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“ | I'm not going to kill you. In my country, we don't kill thieves, even when they betray a friend. We have another way of punishing thieves, don't we, Miguel? | „ |
~ General Hugo telling Django what is done to traitors in Mexico before torturing him. |
General Hugo Rodríguez is one of the two main antagonists (alongside Major Jackson) in the 1966 Italian Spaghetti Western film Django. He is the charismatic General of the Mexican Revolutionaries caught in a gang war against the Red Shirts and an old friend of Django. Due to the Revolutionaries and the Red Shirts keeping a stranglehold over a town, Django decides to secretly work against him while manipulating him in his fight against Major Jackson.
He was portrayed by the late José Bódalo.
Personality[]
General Hugo is an affable, charming, but power-hungry man. In spite of partaking in the revolution for Mexico, Hugo is a sadist who enjoys seeing his enemies suffer once they are at his mercy, and resorts to a life of crime to gain the power he wants. Hugo shows no tolerance for treachery, torturing Django horribly for double-crossing him. He is also shown to have misogynistic and lecherous views on women, believing that men should treat them as property should they "please them enough".
Unlike Major Jackson and his Red Shirts however, Hugo has an honorable side in spite of his brutality. Although he tortures Django for his betrayal, Hugo still considers Django a friend for saving his life multiple times and decides to spare his life out of appreciation. He also protects María from Ricardo when he attempts to force himself on her.
Biography[]
General Hugo Rodríguez is the general of the Mexican Revolutionaries engaged in a feud with Major Jackson's Red Shirts, while the two gangs press their control over a ghost town. He first arrives at the ghost town after Django massacres Jackson's men. When Hugo captures Jackson's spy Brother Jonathan, he cuts his ear off, forces him to eat his ear and then shoots him dead. Flirting with and harassing María at the saloon for escaping from his gang, he then greets Django, the man who got him out of prison. Hugo agrees to Django's proposition to steal Jackson's gold in his Fort Charriba so that Hugo can purchase weapons for the revolution.
As part of the raid, saloonkeeper Nathaniel rides a horse cart to Fort Carrincha under the pretext of entertaining Major Jackson's troops with prostitutes. However, General Hugo, Django and a few of Hugo's men, including Ricardo and Miguel, are hiding in the cart waiting to ambush the soldiers. While Miguel springs the ambush by gunning down the soldiers with Django's machine gun, General Hugo joins Django and Ricardo invade the fort, killing many of Jackson's men. Django and Hugo plunder the gold and escape from the fort with the revolutionaries. Major Jackson attempts to chase them down with his men, but ceases once Django and Hugo's men cross the American border.
Arriving back at town, Hugo tries to convince Django help him take Mexico as an officer in his army to get even more gold than his agreed share. Django instead wants to leave with his promised share of the gold. General Hugo stores the gold away to split later and celebrates with a party. Ricardo attempts to shoot Hugo when he stops Ricardo from raping María, leading to Django killing Ricardo in a brawl. General Hugo thanks Django by letting him spend the night with María, but Django chooses another prostitute. However, while Hugo and his men throw a party with the prostitutes, Django uses his prostitute to distract Hugo's men while he sneaks into the house storing the gold. Django rigs the machine gun to fire on Hugo's men and rides off with María and the gold.
To get revenge on Django for double-crossing him, General Hugo and his men shoot María and capture Django at the bridge. Learning that Django's horse stumbled and caused the gold to fall into quicksand, Hugo declares that he intends to ride back to Mexico to take power anyway. He says he will spare Django out of respect, but not without punishing him for his betrayal. Hugo has Miguel and the revolutionaries torture Django by crushing his hands, taunts Django and departs for Mexico. However, on the ride back, General Hugo and his gang get caught in an ambush sprung by Major Jackson with numerous soldiers under his command, where all of Hugo's revolutionaries are massacred. General Hugo attempts to kill the Major in the chaos, but Jackson personally guns Hugo down from afar, killing the general.