| “ | His name is only whispered in passing. Such is the fear it provokes. He's the leader of the most dangerous gang of cutthroats and killers on the U.S.-Mexico border. No one knows his real name. His Alcazar is located just outside Ciudad Juarez and he's responsible for hundreds, perhaps thousands of deaths. For the last twenty-five years, he has amassed immense power and wealth, and has but one obsession left: The Legendary Gold of Juarez. | „ |
| ~ Juarez's Duel Challenge biography in Call of Juarez. |
| “ | That's right mijo. They call me Juarez, because that is where I am from. | „ |
| ~ Juarez to his son Billy. |
Juan Mendoza, also known as Juarez, is the main antagonist of the 2006 video game Call of Juarez and the secondary antagonist in it's 2009 prequel Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood.
He was the leader of a gang of mexican bandits, and later became a bandit warlord who had many armed mercenaries and bandit followers.
Biography
Little is known about Juarez’s early life, all that is certain is that his original name was Juan Mendoza and he was born in 1830 to a poor mexican family. He left his family at a young age and became a cruel gangster with no love or humanity in him. He took the name Juarez because he grew up here. Juan discovered a ruined fortress where he settled in 1859. He already at the age of 29, he was the leader of a bandit gang. He later met a woman, Marisa but Juarez's true personality began to unfold more and more. Mendoza had a big dream. He heard many legends about Juarez’s gold, which was about the lost treasures accumulated by the conquistadors. He was willing to sacrifice almost everything to find the hidden treasures.
In Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood, in 1866 Juarez found a trail. An Apache Indian, Seeing Farther had a medallion which can lead him to the legendary gold. Juarez immediately approached him and offered he get rifles and weapons for the indians if after that the indian give him the medallion. Seeing Farther accepted the offer.
Mendoza made a deal with Barnsby to hand him the two brothers in exchange for the rifles. However, the brothers successfully fled and were angry. They rode back to Mendoza and ready to the fight. Juan claimed Barnsby lied to him too. There was no fight. But then he was in for an unpleasant surprise. Marisa told William that the rifles not working, and the young priest told the leader of the Indians. They took almost everything to Juarez, even Marisa. However, he was glad the girl was being taken away too, because there was nothing more than a "lying hore" in his eyes.
Later Mendoza captured William, Marisa and Seeing Farther and obtained the medallion. He sells the Apache to Barnsby in exchange for horses. Then Barnsby attacked the Apaches, and Mendoza returns to his Alcazar. Mendoza wanted to know how the medallion work, but Willian didn't answer him, just repeated: „My faith is my shield.” Juan then tested his faith and ordered one of his men, Santos, to cut his throat. William shot him to protect himself. Then Mendoza tried to put pressure on him, but the broken William didn't answer. Then Juan left him there and ordered his men to kill him. Marisa told him he was pregnant and that the child was his. Mendoza was somewhat interested in the child, but he still insulted Marisa, who knocked him down from behind.
He fought a firefight against Ray during his Alcazar. Mendoza and Ray dueled. Ray shot Mendoza, who fell into the water. Ray wanted to search for his body to make sure he was really dead, but William said the bandit didn't matter now. They made a big mistake with this because Mendoza did not die and fled. This is when he finally takes on the name Juarez, completely discarding his original name. And he did not give up his goal of finding the lost treasure.
Over the years, Juarez has changed. He became much colder, more ruthless and heartless. He learned where live the two McCall brother. Mendoza didn't give up on his dream, which made him more and more greedy and angry. He decided he would both find the treasure and take revenge on the two brothers. He returned in 1884. He sent his four strongest men, his right hand Tom Manson, his talented gunslinger Ty Stewart, and the cruel McClyde brothers. The four bandits attacked Thomas and Marisa's house. Thomas was badly wounded and all of them raped Marisa. Thomas was able to write a message on the barn door with his blood: Call of Juarez. This signaled to his brother that their old enemy was not dead. Billy arrived at this time, but the four bandits were already gone and the two parents were also dead. Ray also arrived and thought Billy had done this, so he wanted to kill the boy. The four bandits, meanwhile, returned to Juarez. They were a semi-success. For the other brother lived and the medallion was not found. Juarez ordered them to focus only on his son and the medallion.
They later found Billy, who was on Mr. Ferguson's property with his love Molly. The bandits were found by Ray. Tom Manson lied to him that they were Texas Rangers. There are cattle thieves in the house and they have orders to arrest Billy. Ray believed the lie and helped with the attack. Billy escaped, but Ray went after him. He shot the boy who fell into a river. Meanwhile, Tom and Ty kidnapped Molly and the McClyde brothers shot Mr. Ferguson. Ray killed the McClyde brothers and a couple of bandits, but Tom and Ty successfully escaped.
The two bandits split up. Tom was looking for Billy with mexican bandits, and Ty was taking Molly with smugglers. Tom found Billy with an indian Calm Water. He was killed and Billy was knocked down and taken to Mendoza. Meanwhile, Ray killed the smugglers and Ty in a duel. Before Ty's death, he told to Ray that his boss was Juarez, the man he had once defeated in a duel and Thomas and Marisa had died because of him. Juarez just wanted the medallion at all costs and tried to manipulate Billy. However, he soon ran out of patience. Billy lost the medallion in the river. Juarez started abusing his own son and started bragging that Thomas was a nobody and Marisa was a whore. He hit his son until he fainted. He poured Billy face over a bucket of water and called Tom, who brought Molly. Juarez decided to give his son a chance to find the medallion. Billy didn't find the medallion, but he did find the treasure. However, Juarez followed him all the way. He pushed him away from the treasure and was very happy to finally find the long-sought gold. Juarez accused his son of lying and ordered his men to kill him. The boy fled, but there was no way out of the cave. That’s when Ray arrived, this time helping Billy. After killing a few bandits, he met his ancient enemy, Juarez, who at first did not remember who he was facing, but Ray did. Shooting began. Ray hit Juarez, who was wounded, but his armor caught the other hits. The bandit leader threatened Ray that if he didn't get the gold, Molly would be tortured and burned alive. He then fled to his Alcazar.
Juarez death.
Ray arrived with a Gatling gun instead of the treasure and alone besieged Juarez's hideout. He killed a lot of bandits. He met Tom Manson, who boasted of how slow Thomas had died. A firefight began, Tom tried to provoke often his opponent. After a long fight, Ray shot Tom and found Molly. However, Juarez trapped him. He threw dynamites at them, which Ray successfully blew up in time. Juarez then dropped a torch. The trap was full of hay that caught fire. That's when Billy arrived , shot the remaining bandits with his bow and successfully extinguished the fire. When he wanted to free Ray and Molly, he met his father, who was preparing with his own pistols, two Volcano Guns. He tried to manipulate his son to "it's not too late," but Billy hated him for killing his mother. Then they were prepared for a duel. Juarez handed over one of his pistols and said there were only three bullets in both. He was actually lying in the pistol he held with eight rounds. They took out the gun. Juarez was faster, but Billy dodged the bullet and shot his father with the third shot. He lay on the ground and Billy hurried to the trap with the two pistols. He also shot the last remaining bandits and found Ray and Molly. When they wanted to go, Juarez suddenly appeared and shot Ray in the heart, where his armor did not protect his body. He showed that he was also wearing armor and Billy's bullet didn't hurt him, he just pretended to be dead. Billy put down his weapons. Juarez boasted with satisfaction that after he killed his son he will rape Molly. However, there were no more ammunition in his pistol. Father and son started fighting. Juarez proved to be stronger and withstood the blows very well. But after a while, Billy successfully knocked him out. The boy hugged Molly and Ray was still alive but already dying. However, Juarez still hadn't given up, stood up, and pulled out a knife to stab his son from behind. Ray still had enough strength to pull out his pistol. He shot Juarez in the head, who died permanently.
Personality
Juarez even in his early years was a power-hungry, greedy, and rude person. At the same time, there was a minimal optimism in him, but even then the legendary treasure was first to him. He was intelligent, cunning, hotspur, sadist and cold-hearted, as well as a fraud and merciless bandit. He no love anyone, even wanted to kill his own family(Marisa and Billy). Juarez is one of the rare villain who has learned from mistakes. After the duel against Ray he almost every time wore a black armor under his dress, which protected his body from projectiles.
Juarez is extremely lying, deceptive, insidious and unreliable. He never keeps his word, deceiving everyone for gold or for his own victory. When he returned, he became even more ruthless, suddenly angry. He also wanted to kill his own son several times without any hesitation. He loved to talk contemptuously, filthily, and nervously about his enemies.
Skills
Juarez was a strong bandit. At first he could handle his pistol well. But later he became a very dangerous opponent. He became a strong hand-to-hand combatant and experienced gun user. Juarez was a tough bandit and he had very high pain tolerance. He survived a serious wound after the defeat against Ray and even after his son beat him he still had strength to try to kill him with his knife.
Trivia
- He's the only character in the Call of Juarez series who's twice an opponent.
- Juarez was an atheist and there are some references to it.
- "You again? I can see that my puto of a son is hiding in your shadow. Does he really think that or your God can protect him?"
- "Where's you God now, Padre? Ha ha!"
- Juan is of Spanish origin meaning "The Lord is gracious". Mendoza originates from the Basque region of Spain. It means "Cold mountain".
- Ironically, Juarez spared Marisa's life while she was expecting the baby, but after that without hesitation he wanted the death of his ex-lover and child.
- Also interesting is whether Juarez really loved his son or just wanted to manipulate lies. The latter, however, is more likely because he later wants to kill him several times without showing love.
- In the duel challenge, he is the last opponent with a 30,000 dollar blood prize. Interestingly, he doesn't wear his armor at this time.p