Westerns have a particular knack for character introductions, with the genre being eerily good at quickly establishing what to expect from a new cowpoke. The beloved tropes of the Western are very particular, having some of the most specific conventions of any category of film. The iconic image of a lone gunslinger pushing through the double doors of a saloon, only to be greeted with vacant stares as the music stops and the patrons glower is iconic enough to be a cliché parodied countless times in other forms of media.
Some of the best Westerns ever feature some splendid character introductions that accurately and efficiently tell the audience everything they need to know about a given character, often without dialogue. The protagonist is usually the one to be given this treatment, but Western villains can often get some ludicrously cool opening moments in their films, as well. In either case, most Westerns are capable of making the first few moments of their best characters ludicrously cool.
10 The Ringo Kid
Stagecoach
One of John Wayne’s most important Westerns, Stagecoach was quick to win over early audiences with the actor’s charm and distinct drawl. The 1939 film follows a stagecoach full of strangers who face a perilous journey through dangerous Apache territory. When the group comes upon John Wayne’s the Ringo Kid, later referred to simply as Ringo, one of the greatest character introductions in cinema history follows.
From atop his lame horse, Ringo’s iconic cry to “Hold it!” immediately establishes him as a capable, dangerous, but charismatic young man. He then goes on to flip-cock his repeater with one hand in a flashy twirl that would later famously be imitated in Terminator 2: Judgment Day, making an undeniable impact on shoot-em-up movies until the end of time. Seemingly aware that it was also introducing the start of a legacy as the camera flies in on his face, John Wayne’s introduction in Stagecoach is an irrefutably iconic moment in Western history.
9 Doc Holliday
Tombstone
It’s hard to find a character introduction as succinct as Doc Holiday’s in 1993’s Tombstone. Loosely based on the real events that unfolded in Tombstone, Arizona, including the legendary shootout at the O.K. Corral, Tombstone provides a patchwork biopic for several infamous names in the real American wild west. Among them is Doc Holliday, a hard-drinking, gambling gunfighter suffering from an acute case of tuberculosis. Val Kilmer’s portrayal of the mythical historical figure won notable critical favor for good reason.
Over a game of poker, the character traits of Doc Holliday are precisely described in only a couple of minutes. He’s lecherous with the ladies, good at cards, and constantly maintains a calm, collected demeanor. But above all else, Doc Holliday is a dyed-in-the-wool killer, able to draw two guns before his poker opponent can even flinch and willing to kill him up-close-and-personal with a hidden blade when push comes to shove.
8 Buster Scruggs
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
The anthology Western The Ballad of Buster Scruggs is an oddity even among the Coen brothers’ venerated filmography. A collection of loosely thematically-similar vignettes all taking place in the wild west, the most iconic short in the film is easily the first one, featuring the eponymous gunslinger himself. The beginning of Buster Scruggs’ tale tells the audience everything they need to know about the quirky wanderer in quite an overt fashion.
As he cuts through the breathtaking expanse of the west, playing a guitar and singing while riding his horse, it’s immediately clear that Buster Scruggs doesn’t have the typical dour demeanor of a Western protagonist. Instead, his almost Bugs Bunny-esque skill, cheery attitude, and flowery language all come across quite clearly as he breaks the fourth wall, speaking directly to the audience as he regards the camera with a warm smile. Interestingly, the seeds of his ultimate demise are sown as Buster’s pride is also set up quite early, gloating over his reputation and wanted poster.
7 Harmonica
Once Upon a Time in the West
Westerns are quite fond of mysterious characters with quirky nicknames, but always put in the work to make sure this particular brand of character comes across as properly capable. One of the great epic spaghetti Westerns of Sergio Leone, the primary plot concerns a parcel of land whose owners are under siege by the hired thugs of a railroad tycoon, eager to use the valuable well to expand his line. However, lurking in the background is Charles Bronson’s Harmonica, a mysterious drifter with a score to settle.
Harmonica quickly makes it clear how he got his name by playing an ominous tune with his eponymous instrument at a desolate train station. As the last train rumbles out of the station, Harmonica and three shifty gunmen are left in the dust, now with a clean line of sight on each other. After a tense classic staredown, Harmonica reveals that he’d had a revolver on his hip the whole time, relentlessly gunning down his would-be assassins without so much as a word.
6 Dr. King Schultz
Django Unchained
After putting in one of the greatest action movie villain performances as a deliciously disgusting Nazi officer in Inglourious Basterds,Quentin Tarantino brought back Christoph Waltz in a more heroic role for Django Unchained. Not dissimilar to Doc Holliday as a bounty-hunting dentist, Dr. King Schultz’s introduction in the opening moments of Django Unchained is hard to forget. Not only that, but it quickly proves that Christoph Waltz is capable of playing so much more than a smarmy antagonist.
From the moment the jiggling tooth statue atop Schultz’s carriage comes into view, he’s quickly demonstrated to be quite different from the other white characters of the film. He’s polite, mild-mannered, and staunchly against the scourge of chattel slavery, a rarity in his time. He demonstrates all of this, as well as his impressive skills in a firefight, when he guns down his bounties, encouraging their slaves to get revenge.
5 Silence
The Great Silence
Another deadly quick Western protagonist with a simple mononym, Silence’s introduction in The Great Silence proves that actions speak louder than words. The opening shot of the character’s first scene (as an adult) quickly establishes a unique visual identity, trading the usual sun-swept desert plains of the typical Western for a snowy mountainside. Silence is a lone horseman that traces a path in the snow, watched from a great distance by some shifty ambushers.
As a flock of birds cry, the action begins, with Silence allowing each man to reach for his gun before expertly dispatching them. Just as it seems someone is ready to surrender, they’re sniped from behind by one of the townsfolk Silence was protecting. This scene readily establishes the most important traits of the film’s protagonist; He believes in mercy, he only kills in self-defense, and he doesn’t talk.
4 Blondie
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
A film almost synonymous with the Western itself, Sergio Leone’s undisputed masterpiece is easily the most powerful of Clint Eastwood’s roles. The film concerns a trio of gunslingers each desperate to find a hidden cache of Confederate gold amid the turmoil of the American Civil War. Amid The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, the former, Clint Eastwood’s “Blondie”, is given one of the most starkly amazing introductory scenes in all of cinema.
When the miserly bandit Tuco finds himself outnumbered three-to-one, his bounty is soon poached by Blondie, clad in light clothing, striding onto the scene as calmly as ever. Lighting his cigar with a match, Blondie informs the gang that they won’t be leaving with Tuco, allowing them to go for their guns before precisely taking them out by fanning the hammer, hiding his own pistol within a cutout in his coat. Chased with a closeup of Tuco’s terrified face and the classic sting of Ennio Morricone’s iconic soundtrack, it’s hard to beat Blondie’s grand entrance.
3 Angel Eyes
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
The character introductions of The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly are so great, they’re worth multiple mentions in a compilation of Westerns’ best. As great as Clint Eastwood’s Blondie is, without the dulcet tones of Lee Van Cleef’s Angel Eyes, the film simply wouldn’t work as well. A sadistic mercenary who takes great pleasure in killing, everything audiences need to know about the character is cleared up in his first few moments on screen.
Breaking into the home of an ex-Confederate soldier, Angel Eyes lulls his prey into a false sense of security, using his ophidian voice to inquire about the whereabouts of the hidden cache of gold. Once he gets the answers he wants, he briefly allows his terrified victim to think he’s been spared, only to literally pull the wool over his eyes by hiding his face with a pillow before blasting it point-blank several times. As Lee Van Cleef cackles, the reduntant title card “The Bad” flashes next to him in a freeze-frame, making for a perfect villainous scene.
2 Rattlesnake Jake
Rango
Angel Eyes isn’t the only Western villain for a film’s director to roll out the red carpet for. Rango may be a family-friendly venture amid Gore Verbinski’s movies, but make no mistake – The talking animals and humor are only a mask for the film’s very real reverence for classic Western tropes. Among them is a spine-chilling introduction of the film’s villain, the demonic Rattlesnake Jake. Prior to his appearance, Rattlesnake Jake’s name was like a bad omen, though the clueless imposter Rango claimed to be his brother.
Just as Rango finishes delivering a hopeful speech to the townsfolk assuring them of his strength as a sheriff, Rattlesnake Jake appears to literally shoot down his symbol of safety. Writhing along the ground while his deadly gatling gun rattle clinks behind him, Jake sarcastically taunts Rango, uncovering his lies in front of the citizenry who had grown to admire and trust him. With an insidious voice courtesy of Bill Nighy, Rattlesnake Jake’s intro makes Rango an unconventional, but genuine Western.
1 Colonel Douglas Mortimer
For A Few Dollars More
Another excellent intro for a character played by Lee Van Cleef, the first scene featuring Colonel Douglas Mortimer in For A Few Dollars More is further proof of the man’s unquestionable legacy on the Western genre. This time around, Lee Van Cleef plays another villain opposite Clint Eastwood, both bounty hunters vying for the same prize, a convict that broke out of jail and murdered his captors. His arrival into town is one of the coldest entrances from any Western character to-date, made quite distinct from his other Dollars trilogy antagonists.
Unlike Angel Eyes, Moritmer isn’t much of a talker, wordlessly accepting a ludicrous challenge from a wanted poster. Making a classic saloon entrance that gives the piano player pause, in three words Mortimer convinces the bartender to give away his quarry’s location, making himself known just to give his terrified victim a head-start. After enough fun, Mortimer grabs one of his many rifles and nails his terrified prey in one shot, smiling to himself in smug satisfaction. Thus marks one of the greatest Western character entrances ever put to film.