Arius (Commando)

"Now that I have you, you will do exactly as I tell you."

- Arius

Arius was a exiled Latin American dictator who kidnapped Jenny, the daughter of retired Special Forces Commando John Matrix and he was the secondary main antagonist in the 1985 action movie Commando. He tried to use the girl to force her father into killing the current president of his home country of Val Verde, so he could retake control. However, this proved to be a very big mistake. He was introduced as the main antagonist of the film but it was all a misinformation campaign to hide the true main villain of the film. He was portrayed by Dan Hedaya.

Biography
During his reign in Val Verde, Arius had many people tortured and killed. He justified this by saying the country needed to be led by someone who understood discipline. One of the people most directly responsible for Arius loosing power was Matrix, the leader of a U.S. Commando team. Despite his defeat and exile, Arius still had a lot of resources at his disposal, including money, a private army, and a base on an island. He also hired a number of thugs and killers to help him regain his post. One of the men he recruited was Bennett, who used to be part of the commando team until Matrix kicked him out.

In order to find the retired Matrix, Arius' men faked Bennett's death and killed two other members of his team. Later, they followed General Kirby to where Matrix and his daughter were. After the general left, the gunmen attacked. After a fight, they were eventually able to subdue Matrix. The former commando was tied to a table in a warehouse, while Arius told him that he expected him to kill Val Verde's current president. After Matrix refused, Arius had one of his men bring in Jenny. While Bennett held a knife to the girl's throat, Arius told her father that if he did not do what he was asked, Jenny would be sent back to him in pieces. The former dictator planned to have Jenny killed, whether Matrix completed his task or not.

After Matrix was put on a plane to Val Verde with an escort, Arius took Jenny to his island to wait. During this time, he and Bennett argued about the quality of Arius' men. The former dictator valued their loyalty to him, but Bennett considered them incompetent and said that he and Matrix could kill them all easily. Arius pointed out that Bennett was scared of Matrix. Bennett admitted this, but replied that he had one advantage: Jenny.

The plane arrived in Val Verde on time, but Matrix was not on it. Furious, Arius ordered Bennett to kill Jenny. However, it was too late for this, because Jenny had escaped from her room. Meanwhile, her father, who had tracked them to the island, began a one man war against Arius' army. Bennett's assertions about the quality of the soldiers proved accurate as Matrix decimated them. Arius then tried to kill Matrix with a machine gun. A brutal gunfight ensued, in which Arius took up position on a balcony and exchanged fire with his enemy. Matrix rolled away from his cover and blasted the deposed ruler with his shotgun. Arius' body was thrown out the window and crashed to the ground below.