To celebrate the arrival of über-flamboyant Austrian fashionista Brüno, we've hoisted the freak flag high and gathered together 10 of the kookiest, most outlandish characters from film's far-out fringe.

So dust off those diamante platform boots and your favourite Jean Paul Gautier corset and get silly with our list of the Top 10 most outrageous film characters.

Decadent and tacky Miami is the perfect setting for this light-hearted farce in which a gay couple -- Robin Williams and Nathan Lane -- are forced to play it "straight" when their son announces that he's marrying a conservative Senator's daughter. Williams' Armand may not be the most outrageous character in the film, however he gets kudos for his incredibly camp beachside décor -- including a slippery slide leading into a pool on his roof and several nude male artworks. But what secures Armand a top 10 spot is his faultless ability to play a homosexual, Jewish cabaret nightclub owner in the '90s while managing not to get on the bad side of the gay community. One of Williams' finest moments comes when he announces, "Yes I am a middle-aged fag -- but I won't change for anyone!" It both highlights the integrity of his character and sets him apart from the more stereotypical queens we usually see.

Our only female character (well, technically speaking, at least) is none other than arch Disney super villain Cruella De Vil. Arrogant, selfish and elaborately decorated, Cruella (Glenn Close) gets absurdity points for her Edward Scissorhands-meets-Bride of Frankenstein hairstyle, irrational penchant for wearing puppy fur, over-the-top makeup, fabulously kitsch style and total disregard for anything humane (And she somehow succeeds in continuously smoking cigarettes throughout a children's film.) That's not to mention her incessant cackling and evil quotes -- like her speech to the Dalmatians, in which she asserts that they "...will all end up as sausage meat... with fries on the side!"

Although Chris Tucker only has a very short amount of screen time in The Fifth Element, he minces confidently on to this list with his insanely eccentric and screeching flamboyancy. Ruby Rhod is a futuristic, interstellar radio presenter who dresses in a '70s-style leopard-print gown with a matching cane, and has his hair bleached and styled into the shape of a giant, phallic microphone. If that doesn't strike you as outrageous enough, he's also -- inexplicably -- irresistible to women, speaks in an exaggerated pitch and is responsible for a large share of the most hilarious moments in the film. It's a testament to the stamina of Tucker (and the patienceof the audience) that he practically steals the film from the likes of Gary Oldman, himself in one of his wackier roles.

The Australian treasure in our Top 10 comes from -- what else? -- The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. Guy Pearce's massively camp Felicia boasts the kind of perky attitude, cheeky behaviour and extravagant costumes that make a character unique -- and, in this case, an unlikely national icon. Felicia's extraordinary clothing choices range from sequinned vests to rhinestone jackets, which culminate in the various fantastic drag costumes throughout the film -- including some elaborate and peculiar headpieces, and a stunning feather tailed burlesque ensemble. And who could ever forget the scene in which Pearce sits astride an enormous silver stiletto on the top of the bus? Dressed in a full length silver sequinned outfit, complete with a jumpsuit, turban, silver face paint, glitter and matching flags with long dramatic wings that flail behind him, Felicia's outfit is only topped by the fact that Pearce does all of this whist miming to opera as the bus cruises into the outback.

Zoolander's Mugatu -- played with demented relish by Will Ferrell -- is based on the Star Trek episode "A Private Little War", which features a crazy monkey with bright white hair called Mugato. Not only does Mugatu suffer from a severe case of "people who look like their dog syndrome", he dresses his pet poodle up in matching outfits and -- much like Bond's nemesis Blofield, with his white cat -- Mugatu's pet never leaves his side. Mugatu's costumes are mostly parodies of the outlandish nature of fashion and haute couture, such as his "Derelicte" campaign, "inspired by the very homeless, the vagrants, the crack whores that make this wonderful city so unique". (It's also been hinted that Derelicte is a send-up of an actual John Galliano line.) Miranda Priestly is a saint next to this guy: he plans to kill the Malaysian prime minister in order to prevent his sweatshops being closed, poses as a school girl in order to brainwash Zoolander, and spills his entire hot coffee all over his assistant just because he didn't like it with foam on top (okay, that one we can kind of understand). But perhaps Mugatu's most outrageous moment is his claim that he invented the piano neck tie. Preposterous.