| “ | Listen close, you pathetic fraud. This is my town now. If I ever see you again, I will take your soul straight down to HELL! | „ |
| ~ Rattlesnake Jake driving Rango out of Dirt |
| “ | What was that you said? "Pretty soon, no one will believe you even existed." | „ |
| ~ Rattlesnake Jake to Tortoise John before dragging him to his doom |
Rattlesnake Jake is the (former) secondary antagonist of Rango.
He was advertised as the main antagonist but this was part of a misinformation campaign to hide the films True main villain.
Appearance
Rattlesnake Jake is a dangerous western diamondback rattlesnake wearing a cowboy hat and with a Gatling gun in place of his rattle on the tip of his tail. He's also shown to have black scales on his upper lip that greatly resembles a mustache.
Personality
His personality is characterized as extremely cruel and vicious, although he does have a sense of honor, as shown at the end. While incredibly experienced in battle, he also seems to be very familiar with utilizing fear, humiliation and power-plays to get inside his enemy's heads. This was shown in the film, as he openly shamed Rango in front of all the people in Dirt and managed to keep everyone paralyzed with fear using only words and his frightening presence. This suggests that he can be quite manipulative. He is also shown to be incredibly perceptive. Considering the fact that when the hill folks disguised themselves as a hawk in an attempt to scare him, he quickly discovered that it was a trick just by noting a very minor mistake they made. The combination of manipulativeness and perceptiveness suggests an intelligence far beyond that of a simple thug. Jake is a living legend among people of the desert and is known as a Grim Reaper-like figure, even saying himself that he comes from Hell and that he never leaves town without taking someone's soul. The only creature that Rattlesnake Jake fears is The Hawk, to which everyone else in Dirt also fears.
Rango
Early in the film, Rango claims that Rattlesnake Jake is his brother when he is first brought up by the townspeople while making up his overblown heroic persona; thus, when Jake attacks the town, he uses this bold-faced lie to expose Rango as a phony in front of everyone and drive him out of town. It is then revealed that Jake is working for the evil Mayor Tortoise John and, in a later scene, he is seen forcing Beans to sign away the deed of her father's ranch to the mayor and almost strangles her to death before Rango shows up again outside. With the help from the hill clan, Rango defeats Rattlesnake Jake and is about to shoot him, but the Mayor threatens Beans' life, forcing Rango to surrender to the Mayor.
During the final confrontation, the Mayor betrays Rattlesnake Jake by pointing Rango's gun on him, declaring him another relic of the Old West that will soon be destroyed and forgotten along with the rest of the town. When the Mayor tries to shoot, it turns out that the last bullet was taken by Rango, who then uses it to break open the giant water bottle he and Beans were drowning in and flush everyone out of the town hall into the streets, where Rango finally manages to subdue the Mayor. Rango then turns the defeated Mayor to Rattlesnake Jake, who then nods his hat to Rango for saving his life, acknowledging him as another great desert legend that will thrive. Having developed a new found respect for Rango, Rattlesnake Jake returns the Mayor's favor by telling him the exact same thing the Mayor said to him, that soon no one will even remember his existence and snatches the Mayor up in his tail and carries him out into the desert to kill him for his betrayal, thus taking a soul, as Bad Bill said.
Trivia
- He may have been based on Angel Eyes from The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly, played by the late Lee Van Cleef, as they have similar personalities, traits, dialects, black hat, antagonistic relationship with the hero, and, most importantly, their mustache.
- His personality is reminiscent of Frank from Once Upon A Time In The West, as well.
- Rattlesnake Jake was voiced by Bill Nighy, who also played Davy Jones in Pirates of the Caribbean.
- In the Spanish version for Latin America, Jake is played by Mexican actor Joaquin Cosio, the same man that portrayed General Medrano, in 007, Quantum of Solace.
- Jake resembles Rattle Shake from Skylanders Swap Force.
- It is implied at one point that Jake was the one who killed the Jenkins Brothers.
- Jake displays an almost lustful behavior towards Beans as in one scene he licks her face, though it is likely another effort to terrify Rango and the townspeople.