El Casco is the main antagonist of the television adaptation Sharpe's Gold.
He was portrayed by Abel Fox.
Biography[]
El Casco was the leader of a group of Spanish partisans. The group were fanatics who believed themselves to be descended from Aztecs. They had stockpiled Aztec gold lost in a shipwreck and were committed to the Aztec religion, including human sacrifice, as well as wearing Aztec armour. They captured British exploring officer Captain Will Nugent when he came close to discovering their practices and held him prisoner for some time, leaving his mind broken.
El Casco and his men captured a group of British deserters and then contacted Lord Wellington. El Casco offered to return the captured men in exchange for rifles. Wellington agreed and sent Major Richard Sharpe and his men to make the trade, along with a group of provosts led by Lieutenant Ayres. All were unnerved by El Casco, who delivered them captured French battle plans having apparently skinned the courier.
The partisans ambushed a group of Frenchmen who had committed to ending their practices, killing or capturing most of them, although their commander, Lieutenant Barbier, escaped. The captured French were sacrificed by having their hearts cut out. El Casco's men also stumbled upon Nugent's wife Bess and daughter Ellie, killing Bess and capturing Ellie, who they planned to sacrifice as well.
Sharpe, now aware of El Casco's true nature, had teamed up with Barbier and had him lead the British riflemen in an assault on El Casco's camp, making it sound like they were under attack from a large French force. Sharpe, Harper and Ayres managed to get into the caves and stop the sacrifice. El Casco killed Ayres with a thrown knife and came close to killing Sharpe but was shot dead by Harper.
Trivia[]
- El Casco was created for the television adaptation. The novel featured an entirely different Spanish partisan, El Catolico, as its main antagonist.
