Wayne Campbell and Garth Algar (Mike Myers and Dana Carvey)

Hard-rocking Aurora, Illinois teens Wayne (Mike Myers) and Garth (Dana Carvey) may be the most profitable of all SNL characters — the first Wayne World film was a massive hit, and follow-up Wayne’s World 2 also did quite respectful business. The characters kept going because Wayne and Garth, goofy as they seemed on the surface, had such surprisingly deep reservoirs of emotional and intellectual depth.

Wayne was the quick wit of the duo, but Garth had a soulfulness and wisdom that made him ultimately the more lovable. (Carvey based him in part on his brother, Brad.)

For our money, Wayne’s World was at its most Wayne’s World when Wayne interrogated the members of Aerosmith about the state of communism in Eastern Europe.