History Creator / DannyTrejo

Danny Trejo (born May 16, 1944) is a Mexican-American actor.

* FriendToAllChildren: He adores kids, and has said he enjoys playing villains as a way to show that bad guys don't normally win in the end. Taken UpToEleven in real life, when he [[ https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/08/08/danny-trejo-car-accident-saves-child-los-angeles-machete/ helped to calm and rescue a child from an overturned car]], using the experience he's gotten from working with special-needs children.

* MachoLatino: Often typecasted as such.

* ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'': Bane

* AppropriatedAppelation: In the third 2016 presidential debate Creator/DonaldTrump said that some illegal immigrants were [[https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/10/19/the-final-trump-clinton-debate-transcript-annotated/?utm_term=.77006fdd4dd7 "bad hombres"]] who needed to be deported. Trejo [[https://www.facebook.com/officialdannytrejo/photos/a.157934544236961.31742.149925701704512/1286368954726842 identified himself as "the original Bad Hombre"]] and [[https://www.facebook.com/officialdannytrejo/posts/1354993491197721 started selling t-shirts.]]
* TheAtoner: Has spent the last few decades helping people avoid going into the criminal lifestyle like he did. Before he was an actor, he was a youth drug counselor.
* BadassBystander: Became this when he and another bystander [[https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/machete-actor-danny-trejo-rescues-baby-overturned-car-report-1230129 rescued a special needs baby]] from an overturned car.
* BadassMustache: His handlebar is just one part of what makes him so instantly recognizable.

* CoolOldGuy: One of the coolest around. Maintains a good physical shape and can still pull off action roles despite being in his seventies.
%%* DashingHispanic
* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: He has a reputation as a no-nonsense badass, but admitted to being a MamasBoy during an interview.

* FaceOfAThug: He used to ''be'' a thug.
* HeelFaceTurn: A rare example of a real-life reformed criminal.
** In ''Series/SonsOfAnarchy'' his character was portrayed as the most vicious drug lord in history. [[spoiler: Turns out he's CIA and orchestrates a drug deal through the Sons to shut down other dealers.]]
* HeroicBuild: He has a very muscular physique, even in his seventies.
* HitlerCam[=/=]ScullyBox: Between these two techniques, you'd never guess that he's only 167cm (5'6"). He has a very imposing presence, and unless the camera were to pull away (it never does), you'd have no way of knowing that he's nowhere near as tall as even some of his female costars.

* LongLostRelative: Hilariously enough, he's actually the second cousin of Creator/RobertRodriguez, something neither of them knew until the filming of ''Desperado''.
* OddFriendship: Trejo is a good friend of the Mexican Spanish voice actor who normally dubs him, Miguel Angel Ghigliazza. The ''odd'' part came with the fact while Trejo is a baritone in most of his movies, Ghigliazza's voice tone is somewhat more higher than him, which, interestingly enough, makes him sound even more ''scarier'' at times.
* PintsizedPowerhouse: At least, relative to other actors whom are typically close to 180 centimeters (about six feet), Danny is only 167cm (5'6"). That makes him (very slightly) shorter than ''Creator/TomCruise''!

* RatedMForManly: He's called "the Mexican Creator/CharlesBronson" for a reason.
** The first role he ever got was a random thug, the reason he got the part is because he was sponsoring a crew member with Alcohol problems. He was only on set to eat lunch with the guy and help him deal with temptation to drink with the rest of the crew, the director saw him and liked his look so much that he offered him a part.

* SociallyAwkwardHero: According to Creator/SalmaHayek on ''Series/TheGrahamNortonShow'', during the filming of ''From Dusk Til Dawn'' she was told that Danny was a bit anxious but when he first saw her. He ran to her, ripped open his shirt and showed her his tattoo of a woman wearing a sombrero and proclaimed "I knew you before I knew you, I dreamt you before I knew you". He also said that while he was happy that he had left jail, he'd happily rob another bank for her.

* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMama: He has a reputation as a no-nonsense badass, but admitted to being a MamasBoy during an interview.

* ''Film/AVeryHaroldAndKumar3DChristmas''

* ''Film/LeJaguar''

* SociallyAwkwardHero: According to Creator/SalmaHayek on ''Series/TheGrahamNortonShow, during the filming of ''From Dusk Til Dawn'' she was told that Danny was a bit anxious but when he first saw her. He ran to her, ripped open his shirt and showed her his tattoo of a woman wearing a sombrero and proclaimed "I knew you before I knew you, I dreamt you before I knew you". He also said that while he was happy that he had left jail, he'd happily rob another bank for her.

* ''[[WesternAnimation/DoraTheExplorer Dora and the Lost City of Gold]]'': Boots (voice) (yes, THAT Dora and Boots)

He's the kind of guy everyone can recognize, but not as many can name. He's been working in Hollywood since 1985 and has played dozens of supporting roles, usually as some kind of Mexican tough guy, [[{{Mook}} henchman]] or thug. Trejo has also been in a number of Creator/RobertRodriguez films, usually with slightly larger roles than he normally plays, including ''Film/{{Desperado}}'' and the ''Film/SpyKids'' trilogy, finally culminating in his first leading role: the badass KnifeNut known as Film/{{Machete}}. As an InkSuitActor, he was Dale's "Man Friday", Octavio on ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'' and, in a bit of PlayingAgainstType, he voiced Enrique (the sad-sack bobtail driver from Strickland propane who wants to be Hank's friend).

* BarbarianLonghair: He has long hair and a lot of his characters are bad guys.

* TheAtoner: Has spent the last few decades helping people avoid going into the criminal lifestyle like he did.

* ''Film/{{Badass}}'' (2012): Kind of self-explanatory, don't you think? Plays Frank Vega, a BadassGrandpa.

* BadassGrandpa: Maintains a good physical shape and can still pull off action roles despite being in his seventies.

* CoolOldGuy: One of the coolest around.

* ''Film/DeadAgaInTombstone'': Guerrero

* RealLife/MeanCharacterNiceActor: Plays rough and cruel characters, but is widely reputed as one of the friendliest actors in Hollywood and a blast to work with. The Creator/AnimalPlanet documentary ''Series/PitbullsAndParolees'' also reveals that he helps out at the Villalobos Pitbull Shelter, since he lives down the street, and they even named a dog after him. He also visits colleges throughout the USA using his credibility as a former drug addict and convict to impress on teens that drugs and crime are not fun in real life and getting an education and staying out of trouble is the way to go.

* RealLifeRelative: He's actually Robert Rodriguez's second cousin. No {{nepotism}} is involved, however; they didn't even know that they were related until ''Desperado'' had wrapped.
* ''SugarWiki/RuleOfSeanConnery'': Almost anything can be improved by his presence.

He had criminal problems during his youth and spent time in jail, but the accounts of everybody he works with in the movies (''Everyone'') [[RealLife/MeanCharacterNiceActor is that he is one of the best people in the industry]]. The [[AllStarCast cameo heavy and varied cast of]] ''Film/{{Machete}}'' stems from all the people he worked with in the past wanting to contribute something to his first starring role.

%%* HeroicBuild