This page is for the characters in the comics. To see the characters as depicted in the 2010 film adaptation, see here.
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The Main Character
Jonah Hex
Created By: John Albano & Tony DeZuniga
First Appearance: All-Star Western Vol. 2 #10
- The Alcoholic: Like father, like son. Not that it ever seems to particularly effect his shooting skills.
- Badass Normal: The most realistic version in all DC comics. He doesn't have superpowers (even Charles Atlas kind), doesn't know Supernatural Martial Arts, doesn't have much money, equipment and supplies, Super-Intelligence, etc. It doesn't stop him to be a threat you must count even when he's in crossover with supernatural part of DC Universe.
- Bounty Hunter: His primary profession and hailed as one of the most famous ones in the DC Universe even well-after he died.
- Comic-Book Fantasy Casting: Perhaps unsurprisingly, some artists often draw him to look like a younger Clint Eastwood.
- Dead Guy on Display: His infamous post-mortem fate is to end up with his body stuffed, dressed in a "singing cowboy" outfit, and put on display in wild west shows and carnivals. The times Hex ends up travelling to the future, writers usually use the opportunity for Jonah to come across the body and get his reaction. This fate is subverted actually in Palmiotti and Gray's end of their run on Jonah Hex, Jonah has someone who had been posing as him take his place.
- Disappeared Dad: Not by choice but when Mei Ling ended their marriage by running off with their son, Jason, as a child, Jonah didn't spend much time in his son's life. Late in Hex's life when he runs across Jason as an adult, he is sternly resistant at trying to form a relationship with his son.
- Facial Horror: The "Mark of the Demon" when the Apache mutilated half his face with a red hot tomahawk. The right side of his face is covered in burn scars that expose his teeth and eye in a fashion not unlike Two-Face.
- Famed In-Story: Jonah's reputation proceeds him far and wide across his travels in 19th Century America. He even remains well-known beyond his lifetime, with many history books and biographies about him being written well into modern times.
- Funetik Aksent: How Hex's dialogue is often written, most notably substituting "Ah'll" for "I'll".
- Limited Wardrobe: Intentionally invoked in-universe as he choses to continue wearing his Confederate uniform for decades after the American Civil War ended.
- Made a Slave: Was sold to an Apache tribe as a child by his father to ensure safe passage through their land.
- Politically Incorrect Hero: Zig-zagged. He didn't fight for the South to preserve slavery, he actually planned to turn himself in as P.O.W. when the Emancipation Proclamation was announced, but as one can tell by his choice to continue wearing his Confederate uniform post-war he's largely unrepentant about his service. That said his time as a slave under and living with Apache has him feel a lot of sympathy for Blacks and Native Americans. Far more than one would expect of a white man of the time period.
- Still Wearing the Old Colors: Although the South lost the war and he's considered a traitor, Hex still wears some of his Confederate officer's uniform.
- Trauma Conga Line: Jonah's life has been one disaster after another. Abused by his father, sold into slavery, betrayed by his adoptive brother, shot and left for dead by bounty hunters, branded a traitor by the Confederacy and unwanted by the Union, forced to cheat in a Duel to the Death thanks to another betrayal by his adoptive father, then literally branded a traitor by the Apache.
Supporting Characters
Chako Jones
Created By: Justin Gray; Jimmy Palmiotti; Luke Ross
First Appearance: Jonah Hex Vol. 2 #4
- The Casanova: He's introduced having won the affections of a Cute Mute but by his next appearance has moved on claiming a man like him can't be held down by just one woman.
- The Dog Bites Back: Said for almost word for word when he betrays Jonah during the "Six Gun War" storyline when he leads him into ambush of a Carnival of Killers.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: Hex's first reaction upon coming across him while stranded in the desert without a horse is genuine annoyance.
- Killed Off for Real: After he betrays and sells out Hex during the "Six Gun War", Jonah shoots him at point blank range in the head.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: While still not appearing to be the brightest bulb, he's far more dangerous than he lets on as seen when he sells out Jonah to Turnbull.
Jason Hex
Created By: Michael Fleischer & Dick Ayers
First Appearance: Jonah Hex Vol. 1 #51
- Uncanny Family Resemblance: Aside from the obvious lack of facial scarring, he's a spitting image of Jonah in his younger days.
- Uncertain Doom: He's yet to be reappear following his encounter with his elderly father in Jonah's twilight years. An elderly Tall Bird in an interview, in the 1980s, with a historian makes reference to Jason having such a hard life filled of horrors that she vows to take what truly happened him to her grave.
Joshua Dazzleby
Created By: Justin Gray: Jimmy Palmiotti: Tony DeZuniga
First Appearance: Jonah Hex: No Way Back
- Half-Sibling Angst: Jonah has clear resentment of his half-brother for the relatively peaceful life he's lived.
- Long-Lost Relative: He's Jonah's half-brother from his mother's second marriage. Jonah didn't find about his existence until his mother absent-mindedly brought it up on her death bad.
Mei Ling
Mei Ling
Created By: Michael Fleischer & Dick Ayers
First Appearance: Jonah Hex Vol. 1 #23
- All Asians Know Martial Arts: Displays great skills in martial arts in her appearance in the 2005 Jonah Hex series despite having none at all in her previous appearances.
- Differing Priorities Breakup: She ended her marriage with Hex by running off in the night with their son, Jason, believing Hex would never be able to move past his violent lifestyle.
- Odd Couple: Considered to be one in-universe both during Hex's lifetime and by later biographies on Hex. On account of her being a Chinese woman who abhorred violence marrying a man whose career was in Bounty Hunting along with fighting for the Confederacy.
- Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: Not that she isn't attractive but an easy accomplishment when her husband has half his face scarred.
Nameless Child (Spoilers)
Created By: Justin Gray; Jimmy Palmiotti; Phil Noto
First Appearance: Jonah Hex Vol. 2 #4
- Creepy Child: Fitting since she's the ghost/spirit of Jonah and Tallulah's baby who died in infancy
- Harbinger of Impending Doom: Almost always appears when Jonah or Tallulah are near death's door.
- The Nameless: As she died when she was only a few days old, Jonah or Tallulah never gave one. When Jonah encounters during a near-death experience, she asks if he could give her one.
- Our Ghosts Are Different: Of Jonah and Tallulah's child who died in infancy.
- Shapeshifting: Seems to be able to change her appearance at will. When Jonah encounters her in one story she has his facial scarring on side of her face and the Eyepatch of Power that Tallulah has on the other side. In the same story she then shows up as a grown woman.
- Uncanny Family Resemblance: Pretty much a dead-ringer for her mother, a pre-facial scars Tallulah Black.
Tall Bird
Tall Bird
Created By: Michael Fleischer & Russ Health
First Appearance: DC Special Series #16
- Common Law Marriage: How her marriage with Jonah worked.
- Cool Old Lady: She pop ups alive in 1987, making her at least over a 100 years old, in with her mind as sharp as ever with the intent of finally putting Jonah's body to rest after it had been rediscovered.
- Indian Maiden: Accompanied Jonah in his twilight years.
- May–December Romance: Jonah was in his late-60s during their relationship while she would have been barely 18-19.
Tallulah Black
Tallulah Black
Created By: Justin Gray; Jimmy Palmiotti; Phil Noto
First Appearance: Jonah Hex Vol. 2 #16
- Action Girl: Almost every bit Jonah's equal as a bounty hunter and gunslinger.
- Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Averted, her scars over her body never heal but the severity of them is Depending on the Artist.
- Bounty Hunter: Becomes one after after she kills the men who murdered her family and scarred her.
- Body Horror: She one-ups Hex by having scars all over body that are apparently so bad they scare off would-be rapists.
- Color Motif: Black. Fittingly as black is often associated with death.
- Distaff Counterpart: A female version of Jonah Hex, complete with her own facial scarring on the side that mirrors Hex's.
- Eyepatch of Power: Gets an eyepatch on account of her facial scarring.
- Every Scar Has a Story: Her scars are given to her in her introductory arc.
- Friends with Benefits: How her relationship with Jonah works. Though Jonah puts an end to it when he discovers that she got pregnant as a result of one their flings and she didn't tell him about it. The child from this relationship had died on account of a Church Militant who thought it was the spawn of the devil.
- I Owe You My Life: Hex saved her life and then aided her in getting revenge on the men who killed her family, so as a result Jonah is the only person she generally speaks of positively on a consistent basis.
- One-Woman Army: Something the Religion of Crime found out the hard way.
- Shotguns Are Just Better: Her main weapons of choice seem to be two double-barreled shotguns.
Virginia Hex
Virginia "Ginny" Hex
Created By: Michael Fleischer & Dick Ayers
First Appearance: DC Special Series #21
- Dark and Troubled Past: Implied to have been a prostitute before marrying Woodson.
- Domestic Abuse: Her being on the constant receiving end of this is what causes her to eventually leave Woodson and Jonah.
- Due to the Dead: Even though he had a lot of deep resentment for her leaving him as a child with his Abusive Father, Jonah takes the considerable time and effort of transporting her body to her second family and making sure she gets a proper burial.
- My Greatest Failure: Per Joshua, her second son from her marriage after she left Woodson, she would talk about a Jonah in her sleep that gave her nightmares. Implying she genuinely regretted leaving Jonah behind or not taking him with her.
- Parental Abandonment: She left Jonah when he was still only around the age of 10 to escape the constant beatings from her husband, Woodson.
Woodson Hex
Woodson Hex
Created By: Michael Fleischer & Ernie Chan
First Appearance: Jonah Hex Vol. 1 #7
- Abusive Parents: Had an abusive father himself and he reciprocates his treatment back onto Jonah.
- The Alcoholic: It's rare in his appearances for him not to be in the presence of alcohol.
- Due to the Dead: Jonah said to the slowly-dying Woodson he intended to leave his body unburied for the buzzards to eat. He does however take the time to bury his body but pisses on it for good measure.
- Even Evil Has Standards: One of the only times he is shown in any form of a positive light is when he helps take part in a manhunt to kill a pedophilic murderer.
- Karmic Death: Spent much of his life in search of gold that would make him rich only to get a mortal gunshot wound from a band of thieves just as he finally found a lucky claim. Jonah happens by, having followed the thieves, with the intent to watch Woodson die. When he finally does kick the bucket, Jonah buries the body but marks the grave with a pile of gold nuggets and than pisses on it for good measure.
- Last Disrespects: Jonah pisses on his grave as a final goodbye.
- Last Request: While he's slowly dying from a gun shot wound, he asks if Jonah could spare him some of the whisky he's drinking. Jonah denies him, saying he's had enough for this lifetime.
- Would Hurt a Child: In addition to the standard abuse he inflicts on Jonah, he eventually just traded Jonah off into slavery to an Apache tribe in order to ensure safe passage through their lands.
Amadeus Arkham
- Age Lift: In an inversion of the usual habit of making characters younger due to the sliding timescale of comics, Amadeus Arkham is actually older in the New 52 continuity. He's shown as a child in 1901 in Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth, but here he's depicted as an adult in a time where he wouldn't have been born yet in the Post-Crisis era.
- The Watson: He's this to Jonah during Hex's sojourn in Gotham in All-Star Western (2011)
Descendants
With his adventures being generally set over a century before whenever the current time of the DC Universe is, Jonah has had a few descendants pop up every now that continue his legacy into the present times.
Chastity Hex
Chastity
Created By: Heath Corson & Gustavo Duarte
First Appearance: Bizarro #2
Jinny Hex
Virginia "Jinny" Hex
Created By: Brian Michael Bendis & Nick Derrington
First Appearance: Batman Giant #4
- Affirmative-Action Legacy: Jonah Hex's female lesbian descendent.
- Dead Girl Junior: Her full name is the same as her ancestral grandmother, Virginia Hex (Jonah's mother).
- Gay Cowboy: Female variant of this trope. She's even displayed an attraction to Wonder Woman
- Ray Gun: Rather than six-shooters like her famous ancestor or a modern firearm, she uses one of Adam Strange's ray guns as her primary weapon.
Enemies
El Papagayo
El Papagayo
Created By: Michael Fleischer & José Luis García-López
First Appearance: Jonah Hex Vol. 1 #2
- Bandito: A fairly straight, if very ruthless, example of one.
- Everything Sounds Sexier in French: "El Papagayo" just means "The Parrot".
- Only Known by Their Nickname: His real name is never given. He's always referred to as "El Papagayo".
- Sins of the Father: His vendetta against Jonah is on account of Woodson Hex, Jonah's father, killing his entire family as a boy.
- Killed Off for Real: Hex finally, and brutally, kills him Jonah Hex: No Way Back.
- Villain Team-Up: He and Quentin Turnbull do this in "The Six Gun War" storyline in their first appearances in the 2005 Jonah Hex series.
The Gray Ghost
Ashford (First Name Unknown)
Created By: Michael Fleischer & Tony DeZuniga
First Appearance: Jonah Hex Vol. 1 #85
Caleb Skinner
Created By: Justin Gray. Jimmy Palmiotti. Jordi Bernet.
First Appearance: Jonah Hex Vol. 2 #59
- Evil Counterpart: To Jonah. Both continuing to wear Confederate uniforms long after the war ended though Jonah's are entirely personal while the Ghost sees himself as avenging the defeated Confederacy.
- The Klan: His white pointed hood clearly evokes this. Him targeting "traitors" of the South is also a tactic the Real Life first iteration of the KKK did in the 1870s during Reconstruction.
- Legacy Character: There have been three people so far who have taken up the mantle of The Gray Ghost moniker.
- The Remnant: All versions of The Gray Ghost are said to be former Confederate soldiers who couldn't accept the defeat of the South and continued their own personal war by hunting down those they deemed as traitors to the South.
- Wearing a Flag on Your Head: The Gray Ghost introduced in the 2005 Jonah Hex series wears a hood with the Confederate "Stars and Bars"
rather than a blank white hood. - Villainous Lineage: The second Gray Ghost was the son of the first.
- You Killed My Father: The second Gray Ghost, son of the first, vowed revenge on Jonah for killing his father.
Quentin Turnbull
Quentin Turnbull
Created By: Michael Fleischer & Tony DeZuniga
First Appearance: Weird Western Tales #22
- Arch-Enemy: The vendetta over the death of his son and his appearances across most of Hex's titles makes him the closest Hex has to one.
- Debt Detester: Why he helps clear Jonah's name in one arc. He doesn't want to be in Jonah's debt.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: For all his MANY flaws he genuinely loved his son and was devastated when he died.
- Even Evil Has Standards: When Jonah saves his life multiple times his sense of honor compels him to reveal evidence that exonerates Jonah of murder. He makes it very clear that after this it's back to square one.
- No Name Given: In his first appearances, he was simply referred to as "The Man with the Eagle-Topped Cane".
- Outliving One's Offspring: His son, Jeb, was killed by Union soldiers during an attempted breakout of a P.O.W. camp, something that he blames Jonah for.
- Southern Gentlemen: Brutally deconstructed. He's every bit as a violent man as El Papagayo is.
- Uncertain Doom: He's obviously dead by the time of the present-day DC Universe but whatever his final fate was has never been depicted.
- Villain Team-Up: He and El Papagayo do this in "The Six Gun War" storyline in their first appearances in the 2005 Jonah Hex series.
- Villainous Lineage: A Blackest Night tie-in reveals he has a great-great-grandson, Joshua Turnbull, running around in modern times who seems to be as unpleasant figure as his ancestor was.
