William (Westworld)

"You know about games, don't you Kissy? Well, this is a complicated one. You're livestock, scenery. I play! The others, they just come here to get their rocks off, shoot a couple of Indians. But there's a deeper level to this game. And you're gonna show me how to get there."

- The Man in Black to the captured Host

An unknown visitor, called the Man in Black, is a villain in the HBO show Westworld. He is a mysterious client of the theme park Westworld, whose goals are not clear as of yet. What is known is that he plans to infiltrate the deeper levels of Westworld. In order to achieve his goal, he hunts down several of the androids in Westworld and uses them to obtain information on the so-called "maze".

He is portrayed by Ed Harris, who also portrayed Mitch Wilkinson.

Background
The Man in Black is a visitor in the Westworld themepark and claims to have been so for thirty years. Westworld is simulating the wild west in which androids, called Hosts, are playing civilians from that time era and are involved in different storylines. These storylines eventually reset, so that new visitors can participate in them as well. The Hosts are programmed so that they cannot harm or even kill the visitors.

The Original
After two of the Hosts, Teddy and Dolores, return to Dolores' home at night, they find that two bandits have killed Dolores' family. While Teddy heads into the home, Dolores remains outside and is approached by the Man in Black. Frightened, Dolores draws a gun from her father's corpse and aims it at the Man in Black, who swiftly disarms her and strikes her across the face. Alerted by the sound, Teddy runs outside where he threatens the Man in Black with his gun. Aware that Teddy cannot harm him, the Man in Black provokes Teddy into shooting him. Although Teddy hits him multiple times, the Man in Black is unaffected and even sarcastically aims Teddy's gun at his own head. Teddy is shocked as from his position, his opponent seems invincible. In awe, Teddy falls to his knees and the Man in Black turns around and grabs Dolores, dragging her away from the house. He presumably rapes her afterwards.

To save Dolores, Teddy jumps up and shoots at the Man in Black again, hitting him in the back two times. Again, the Man in Black is not affected as the Hosts cannot harm the visitors. Having lost his patience with Teddy, he turns around and shoots him in the chest, then continues walking off, dragging Dolores with him while Teddy falls to the ground dead.

After the simulation is reset, the day resets as well and thus, everyone is alive again. This day however, Teddy is unable to meet Dolores in town. Instead of Teddy, the Man in Black approaches Dolores. He hands her a can she dropped previously and then heads into the saloon. He sits down next to some Hosts gambling and joins the game. Later, at night, the Man in Black returns and cuts the throat of one of these men while he is standing outside. He grabs the bleeding man and drags him away, out of town. In the mountains, he has the man fill three buckets with his blood. After that is done, the Man in Black tells his victim that he now lost three litres of blood and that losing anymore would kill him. The man attempts to stumble away, which amuses the Man in Black. After the bleeding man has collapsed near the edge of a canyon, the Man in Black easily catches up to him. He reveals to his victim that, while all the other guests only come to "get their rocks off or to shoot a couple of Indians", the Man in Black has discovered a deeper level of the "game" and plans to use his captive to get there. Claiming that there is a lot of wisdom in ancient cultures, he then grabs a knife and tells that it is time to dig deeper into his. He then attacks his victim with the knife, scalping him and revealing a maze-like design on the inside of the head of the Host.

Chestnut
The Man in Black rides to a train crossing, where a marshall and a few of his men are about to hang a murderer. The Man in Black tells them that he needs to talk to the man first. The marshall ignores his request and tells his men to continue the procedure and the Man in Black kills them all. The Man in Black claims that Kissy, the scalped hostage, sends his regards and throws Kissy's scalp to the man. The man, called Lawrence, asks what that is. The Man in Black responds that it is the maze, the deepest level of the game, and reveals that Lawrence will help him find the entrance. He then ties the rope with what Lawrence was almost hanged to his horse, forcing Lawrence to tag along as he rides off.

He brings Lawrence back to his village, where Lawrence is greeted by his family. The Man in Black sits down next to Lawrence in front of the saloon. While claiming that in Westworld every little detail adds up to something, the Man in Black removes the bullets from his gun magazine. After removing the bullets, he asks Lawrence how to find the entrance of the maze. When Lawrence reveals that he knows nothing of a maze, the Man in Black hands two of the bullets to Lawrence's daughter, claiming that Lawrence will decide what should be done with them, and starts reloading his gun again. Claiming that he must find a way to make Lawrence "remember", the Man in Black then shoots the barkeeper who was pouring alcohol for him. Two cousins of Lawrence, both armed, approach the man while other henchmen remain behind. The Man in Black stands up and demonstratively holsters his pistol, only to draw a knife and murder both cousins. He then draws his gun again and casually shoots all the gangsters. He then calmly returns to Lawrence and his family and takes the two bullets from Lawrence's daughter, remembering him what he said earlier. He loads the gun with the two bullets, indirectly threatening the life of Lawrence's wife and daughter while doing so. After Lawrence once more tries to convince the Man in Black that he does not know about any maze, the Man in Black shoots the woman.

The Man approaches Lawrence once more but is surprised when Lawrence's daughter, without any tears or marks of fear, coldly tells him that the maze is not meant for him. The girl then gives the Man in Black directions and the Man in Black removes the last bullet from his gun and hands it to the girl. He once more ties Lawrence to his horse and, together with him, leaves the village.