SPOILER ALERT: The following article contains massive spoilers for the John Wick movies. If you have not yet seen the films, continue at your own risk!
There are many film franchises featuring characters who do everything in their power not to end the lives of their enemies/opponents, but John Wick is definitely not counted among them. Since launching in 2014, the assassin-centric series has demonstrated that it doesn’t really pay much attention to standard human morality, and has generated a death toll far greater than most action movies. This is a series where people are being executed in crazy numbers, to the point where you’d think that it might be impossible to get a full tally.
Well, guess again. Following the release of John Wick: Chapter 4, we’ve gone through all four movies and tabulated all of the many, many kills that occur on screen executed by John Wick himself. We’ve broken it all down in the feature below, so read on and discover the crazy amount of bloodshed we’ve witnessed in these movies thus far:
John Wick
Guns: 73
It’s established very early in the John Wick trilogy that the hero definitely has a weapon of choice, and it’s clearly a gun. While this count also includes the confirmed kills by Marcus, Ms. Perkins, and Winston’s men, John accounts for the vast majority, as he absolutely mows down enemy assassins as he works towards completing his revenge mission.
Swords/Knives: 6
Of course, John Wick isn’t only deadly when armed with a loaded firearm, as he also proves to be quite efficient when handling knives as well. He doesn’t get too many opportunities to show off this skill in his first movie, but he does get a few good stabs and slices in among the many, many headshots. This includes his final kill, where he purposefully gets stabbed by Viggo Tarasov just so that he can take the weapon away and use it himself.
Other: 12
John Wick also has more death by explosions than any other movie in the series so far (seven), and adds in a broken neck, a strangulation, and a couple of car collisions. John got quite creative in this one.
John Wick: Chapter 2
Guns: 110
You’d think that 73 gun deaths would be hard to top, but director Chad Stahelski finds a way in John Wick: Chapter 2. It helps that the action flick features multiple sequences as big as the Red Circle Club rampage, including his escape through the tunnels following the “assassination” of Gianna D'Antonio.
Blades: 2
John Wick: Chapter 2 definitely has the most skewed kill ratio of all the movies so far, as only a small percentage are executed via a blade. That being said, this is the method for one of the most significant deaths in the movie, as it’s with Ares’ own knife that John manages to take her out of the equation.
Other: 6
We really haven’t seen a good amount of stealth from John Wick in the trilogy to this point, as he clearly prefers to go in guns blazing, but we do get to see a couple of more quiet kills at the start of the second movie – which results in a few bodies hitting the floor because of broken necks and even some garrote action. And, if course, this is also the film where we actually get to see what the eponymous killer can do with a pencil, as he ends two lives with one writing utensil.
Before we get into John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, you can revisit all of the John Wick-specific kills by clicking play on our awesome supercut below:
John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum
Guns: 124
If you went into John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum thinking that the sequel wouldn’t be able to top the gun kill count from the previous installment, you’re clearly not paying attention. It’s worth noting that John does get a lot more help in this one than in the previous movies, as Sofia racks up a pretty high body count while under attack from Berrada's men in Casablanca, but the film most definitely affirms that the titular character knows his way around a firearm.
Blades: 32
There are far more deaths by sword/knife in the third installment of this franchise – mostly because of the stealthy attacks that are executed against John’s allies by Zero and his gang. That being said, John himself does use a blade more than a few times in the movie, most notably during the first act museum attack, and then later when he is accosted by Zero’s crew on motorcycles upon his return to New York. And, of course, there is the big final battle in The Continental as well.
Other: 11
John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum stars with an nontraditional kill, as our protagonist takes out an opponent with just a book – but from there we get to see 10 others scattered throughout the film. A good number of them are actually animal kills – three by dogs, and three by horses – and motorcycle crashes and a chucked axe complete the count.
John Wick: Chapter 4
Guns: 105
John Wick: Chapter 4 may be longer than all of the other movies in the series, but that surprisingly doesn't mean that the central hero ends up using that time to assassinate more people than the previous films. That being said, he ends up taking out a whole lot of people using firearms in the action epic. The vast majority are executed with John's array of pistols, but by far his most efficient weapon proves to be a shotgun that is loaded up with fiery Dragon Breath shells that cook while they kill.
Blades: 6
Compared to John Wick: Chapter 3, the number of blade kills in John Wick: Chapter 4 is way down, but the titular protagonist still makes them count. There is some sharp dagger action in the action here, though the number one bladed weapon the main character uses is an axe that proves quite effective.
Other: 8
John Wick gets good and creative in John Wick: Chapter 4 by using both non-traditional lethal weapons and vehicles. He crushes one guy with a car and throws three of them into moving vehicles; he revs up a motorcycle before letting it go flying; and he puts an end to Killa with a good push off a tall stairwell. My two favorites, however, are John killing an enemy with nunchaku and stabbing a dude with a gun.
Be sure to stay tuned here on CinemaBlend for all of the latest developments about the John Wick franchise going forward, and for further reading, check out our ranking of the John Wick movies as well as our ranking of the John Wick series' best villains.
