Mal – Inception (2010)

We take a look at 10 of the best characters ever to not-really-exist actually on screen. Be warned there are spoilers galore!

Inception isn't the easiest film to follow, so throw a ghostly shade of Dom's deceased wife into the mix and you'd think the audience's patience would be pushed to breaking point. Luckily malevolent Mal's a clever device, rather than a chains-and-ectoplasm sort of spirit, and helps give an insight into the troubling backstory which led Dom to his extreme mission. The blurring of fond remembrance and haunting tragedy turns out to be the film's heart, but we still don't know if that top stopped spinning...