The 1980s was a decade that saw so many great films released, with blockbuster flicks like Raiders of the Lost Ark, Die Hard, and The Empire Strikes Back, classic imaginative films like E.T. and Back to the Future, iconic horror movies such as The Shining and The Thing, and even great coming-of-age stories like The Breakfast Club and Stand By Me. These are just a few notable movies on a long list of '80s films that movie lovers still look back on fondly. Within these beloved movies are beloved characters, characters that are part of compelling stories that have lasted for decades and will continue to last for decades to come.

Despite the fact that many of these characters haven't been on the big screen in 35 to 45 years, they're still characters that a movie viewer today can identify and relate with. Here are ten movie characters from the 1980s that are still just as relatable today as they were when they premiered in theaters.

10 Bill and Ted: Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure

Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter in Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure
MGM / Orion Pictures

Bill and Ted may be a couple of airheads that go on a bodacious journey across time in Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure and are dumb to an extreme level, but their journey to pass history class and save the future with their marvelous music still has a little something for people to relate to. Despite Bill and Ted being very exaggerated versions of your everyday teen in the 80s, the pair struggling in school is something that many people have been able to relate to at one time or another. But not only that, Bill and Ted's mantra of being excellent to one another truly are words to live by that many fans of the film can relate to and try to implement into their lives in one way or another. Plus, some people can even relate with some of the historical knowledge that Bill and Ted learn during their wild adventure.

9 Ralphie: A Christmas Story

ralphie a christmas story

MGM/UA

A Christmas Story really embodies what it was like to celebrate Christmas as a child, and no other character in the film captures it more perfectly than Ralphie. Ralphie's biggest wish to get the Red Ryder, carbine action, 200-shot, range model air rifle more than anything in the world takes all viewers who celebrated Christmas back to a time when they were the kid on Christmas Day, hoping that whatever they wished for was sitting under the Christmas tree. Even though the classic "be careful what you wish for" trope is present with Ralphie nearly shooting his eye out thanks to the Red Ryder BB gun, that "kid on Christmas" feeling still remains as something many viewers of the film have experienced and can still resonate with thanks to this film. Sure, there are other relatable moments when it comes to childhood and being young during the holiday season, but there will always be kids to make those big wishes for something special.

Related: The 10 Biggest Box Office Successes of the '80s, Ranked

8 Ariel: The Little Mermaid

Ariel from The Little Mermaid under the sea
Walt Disney Pictures

Even though The Little Mermaid is an animated film and tells the tale of young mermaid Ariel being curious about the world outside the ocean, Ariel and the story around her still deal with very human emotions and desires. Ariel has a strong sense of adventure, and that message for young girls to not be afraid of adventure and chasing their dreams is something for all fans of the mermaid princess to relate to. And with a live action adaptation of the film on the way with Disney's The Little Mermaid, it's even more proof that the story and mostly Ariel is still just as relatable now as it was when it was released in 1989. And being a very popular Disney princess helps with how relatable she is, as young girls around the world have grown up with the character and the messages that she stands for.

7 Harry and Sally: When Harry Met Sally

When Harry Met Sally movie
Columbia Pictures

When Harry Met Sally is one of the greatest romantic comedies across all the years of film, and that distinction can mainly be attributed to the relationship that viewers see blossom between Harry and Sally during the film's run. The premise around the couple and if the two of them could really be "just friends" make them relatable characters for just about anyone that has been in a similar situation. The two obviously end up falling for each other, and the film ends with the pair in love in a picture-perfect scene on New Year's Eve. The friends turned lovers story is relatable not just for relationships between a man and a woman, but is relatable for any couple that have found both their best friend that can make them laugh and the love of their life in one person.

6 The Kids: Stand By Me

A scene from Stand by Me
Columbia Pictures

Stand By Me tells not only the story of four kids going on an adventure in the search for a dead body and how it totally changes their lives, it also tells the story of growing up and growing apart from your childhood friends. Some of the final lines of the film hit especially hard, with adult Gordie's narration stating, "As time went on, we saw less and less of Teddy and Vern, until eventually they became just two more faces in the halls. It happens sometimes, friends come in and out of your lives like busboys at a restaurant." The relationship between the group of boys, or rather, the dissipation of their relationship after experiencing a life-changing event, perfectly describes growing up and how people are taken down different paths that lead friends away from one another. This message has been relatable since the day the film came out, and is still relatable today for anyone that has gotten older and grown apart from their childhood friends.

5 Samantha Baker: Sixteen Candles

Molly Ringwald and Michael Schoeffling in Sixteen Candles
Universal Pictures
 

Okay, so having your entire family forget your birthday may not be something that everyone can relate to, but Sam's other struggles as a teen make her just as relatable today as she was when Sixteen Candles first released in 1984. Dealing with boys along with her own insecurities are part of Sam's character that many high school age girls can identify with, and Molly Ringwald's performance humanizes this character to make her someone that you want to root for as well. Plus, not only is Sam relatable through her high school experience, she also takes matters into her own hands so she can go after her crush Jake, which can help teach young boys and girls to be brave and let their crush know how they really feel.

4 Elliott: E.T.

_I'll Be Right Here - E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial
Amblin Entertainment

Elliott's relationship with E.T. helps viewers truly get invested in the story, and it also helps Elliott remain one of the most relatable characters of the decade all the way up to today. Even if E.T. is about the relationship between a boy and an alien creature, the friendship between the two feels so human and so real. This relationship is what makes Elliott feel especially relatable, as he has a dear friend who he has made a real connection with, but eventually must let him go and move on with his life. This is another example of maturing and letting go of friends as you get older, similar to the boys in Stand By Me. And while the story is very different in E.T. compared to Stand By Me, the theme of growth and maturity makes Elliott a characterthat viewers can still identify with today.

3 Marty McFly: Back to the Future

Michael J Fox in Back to the Future movie
Universal Pictures

Traveling through time and almost causing your parents to never meet is definitely something that no other person can relate to, but Marty McFly's personality and relatability isn't just limited to his adventures across eras with Doc Brown. Back to the Future paints Marty McFly as a confident teenager who also has a lot in his personal life that he's caught dealing with. Whether it's his family, his friends, or even his dream of being a music star, Marty starts out as just an ordinary guy who ends up in a crazy circumstance. So, you take away the time travel, he's pretty much like any other high schooler, and even high schoolers today can relate to him with their big dreams and your usual high school drama.

Related: The Greatest 80s Movie Characters of All Time

2 Ferris Bueller: Ferris Bueller's Day Off

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Paramount Studios

Ferris Bueller's Day Off is all about enjoying life in the moment instead of constantly focusing on the future. Ferris himself breaks the fourth wall throughout the film to encourage viewers to look around at life once in a while, because it'll pass you by before you even know it. This sentiment rings true especially today, with modern social media and unrealistic expectations that we all place on ourselves. It's important not to look at life through the lenses of another person, it's truly important to look at life through your own lenses and enjoy life your own way. Ferris Bueller as a character truly embodies this attitude, and it's an attitude that many people are still able to relate with to this day.

1 The Breakfast Club

Cast of The Breakfast Club
Universal Pictures

Finally, we have the Breakfast Club, a group of teens serving detention who only know each other on a surface level that eventually learn more about each other as the day goes on. On one hand, the group originally all judges each other based on these surface level traits, which in itself is still relatable today as people continue to judge each other on a surface level all the time. However, The Breakfast Club goes deeper into this cast of characters, as viewers see that every single teen in the group is dealing with their own insecurities and issues that they don't let the rest of the world see. This is also just as relatable of a message today, as people still deal with judgments from other people who don't really know them. This film takes five people who seemingly have nothing in common and shows that they are a lot more alike than they would have ever thought, and is a message to put yourself into someone else's shoes before judging them and how they act.