Richard "Richie" Gekko: Kill them all one by one, and we're in. Do your part, brother.
Seth Gekko: No, we are not killers. We pull down scores and that's it.
Seth Gekko: No, we are not killers. We pull down scores and that's it.
— The series, "Straightjacket"
From the 90s original that started the franchise to the television reimagining/expansion, the night has been home to vampires and Culebras, just like the colorful work is to charming schemers.
All spoilers are unmarked. You Have Been Warned!
- Original film: Seth Gecko, a genius bankrobber who masterminds the escape of himself and his brother Richie from the authorities no matter whom he has to kill, manages to elude the entirety of the state and federal forces arrayed against him. Kidnapping the Fuller family and using them to evade his pursuers in order to cross the border into Mexico, Seth intends to free them when they've fulfilled their use and even develops a slight bond of respect with father Jacob and his daughter Kate. Upon entering the Titty Twister and learning it is infested with vampires, Seth proves a capable and crafty fighter, spearheading tactics to see them all destroyed in vengeance for Richie's death.
- Texas Blood Money: Buck Bowers is a retired bank robber, so good at his job that the escaped Luther Heggs plans to recruit him back to the team for one final robbery. Though Buck recruits their old crew, he begins to notice something odd, even as he plans the heist and helps keep police forces off their backs. Realizing that Luther is a vampire who has turned the others, Buck is able to create a cross to fight his way out, helping the surviving cops with a plan to destroy Luther and the rest. Hiding in Luther's getaway car, Buck stakes him with the bones of another dead vampire before finishing off his former good friend Ray Bob by using his own sunglasses to reflect the sun at him before Ray Bob can flee.
- The Hangman's Daughter:
- Johnny Madrid is a charming bandito who escapes hanging for a series of robberies. After refusing to kill a man while robbing his stage coach for his show of honor, Johnny leaves his bratty wannabe sidekick to die and ends up at the vampiric inn La Tetilla Del Diablo. When the vampires attack, Johnny takes leadership of the group, even using a hidden blade in his shoe to break out of their restraints and fights his way to freedom, even avoiding the temptations of his vampirized lover Esmerelda.
- Ambrose Bierce himself is a world weary writer trying to get to Mexico. Waylaid by Johnny and his gang, Bierce takes leadership over his group until they are forced to stay at the inn of the vampires. Taking charge during the attack, Bierce keeps the survivors from turning on each other and even after being bitten himself manages to survive the events of the film, living in secret to present day while feeding on skeptical travelers.
- Seth Gecko is a Gentleman Thief and the senior half of a robbery duo with his brother Richie. Able to steal any mark with his near endless charisma and contingencies, Seth robs millions in bearer bonds before heading off to Mexico to meet their contact. Even while abandoned and later betrayed by the vampiric Culebras running the cartel, Seth escapes and later returns to help an enslaved Culebra kill their leading Lord to take over his operation with Richie. When the Xibalban demons rise to conquer the Earth, Seth engineers ploy after ploy to outsmart the evil Queen Amaru's minions, eventually tricking her, letting him and his crew track her down. Personally killing Amaru's top minion, Seth saves the world to rejoin his brother in their classic bank robbing duo.
- Richard "Richie" Gecko himself is Seth's genius younger brother. Plagued by visions from Kisa during season one, Richie nevertheless recovers and becomes a Culebra himself, using his newfound powers to infiltrate the organization of Kisa's captor, killing him to take power himself. Named "Collector" of the Nine Lords of the Culebras, Richie comes up with a scheme to oust the possessed servants of one Xibalban demon and even resists Amaru's manipulations to come up with his own plan to save Seth. Coming up with the scheme to tail Amaru alongside Seth, Richie and his brother track her down and destroy her, victoriously returning to the exciting life of crime he loves.
- Kisa, was an innocent girl turned into the "goddess", Santánico Pandamonium, by the monstrous Amancio Malvado. Luring in countless innocents to be consumed by her Culebra followers, Kisa plots an uprising with her co-conspirator Carlos Madrigal and wipes out the lieutenants of the Nine Lords of the Culebras, arranging her own freedom. Having turned Richie Gecko, the two become an Outlaw Couple and Kisa steadily dismantles Malvado's entire organization, annihilating his power base. Kisa organizes a full on takeover of Malvado's power base, using human slaves as bait while targeting Malvado's chief lieutenants to lure him out of hiding and and finally killing him to declare herself free. Upon Carlos seeking to claim the throne, Kisa is able to outwit him as well, assisting the Geckos in trapping him and securing his downfall before striking off to start a fighting ring with her human lover, at peace at last. Upon the arrival of Amaru of Xibalba, Kisa takes back to the fray and helps to arrange Amaru's final defeat.
- Season 2:
- Eddie Cruickshank is the Gecko brothers' honorary uncle who taught them all they know. A charming old crook, Eddie introduces himself nearly swindling Richie himself before revealing his intel to assist them in a massive heist on the most powerful Culebra Lord, only willing to share if they make amends after their temporary falling out. Forcing Seth and Richie to reconcile, Eddie's intel proves crucial to penetrating the massive organization stretching from Texas to Mexico and even after his own death bravely attacking a mighty Culebra his passing inspires the brothers to see the job through. A criminal with a code who values family above all else, Eddie ultimately dies on his own terms, rejecting immortality as a Culebra.
- The Regulator, a monstrous Culebra and the only one to ever escape the Labyrinth until Carlos Madrigal, is the right hand of Lord of the Night Malvado and a relentless tracker who lures in his victims to consume their eyes so he may better track his prey. An expert tracker, the Regulator lures in a cop, sets up traps to catch the Geckos and helps Malvado trap and destroy his wayward brother Celestino Occulto. Using intel from Malvado's mole, the Regulator also tracks down the Geckos to their safehouse, killing their mentor Eddie before being stopped himself.
- Season 3: Ximena Vasconcelos is the lieutenant and right hand of the Lord of the Night Venganza Verdugo. Far more capable than her panicked master, Ximena is the one who conceals the activities of the Culebras and presents a scheme for Kisa and Richie to take Malvado's throne. Against the forces of Xibalba, Ximena covers for Venganza and proves herself a capable tactician, even beginning a romance with human ranger Freddie Gonzalez in the process and upholding near all of Culebra society even as the apocalypse approaches.
