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Yeah, so Harry Potter and Alan Rickman comes out on Wednesday, and with five years of wand-waving, troll-crushing, snitch-catching, and “He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named”-combating on his resume, I figured Mr. Potter has earned his spot among the best film wizards and sorcerers of the generation. But where will he place? (I’ll give you a hint: The answer is included in the list.) Here I count down the 15 Most Memorable Movie Wizards of the Past 35 Years.

15. High Aldwin (Billy Barty), Willow (1988)
Sure, so he’s got a small role. But that role rippled waves of consequence, as the entire journey that Willow takes in Ron Howard’s ’88 fantasy is because of Aldwin’s nudge. And, let’s be honest, who can forget Willow? (One point for me.)

14. Nekron (voice of Sean Hannon), Fire and Ice (1983)
The 1983 animated film Fire and Ice again pitted sorcery and spell-casting before director Ralph Bakshi (who released Wizards in ’77 and the first feature adaptation of Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings the following year). It was much darker than his previous endeavors, though, and the reason is this sorcerer, who dooms an entire village to—and threatens the nearby land’s last standing fortress with—destruction by way of growing glaciers.

13. Dallben (voice of Freddie Jones), The Black Cauldron (1985)
It would seem fair to call magic craft a full-time job. Well, Dallben is much too good to just be a master sorcerer; he had to have a job on the side: he also manufactures bacon. Okay, technically, it’s never indicated whether he actually sells or eats the pigs he farms in the almost-classic The Black Cauldron—and, considering that the entire movie follows Dallben’s apprentice, Taran, as he searches for his kidnapped hog, it’s rather unlikely—but he could if he wanted to…because he’s so cool. That’s my point. (2-0. Me.)

12. Avatar (voice of Bob Holt), Wizards (1977)
Ralph Bakshi’s Wizards is one of the oddest fantasy films ever made. It takes place in a nuclear war disaster plain wherein most human survivors have turned into mutants (why not, right?) and in the absence of much of a human race, dwarves and elves and fairies have re-risen to prominence and restored peace on earth. Then twin wizards—the good Avatar and the evil Darkwolf—are born, and that peace is again broken by war between them. And at the moment of Avatar’s eventual victory over Darkwolf, he uses not the supposed magic of his breed, but a firearm to finish the job. Tell me that’s not hardcore. Merlin meets Dirty Harry.

10. Lo Pan (James Hong)/Egg Shen (Victor Wong), Big Trouble in Little China (1986)
One’s evil, the other’s good—you’ve heard it before. But not like this. While one rules the underworld of Chinatown (Lo Pan), the other works a tour bus on its streets (Egg Shen). Yes, it’s ridiculous. However, these two “wizards” are perhaps the only surviving lights in John Carpenter’s darkest (or dullest) hour. They make it watchable. And memorable.

9. Ommadon the Red (voice of James Earl Jones), The Flight of Dragons (1982)
Ommadon is one of four wizard brothers who are collectively called upon by John Ritter to help save the dying world of magic. But Ommadon would rather infect humanity with greed and overtake the world than help his brothers build the “Last Realm of Magic”, an eternal safe-haven for magic arts. And if his Red Crown and incessant frown aren’t proof enough of his evil, the heavy and sinister voice of James Earl Jones should be.

8. Howl (voice of Takuya Kimura/Christian Bale), Howl’s Moving Castle (2004)
Howl is what one in the bidness might call a “playa”. He’s got women chasing him (including a witch who curses another girl out of jealousy), he owns a floating castle to invite them into, he has access to a magic portal (in case they’d rather be somewhere more romantic), and he’s a vain womanizer who sends them off to refuse battle for him. But, ironically, he makes for a memorable magic-wielder when he, like so many more of movie’s cocksure males, converts to a decent guy and falls in love. I guess it’s how it happens. Or maybe just the movie it happens in.

7. Miracle Max (Billy Crystal), The Princess Bride (1987)
Miracle Max is full of miracles. How else would one explain his revival of hero Westley after death? (Actually, let’s let Max answer that himself: “Your friend here is only mostly dead. There’s a big difference between mostly dead and all dead.”) Fine, so maybe “full of miracles” is too generous, but he did bring Westley back to consciousness with a chocolate pill. The bottom line is that between Max’s defensive snarls (“You rush a miracle man, you get rotten miracles”) to his lack of attention to detail (he mistakes his wife for a witch), Billy Crystal created one of his most indelible characters—and certainly one of the funniest wizards in motion picture history.

6. Saruman the White (Christopher Lee), The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) & LOTR: The Two Towers (2002)
This one’s a real baddie. And how fitting is it for him to be portrayed by classic hammer-horror vet Christopher Lee? It’s perfect. Saruman, at first appearing to be an ally to both Gandalf the Grey and Frodo and the Fellowship, is soon discovered to be a traitor and a servant to the Dark Lord, Sauron, for whom he builds armies. But big trees falls hard, and this treacherous sorcerer meets his fate at the hooves of the unforgiving Rohirrim horse people. Fair isn’t always nice. Then again, neither was Saruman. (Two points for the horse people.)

5. Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe), Harry Potter Series (2001-present)
Harry Potter is a boy borne into intimidating talent from hate and vengefulness. That is interesting stuff. But what makes Harry a lasting protagonist in Warner Bros. adapted blockbuster franchise is just how much of a boy he truly is. He’s confident, yet terrified; he’s driven, yet unsure. He’s skilled, yet misguided. Harry is destined for greatness and legend, and he believes this along with all others at Hogwarts, but he’s young and immature and has got a long way to go before reaching that greatness, and his natural emotions and hormonal distractions are hindering his progression and benefitting his archnemesis and the world’s biggest threat, Voldemort. That’s distinctive.

4. Tim the Enchanted (John Cleese), Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
One of six characters portrayed by John Cleese in Terry Gilliam’s historic Python adventure the Holy Grail, Tim the Enchanter is surely his most haunting, and as well his most hilarious. Tim has a dominating, loud presence, a passion and aptitude for conjuring fire, an incomprehensible Scottish accent, and the silliest wizard cap you’re likely to ever see. “There are those who call me…Tim.” Absolutely essential.

3. Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes), Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005), HP and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) & HP and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)
When Ralph Fiennes’ Voldemort is finally shown in complete form near the end of the fourth HP installment, his appearance is at once terrifying and wholly satisfying. I remember falling awe-struck by how pristinely director Mike Newell, the special effects team, and, most importantly, Fiennes presented this incarnate of devilishness. And in the two films since (both directed by David Yates), that satisfaction remains as full as—if not fuller than—it was initially. This Voldemort is a lingering icon of fear in movies now, and everything from his rather simplistic physical deformities to his slithering whispers make him a marvel to be studied and never forgotten.

2. Merlin (Nicol Williamson), Excalibur (1981)
Aside from having honest intentions that make him easy to admire and root for, Nicol Williamson’s Merlin is as powerful as any film or TV rendition has made him out to be, and represents one of the many stand-out qualities in John Boorman’s quintessential Excalibur. How many other times have you seen a creature of any capacity summon a dragon and transform Gabriel Byrne into Corin Redgrave? ...Because it’s only happened once, when this dude did it. (My third point; I win.)

1. Gandalf the Grey/White (Ian McKellen), The Lord of the Rings (2001-2003)

This decade (and even decades past) may not have ever witnessed a more potent agent of command than Ian McKellen’s Gandalf, whose embodiment of wisdom and forcefulness made his exhibition of stern strength and intensity at the feet of the Fellowship‘s fiery Balrog demon (“Go back to the Shadow! You shall not pass!”) a shock that both aroused every hair on my body and jumped to the forefront of the fantasy (or even action) genre’s pantheon of epic moments. But a truly inimitable character, such as Gandalf, elevates his or her poignancy with each successive scene he or she blesses, and when the slain Gandalf the Grey returns as Gandalf the White at the Battle for Helm’s Deep in The Two Towers, he certifies himself as not only a classic entity of movie lore, but the most extraordinary wizard of cinema’s last 35 years, conceivably of its entire existence.

Sharodeus Expoughtsium! (“Share your thoughts” in layman terms.) And no snarly quips about Dumbledore, either. Think of that picture as the “16th Finalist”.

Keep aware, The List’s next column will be featured on July 27.