Quentin Tarantino’s two-part martial arts epic Kill Bill is anchored by an iconic protagonist and an unforgettable villain. Uma Thurman’s Beatrix “The Bride” Kiddo seeks revenge against the titular baddie, played by Kung Fu’s David Carradine, after he and her former assassination colleagues leave her for dead. The complicated love/hate relationship shared by the Bride and Bill forms the basis of the movie’s plot.
But, as with any Tarantino-helmed opus, Kill Bill has a ton of memorable supporting characters, like badass yakuza boss O-Ren Ishii and the Bride’s firm but fair mentor, Pai Mei.
Gogo Yubari
Talk about a memorable side villain. At first glance, it may not seem as though O-Ren Ishii needs a bodyguard. She’s been a highly trained killer since she was a little girl and she decapitates anybody who so much as questions her leadership.
But just in case, she has protection courtesy of bloodthirsty Japanese schoolgirl Gogo Yubari, played by Chiaki Kuriyama. Gogo is most renowned for her signature weapon – a meteor hammer – and her reckless use of it.
Budd
When the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad breaks up, Budd is the one who falls the farthest from grace. After his brother’s hit squad is dissolved, Budd moves into a trailer in the desert and finds work as a bouncer/toilet cleaner at a nearby strip club where his boss couldn’t possibly have any less respect for him.
Budd was played hilariously by regular Tarantino collaborator Michael Madsen, who brings his unmistakable grizzled delivery style to lines like, “That woman deserves her revenge, and we deserve to die.”
Sofie Fatale
While Gogo is the most ruthless member of O-Ren’s entourage, the most trusted is her lawyer, second lieutenant, and closest confidant, Sofie Fatale, played by Julie Dreyfus.
Sofie gets to deliver the bombshell twist ending in Volume 1. After the Bride spares her life, Sofie returns to Bill with a message. Bill asks, “Is she aware her daughter is still alive?”
Hattori Hanzō
Tarantino had homaged the work of martial arts movie legend Sonny Chiba a bunch of times before casting him as master swordsmith Hattori Hanzō in Kill Bill. Clarence went to a Street Fighter marathon in True Romance and Jules quoted Karate Kiba’s tweaked Ezekiel 25:17 passage in Pulp Fiction.
Chiba gives one of the funniest performances in Kill Bill as Hanzō frequently loses patience with the dim-witted employee at his sushi restaurant. He comes out of retirement to forge a sword worthy of the Bride’s roaring rampage of revenge.
Elle Driver
Arguably the Bride’s closest rival – besides Bill – is Elle Driver, Bill’s new lover who’s always been jealous of the Bride. She’s desperate to prove that she’s the better assassin, and being tasked with killing the Bride presents her with a perfect opportunity.
According to WhatCulture, Thurman didn’t get along with Daryl Hannah, and this on-set feud helped to create a tangible hatred between their two dueling characters.
Pai Mei
An extended flashback sequence in Volume 2 details the grueling training that the Bride endured at the beginning of her career. After making a cameo appearance as the leader of the Crazy 88’s in Volume 1, Gordon Liu gave an iconic turn as the Bride’s master, Pai Mei, in Volume 2.
He’s tough on the Bride, forcing her to punch wooden boards until her knuckles are bruised and bloodied, but the results are obvious in all the present-day action scenes.
Vernita Green
When the Bride tracks down her first target, Vernita Green, she’s living a quaint suburban life under the name “Jeannie Bell” with a husband and daughter. Of course, the Bride puts a swift end to this tranquil existence.
The Bride’s brutal knife fight in Vernita’s living room gets Kill Bill’s action off to a terrific start, and Vivica A. Fox gives an unforgettable performance with limited screen time.
Bill
After rejuvenating the careers of John Travolta, Pam Grier, and Robert Forster, Tarantino continued his trend of bringing back forgotten stars when he cast Kung Fu actor David Carradine as the eponymous villain in Kill Bill.
Bill has some of the most verbose and poetic monologues that Tarantino has ever written, and Carradine knocks every one of them out of the park. He’s an unseen character in Volume 1, and the reveal in Volume 2 lives up to the hype.
O-Ren Ishii
Lucy Liu’s contract killer-turned-yakuza boss O-Ren Ishii is one of the most badass warriors in the entire Tarantino canon. After witnessing the brutal mob murders of her parents as a little kid, O-Ren trained herself in the art of killing and took on the entire organization singlehandedly.
After that, she assumed the boss’ position and took control of Japan’s criminal underworld. O-Ren’s climactic fight with the Bride in a snow-covered rooftop garden is one of the most beautiful (and disturbing) sequences in the movie.
B.B.
In the first volume of Kill Bill, the Bride’s whole purpose in life is to avenge her fiancé, all her friends, and the baby she thought she lost in the “Massacre at Two Pines.” In the second volume, she finds a new purpose when she learns that her daughter is still alive.
Thurman shared heartwarming chemistry with her on-screen daughter, Perla Haney-Jardine, in the final act of Kill Bill: Volume 2. Their dynamic gives the movie an unexpectedly sweet and sappy ending.
