the prequel movieTwin Peaks: Fire Walk with Meand even managed to appear in five episodes ofThe Return, with the late actress Catherine E. Coulson filming her scenes shortly before her death in 2015. A true icon of pop culture, the legacy of the Log Lady’s character has been parodied in everything fromDarkwing DucktoSaturday Night Live.
3The Mystery Man
As his name suggests, the Mystery Man fromLost Highwaywas a character shrouded in intrigue and an unknowable nature. As an ominous, specter-like figure, the Mystery Man haunted the narrative ofLost Highwayand appeared to be the only other person who was aware that the two protagonists, Fred Madison and Pete Dayton, are actually one another’s doppelgängers. With a connection to another realm and seemingly villainous intentions, the Mystery Man was quietly pulling strings behind the scenes and causing mayhem and mischief.
Like in so much of Lynch’s work,Lost Highwayexplored themes of doubling and fractured identities, with the Mystery Man tapping into the more surreal and symbolic side of the filmmaker’s writing style. Whilevery little is known about the true nature of the Mystery Man, the implications were that he was something other than human and took sadistic joy from the mind games he played on Fred/Pete. With a calm and calculating demeanor, everything about the Mystery Man implied sinister undertones.
2Henry’s Baby
While there’s usually something mysterious about each and every David Lynch character, Henry’s Baby inEraserheadwas one where literally every aspect of its identity was up for question. Whether this grotesque, alien-like figure should even be considered a literal character is up for debate, as manyEraserheadtheories signal it as a symbolic representation of Henry’s innate fear around parenthood and responsibility. With an inhuman face and an endless barrage of tears, Henry’s baby was a difficult child that refused all food and soon grew strange spores across its skin as it struggled to breathe.
This mysterious baby got right to the heart of unconscious fears around parenthood and the responsibility that comes with having a child before one is ready to look after them. Even the production side of Henry’s Baby was shrouded in mystery, as Lynch never revealed how it was even constructed, although it’s been speculated to have been made from a skinned rabbit or a lamb fetus (viaGuardian.) While audiences may never get to the root of the true nature of Henry’s Baby, the psychoanalytical implications of its presentation are endless.
1BOB
As the personification of evil incarnate, Bob was the central throughline of the entirety ofTwin Peaks,and his connection to Leland and Laura Palmer was outlined in the prequel movieTwin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me. Through an unnerving performance by Frank Silva,Bob came from the spirit realm of the Black Lodgeand provided a sinister glimpse into the dark underpinnings of Lynch’s cinematic world as he sought to spread hate and suffering where possible.
Whether it was appearances in visions, the Black Lodge, or through his possession of other characters, Bob’s role as an interdimensional entity was to feed on pain and sorrow as he committed heinous acts of sexual assault and murder. While interested audiences can piece together the mysterious true nature of Bob’s role in the world ofTwin Peaks, that was only possible after following the breadcrumb trail of clues that were given across all his appearances inDavid Lynch’swork, includingThe Return.
