The Gem Saloon
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Ownership
Al
Albert "Al" Swearengen
"Welcome to fucking Deadwood! It can be combative"
Played By: Ian McShane
"Every fuckin' beatin' I'm grateful for. Every fuckin' one of them. Get all the trust beat outta you. And you know what the fuckin' world is."
Albert "Al" Swearengen is the proprietor of the Gem Saloon, born in England but raised in a Chicago orphanage under an abusive figure known as Mrs. Anderson. He mentions on occasion that Mrs. Anderson ran a brothel at the girls' orphanage before running the boys' orphanage. Swearengen was among the first settlers of Deadwood, earning him several land claims and a position of power. The Gem Saloon, offering alcohol, prostitution and faro, also acts as Swearengen's base of operations.
Swearengen is cunning, manipulative and initially appears to be the most cynically amoral of all the characters, showing no hesitation in resorting to violence and murder when it serves his business interests.
- Abusive Parents: Abusive adoptive parents. He might as well have never known his biological family.
- Adaptation Name Change: His full name in the show is Albert Swearengen, whereas in real life it was Ellis Alfred Swearengen.
- Adaptational Nationality: His history of being born in England and immigrating to the US at a young age is an invention of the show; the real Swearengen was born in Iowa to a Dutch family.
- Affably Evil:
- Swearengen makes no secret of the fact that he'll kill little girls, or even burn down the town, if it's in his interest... but also that he would prefer not to if there was any other way. Overall he's a pretty charming guy, and even Bullock eventually agrees to work with him, as long as it's in Deadwood's best interest.
- He and Cy act as a good case study for the differences between Affably Evil and Faux Affably Evil, respectively.
- Age Lift: The real Al Swearengen was born in 1845. However, the Deadwood character refers to events in his childhood happening "about 30 years before you [Dolly] were born". Since the series takes place in 1876-77, this suggests that the character has an age closer to that of actor Ian McShane.
- The Alcoholic: Al drinks heavily and is frequently seen drunk throughout the show, although he's a rather functional alcoholic and doesn't get sloppy drunk often. In the movie, his addiction has finally caught up to him and he's dying of liver failure.
- Ambiguous Ending: Did he die at the end of the movie, or manage to hold on a bit longer?
- Badass Boast: Al makes a few of them, and only when he means it. He has the power to back them all up."Say what you're gonna say or prepare for eternal fucking silence."
Al: What if I come for you? You ready for that?
Bullock: I guess I'd better be.
Al: Then close your fuckin' store, 'cause being ready for me'll take care of your wakin' hours, and you'd better have someone to hand the task off to when you close your fuckin' eyes.
Bullock: Will I find you've got a knife on you?
Al: I won't need no fucking knife. - Bad Boss: To his prostitutes, who he treats terribly. Still, they're better off with him than with Cy.
- The Bartender: When Dan isn't tending bar.
- Body Horror: The 'kidney stones' story arc which is depicted every agonizing step of the way.
- The Chessmaster: He's quite the skilled schemer and manipulator.
- Cluster F-Bomb: About one per sentence.
- Combat Pragmatist: Guess what. He was carrying his knife, after all...
- Companion Cube: "Chief", the dead Indian's head, who Al talks to in private.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: He's hardly a high-powered businessman, but within Deadwood, he might as well be the CEO of a fortune 500 company.
- Cruel to Be Kind: Killing Jen to save Trixie.
- Dark and Troubled Past: He was abandoned by his biological family and raised in an orphanage by an abusive woman named Mrs. Anderson, who as it turned, had the orphanage moonlight as a brothel.
- Deadpan Snarker: He is a wonderful source of sharp, witty lines and it feeds into his Affably Evil persona."I'm declaring myself conductor of this meeting as I have the bribe sheet."
"How does Hearst hope to defeat me? Allied as I am with the imbecile, the contemptible, and the promiscuous fucking insane."
"Over time, your quickness with a cocky rejoinder must have gotten you many punches in the face."
"I'd rather try touching the moon than take on a whore's thinking."
"You can't just cut the throat of every cocksucker whose character it would improve." - Death by Irony: The owner of Deadwood's preeminent saloon, by the time of The Movie he's at death's door from liver failure, owing to his constant drinking.note
- Dragon-in-Chief: When Farnum is the mayor. Other than maybe the people who directly work for Farnum at the hotel, there's not a single person in the town who thinks he's actually in charge of anything. Everyone else knows Al is running the show.
- The Dreaded: Everyone in Deadwood is terrified of Al and with good reason.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Cy Tolliver's complete sociopathy grinds against Al's simple ruthlessness. And Swearengen certainly ends up hating Hearst, who uses borderline slave labor, rape, and other things to extend his mining empire.
- Evil Brit: He was born in Britain, and he once expresses a desire to retire there. Despite his lack of an English accent, Jane still occasionally refers to him as a "limey."
- Exactly What It Says on the Tin: He does swear a bit.
- A Father to His Men: Al has a paternalistic affection for Johnny, Dan and Silas even if he does treat them poorly from time to time.
- Heel–Face Turn: Downplayed; his fundamental character and morality don't change all that much, but he becomes less of an antagonistic force over the course of the series.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Al is a ruthless murderer who treats his employees with disdain, but he does care for a select few of them, treating them like his children and he's a particularly hard-to-please father. Special mention goes to Jewel, a disabled woman who Al frequently taunts and insults but keeps employed. Trixie considers it his way of 'protecting her'.
- Karmic Death: Narrowly averted. When he's deathly ill and unable to call for help, none of his underlings enter his room despite their suspicions due to his terrible reputation.
- Limited Wardrobe: Most of the camp doesn't have much access to new clothes, but he and his black striped suit take it to the extreme. If he isn't wearing it, it's because he's in his underwear.
- The Man Behind the Man: After Farnum is 'elected' mayor.
- Meaningful Name: He was a real person, but seriously, how delicious is it that on a show like this one of the main characters has a name pronounced "Swear Engine"?
- Noble Demon: He's ruthlessly self-interested and not above murder and the like, but he does have some standards and a paternalistic affection for his employees.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Unleashes one on Hearst's Pinkerton Agent to make him talk.
- Not So Above It All: Singing (to his empty bar) during Amateur Night.
- Pet the Dog: He occasionally gives out some tough love to various characters who need a kick in the rear to get them over some problem. He also seems to have genuine concern about the Reverend's physical and mental declines in the first season, citing a brother who used to have similar afflictions, and eventually leading him to perform a tearful Mercy Kill on the poor man of the cloth.
- Pragmatic Villainy: If it's good for business, then it's good for Al.
- Rape as Backstory: It's implied that he was among the children pimped out while being raised in Mrs. Anderson's orphanage/brothel, which would certainly explain why he buys his own whores from that same orphanage and his protective (if still abusive and dismissive) attitude towards them.
- Refuge in Audacity: A somewhat meta example. He's abusive, threatening, won't hesitate to murder people, drives enemies out of business, schemes and schemes and schemes, treats his employees like crap depending on his mood, and swears somewhat frequently. And yet fans of the show love him, because he's just so entertaining in how he goes about doing it.
- Saloon Owner: The kind that likes to run all sorts of profitable schemes through it, regardless of legality or morality.
- Self-Made Man: Al prides himself on pulling himself up from nothing: an abused orphan who has gone on to become a powerful man in Deadwood who decides life and death.
- Sir Swears-a-Lot: Even in swear-heavy Deadwood, Al swears a great deal. Alma calls him out on it when they have their first serious conversation.
- Villain Protagonist: He's the Deuteragonist of the first season and the Big Bad.
- You Can't Go Home Again: He settled in Deadwood because he was wanted for murder in Chicago.
- You Have Failed Me: He has a tendency to do this to his less trustworthy minions, such as Jimmy Irons.
Bar Staff
Dan
Dan Dority
"I have come back from plenty of shit that looked like it was going wrong."
Played By: W. Earl Brown
"Do not put unauthorized cinnamon on the goddamn meeting table! That's all the fuck we need."
Dan Dority, probably based on the real-life Dan Doherty, is Al Swearengen's right-hand man. A former bushwhacker, he has been with Al for years and serves him as bodyguard, enforcer and killer. While violent and short-tempered he is not a heartless killer.
- Affably Evil: Dan has little qualms about following commands to murder people and is prone to knee-jerk murders all on his own. For all that, he's usually quite personable.
- Alliterative Name: Dan Dority.
- The Bartender: When Al himself isn't.
- Berserk Button: Don't eye a Proper Lady like that.
- The Dragon: To Al Swearengen.
- Even Evil Has Standards: One of the first (and only) instances where he declines to follow Al's orders is when he sends him to kill Sofia Metz.
- Hitman with a Heart: Dan is a hired killer, but he's a very emotional man who feels strongly.
- Hot-Blooded: He's always ready to throw a punch or cut someone's throat, be it at Al's order or Dan's own anger issues.
- Inelegant Blubbering: Whenever he's been truly upset, Dan tends to sob all the fluid out of his body in private.
- Love at First Sight: In "Suffer the Little Children" he has an immediate crush on Flora, who he thinks to be a nice Proper Lady, but gives up on her easily when he is informed that she is actually a crook.
- Manchild: As dangerous as he is, Dan is emotionally immature. He's quick-tempered and latches onto Al like a child to a distant but beloved father figure. In fact, Dan's rivalry with Adams is due entirely to childish jealousy that Al is favoring another "son."
- My Girl Is Not a Slut: Sorry Dan, she is.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: His fight with the Captain is one of the most brutal examples seen on television. He also gives a good beating to Hawkeye and a few drunken yokels. His skull cracking of Brom is less severe and drawn out.
- The Rival: To Silas for a while. Later, with Hearst's man Captain Turner.
- Terrible Trio: He's part of one with Johnny and Silas.
- Villainous BSoD: An hilarious instance happens when he believes that Al prefers Silas to him, and he breaks down crying. Deep inside, he's just a big child.
- Wouldn't Hurt a Child: Although fully intending to at first, the Doc convinces him otherwise.
Johnny
Johnny Burns
"Al... I have hoped for this conversation ever since you give me that Indian head to hide."
Played By: Sean Bridgers
John "Johnny" Burns is a worker at the Gem Saloon and one of Al's lackeys. His main jobs are tending bar, cleaning, and hauling corpses to Wu's pigsty. Young and ambitious, Johnny is also not too bright, leading Al to continually abuse him verbally and physically.
- The Bartender: He shares this duty with Dan at the Gem.
- Smarter Than You Look: Johnny is a little dim when it comes to criminal dealings, but he's able to decipher Wu's drawings (which even Al can't do) and was teaching Jen to read.
- Hypocritical Humor: When he asks Wu, "Why don't ya learn to talk [sic] AMERICAN?!"
- Minion with an F in Evil: Johnny might be a lackey of Al, but he's far from a cold-blooded killer and is friendly to just about everyone.
- Nice Guy: He's just a sweet-natured guy who rarely has a mean word for anyone.
- Punch-Clock Villain: He's a henchman for Al, but he never kills anyone and the one time he shoots (and almost kills) someone, he feels terrible.
- Terrible Trio: With Dan and Silas.
Sex Workers
Trixie
Trixie
Played By: Paula Malcomson
Sol Star: I don’t understand.
Trixie: You wouldn’t. You’re too fucking healthy-minded. You’ll sit here waiting for me to materialize from a piece of fucking furniture and think the world is normal.
Trixie is Al Swearengen's favorite girl at the Gem. Swearengen is often abusive toward her, but she always returns to him and he in turn often shows great affection for her, though not openly.
- The Aggressive Drug Dealer: Al intends her to be this to Alma so she'll be more willing to sell her gold claim, but she refuses.
- Beta Couple: With Sol.
- Broken Bird: She's had a rough life, to the point it becomes something of a cycle. Part of the reason she returns to Al rather than take Alma's offer to leave Deadwood is that she's too used to suffering to see Alma's offer of escape as something more than a joke.
- Deadpan Snarker: She has plenty of sharp lines."For chrissakes, Mr. Star, my cherry is obstructing my work. Sir, would you take it from me, free?"
- Driven to Suicide: In "Suffer the Little Children". She fails and Doc heals her back.
- First-Name Basis: She even uses the name "Trixie, the Whore" for a bank account, apparently because not even herself knows what her surname is.
- Full-Frontal Assault: Attempts to assassinate Hearst while topless.
- Happiness in Slavery: How much 'happiness' is debatable, but she doesn't seek to leave the Gem and feels bad for Al when he is ill.
- Hooker with a Heart of Gold: She's a prostitute with a strong sense of morality and justice.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She's got a sharp tongue, but she cares about people unable to help themselves.
- Ms. Fanservice: Often nude.
- Victoria's Secret Compartment: She keeps a small gun in her undies.
Dolly
Dolly
"I don't like it either. When they hold you down."
Played By: Ashley Kizer
Dolly is a prostitute at the Gem Saloon. Swearengen begins a relationship with her after Trixie leaves his employ. Although he doesn't harbor the same affection for her as Trixie, Swearengen confides his innermost vulnerabilities with Dolly.
- Big Beautiful Woman: She's gorgeous and full-figured; particularly in contrast to the more slender Trixie.
- The Confidant: For Al: he confides a great deal of himself and his past to her in times of stress, but it isn't so much that he trusts her as it is that she fears him, so her status as his confidant is almost incidental. He becomes angry if she ever tries to engage with him in conversation.
- Fiery Redhead: Completely averted. She's one of the only redheads in town, and is probably the most placid, passive character on the show.
- First-Name Basis: She's known solely as Dolly, with no last name known.
- Happiness in Slavery: Dolly isn't exactly happy, but she's certainly resigned and does seem to care for Al in a way.
- Hooker with a Heart of Gold: Despite Al's shabby treatment of her, Dolly still manages to muster up a sense of compassion and sympathy for him.
- Replacement Goldfish: After Trixie leaves the Gem, Al replaces her with Dolly, although he doesn't regard her with nearly the same affection.
- The Quiet One: She's plenty demure and knows enough to keep quiet.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: There's no sign of her following the Time Skip, with no explanation given for her absence. One imagines that prostitutes in boomtowns don't have very long careers.
Jen
Jen
Played By: Jennifer Lutheran
Another prostitute at the Gem. She is closer to Johnny, who teaches her to read.
- Disposable Sex Worker: Averted; she's murdered by Al to save Trixie's life, but The Movie shows that Trixie and Al still recall her death with considerable regret, and Johnny still mourns for her.
- Forgotten Fallen Friend: Averted; 13 years later, Johnny still mourns her and fondly recalls their burgeoning relationship.
- Never Learned to Read: She's illiterate, with Johnny Burns teaching her to read.
- Sacrificial Lamb: Jen is a very literal sacrifice, since she's killed by Al to save the life of Trixie, using her body to appease Hearst, who didn't get a good look at his attacker.
- Slashed Throat: Al kills her via his usual method.
Caroline
Caroline Woolgarden
Portrayed By: Jade Pettyjohn
- High-Class Call Girl: She's notably more high class than the Gem's usual offerings; she's decked out in a beautiful dress and her manner of speaking implies some good education.
- May–December Romance: It's implied that she'll wind up in a relationship with Johnny, who's old enough to be her father. Dan is a little critical of him for this.
Other Employees
Jewel
Jewel Caulfield
"Say I'm as nimble as a forest creature."
Played By: Geri Jewell
Jewel is the disabled cleaning woman at the Gem, Al Swearengen's saloon and brothel. Jewel often uses her job in the Gem to "overhear" what is really going on. Coffee and most of the meals from the Gem kitchen are prepared by her. Al makes a public show of barely tolerating her, often publicly referring to her as "the gimp" or complaining about her noisily dragging her stiff leg. Jewel responds with a cheerful, mocking disrespect Al would tolerate from no one else.
- Beleaguered Assistant: From time to time, she can seem a little weary with the constant chaos that occurs around her.
- Disabled Snarker: Her disability impedes her ability to walk, but not her ability to spit witty one-liners at every given opportunity.Al: What was your purpose at Doc's?
Jewel: I'm knocked up. - Inspirationally Disadvantaged: Averted; Jewel is as fully rounded a character as any other recurring character on the show, and she isn't considered particularly saintly or inspirational. She's just an intelligent, hard-working woman who happens to have a disability in a period of time where people were not kind to those with disabilities.
- Limited Wardrobe: Jewel only has the one dress, and it is clearly old and torn apart.
- Morality Pet: She's one of Al's; he's cruel, abusive and mocking toward her, forever yelling at her about dragging her "gimp leg", but the fact that he tolerates her sass and keeps her around is one of the first hints that he's not quite the heartless monster he might appear to be. Trixie says When he's dying, Jewel is one of those present by his bedside, showing that he truly does love Jewel and considers her family.Trixie: Jewel - that he says he's got around against some hooplehead only having 9 cents and wanting a piece of pussy. That ain't it. Why she's around is...it's his sick fucking way of protectin' her.
- Servile Snarker: Jewel sasses Al with a frequency that would get virtually anyone else a forwarding address in the bellies of Wu's pigs, but as much as he mocks her back, Al does tolerate it. Sometimes he even seems to enjoy it.
Adams
Silas Adams
"Is there any fucking chance you and me don't end up in blood?"
Played By: Titus Welliver
Silas Adams, also known as "the bagman from Yankton", who comes to camp to collect bribe money for Magistrate Clagget. Swearengen hires Adams to join his operation, as he is smarter than Al's other lackeys, paying him to slice Clagget's throat for extorting money from Swearengen. Adams serves Swearengen as his contact in Yankton to bring him news of the territorial changes, as well as relying on his legal counsel when dealing with Commissioner Jarry and his election proposals. He also serves as middleman between Hearst and Swearengen.
- Berserk Button: Adams is usually placid and bored, but insult him the wrong way, and he becomes a very dangerous man.
- Co-Dragons: After Season 1, he becomes one of Al's main go-to henchmen alongside Dan Dority, with both of them showing more physical aptitude for rough work than gentle, good-hearted Johnny Burns.
- Deadpan Snarker: Al quickly notes Adams' adeptness at handing out snark.Al: Over time, your quickness with a cocky rejoinder must have gotten you many punches in the face.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: Silas looks completely different in the first season, sporting muttonchops, short hair and a top hat. In the second season, he grows his hair long, grows a beard, and typically goes hatless.
- Evil Genius: Adams is easily the smartest of Al's henchmen, and as such Al trusts him with matters that require a more cunning mind than Dan or Johnny. Al sends Adams to negotiate on his behalf with Hearst, a fact which rubs Dan the wrong way.
- Hyper-Competent Sidekick: Not that Al is bumbling in any way, but Silas is the smartest and most sensible of the three henchmen.
- Punch-Clock Villain: When he's not cutting throats on behalf of Al, Adams is a genial enough fellow.
- Not So Stoic: Adams remains cool and collected much of the time, but when he loses his temper, he can fly into a violent rage.
- Terrible Trio: With Dan and Johnny.
- The Rival: Dan views him as this. Silas knows it, but doesn't reciprocate.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: He's nowhere to be seen after the Time Skip, and it's never explained what happened to him. Welliver was unable to return for the film due to scheduling conflicts.
