10 Iconic Eddie Murphy Characters, Ranked By Likability (2024)

Eddie Murphy is one of the most revered comedic minds in the world. He released two of the most influential standup specials of all time and starred in four of the greatest comedies ever made before he turned 30. Across his decades-spanning career, Murphy has played a ton of iconic characters – sometimes more than one in the same movie.

Some of Murphy’s characters, like Donkey and Detective Axel Foley, are more likable than others, like Norbit’s abusive wife Rasputia and Professor Sherman Klump’s obnoxious, chauvinistic “Buddy Love” persona.

Rasputia Latimore (Norbit)

Norbit’s abusive, manipulative wife Rasputia Latimore – one of the three characters that Murphy played in Norbit – is one of his most hilarious creations. But she’s also one of his most sad*stic and villainous roles.

She locks Norbit in the basem*nt when she sees him talking to another woman. She has an affair with her dance instructor, then gaslights Norbit when he catches them in the act.

Buddy Love (The Nutty Professor)

Buddy Love is the Mr. Hyde figure that emerges when Sherman Klump takes his rapid weight-loss formula in Murphy’s remake of The Nutty Professor. Klump doesn’t just lose weight in the blink of an eye; he develops a more confident – and less likable – personality.

The more Sherman takes the formula, the more Buddy takes on a mind of his own. Buddy is extremely charismatic, but he’s also brash, mean-spirited, and chauvinistic.

Kit Ramsey (Bowfinger)

Kit Ramsey from Bowfinger is an A-list action movie star swept up in a Scientology-style religious organization. When sleazy movie producer Bobby Bowfinger starts shooting a science fiction movie around him, Kit is convinced that he’s involved in an alien conspiracy.

Notorious for flashing the Laker Girls, Kit needs a crack PR team working around the clock to cover up his scandals. He might be a beloved movie star, but Kit is nowhere near as sweet and innocent and lovable as his dorky brother Jiff (also played by Murphy).

Billy Ray Valentine (Trading Places)

At the beginning of Trading Places, street hustler Billy Ray Valentine is given a mountain of riches and a fancy penthouse as part of two affluent businessmen’s social experiment. He’s generous with his newfound riches, but he does some questionable things before he acquires his unexpected wealth.

While he’s busking for change on the street, Valentine pretends to be a visually impaired amputee to play on people’s sympathy. To top it off, he also steals valor by claiming he fought in the Vietnam War.

Reggie Hammond (48 Hrs.)

Murphy’s first ever film, 48 Hrs., was one of the first “buddy cop” movies ever made. Walter Hill’s action-packed gem paired Murphy’s motormouth comedic talents with Nick Nolte’s gruff “straight man.” Reggie Hammond is a convicted criminal who’s released from prison for two days to help grizzled cop Jack Cates with a time-sensitive case.

At first, Reggie enjoys stalling the investigation. He doesn’t care if Cates catches his old partner-in-crime and simply makes the most of his 48 hours as a free man before being put back behind bars. But he eventually becomes invested in the case.

Prince Akeem (Coming To America)

Murphy plays the crown prince of the fictional African nation of Zamunda in Coming to America. Born into royalty, Prince Akeem lives a life of absurd luxury where everything is handed to him on a silver platter. In the first act of the movie, he grows weary of his extravagant lifestyle.

Prince Akeem avoids an arranged marriage and goes to New York to find real love. He gets a minimum-wage job at a McDonald’s rip-off and falls for the owner’s daughter. He’s certainly naive, but Prince Akeem is ultimately noble.

Professor Sherman Klump (The Nutty Professor)

Sherman Klump is the titular nutty professor in The Nutty Professor. He’s a brilliant academic who loves his family and wants to make the world a better place. His biggest flaw is that he doesn’t think he’s good enough.

He develops a weight-loss formula so he can get in shape to attract the woman he likes, Carla Purty, but he doesn’t realize that she already likes him the way he is.

Detective Axel Foley (Beverly Hills Cop)

Detective Axel Foley from the Beverly Hills Cop franchise is arguably Murphy’s most iconic role. Axel is certainly his most iconic live-action role. He has a lot of fun in his undercover personas, but he knows when to take the job seriously.

Axel spends his vacation trying to find his friend’s killer and bring them to justice. He’s always looking out for other people, even the local cops who give him grief.

Norbit Albert Rice (Norbit)

The title character in Norbit is shy and geeky, but he’s incredibly likable. He works at the orphanage he grew up in, entertaining children with a puppet show, and he lives to make other people happy. If there’s anything he can do to help, he’ll do it – even if the people asking for help have an obvious ulterior motive.

He’s too sweet-natured and naive to notice when his brothers-in-law use him as a legal scapegoat in their plan to turn the orphanage into a strip club.

Donkey (Shrek)

Murphy has played a ton of likable characters over the years, from Norbit to Axel Foley to Sherman Klump, but easily his most lovable character is the eponymous ogre’s four-legged sidekick in the Shrek franchise.

Donkey is impossible to hate. Shrek finds him irritating because he’s always talking (and when he’s not talking, he’s singing), but the audience loves him.

NEXT: 10 Iconic Adam Sandler Characters, Ranked By Likability