Main Character
Man with No Name
Joe / Manco / Blondie
Portrayed by: Clint Eastwood
Voiced by: Enrico Maria Salerno (Italian), Clint Eastwood (English), Andre Sogliuzzo (English, extended edition, some lines), Jacques Deschamps (first French dub), Thibault de Montalembert (second French dub)
Appearances: A Fistful of Dollars | For a Few Dollars More | The Good, the Bad and the Ugly | A Dollar to Die For | A Coffin Full of Dollars | The Devil's Dollar Sign | Blood For a Dirty Dollar | The Million-Dollar Bloodhunt | The Man with No Name
A wandering bounty hunter motivated by financial gain, with a mysterious past that no one knows of.
- The Ace: He's a hardened and deadly killer with impressive sharp shooting skills who's also fiercely intelligent, being able to manipulate people to get his way.
- Adaptation Name Change: He's called "Whitey" in Joe Millard's novelization of the third film.
- Affably Evil: "Evil" is a stretch, as he isn't a malevolent person, but while he acts soft-spoken and rather polite in the third film, he is actually as much of a scoundrel as Tuco or Angel Eyes when the situation requires it. However, he still retains a few more moral values than the other two and most of the time does what's right, as long as it doesn't interfere with going after the gold.
- Anti-Hero: He's a ruthless bounty hunter who unabashedly seeks money, but he does have a code of honor shown throughout the trilogy. He has a soft spot for innocent victims, only hunts remorseless criminals and when it comes down to it there are some morals such as mercy and compassion he still holds onto.
- Badass Cape: His iconic poncho gives him this look. He's one of the best gunslingers in the first film alongside Ramon.
- Badass Longcoat: Wears three different longcoats in the prequel (one of which is in the form of a Confederate Army greatcoat) for most of the film until he gives his coat to a dying soldier. Rather than disturb the corpse, he picks up a nice-looking patterned serape lying nearby, which had become part of his now iconic look.
- Beauty Equals Goodness: The most (conventionally) handsome man just happens to be "The Good" in the third film. Granted, the other two were morally worse than him, but Blondie's not exactly a Nice Guy.
- Beware the Quiet Ones: He is capable of being as violent as Tuco, and he's even more ruthless if the situation requires it, but he's much less flamboyant. He barely ever talks above a whisper, and he frequently confronts life-threatening situations without uttering a single word. Even when he's crawling through the desert, half-dead from sunburns and dehydration, he never once begs Tuco for his life.
- Bling-Bling-BANG!: A fairly subdued example compared to most examples of this trope. His revolver is fairly standard in appearance, save for the silver snake etched into the grip.
- Big Damn Heroes: In the climax of the second film, arriving just in time to save Colonel Mortimer from El Indio's rigged duel, forcing him to partake in a fair one where he is hopelessly outskilled and gunned down by the Colonel.
- Bond One-Liner: At the end, after he finishes off Groggy, he reassures Colonel Mortimer, who had stopped briefly to make sure everything was all right, "I thought I was having trouble with my adding."
- Borrowed Catchphrase: To Tuco's "two kinds of people" line.
- Bounty Hunter: He's established in the second film to be this and apparently focus on the worst kinds of criminals, though the third film reveals that he has a tendency to claim bounties and free said criminals, raising the bounty and turning them in at another town to make more money.
- Broken Ace: Anytime Tuco takes charge.
- Can't Hold His Liquor: Averted, he pretends to be this at the Rojo party so he can get out unwatched by the Rojos and help Marisol and her family escape.
- Celibate Hero: The Man with No Name never has a love interest or expresses any interest in women. This is expanded in the novelisation of the first film, where he pauses on his way out after passing information to Mr. and Mrs. Baxter when he hears the couple knocking boots through the wall. He becomes "angry at the stirring he felt in his own loins" before reminding himself that, "A man with a woman on his mind was never fully in command of any situation."
- Character Development: The subtlest in the third film. He begins as a ruthless, insensitive, indifferent outlaw, who would betray his ally mercilessly and without any remorse whatsoever. Yet, as the story progresses (and he nearly gets to see the Grim Reaper twice because of Tuco's deadly thirst for revenge), he actually starts to adopt an observable respect for other people's lives. This unloads firstly by unofficially forgiving Tuco by offering him a cigar after the latter's fight with his brother. He later observes with pity the inhuman and terrible conditions under which soldiers on either side of the war are forced to fight, and is concluded with arguably the purest scene in the film, as Blondie, without hesitation, offers his coat and cigar to a dying confederate soldier. And when all's said and done, he leaves Tuco alive, with his fair share of the gold, and rides off into the sunset, after a bluff/trick to make sure Tuco doesn't try to backstab him in return. Blondie's character truly grew from the experiences he has acquired during his greedy quest for the gold.
- The Chessmaster: He's incredibly crafty and able to manipulate others to get an outcome that benefits him, such as manipulating both gangs against each other in the first film.
- Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: He and Tuco have this dynamic, though near the end their relationship becomes more friendly despite this.
- Close-Range Combatant: In contrast to Ramon's and Colonel Mortimer's preferred style of methodical shots at a distance, the Man with No Name prefers shooting close up, especially when fanning the hammer of his revolver to fire quickly.
- Clothes Make the Legend: We see him pick up his trademark poncho amongst other identifying traits throughout the third film.
- Coffin Contraband: He uses this tactic to escape from San Miguel without the Rojos noticing—specifically, he is the contraband. He stops only to watch the Rojos utterly annihilate the Baxters in their search for him.
- Combat Pragmatist: He never gets into a fair fight if he can help it, preferring ambush tactics, misdirection, sabotage or an Improvised Weapon.
- Composite Character: While mostly based on Sanjuro, his skill with a revolver and his "fanning" technique are taken from Unosuke, who himself is combined with Tokuemon to create the character Ramon Rojo.
- Contract on the Hitman: He leaves the Rojos because he overhears them plotting to kill him when the job is finished, to avoid paying him.
- Deadpan Snarker: Always has a witty one-liner for the occasion, especially when with Tuco.Tuco: God's on our side because he hates the yanks too!Blondie: God's not on our side because he hates idiots also.
- Determinator Manages to haul himself out of the Rojos' house alive after having suffered a beating from them.
- Decoy Protagonist: Clint Eastwood may have top billing in the second and third films, but make no mistake: it's Mortimer's quest for revenge in the second while Tuco is the one to get the most focus and characterisation, with the Man with No Name simply following their lead as they drive the plot forward.
- Deus ex Machina: Saved from death by a hangman's noose at the hands of Tuco as the result of a sudden cannon ball that crashes through the wall.
- Later on he once again escapes death at the hands of Tuco when Bill Carson's runaway wagon shows up right when Tuco's about to shoot him in the desert.
- Deuteragonist: In the second film Mortimer is the protagonist while in the third it's Tuco, leaving the Man with No Name as the deuteragonist and Angel Eyes as the tritagonist.
- Dressing as the Enemy: He and Tuco in the Union soldier camp.
- The Drifter: The classic Western example. He wonders into the town for no apparent reason (in the original cut) and immediately sets himself to work on the issue of the gangs.
- Enemy Mine: With Tuco.
- Establishing Character Moment: Shooting down the guys that were about to catch Tuco, but then turning the latter in for the bounty, only for it to turn out to be an elaborate prank.
- Everyone Has Standards: As cynical and morally flexible as he is, even he's appalled at the pointless carnage of the Civil War. He also takes issue with how Ramon treats Marisol and her family.
- Fastest Gun in the West: Is an expert of the Quick Draw and has a rather large kill count. In this video
, he kills 16 people. - The Fellowship Has Ended: Enforced at the end of the third movie. He leaves Tuco with his life and his share of the gold, just as they agreed... but not before going through an elaborate set of mind games to prevent Tuco from trying to kill him to get at Blondie's share too.
- Fluffy the Terrible: "Blondie" isn't exactly threatening. The Italian "Biondo" is a neutral word, like "blond one".
- Freudian Trio: The Ego in the prequel - Objective, calm, focused on the money but occasionally stops to Pet the Dog.
- Genre Savvy: Blondie is spared the same Cold-Blooded Torture that Tuco got because Angel Eyes knows he'd never talk. Blondie's smart enough to know that talking wouldn't save him.
- Good Costume Switch: He's a violent Unscrupulous Hero for most of the prequel, but after he cements his goodness by selflessly comforting a dying soldier rather than choosing to pursue the gold, he changes to the poncho from the first two movies in which he's more caring and heroic.
- Good Is Not Nice: He's a Bounty Hunter, Only in It for the Money and doesn't hesitate to kill. However, his enemies are criminals and murderers themselves. Also, when he gives his word, he keeps it.
- Guile Hero: He depends as much on his cunning as his phenomenal skill as a pistolero, spending most of the first half of the movie playing both gangs against each other expertly.
- The Gunslinger: A truly iconic example, being very good at the quickdraw and able to kill many opponents in just a few seconds.
- Hair Color Dissonance: His hair is sandy brown due to imperfect translation from an original Italian.
- Heroic Ambidexterity: An unusual example. In his Establishing Character Moment, he deals cards and performs hand-to-hand combat with his left hand, but all his shooting is done with his right.
- Iconic Outfit: His outfit is one of the most iconic Western looks, and in fact the third film is a subtle slow build up to him finally donning that outfit.
- I Gave My Word: Though a mercenary through and through, he was genuinely going to honor his word of letting Mortimer have his fair share of the reward for slaying Indio's gang, and was almost saddened when the old man let him have all of it instead.
- Improbable Aiming Skills: His marksmanship is superhuman. He's a gunman portrayed by Clint Eastwood, so this is a given.
- Improvised Armor: He uses a metal piece in his showdown with Ramon.
- Informed Attribute: For a big part of the prequel, it's not really clear what's so "good" about Blondie. He's more an Unscrupulous Hero with a few Pet the Dog moments. And he's not even that blonde, for that matter.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's a mercenary with only one goal in mind, but he is a good person deep down with a code of honor.
- Knight Errant: He's uncharacteristically more earnest in his treatment of Marisol and her family.
- Machete Mayhem: Wields a machete at one point to wreck the house Marisol's kept in and kill one of the Rojos' men.
- Made of Iron: He's brutally beaten up by the Rojo's in the first film and survives almost dying from heat stroke and thirst in the third.
- Manly Facial Hair: Sports the classic rough, rugged beard of an Old West anti-hero. Notably, it starts off as Perma-Stubble and then grows into a full beard as the film progresses.
- The Man with No Name: The Trope Namer, though he is technically given a name in all three films. However he never claims that any of these are his actual names, meaning these are all nicknames given to him by the people he meets.
- Messianic Archetype: It's not explicitly stated, but in the first film he is a mysterious man who arrives into town on a mule, is subjected to his own "flagellation" and appears to "resurrect" several times thanks to the breastplate he crafted for himself. And in the prequel he is referred to by Angel Eyes as "a golden haired guardian angel", quietly resigns to his own "crucifixion" by Tuco's blackmail, and appears as a comforting angel to both the Union captain and the dying Confederate soldier.
- Mysterious Past:
- The films never delve into his backstory, leaving it unclear how or why he became bounty hunter and con man he is now. Even the prequel, set several years before the first film, doesn't explain his background and only seems to establish that he's been a bounty hunter for a long time. The closest he comes to referencing his past is suggesting his home was an unhappy place, and stating how he knew someone like Marisol and that there was nobody to help them, which is what motivates him to save her and her family from Ramon.
- The book series reveals more information, though it doesn't explain everything. The Man with No Name was apparently once a ranch hand who was continually persecuted by an older hand named Carvell. The trouble eventually led to a shootout between the two with Carvell being outdrawn and killed; however, an examination of Carvell's body revealed a scar which identified him as Monk Carver, a wanted man with a $1,000 bounty. After comparing the received bounty with his $10-a-month ranch pay, the young cowhand chose to change his life and become a bounty hunter.
- No Name Given: He never reveals his real name. He's called "Joe" but the cooper, Piripero, then "Manco" by the sheriff, and finally "Blondie" by Tuco. In the Dollars book series, he is also known as "The Hunter", "The Bounty Killer", "Mister Sudden Death", "Nameless", "No Name", and "Señor Ninguno" or its literal translation "Mr. None".
- Obfuscating Stupidity: Pretends to be drunk off his ass at the Rojos' party, only so he can be put to bed and out of the Rojos' mind, enabling him to sneak out and help Marisol and her family get away.
- Older Than They Look: If he was 36 like Eastwood actually was in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, then in A Fistful of Dollars he's at least 45 to 47 years old, even though he looks 34.
- One Last Smoke: Gives one to a dying soldier in the prequel.
- Only in It for the Money: Like Sanjuro, Joe sees the gang war as an opportunity for profit. Until he learns about Marisol's captivity...
- Pay Evil unto Evil: Anytime he and Tuco put the other one through hell, they always get each other back. Blondie winds up getting the last laugh, however.
- The Quiet One: He only speaks when he needs to.
- Playing Both Sides: His plan for dealing with the Baxters and the Rojos.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Blue to Tuco's Red.
- Revolvers Are Just Better: Despite being just as handy with a rifle, he tells Ramon that he prefers these.
- Signature Headgear: A staple of an Eastwood gunslinger.
- Smoking Is Cool: Clint Eastwood practically made this trope.
- Straight Man and Wise Guy: The straight man to Tuco's wise guy. Throughout their misadventures, he takes things every bit as seriously as he should, with the brutally honest snark to match.
- Sociopathic Hero: Has shades of this as while he has a code of honor, he never expresses any regret or reluctance about killing others. This is more obvious in the prequel before his Character Development.
- Steven Ulysses Perhero: He is called "Manco" in the second film, which means "missing one hand" or "one handed".
- The Stoic: He's always level-headed, and doesn't talk much.
- Straight Man and Wise Guy: The straight man to Tuco's wise guy. Throughout their misadventures, he takes things every bit as seriously as he should, with the brutally honest snark to match.
- Supporting Protagonist: Clint Eastwood may have got top billing, but the second film is really Colonel Mortimer's story while the third is more about Tuco.
- There Are Two Kinds of People in the World: Picks this up from Tuco who enjoys saying it, with his being an Ironic Echo."You see, in this world, there are two kinds of people, my friend: those with loaded guns, and those who dig. You dig."
- Tranquil Fury: When he's angry it's expressed as a slow burn, reflecting his role as The Stoic.
- Unscrupulous Hero: He's a cold blooded killer motivated by wealth to be a bounty hunter, but when he takes a moral stance he sticks to the side of good.
- Villain Protagonist: He's essentially this in the prequel, not being a hero at all and only being concerned with his own survival and financial gain. It's only through subtle Character Development that he becomes the Unscrupulous Hero he's famous for being.
- What a Senseless Waste of Human Life: This is his response to seeing the Civil War and the amount of death it causes."I've never seen so many men wasted so badly."
- What You Are in the Dark: At the end, he's very tempted to kill Tuco / leave him to die. Fortunately he decides to spare Tuco and let him keep his half of the gold.
- With Friends Like These...: With Tuco.
