By now we're sure you've heard about the tragic passing of John Hughes, who directed and/or wrote practically every youth-defining comedy film of the '80s, plus classics like National Lampoon's "Vacation" films and "Uncle Buck." Hughes died on Thursday at the age of 59, apparently from a heart attack while out on walk.

As a tribute to the man who had the gumption to make "Anyone? Anyone?" a catchphrase, we present eight of John Hughes' truly immortal characters for the history books.

 

The Greatest Foreign Horndog - The Donger (Gedde Watanabe)

One minute he's an innocent - if forward ("What's happening, Hot Stuff?") - foreign exchange student, the next he's wasted out of his mind, dry-humping his "sexy American girlfriend" on an exercise bike, and crashing Grandpa's car in "Big like" fashion. Long Duk Dong had us all thinking twice when it came time to pass word along to weird, overseas loner dudes about a party.


The Greatest Asshole Principals Ever - Dick Vernon and Ed Rooney (Paul Gleason, Jeffrey Jones)

 

Maybe it's cheating to lump two truly distinct personalities into one category, but it just goes to show what magic Hughes could work when taking a tired concept like "administrator from hell" and running with it. Both pretty despicable, Richard "Dick" Vernon ("The Breakfast Club") had no tolerance for clowns, whereas Edward Rooney ("Ferris Bueller's Day Off") was the ultimate unintentional mirth-maker, with a burning hatred for all things Bueller and Gummi Bears.


The Greatest Douchebag - Steff (James Spader)

Hughes served as writer and producer for "Pretty in Pink," offering the finest sporty asshole since Johnny from "The Karate Kid" in the form of the ridiculously named Steff. A career-defining turn from Spader brought life to Hughes' uber-preppy creep, a guy who could take douchebaggery to astronomical levels. See the classic scene that's known as cigarette in mouth followed by "You're a bitch."

 

The Greatest Inbred Hick - Cousin Eddie (Randy Quaid)

Randy Quaid certainly has his fair share of detractors out there, perhaps justifiably so, but you'd be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn't remember his performances as Cousin Eddie in "National Lampoon's Vacation" and "Christmas Vacation," both written by Hughes. Kudos to Hughes for finding creative ways to make incest jokes funny.


The Greatest Man-Child - Uncle Buck (John Candy)

Candy became an odd muse of sorts for Hughes in the late '80s, appearing in the Hughes-penned "Planes, Trains & Automobiles," "The Great Outdoors" and later "Home Alone." But when Hughes directed J.C. in 1989's "Uncle Buck," the children of America saw the relative they wish they had - one who made oven-sized pancakes, reamed out creepy old teachers and punched drunk clowns in the schnozz.

 

The Greatest Slimeball Sibling - Mike Baker (Justin Henry)

Usually older brothers and sisters are the tormentors in '80s flicks, but Hughes took yet another trope and flipped it for real by having 10-year-old Mike incessantly rag on his sister Sam in "Sixteen Candles." He even pokes fun at his other, even older sister for being on her period right before her wedding day! ("Should make for an interesting honeymoon, huh?") Too bad his dad thought he was a dork.

 

The Greatest High School Rebel Pushing 30 - John Bender (Judd Nelson)

Yeah yeah, to be fair, Nelson was only 25 when he filmed "The Breakfast Club," but hell, he looked like he was hovering around three decades. Nearly coming to blows with the principal like a drunken dad at a kids soccer game didn't help, either. But in 1985, Bender was the ultimate badass/wuss for love who maintained street cred. Twenty-four years - and thousands of freeze-framed raised fists on a football field - later, no one can deliver a Barry Manilow diss quite the same way.


The Greatest Anthony Michael Hall Role - The Geek

The team of Hughes and Hall probably could've held a WWF tag-team championship at some point during the '80s, given their winning streak: "Vacation," "Sixteen" "Candles," "The Breakfast Club" and "Weird Science." But the greatest role Hughes plopped in Hall's lap was that of the unnamed geek in "Sixteen Candles," as a guy who was not only cooler than John Cusack, but walked away with Sam's panties and the prom queen's morning-after breath in his hair.