Lampião (Portuguese for "Oil Lamp"), birth name Virgulino Ferreira da Silva (June 4, 1898 - July 8, 1938), was a Brazilian bandit (i.e "Cangaçeiro", pronounced Can-Gah-Say-roh) of the Northeastern backlands (the Brazilian equivalent of the Grim Up North aspect). Part man, part myth, his story is a tale of violence, ignorance, and gallons of blood: picture an unholy mix of Pancho Villa (a guerrilla freedom fighter), Jesse James (a violent bandit of a dry, backwater land) and Robin Hood (robs from the rich gives to the poor). A unprecedented Folk Hero figure full of legends and stories. Despite this almost medieval-like description, Lampião was a figure of the early-to-mid 20th century.
Living in both an age where rich men could buy and sell the judiciary system and a region (The Brazilian Northeast) which was seen by the government as what we would interpret as a Defictionalization of Mad Max, Lampião allegedly got his start in the banditry life when his entire family was slaughtered to the last man by corrupt officers in the payroll of a rival family. Entering in a full-throttle Roaring Rampage of Revenge, he rounded up a gang and proceeded to murder the officers responsible. So began his legend.
Lampião's gang would raid cities, rob banks and assault trains, both in the name of his own fortune and in the name of a crusade against Brazilian injustice. He would emerge out of the nothing, and vanish into the nothing. No police force would capture Lampião, no army could stop him. To make problems worse, Lampião would often give a large share of his gains to poor families and even cities, earning him their respect and shelter. Soon judges, colonels, mayors and even governors would bow down to him, in utter terror of the havoc he could cause. For about a decade, Lampião was untouchable, reigning supreme over an entire region of the Northeast with an iron fist: songs were composed about him, fables were written about his exploits with varying degrees of supernatural nature to it, paintings, statues...
But his career, as most fabled criminals's careers, ended in a brutal fashion. When President Getúlio Vargas became dictator and supreme ruler of Brazil, he declared that such a bizarre situation would not stand. So he declared that Cangaçeiros should surrender or be summarily executed in the spot. Betrayed by his comrades, Lampião was ambushed and subsequently massacred by officers wielding machine guns.
His death, however, did nothing to stop his legend. He became a hero to the common people (for his Robin Hood-esque antics) and fabled figure in the Brazilian Northeast in general, representing their courage, hard lives, and tenacity. The Devil to Pay in the Backlands is strongly inspired by his life and tales.
Tropes applied to Lampião
- Agent Peacock: When not behaving like the stereotypical cabra-macho to inspired awe and dread, Virgulino was pretty interested in fashion and French parfumerie, according to the antropologist Luiz Mott.
- Ambiguously Gay: In the controversial biography "Lampião, O Mata Sete
" (Lampião the Seven-killer), the retired judge Pedro de Morais states Maria Bonita was a façade to Lampião, who was way too close to the boys in his gang. How controversial? The book was banned from publication at the request of Lampião's granddaughter. Two years later a Justice Court from Sergipe banned the ban on grounds of free speech.
- Badass Bandolier: Part of his uniform.
- Battle Couple: With Maria Bonita ("Pretty Maria"), his wife.
- Decapitation Presentation: He was beheaded post-mortem as per military tradition of the time to prove a criminal's death.
- Everyone Has Standards: He would avoid raiding churches because he was deeply religious.
- Eyepatch of Power: He had one eye missing, but remained an effective sharpshooter.
- Folk Hero: One of Brazil's biggest.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: A random member of a poor family once, he became a bandit with more political power than most governors of the country combined.
- The Gunslinger: Described as a Type A in his time.
- Historical Hero Upgrade: He's often seen as a borderline messianic figure sometimes, Rape, Pillage, and Burn non-withstanding. And while he did help the less privileged, he was racist against black people.
- Just Like Robin Hood: An element that made him a heroic figure (unlike Jesse James, he actually did this).
- Only Known by Their Nickname: You'll be hard-pressed to find someone who called or calls him Virgulino.
- Red Baron: Lampião, "Oil Lamp", his nickname due to his trigger happy nature. Also called "King of Cangaço" for obvious reasons.
- Religious Bruiser: Vehemently devout. Badmouthing a saint was the best way to be brutally murdered by him.
- Shrouded in Myth: Legend mixes with reality in Lampião's life.
- Vigilante Man: He fought for his own brand of justice in the lawless backlands with corrupt officials being the primary targets of his wrath.
Before anything else, God-willing, Justice! The judges and officers that don't want to make justice have only one solution: give them a taste of my rifle.
- "Wanted!" Poster: Behold◊. The highest reward ever placed upon someone in modern Brazilian history.
- Your Terrorists Are Our Freedom Fighters: To a tee.
In Media
- Expect to see a statue of him once in every two towns in the Brazilian Northeast.
- To put it simply, any Brazilian Northeastern bandit to appear in fiction is probably based on or at least inspired by him. One of the most famous is the bandit Aracajú in O Auto da Compadecida. The 2019 western Bacurau has basically a whole TOWN of Lampião expies.
- Dozens of movies based on him exist in Brazilian cinema. Among the most notable and unusual is Glauber Rocha's Black God White Devil and Antonio das Mortes, the latter of which which doesn't feature him directly, but instead portrays him by telling his legend.
- Several songs were composed about him (Or by him), examples include "Mulher Rendeira", a popular Brazilian song.
- Devil to Pay in the Backlands is inspired on his life.
