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William Munny
William Munny
"I was always lucky when it comes to killin' folks."
- "Uncle Pete says you was the meanest goddamn son-of-a-bitch alive. And if l wanted a partner for a killing, you were the worst one...meanin' you're the best."
- The Schofield Kid
Played by: Clint Eastwood
A widower and former outlaw with a reputation of killing in cold blood. He comes out of retirement to get the bounty of certain prostitute abusers.
- The Alcoholic: Part of Munny's infamous violence came out from drinking gallons of alcohol. It wasn't til he met his future wife when he stopped drinking and he was grateful to her forever. However, he drinks one last time to kill everyone involved in Ned's horrible torture and murder.
- Anti-Villain: Played with. When we first see Munny he is a beleaguered, sympathetic, failing pig farmer, ineffectual at shooting guns and riding horses, who has no wish to go back to his old criminal ways, after his late wife helped him move on from such, but reluctantly takes the contract out of desperation for the money to give his children a better life. For much of the movie it is difficult to believe Munny ever lived up to the ruthless, intimidating reputation and legend that is built up around him by other characters. Ultimately, over the course of his journey, his late wife's redemptive influence gradually wanes and we find out the stories about him were true all along, that his genuine nature is that of an unrepentant, cold-blooded murderer of men, women and children and legendary outlaw.
- The Atoner: He honestly attempts to live a life that would be pleasing to his departed wife, never touching alcohol and even forbidding his children from cussing. But his dire financial situation pushes him back into his gunslinging ways, and he goes over the edge completely after Ned's death.
- Bad People Abuse Animals: Munny admits that he was guilty of this in the old days, and cites this as the reason why he has so much difficulty rounding up his hogs and mounting his horse.
- Badass Boast: Towards the end of the film, albeit a quite dark one."That's right. I've killed women and children. I've killed just about everything that walks or crawls at one time or another. And I'm here to kill you, Little Bill, for what you did to Ned."
- Booze-Based Buff: Turns out that years in retirement have left his skills very rusty. When he drinks again, he gets his aim back.
- Boring, but Practical: During the saloon shootout, Munny simply kneels down to present a smaller target, and calmly aims then shoots down five men. His opponents are so rattled and taken aback that Munny emerges unscratched, and fear makes the rest of his opponents scarper. Afterwards Munny acknowledged that his survival relied upon luck as well as skill.
- Call to Agriculture: He became a farmer when he settled down but has been forced to become a Bounty Hunter for One Last Job because he's in dire financial straits. After the events of the film, he is rumoured to have gotten out of this line of work and prospered in dry goods.
- Celibate Hero: Stays faithful to his dead wife.
- Combat Pragmatist: Best demonstrated after his shotgun misfires when facing down Little Bill; Munny simply throws the shotgun at the latter to gain the time to draw his revolver.
- Death Glare: Sally Twotrees, Ned's wife, gives Munny one when Munny comes to recruit Ned for the bounty hunting job. Munny knows that Sally still rightly hates him for the man he was and his awful deeds.
- Deconstructed Character Archetype:
- Of the anti-heroic gunslinger character Eastwood tended to play in The '60s and The '70s. Instead of a ruthless, but ultimately honorable gunslinger Munny was nothing more than a violent killer in his youth who terrified everyone he met and mostly achieved many of his most infamous feats through being so drunk he didn't care what happened.
- Of the Retired Outlaw, since at the end of the day an outlaw is still a criminal and Munny having the reputation he has is a clear sign that he was an incredibly dangerous one. In other stories Munny would probably be The Atoner, but here he's ultimately nothing more than a killer.
- The Dreaded: He has clearly seen better days, but Munny is still known (and feared) as the man who used to kill virtually anyone for whatever reason suited him. The Schofield Kid in their first scene together describes Munny's reputation as "the meanest goddamn son of a bitch alive." Later, when Little Sue (the prostitute who delivers the bounty) describes what Ned said about him — that dynamiting a train full of women and children wasn't even the worst he'd done — her quavering voice, and the look the Kid gives Will, say it all. Munny weaponises the trope during and after the saloon shootout to cow any gunman he hadn't gotten around to killing yet.
- Drunken Master: Was drunk during most of his famous exploits, and he attributes his decayed skills in the present to having given up whisky at the urging of his late wife. He drinks a bottle of whiskey before the salon shootout, where he's much more effective then he was previously in the movie.
- Everyone Has Standards:
- Even the cold-blooded killer William Munny, who has committed more than his share of atrocities in his history, far worse ones at that, is appalled when he hears about the prostitute's disfiguring. But in fairness, The Schofield Kid's account was highly exaggerated.
- Before he guns down Skinny he warns the other men standing behind his target to move out of the way so they don't become collateral damage. Once the gunfight between him and the deputies is over he allows the men who didn't shoot at him to leave out the back, though this likely as much out of pragmatism as it would be easier and less potentially deadly to simply let the terrified men leave.
- The Expy With No Name: He is more or less an older and retired Man With No Name, even portrayed by Clint Eastwood, to boot. In his youth he was a Bounty Hunter and an outlaw who was considered a deadly and ruthless gunslinger — at least, until he settled down with his wife on a farm.
- The Grim Reaper: Thinks he saw The Angel of Death during his fever nightmare.
- Grumpy Old Man: Has evolved into one. Once he's unable to shoot a can with a revolver, he angrily goes for a shotgun to ensure he doesn't miss.
- He's Back!: On a dark and stormy night, the most heinous gunslinger and murderer in the West returned to claim revenge and revive his legend.
- Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: His skills have atrophied over the years to the point where the only way he's able to shoot straight, even at close range, is to use a shotgun. When he shoots one of the bounties with a rifle, the kill isn't clean and the guy bleeds out very slowly. It's only when Ned gets murdered and he takes a drink again that he regains his former skill.
- Karma Houdini: He doesn't get punished for his misdeeds and evens manages to settle in San Francisco.
- Last Request: Munny, busted up and feverish, thinks he's dying, and pleads with Ned not to tell anyone, especially his children, the true extent of the evil he's done.
- The Lost Lenore: His wife, Claudia, is the only woman he ever loved. Even years after her death, he remains faithful to her, refusing freebies from the prostitutes of Big Whiskey, who were giving them out to Ned and the Schofield Kid in lieu of bounty payments.
- Love Redeems: Tragically and ultimately subverted. It is clear his wife Claudia's influence had a positive effect on him, enough for him to hang up his guns and give up being a legendary outlaw to settle down as a simple family man and pig farmer. While he tries to continue being this after his wife's death, circumstances prevail that lead him to choose to go back to his old life of crime and his true malevolent nature hidden away beneath the attempt to change out of love for his wife.
- Miles Gloriosus: A subversion. He takes no glory in his past (bloody) achievements, even though being able to outshoot multiple opponents is quite impressive on the face of it. But Munny actually downplays his feats, claiming to kill fewer than the actual number.
- Nerves of Steel: Doesn't show up until the end, but he embodies Little Bill's lesson of remaining cool under fire. Even with four men firing on him at close range, he doesn't panic, doesn't rush, just picks his targets and dispatches them one by one.
- Offhand Backhand: Delivers a variant to the wounded Deputy Clyde as he leaves the saloon, wordlessly shooting him dead without even breaking his stride.
- Psycho for Hire: Rather downplayed. Munny is brought onto the job mostly for his reputation as one, but he doesn't do much to live up to it. Even when Bill tortures Ned to death, he isn't overly sadistic in his revenge (ruthless, but not sadistic).
- Retired Outlaw: He gave up the life of an outlaw for his wife,. If half of the stories we hear about him are true, he's most likely the darker end of this trope.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Goes on one at the end to avenge Ned's murder, taking out Little Bill, Skinny and the deputies.
- Shrouded in Myth: Tales abound about the grisly exploits of William Munny, from feats of marksmanship to outright atrocities. Hard to believe they're all about a "broken down ol' pig farmer".
- Then Let Me Be Evil: Ned's murder at the hands of Little Bill drives Will to fall back into his old, ruthless self; he downs several swallows of whiskey, then sets out to avenge his friend's death, brutally gunning down Little Bill and his posse and executing the man himself as he is helpless on the floor. Possibly subverted, as the closing titles refer to a rumor that Will managed to turn his back on a life of violence again, moving to San Francisco to prosper in dry goods.
- Tranquil Fury: Eastwood is the patron saint of this trope. He shifts into this mode near the film's end.
- Warrior Poet: In his plain speaking way, Munny offers up some deep insights into killing and the bounty hunting life to the Kid, as well as in his blunt rebuttal to Little Bill's complaints about the latter's (in his eyes) undeserved death.
- Worf Had the Flu: Possibly a literal case of this trope, as Munny is extremely feverish from the freezing rain and other causes; at any rate, he is too weak to even defend himself when Little Bill viciously thrashes him in the bar for carrying a gun. The Schofield Kid has another explanation, however:"His pistol must've jammed. He wouldn't take no beating like that if it hadn't jammed."
- Would Hurt a Child: He killed women and children according to a story related by Little Bill, and confirmed by Will himself in his above-quoted Badass Boast.
- You Can't Fight Fate: He expresses the sentiment in a poetic manner:Munny: Hell of a thing killing a man. Take away all he's got, and all he's ever gonna have.
Schofield Kid: Yeah, well, I guess they had it coming.
Munny: We all have it coming, kid.
Ned Logan
Ned Logan
- "l don`t know it was all that easy even back then. And we were young and full of beans."
"We ain`t bad men no more. We`re farmers."
Played by: Morgan Freeman
Munny's best friend and former outlaw partner.
- Asshole Victim: Deconstructed. Viewers are supposed to sympathize with Ned as he is killed by Little Bill. But don't forget that he came to town to kill men for money. Just because he backed out does not make him less responsible.
- Black Dude Dies First: He is the only protagonist to die and the only man killed by Little Bill.
- Combat Medic: Ned implies that he was this back in the days during he and Munny's partnership, as he patches Munny up after Little Bill's beatdown:The Schofield Kid: "You done this before?"Ned: "Plenty times, kid."
- Dead Guy on Display: Much to Will's fury, after Ned's death, his body is callously displayed for the entire town to see. As he departs after killing Little Bill, Will demands that the townspeople give Ned a proper burial, threatening to come back for them if they don't.
- Deathbed Confession: It takes hours of flogging before Ned finally gives up William Munny's true identity and history. Ned expires shortly thereafter.
- Defiant to the End: Even after an extended period of whipping by Little Bill, Ned refuses to give up any information about his partners, only giving out anything just before he dies.
- Killed Offscreen: We never see how he was killed before his corpse shows up in the coffin.
- A Man Is Always Eager: Ned (and the Schofield Kid) take up the prostitutes' offer of "advances" on their bounty payment with great gusto.
- Masturbation Means Sexual Frustration: Ned suggests that Munny resorts to this since he abstained from sex with women since his wife died.
- Nice Guy: Ned is very amicable and easygoing, especially when compared to his old friend Munny and the hot-headed Schofield Kid, but he is still a man with a bloody past.
- Sacrificial Lion: His death serves to push William Munny to kill Little Bill.
- Token Minority: The only Afro-American of the team, although his presence wouldn't have been a surprise in the actual Old West.
- Undying Loyalty: Ned reluctantly leaves his wife to rejoin his old friend Will on a bounty-hunting mission. Later, when the Schofield Kid suggests he and Ned abandon Will to finish the job without him, Ned vehemently states: "I don't kill anybody without him!". And finally, Ned has to be whipped to the point of expiration before he betrays William Munny's real name.
"Little" Bill Daggett
"Little" Bill Daggett
- "He wasn`t scared, boys. He just ain`t no carpenter." - Deputy Clyde
"I heard that one myself, Bob. Hell, l even thought l was dead. Till l found out l was just in Nebraska."
Played by: Gene Hackman
The sheriff of Big Whiskey who controls the town under his law.
- Affably Evil: His chats with W.W. Beauchamp are very friendly, and if you give over your gun after entering the town, he is pretty much an amicable man.
- Asshole Victim: After what he did to Ned, he more than had it coming.
- Batman Gambit: After brutalizing and tossing English Bob behind bars, he offers Bob and his biographer a chance to escape by handing W.W. Beauchamp a pistol, daring him to shoot the sheriff, (gambling that Beauchamp is far too nervous to use it), so that he and Bob can walk out the door. The writer is unable to do it but attempts to hand the gun to Bob, who has killed men before. Bob, tired, bloodied and beaten all to hell (and also eyeing Little Bill's hand hovering around his own gun), doesn't dare take it, and suspects Bill was lying when he claimed the gun was loaded. As it turns out, the gun was loaded and he takes a moment to rub that fact in a crestfallen Bob's face.
- Benevolent Boss: At the climax, he appears to congratulate the posse who captured Ned and turned him over, except by this point in the film, it is blatantly obvious to the audience that this is merely Little Bill putting on the Reasonable Authority Figure act and that he actually does not care about anybody but himself.
- Big Bad: While not the one who hurt the prostitutes, he did let the culprits off with a slap on the wrist, and he controls the town with tyranny. Also, he tortured and killed Ned Logan.
- Blood Knight: The second he gets a chance to indulge in violence, he will take it with both hands, as shown when he beats up English Bob and William Munny when they fail to give him their firearms.
- Boom, Headshot!: Will executes him by pointing a shotgun square in Little Bill's face, cocking both barrels, and pulling the trigger.
- Bullying a Dragon: Little Bill (unbeknownst to him) confronts and brutalizes the feared killer William Munny, kicking his ass and kicking him out of the saloon.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: He inflicts this on Ned in the climax and it is implied he does this often.
- Death Glare: Little Bill gives W.W. Beauchamp a classic one when the writer suggests that whoever built Bill's roof (Bill) should be hanged.
- Deconstructed Character Archetype: Bill presents a complex deconstruction of the "tough Self-Made Man sheriff" stock character. It is all but outright stated that Bill is a former gunslinger who became a Rabid Cop sheriff to indulge in his nasty side through Police Brutality. Ultimately, he is too much of a Knight Templar to be a good example of one.
- Dirty Coward: Played with. He only physically beats people up when they are either disarmed or already covered by his deputies, ensuring they cannot fight back while he issues a fierce beating, but averted when Munny points a shotgun at his face and he defiantly tells his deputies to kill Munny after he's been killed.
- Dirty Cop: He is the law of Big Whiskey and he will take it to extremes, even with violence.
- D.I.Y. Disaster: He's building his own house during the film. Unfortunately, he's an awful carpenter and the place is leaking when we see it raining.
- Evil Counterpart: By the climax of the film, he is one to William Munny. Both of them are Retired Outlaw figures, both of them are implied to have killed a lot of people in their prior life, and both of them look for an excuse to let that side of them out. However, William Munny deliberately tried to change his life for the better, became a genuinely loving father and returned to his life as an outlaw for his family, not to mention showing genuine empathy for Delilah and showing remorse for his actions along with acknowledging they were wrong and does not try to downplay them. Little Bill never tried to leave his outlaw past behind, he abuses his position as Sheriff as an excuse to indulge in it whenever he gets a chance, is shown to have an extremely poor opinion of prostitutes, is shown to never show remorse for his appalling actions, and tries to make himself out to be a hero when he really is the villain. Little Bill is very much what William Munny could have been had Munny not made a genuine attempt to change.
- Face Death with Dignity: When William Munny is pointing a shotgun at him and making it clear that he's going to kill him. Averted after the shootout when he's bleeding to death on the floor, and inches away from being executed, Little Bill rants about how he did not deserve his fate, but it is portrayed as him being pathetic rather than courageous. His final words are defiant though.
- Faux Affably Evil: When he's not doling out Disproportionate Retribution, Little Bill can be fun to hang around with. He even takes on the writer English Bob brought into town, who is more fascinated with Bill's tales.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: As part of his Mood-Swinger tendencies, it can be very easy to get him mad and violent. This is best shown with his beating of Munny, where he swings from calm to violent within seconds.
- Hypocrite: He openly has the courage to call out William Munny for shooting Skinny while unarmed, but he has no problem beating both English Bob and William Munny almost to death when they are unarmed and surrounded by his deputies. Similarly, he openly calls himself better than William Munny, but while Munny does show some remorse for his crimes and has some sense of morality, Little Bill has absolutely no sense of morality and shows no remorse for his actions.
- Ironic Nickname: "Little" Bill is 6'2" and powerfully built.
- Kick the Dog: Beats an obviously ailing stranger (Munny) and kicks him out of the billiards parlor.
- Torturing Ned for information is bad enough, but continuing the torture until Ned dies is just cruelty for the sake of cruelty.
- Kick Them While They Are Down: Does this when dispensing justice on out-of-towners. He beats and kicks English Bob as well as William Munney for coming to town as hired guns. He doesn't stop when they are down and helpless. In the latter case, Bill didn't even know he was a hired gun at the time; he was just an out-of-towner who happened to be carrying a firearm.
- Knight Templar: As he brutalises English Bob, and later Ned, Little Bill rants about the "villains" he's spent his career fighting. Downplayed, as he's clearly in it as much to indulge his sadism as he is to actually administer justice.
- Large and in Charge: He's ironically named Sheriff "Little" Bill Daggett.
- Loophole Abuse: Given that he is the sheriff, and therefore must represent law and order, he will look for any excuse to let his violent side out and claim it is legally justified.
- Mood-Swinger: He can turn from charming and polite to violent and angry in seconds very quickly.
- Nerves of Steel: He's a bastard to be sure, but there's no denying that facing down a drunken, furious William Munny pointing a shotgun at him, without flinching, even ordering his men to shoot him down right after he dies, is straight-up badass.
- Never My Fault: He angrily calls the prostitutes out for putting a hit out on the cowboys, but they would not have done that if he had given a harsher punishment to them in the first place.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: He delivers this twice to English Bob and William Munny, and it is made very clear he did this to Ned offscreen.
- Not Quite Dead: Munny initially shoots Little Bill with his pistol, wounding him, but doesn't kill him. He nearly pays for this when Bill almost recovers his own pistol and nearly gets the drop on Munny. But he ultimately fails and is finished off definitively with a headshot.
- Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: He initially appears to be a sheriff whose methods are harsh, but have an understandable goal, but it later turns out that he just uses his job as a sheriff as a cover to let his violent outlaw side out whenever possible and will happily break the law if it means he can indulge in it.
- Pay Evil unto Evil: His treatment of English Bob is scarcely a step above bullying, but Bob brought it on himself with his arrogant disregard for the law, and Little Bill soon exposes him as an arrogant, murderous blowhard.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: He does not have a very good opinion of women, especially prostitutes. The second he is given an excuse to avoid charging the cowboys with a crime, he takes it, simply because the victim was a prostitute. Similarly, when he asks them about the whereabouts of the Schofield Kid, and Ned, when the prostitutes say he beat an innocent man, he replies with "Innocent of what?", indicating he sees the prostitutes as automatically committing a crime.
- Pragmatic Villainy: Little Bill does a remarkably good job of only showing his violent outlaw side when he has a legal justification to do so, because he knows acting violently and impulsively without any justification would rapidly turn the people of Big Whiskey against him.
- Retired Monster: Little Bill heavily implies throughout the film that he himself is a former outlaw, and that he uses his position as sheriff to indulge in his violent outlaw side again.
- Retired Outlaw: He heavily implies that he was an outlaw once, only for him to turn into an officer of the law, and frequently uses his authority as an excuse to let his outlaw side out on the people he arrests.
- Sadist: While he may be more of a Well-Intentioned Extremist than an outright Rabid Cop, it's pretty clear that he enjoys inflicting his own brand of "law" against anyone who crosses him. This culminates in whipping a man to death and leaving his corpse outside a saloon as a warning.
- Screw the Rules, I Make Them!: Throughout the film, he chooses which laws to enforce, as shown when he merely charges the two cowboys with property damage for slashing Delilah but has no trouble enforcing the town's no gun rule.
- Slave to PR: Part of the reason why he goes out of his way to paint himself as a Reasonable Authority Figure and a Benevolent Boss is that he knows that he has to appear to remain as better than anyone he technically arrests.
- The Sociopath: He displays all the signs of the disorder. He disregards forms of morality except when he must appear normal, and does not show and cannot feel any remorse for his actions. He is a practiced manipulator, as shown when he tries to convince English Bob to take a weapon so he can kill him over their old rivalry while justifying it as self-defence. He clearly uses his position as Sheriff to engage in his violent outlaw side again. He is unable to show forms of affection but feigns them if they serve his purpose, and reacts to beating and torturing people with clear joy. And he ultimately considers himself better than anyone, and will always blame someone else for his failures.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Seems to genuinely believe that what he does is for the greater good. He probably enjoys it a bit more than he should, though.
- Would Hit a Girl: Despite him later telling Ned (as he's whipping him) that he wouldn't hurt a woman, earlier on he slapped Strawberry Alice around for attracting gunslingers to town with the posted bounty.
English Bob
English Bob
- "Let`s shoot some pheasants. Ten shots. At, let`s say, $1 a pheasant. I'll shoot for the Queen, and you...for whomever."
"But a President...why not shoot a President?"
Played by: Richard Harris
A boastful British man with a fearsome reputation.
- Asshole Victim: Little Bill may not be a saint, but Bob ain't one either. He is very proud of himself and once his shameful truth is learned, the beating he gets at the hands of Little Bill is quite justified.
- Blatant Lies:
- "I assure you that neither my companion or I carry firearms on our person."
- That's on top of the lie that he's even "English" Bob. The first words out of his mouth when he sees Little Bill are very un-British and in a Southern (United States Southern) accent, as he's startled into forgetting his facade.
"Shit and fried eggs." - Bling-Bling-BANG!: His Single Action Army is nickel-plated and has ivory grips, a stark contrast to everyone else's standard and even positively ancient weapons. It ends up having its barrel bent by Little Bill and given back to Bob as he's run out of town.
- Break the Haughty: English Bob is a self-aggrandizing braggart par excellence. An encounter with his old friend Little Bill end with Bob getting beaten to a pulp, spending the night in jail, losing his biographer, and being run out of town.
- Broken Ace: Bob had some reputation and he got W. W. Beauchamp as his biographer. Once Beauchamp learns the truth of Bob's fame, the biographer turns against him and decides to be Little Bill's instead.
- Deconstructed Character Archetype: Of the Remittance Man. Bob acts like a badass English nobleman adventurer, likely as protective colouration to stop people from bushwhacking him. However his posh accent slips up a few times, plus if he were a real nobleman then he would certainly be an Upper-Class Twit. Bob's exploits are then revealed by Bill to be either padded, flat-out made-up or deeply immoral, and then finally he is run out of town as a joke, his cherished reputation in tatters.
- Dirty Coward: Having built his fearsome (but false) reputation as a deadly effective gunslinger by shooting other gunslingers unawares and gunning down unarmed Chinese migrant workers. Though Little Bill comments to W. W. Beauchamp, on describing a Big Bad Wannabe who was shamelessly begging for his life, that Bob would never have done that.
- Evil Brit: But his educated upper-class accent slips when he finds that Little Bill is the sheriff of this town, meaning his accent is as fake as... well, nearly everything else about him.
- Evil Counterpart: To Will Munny, except he's just a vicious coward who was trying to cash in on his reputation.
An argument could be made that, in as much as 'good' and 'evil' are meaningful concepts in this movie, Will Munny is the Evil Counterpart to English Bob. Consider the way both of them end their time in the town; English Bob is kicked out in disgrace with his reputation in tatters, exposed as a coward, and for all his ineffectual ranting and raving about how he'll return and make them all pay, he's basically a joke. Will Munny leaves of his own accord with a room full of bodies behind him, and when he promises that he'll come back and make them all pay if they give him cause to return, there's probably not a person in the town who doubts his sincerity or ability to make good on his threats. Which one's the evil one again? - Green-Eyed Monster: The real reason behind his attempting to shoot Corky "Two-Gun" Corcoran: "Two-Gun" had relations with a French woman Bob had designs on, and did not take it well.
- Hidden Weapons: He keeps a small .32 calibre revolver as a backup weapon hidden in his jacket. Little Bill is aware of this tendency and orders him to surrender that as well as his Peacemaker.
- Humiliation Conga: Over the course of 24 hours or less, Bob is stripped of his weapons, beaten like a dog in the streets, thrown in the clink, had his reputation as a cold-blooded master gunslinger totally debunked, cowed into giving up a chance to escape, had his prized pistols ruined, his personal biographer stolen and run out of town. You'd be hard-pressed to find someone who's had a worse day.
- Hypocrite:
- When he first sets eyes on Little Bill after many years, Bob claims he heard a rumor that Bill broke his neck falling off his horse drunk, which is his way of implying that Bill is an alcoholic. As Bill reveals to W. W. Beauchamp later, Bob missed two out of the three shots he fired at Two-Gun Corcoran on account of drunkeness.
- As he's run out of Big Whiskey, Bob castigates the townsfolk as lawless "savages" who were expelled from England centuries ago for their dishonorable ways. Leaving aside that most of the villagers looked unnerved and far from enthusiastic when Bill beat Bob in the street earlier, and that Bob began insulting them as soon as he arrived in any case, Bob himself is, at best, a low-class Cockney who makes a living killing Chinese workers for the railroad and shoots unarmed men out of jealousy. He's in America because England wouldn't have him.
- Improbable Aiming Skills: He does display genuine skill when shooting pheasants, soundly defeating another train passenger in a shooting contest. Little Bill even notes that Bob is good with a revolver. Too bad for him that he's also an arrogant braggart who exaggerated his reputation.
- Jerkass: Proud and boastful as he is, always talking in the name of Her Majesty and England being a much more civilized country than the United States.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Bob's final scathing "The Reason You Suck" Speech to the people of Big Whiskey as they run him out of town is just another example of his seething anti-Americanism, but calling them honourless savages with no regard for laws and decency isn't exactly rooted in nothing.
- Miles Gloriosus: He boasts about his reputation as a gunfighter for his biography. A good example is the difference between his version of the death of "Two Gun" Corcoran and what really happened. In his version, Corcoran got his name from his tendency to carry Guns Akimbo and Bob killed him in a Quick Draw over the honour of a young woman. In reality, Corcoran only carried one gun and got the nickname of "Two Gun" due to the size of his dick. Bob was so drunk he could barely see when he accosted Corcoran, never mind shoot. Bob only wins because Corcoran's Walker Colt exploded on him when he tried to fight back, allowing Bob to finish the job at point-blank range.
- The Münchausen: Tells grand stories about his exploits, only for it to be revealed he's a coward and any truth to the stories has been heavily embellished. Averted with Little Bill and Munny. Bill is every bit as badass as his own stories suggest, and Munny's past actions were actually worse than the stories themselves, and he promptly tells off Beauchamp when the writer tries to cozy up to him as well (whereas both Bob and Bill enjoyed the audience).
- Professional Killer: Cut aside all the bluster, and this is exactly what he is: a cold-blooded murderer who makes his living "shootin' Chinamen for the railroad".
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Bob delivers an epic rant to the people of Big Whiskey while being run out of town:"A plague on you! A plague on the whole stinking lot of ya, without morals or laws. And all you whores got no laws. You got no honor. It's no wonder you all emigrated to America because they wouldn't have you in England! You're a lot of savages, that's what you all are. A bunch of bloody savages! A plague on you!"
- Red Baron: "The Duke of Death".note
- Remittance Man: May or may not be a real example, but he certainly acts like it, possibly even deliberately fostering a reputation of being a badass English nobleman to intimidate people away from bushwhacking him.
The Schofield Kid
The Schofield Kid
- "l`m a killer myself, except..I haven`t killed as many as you, because of my youth."
"Was it like that in the old days? Everybody riding out, shooting...smoke all over, folks yelling, bullets whizzing by?"
Played by: Jaimz Woolvett
A young gunslinger who is going after the bounty of the prostitute beaters.
- Blind Without 'Em: While he's never seen wearing glasses, it's established that he can't see very well at a distance.
- Break the Haughty: At the start of the job, The Kid was all too eager to tell anybody within earshot what a "stone-cold killer" he was, boasting incessantly about his kill count and prowess. But when the time comes for him to kill the last of the targets, he hesitates considerably and is shaken to his core by guilt after committing the act. The Kid is so emotionally crushed by what he's done and his self-realization that he swears off gunslinging, seemingly forever.
- Deconstructed Character Archetype: Of The Gunfighter Wannabe. He turns out to be just a jumped-up little shit throwing around empty Badass Boasts who doesn't impress the real experienced killers of the film in the least. He can't see, can't shoot, and he's never actually killed anyone. And when he does kill a man for the first time ever, he is left emotionally traumatized. In fact in early drafts of the story, he couldn't even live with the idea of being a murderer.
- Drowning My Sorrows: After successfully killing Quick Mike, the Kid is so traumatized that he takes multiple swigs or whisky during his recounting of the incident to William Munny.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: As happy as it gets in the setting. He realizes he's not cut out to be a gunslinger and leaves town with the reward money.
- The Gunfighter Wannabe: Thoroughly explored. He enlists Munny for the job, and brags about how he's killed five men. Once he actually kills someone he breaks down, admits that he'd never actually killed anyone before, and swears off killing for good. In a scene that didn't make the final film, it is later revealed that the Schofield Kid actually killed himself out of shame.
- Hiding the Handicap: Downplayed. He tries his best to hide the fact that he has bad eyesight. It doesn't stop Ned from figuring it out real quick.
- Jerkass: The Kid starts off as loudmouthed and boisterous, even suggesting cutting out Will or Ned at various points, although he eventually warms up to both men. All told, the attitude is little more than a cover for his lack of experience, and after he actually kills a man, it disappears entirely, with the Kid tearfully admitting that, unlike Will, he doesn't have it in him to live the life of a gunslinger.
- A Man Is Always Eager: Like Ned, The Kid is very amicable to the idea of "advances" from the prostitutes.
- Self-Applied Nickname: It's heavily implied that he is the only person who calls him "The Schofield Kid."
- Small Name, Big Ego: He plays himself up as someone to be reckoned with, but in reality, the Kid can't match his boasts, can't see at a distance, and has never actually killed anyone. And when he does gets his first kill, it crushes him.
- These Hands Have Killed: The Schofield Kid is more shocked than anyone that he actually went through with murdering one of the cowboys he, Munny and Logan were contracted to kill, and is so distraught he swears to never use a gun again.
- They Call Him "Sword": His nickname of The Schofield Kid is taken from his weapon, the Schofield revolver. (Whether anyone but himself ever actually called him that is doubtful, though, since he's nowhere near the notorious gunslinger he claims to be.)
- The Trope Kid: See They Call Him "Sword".
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: He continually asserts that the two cowboys "had it coming", even while bawling his eyes out from guilt. Ironically the Kid killed the cowboy who was the most guilty for what happened to Delilah, and he still can't handle the guilt. Munny replies that "We all have it coming, kid".
- Young Gun: The Kid is in his twenties or less and boasts about being badass until the end where he reveals his weakness.
Strawberry Alice
Strawberry Alice
- "Just because we let them smelly fools ride us like horses don't mean we gotta let 'em brand us like horses. Maybe we ain't nothing but whores but we, by god, we ain't horses."
"You think they come all the way up from Kansas just to fuck us?"
Played by: Frances Fisher
The de facto leader and "house mother" of the group of prostitutes at Greeley's brothel.
- Deadpan Snarker: Has a biting, sharp wit, honed by the nature of her profession.
- Deconstructed Character Archetype: Of the Hooker with a Heart of Gold, and the Mama Bear. She's the leader of the Big Whiskey saloon girls, and her determination to protect and avenge them from any harm ultimately results in several deaths including the local sheriff and her own pimp.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Her response to one of her girls getting her face sliced up? Placing a bounty on the heads of both the man responsible and his cohort who tried to stop said slicing.
- Fiery Redhead: Has a hot temper to match her red hair.
- Hooker with a Heart of Gold: Deconstructed with Strawberry Alice, the caring big sister of the group. While she does look after Delilah when she's hurt, she's also eager for revenge, she angrily refuses Davey's attempt at an apology, and she shows no remorse when she finally gets her revenge.
- Mama Bear: Is more angry at the injury to Delilah than Delilah herself, and takes drastic steps to get recompense.
- Price on Their Head: Takes up a collection with the other prostitutes to gain retribution for Delilah's disfigurement.
- Revenge Before Reason: Puts a price on Davey Bunting's head as well that ends up collected for something Quick Mike did, and was scornful of him and his attempts to make up for what his partner did. This despite Davey trying to help her restrain Mike when he was cutting Delilah up in the first place. She also doesn't consider the consequences of placing a bounty on them, particularly the type of men it is likely to attract to the town, and eight men are killed as a result.
- Team Mom: Fulfills this role among the brothel's working girls.
Skinny Dubois
Skinny Dubois
"She can clean, but nobody`s going to pay good money for a cut-up whore!"
- "Here`s a contract between me and Delilah Fitzgerald, the cut whore. I brought her from Boston, paid her expenses and all. I got a contract that represents an investment of capital. Property. Damaged property."
Played by: Anthony James
Owner of Greeley's saloon and serves as basically the pimp of the girls in the brothel.
- Asshole Victim: As he obviously doesn't give a shit about his bar girls as people, berating and verbally abusing them at every turn, and in the end agrees to let Little Bill prop up Ned's dead body on the porch of Greeley's, when William Munny blasts him with a shotgun he doesn't endear much sympathy.
- Big Damn Heroes: While he doesn't do it for humanitarian reasons, his first scene has him arriving to stop Quick Mike from hurting Delilah and putting a gun to his head.
- Captain Obvious: Skinny walks up to Little Bill while he's working on his house, and sees him smash his own nail with a hammer, subsequently cursing up a storm and hopping around in pain. Skinny's brilliant observation?
Skinny:"Hit yer finger, huh?"
- Hate Sink: Skinny has practically no pleasant or redeeming qualities. He's smug, sycophantic and insincere even when acting more friendly in his interactions with the sheriff. He doesn't care about justice unless it benefits him. Even though he's not an outlaw or a killer, he constantly manipulates others and abuses the law (seemingly making a large profit in ponies from the attack on Delilah). He also relentlessly acts like an asshole to his prostitutes, beating them and treating them like property to the point that at times it's reminiscent of slavery. In a film full of immoral characters, Skinny's sheer level of opportunistic, business-based callousness still stands out.
- Jerkass: Treats his "employees" as little better than livestock, doesn't care at all for the pain and suffering Delilah suffers when her face is mutilated, and allows Ned's body to be put on display outside his saloon.
- Jerkass Has a Point: He's an abrasive a-hole, but he's not wrong when he fears the negative attention (and people) a $1000 bounty will attract to Big Whiskey. He even suggests to Sheriff Daggett that he could "run off them two cowboys" who cut up the prostitute, causing all the discord in the first place. If "Little Bill" had taken his advice, the huge amount of trouble that arises later would have been averted.
- Kick the Dog: Yells at Delilah to do a better job cleaning up around the saloon, and adds that if she covered up her face with a veil, "somebody might want to hump you and you wouldn't have to do all that cleanin'!".
- Meaningful Name: Is tall and very gaunt, as befitting someone named "Skinny".
- Opportunistic Bastard: He's always looking to make a quick buck and is quick to manipulate situations to his advantage. He turns the injury done to Delilah into an investment opportunity for himself, apparently making a substantial profit from the ponies he is given (if his grin when receiving them is anything to go by). He also rapidly turns the town's manhunt for Munny into a nice way to make cash selling booze and supplies to the lawmen and posse of cowboys looking for him. Dialogue from the prostitutes also implies he extorts sexual favours from them when he can, too.
- Saloon Owner: It's established in short order that he isn't that great a guy. After Delilah gets cut up, he's more concerned about the loss of investment than he is about her wellbeing. He also decides (or followed Little Bill's orders) to put Ned's corpse on display in front of his saloon, prompting Munny to blow him away with a shotgun and deliver one of the best lines of his career: "He should've armed himself, if he's gonna decorate his saloon with my friend."
- Smug Smiler: Often wears a glib, insincere grin when interacting with others. He's notably smirking when he receives his payment in ponies, and also when he's giving the sheriff some rather dubious praise about his poorly constructed house.
- Spanner in the Works: Strawberry Alice might not have been happy with the offenders getting a 'mere' whipping but would probably have lived with it. Skinny however insists on being compensated for the damage to his whore, so Little Bill chooses to fine them instead.
W.W. Beauchamp
W.W. Beauchamp
"There is a certain poetry to the language which I couldn't resist."
- "It's desirable in the publishing business to take a certain...liberty when depicting the cover scene. For reasons involving the marketplace—"
Played by: Saul Rubinek
A writer who serves as the personal biographer initially for English Bob, and later Sheriff "Little Bill" Daggett.
- Admiring the Abomination: He goes from being English Bob's biographer to Little Bill's (after Bill kicks the shit out of Bob and exposes his faux badass nature), then fawns all over William Munny after Munny kills Bill. Beauchamp, despite not having the grit or fortitude to be a tough guy, is nonetheless obviously drawn to the biggest, scariest badass, perhaps out of some morbid fascination.
- Bring My Brown Pants: The writer wets himself when English Bob is confronted by Little Bill and his men for bringing a gun into town.
- Broken Pedestal: You can see the disappointment and disgust in Beauchamp's face when Little Bill recounts the actual events of English Bob's encounter with "Two-Gun" Corcoran, revealing the true nature of Bob and his cowardice.
- Dirty Coward: He's a rather sleazy self-serving writer who loves hanging around dangerous men and acting like he's best friends with them. However, any time he's around violence for real, he is completely spineless and is quickly reduced to blubbering or fleeing.
- Everyone Has Standards: Beauchamp is aghast when he learns from Sheriff Daggett that English Bob gunned down a disarmed and wounded Corky Corcoran. He also looks shocked when witnessing Little Bill beating and torturing people.
- Smug Snake: His demeanour often has overtures of this. His cocky behaviour when around English Bob (such as obnoxiously flicking a coin at a barber's table and telling him to keep the change) implies he seems to get off on the ego boost of spending time with "tough guys". Despite seeing himself as some kind of big shot tough guy by association, it turns out he's a pretty weak and pathetic man when it comes to actual conflict.
- Take a Third Option: When Sheriff Daggett hands the captive Beauchamp what he claims is a loaded pistol, daring him to shoot him so that he and English Bob can escape, the writer finds that he is unable to do it. But before he returns the gun to Bill, it does occur to him to instead hand the pistol to Bob, who despite being behind bars and currently beaten to shit, is still a dangerous gunslinger. Bob doesn't take it.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: After witnessing the Big Whiskey saloon massacre, Beauchamp quickly scampers out of the saloon, out of town and out of the story. It's not quite clear what his final fate was, but presumably he spend the rest of his life checking under his bed every night for Munny.
- Writers Suck: Beauchamp is an opportunistic hack. He even tries to bother Munny for details about the Big Whiskey saloon massacre, trying to glamourize the deaths of five men even as they lie around him dead or lingering in agony. Munny clearly has contempt for him, and looking down the barrel of a rifle held by a man who just killed five men singlehanded and growled a threat at him, Beauchamp takes his cue and quickly leaves the scene.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: He seems to think he's in a simple white hats versus black hats world... whereas it's more akin to a Crapsack World with Grey-and-Gray Morality.
Delilah Fitzgerald
Delilah Fitzgerald
"I admire you for that. For being true to your wife. I`ve known a lot of men...who weren't."
- "A pony? She ain't got no face left, you give her a mangy pony?" - Strawberry Alice
Played by: Anna Levine
A young woman who works as a prostitute in Greeley's brothel. Her disfigurement at the hands of a disgruntled customer sets in motion the events of the film.
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: Her face is covered with several knife cuts, but they are relatively shallow and thin- still not extensive enough to totally eradicate her beauty.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: A sweet, pretty (despite her scarring) girl with light blonde hair who tends to hired killer Will Munny in his convalescence.
- Hooker with a Heart of Gold: Helps nurse the sick and injured William Munny back to health. She even retrieved his hat.
- Horrible Judge of Character: Calls William Munny "the nice one".
- Mundane Macguffin Person: Delilah is seen as object of desire by men, a payday for bounty hunters and a martyr for women. Things spiral out of control, all in her name and she can do nothing to stop it.
- Small Role, Big Impact: Only has a few scenes, but everything that happens in the movie is a result of her being cut up by Quick Mike.
- Too Dumb to Live: Mocks a man's equipment and laughs in his face. Granted, she's young and couldn't help it, but with the type of rough men she encounters in her profession she should have known better.
Quick Mike
Quick Mike
" I ain't worried. 'Cause I got me some protection."
- "I'll be dogged. Guess they got it coming." - Ned Logan
Played by: David Mucci
One of the cowboys who earned a price on their heads for hideously scarring the face of a prostitute. Mike is the one who actually commits the grisly deed.
- Asshole Victim: No one in the audience (or the film itself, for that matter), feel very bad when the Schofield Kid blasts him in retaliation for mutilating Delilah.
- Subverted and deconstructed with the Schofield Kid, who breaks down in horror at killing a man. He tries to justify himself by saying Mike had it coming, but Munny points out that he and the Kid aren't all that much better than Mike.
- The Can Kicked Him: Gets filled with lead while emptying himself in the outhouse.
- Jerkass: Not only maims a young girl for giggling at his lack of endowments, but is also rude and abrasive to the men who are assigned to guard him.
- Teeny Weenie: The tragic events of the movie begin when Delilah is attacked by Quick Mike because she giggled at his small penis.
- Too Dumb to Live: Knows full well that hitmen are after him (and have already slain his partner), yet nevertheless rudely rebuffs an offer from his bodyguards to watch his back while he leaves the house to visit the shitter. So of course he gets blown away on the toilet.
Davey Bunting
Davey Bunting
"Jesus..I'm so thirsty..."
- "This here pony...I brung for the lady my partner cut."
Played by: Rob Campbell
A basically good-natured cowboy who has the bad fortune to partner up with a man who hideously scars a young woman.
- Hope Spot: Ned Logan shoots his horse, making him break his leg, but he's still alive. He starts crawling toward the cover of rocks, and as Ned freezes up and can't bring himself to fire again, it looks like he might actually survive. But William Munny takes Ned's rifle and finishes him off with a gutshot.
- Last Request: After Bill Munny fatally shoots him in the stomach with a rifle, he starts to feel unbearable thirst, and begs his friends to bring him a drink of water. Munny and co. agree not to shoot anyone who acquiesces.
- Misplaced Retribution: Poor guy never hurt a whore or anyone else in the film, but is partnered with the evil bastard who did, and gets a bounty placed on his head the same as the actual perpetrator.
- At most, in his confusion he briefly restrained Delilah at Mike's furious prompting, before his friend started to cut her up, then quickly let her go and tried twice to stop and restrain Mike.
- Nice Guy: He tries to smooth things over and personally apologize for his partner's misdeed by presenting the maimed woman with a pony. And was very respectful in his interactions with the "billiards" ladies.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: He tries to make personal restitution to the scarred Delilah (for what his partner did) by gifting her a nice horse. But the other prostitutes reject the offer and drive him off with rocks and sticks, and have him killed by placing the bounty on his head as well for something he didn't do.
- Not Quite Dead: When Will Munny and co. finally get the drop on him, his horse is shot out from under him, causing him to break his leg. Munny then shoots him in the gut with a long-range rifle, initiating a long, drawn-out death.
Little Bill's deputies
Clyde Ledbetter, Fatty Rossitter, Charley Hecker and Andy Russell
Played by: Ron White, Jefferson Mappin, John Pyper-Ferguson and Jeremy Ratchford.
Big Whiskey's deputies, who, by following their boss, also come into conflict with Munny and his companions.
- Asshole Victim: Arguably. While they're for the most part seemingly reasonable lawmen, it's notable that none of them openly object to Little Bill's worst acts of brutality, such as the torture and killing of Ned. This makes them rather less sympathetic when Munny brutally kills most of them during the final gunfight.
- A-Team Firing: None of them manage to hit Munny during the final shootout.
- Bearer of Bad News: Occasionally they deliver ill tidings to Little Bill or each other, with Charley seeming to have this role the most.
- Casual Danger Dialogue: As English Bob ominously arrives, Fatty wonders whether it hurts more to get shot when it's cold out or hot out, while Clyde humorously comments on Little Bill's failed carpentry skills. Charley and Andy are a little perturbed at first but then relax a little themselves as a sense of confidence sets in.
- Clueless Deputy: Fatty and Charley are somewhat humbling lawmen, although Clyde and Andy are professional and competent at almost all times.
- Hope Spot: It seems that Clyde actually survived the shooting at the end, barely. Then he is casually executed with a single rifle shot as he writhes on the floor.
- The Dragon: Clyde is the deputy with the most authority and focus.
- The Guards Must Be Crazy: Downplayed. Fatty is assigned to guard Quick Mike. First he falls asleep on the job and later he did think to go out to the outhouse in case there was someone out there, but when Mike said he'd be fine on his own, just shrugged, let him go and went back to his card game.
- Handicapped Badass: Clyde who only has one arm but carries three guns.
- Hero Antagonist: They're just trying to keep the peace (and Clyde at least seemed willing to have Quick Mike and Davey whipped, based on his expression upon fetching the whip) and keep hired killers out of the town. All four seem fairly pleasant off the job, and while three of them took part in arresting Ned, he was an accomplice to murder and Little Bill was alone when he killed him. None of this keeps Munny from subjecting them to What Measure Is a Mook?.
- In the Back: How Munny kills Fatty as he flees from the final battle.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: Fatty and Charley flee from the final fight as they see Munny in action although Fatty gets shot anyway. Outside Charley refuses to take a shot at Munny when asked to by another townsman, and just huddles down as he makes his speech and rides off.
- Manly Facial Hair: Clyde, the toughest of the deputies, has a mustache.
- Mr. Exposition: Clyde tells the other deputies (and the audience) about how Little Bill is Famed In-Story.
- Not Quite Dead: Clyde survives being shot by Munny, but is then shot again as he moans on the ground.
- Plucky Comic Relief: They have a Seinfeldian Conversation as English Bob rides into town.
- The Stoic: Andy is the most focused and least expressive of the four, possibly to Token Evil Teammate levels, given how he's the only one not shaken by English Bob's No-Holds-Barred Beatdown.
Claudia Munny
Claudia Munny
William's late wife.
- Age-Gap Romance: She was 29 years old when she died, and even accounting for the three years that pass between then and the start of the story, Munny looks old enough to be her father.
- Big Good: An unusual posthumous example. From what we hear of her, she was a loving and incorruptible woman who had the strength of will to somehow manage to partially redeem and nurture the empathy in William Munny of all people.
- Hero of Another Story: She must have been quite a remarkable woman to be able to reach the inner humanity of a vicious, murdering outlaw.
- Messianic Archetype: She was – is – this for William Munny... to the extent he can be saved.
- Morality Chain: In life, she calmed William down and reined in his murderous tendencies. In death, her memory keeps Will on the straight and narrow. The chain slips after Bill murders Ned and a vengeful William slips back into "gunslinging psychopath" mode faster than you can say "
Chaotic Evil". - Posthumous Character: The Lost Lenore — Claudia Munny was dead before the beginning, but Munny will talk about her whenever he has a chance. At the end of the movie, we know how much her character influenced him and the whole story.
