Indiana Jones has defeated James Bond to be named the greatest movie character of all time.

Harrison Ford, 72, also took third place for his role as Han Solo in the Star Wars films in the poll voted for by readers of Empire magazine.

The actor has played Indiana Jones in four films, starting with Raiders of the Lost Ark in 1981 and most recently in 2008's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

Director George Lucas created both action hero archaeologist Indy and intergalactic rebel Han Solo, whom Ford will reprise in new movie Star Wars: The Force Awakens, due for release later this year.

Top 10 greatest movie characters of all time Show all 10 1 /10 Top 10 greatest movie characters of all time Top 10 greatest movie characters of all time 10) The Big Lebowski's The Dude Played by actor Jeff Bridges (right) in 1998 PolyGram Filmed Entertainment Top 10 greatest movie characters of all time 9) Star Wars' Darth Vader Introduced in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope Top 10 greatest movie characters of all time 8) Fight Club's Tyler Durden Played by Brad Pitt (right) 20th Century Fox Top 10 greatest movie characters of all time 7) Die Hard's John McClane Bruce Willis as John McClane in the five-film Die Hard series Top 10 greatest movie characters of all time 6) The Joker Jack Nicholson as the Joker in Tim Burton's Batman film from 1989 Top 10 greatest movie characters of all time 5) Alien's Ellen Ripley 1) ELLEN RIPLEY (Sigourney Weaver, Alien, Aliens, Alien 3, Alien Resurrection) Getty Top 10 greatest movie characters of all time 4) Batman George Clooney was cast in 1997's Batman Warner Bros Top 10 greatest movie characters of all time 3) Star Wars' Han Solo Peter Mayhew as Chewbacca alongside Harrison Ford's Han Solo in 'Star Wars' (right) Top 10 greatest movie characters of all time 2) James Bond Sean Connery as James Bond in 'Never Say Never Again' (1983) AP Top 10 greatest movie characters of all time 1) Indiana Jones Harrison Ford plays Indiana Jones in The Last Crusade (1989) Rex

British spy and ladies man James Bond was placed second in the poll, after just narrowly missing out on the top spot.

The only female character to make the list was Ellen Ripley, Sigourney Weaver's character in Ridley Scott's sci-fi classic Alien. She took fifth place, just behind Batman.

The poll, voted for by over 10,000 people on empireonline.com also named the top 10 greatest TV characters, with Breaking Bad's Walter White topping the list.

Top Ten Greatest Movie Characters

1. Indiana Jones

2. James Bond

3. Star Wars' Han Solo

4. Batman

5. Alien's Ellen Ripley

6. The Joker

7. Die Hard's John McClane

8. Fight Club's Tyler Durden

9. Star Wars' Darth Vader

10. The Big Lebowski's The Dude