The last time we saw Denzel he was in last fall’s hit The Great Debaters, doing what he does best — playing a stand-up guy that we’d all like to have over for dinner.

But for many of us, the first time we saw Denzel he wasn’t playing such a nice guy. In fact, in 1981’s A Soldier’s Story, Denzel was playing, well, a real jerk.

WARNING: If you haven’t seen A Soldier’s Story, a fact I would NOT admit in public, you should stop reading now — or at least until you watch Soldier when it airs on TV One Sunday at 8 pm [ET] – because I’m totally about to ruin the whole movie. So if you don’t want that to happen, I suggest you scram.

Gone?

Good.

So as any real fan knows, Denzel’s role as Pfc. Petersen in Soldier was not a nice guy. A murderer, actually. But we all know Denzel didn’t get where he is playing bad guys. Malcolm X, Crimson Tide, The Hurricane (even Virtuosity) – his list of playing upstanding guys is legendary. But let’s be honest, “Good Denzel” is nice, but “bad Denzel” is better. Let’s take a look at Denzel’s bad side.

Training Day
Role: Police Officer Alonzo Harris
Key Line: “King Kong Ain’t Got Nothin’ on Me!”
Random Act of Violence: Alonzo’s acts of brutality are too many to count but using his own kid (from an adulterous affair, no less) as a human shield is the lowest.
Why We Love Him Anyway: Maybe it was the goatee, his hot ride or the scores of quotable lines he dropped, but Denzel displayed such high-octane swagger that he won his second Oscar for it.

American Gangster
Role: Real-life drug dealer, Frank Lucas
Key Line: “That’s $25,000 alpaca! You blot that ****!”
Random Act of Violence: We suggest you don’t get too drunk around pull out a gun around Frank Lucas. Chances are you might find your head dancing with the business-end of a piano lid.
Why We Love Him Anyway: Denzel’s trademark intensity is all here, but the reason why we love his thug is because (spoiler alert!) he does redeem himself at the end by helping sinking his own death-dealing business.

Man on Fire
Role: Ex-CIA agent Creasy
Key Line: “Forgiveness is between them and God. It’s my job to arrange the meeting.”
Random Act of Violence: After doing a delicate bit of minor surgery on a suspect (you men over 40 know EXACTLY what I’m talking about), Creasy switches from proctologist to bomb expert as he interrogates and then blows the guy to smithereens while walking away in classic his classic Denzel stroll.
Why We Love Him Anyway: Fighting for the love of a woman is nice. Fighting for the love of a little girl is just damned noble. A bit excessive, but noble.