Do we like them?

Do we like Rocky Balboa?

A character from Rocky (1976)

Our score: 9 out of 10. Yes, easily. He's humble, loyal and decent, and he never quits. Even his day job can't dent how kind he is. We'd back him in every round.

Rocky Balboa is a small-time boxer from working-class Philadelphia. He fights in grimy local clubs for pocket money and collects debts for a loan shark. He isn't a brute or a big talker. He's shy and a bit slow with words, and he feeds his pet turtles and chats up the quiet girl at the pet shop. The first film starts when the heavyweight champion decides to give an unknown local fighter a title shot as a publicity stunt, and picks him.

What makes Rocky a hero is how he's made. He doesn't need to win, only to prove he's not 'just another bum from the neighborhood'. He works hard, takes the punishment and stays decent to everyone, from his gruff trainer to his awkward brother-in-law. His morals can be fuzzy at the start because of the loan-shark job, but he's soft-hearted where it counts, which is why audiences have loved him for decades.

Across the sequels he goes through fame, money, loss and a comeback. He turns old rivals into friends and later becomes a coach and father figure to a new generation of fighters in the Creed films. He sometimes makes poor choices, such as trusting the wrong people or fighting one bout too many, but he never turns cruel or bitter. Each time he gets up, and he's usually kinder for it.