| “ | Kill and be killed. Head in a bag. There's the message. | „ |
| ~ Hanzee Dent |
Ohanzee "Hanzee" Dent was a Native American enforcer for the Gerhardt Crime Family. He later betrayed the family and changed his identity, becoming known as Moses Tripoli and founding his own Crime Syndicate in Fargo. He is a tertiary antagonist in the first season, and main antagonist in the second season of the television series Fargo.
He was portrayed by Mark Acheson in the first season and by Zahn McClarnon in the second season.
Early Life
Little is known about Hanzee's early life. He attended school with other Native American children and once recalled a time when a magician visted his school. He was eventually found by Otto Gerhardt, who took Hanzee in and allowed him to live at the family compound. Hanzee became closest to Dodd Gerhardt, becoming his right hand man despite Dodd's racist treatment of him. Hanzee served during the Vietnam War, and recalled being sent into the tunnels and killing Viet Cong soldiers by smothering them in mud and sliting their throats. While he was almost like family to the Gerhardt's, Hanzee was still treated like a lesser person. He would take drinks of water from the hose outside and would follow orders without question.
Biography
Hanzee accompanied Dodd Gerhardt to a meeting with Dodd's younger brother Rye. Hanzee watched as Dodd confronted Rye about him not earning enough money for the family. Hanzee later helped Dodd interrogate a man they had captive. They cut of his ears and he bled to death before they could get the info they wanted out of him. When the Kansas City Mafia came to Fargo and threatened to eliminate the Gerhardt family and take their territory, Hanzee stood by Dodd in his desire to strike before they do, while Dodd's mother Floyd wanted to use diplomacy.
Meanwhile, Rye Gerhardt botched an attempt at threatening a judge into helping Skip Sprang, a business partner of his, resulting in Rye murdering the judge as well as the cook and waitress at the diner he was at. Following this, Rye got hit by a car driven by Peggy Blomquist, who drove home with him in her windshield and where he was killed by her husband Ed in self defense. This sparked a chain of events that led to Dodd tasking Hanzee with tracking Rye down before Kansas City could. Hanzee questioned Dodd's daughter Simone, who was closest with Rye, about where he might be. Simone brought Hanzee to an apartment Rye would stay at. While there, Skip Sprang arrived to talk to Rye about what happened. Hanzee and Simone brought Skip to a construction site where they were met by Dodd. Dodd questioned Skip but didn't learn anything of value. They then had Skip get into a hole which was then filled with hot cement, killing him. Dodd then ordered Hanzee to go to Luverne and track down the Butcher.