| “ | You know, wearing that jacket, looking the way you do, you're asking for trouble around here, friend. | „ |
| ~ Will Teasle |
Will Teasle is the sheriff of Hope, Washington and the main antagonist of the first Rambo film, First Blood. He is best described as a redneck and a control freak that is willing to abuse his power to get undesirable people out of his town. Although he is the film's main antagonist and shows little remorse for his heartless actions, he is far more civilized than his old friend, Art Galt, who is the only person in the film that dies.
He was portrayed by Brian Dennehy.
First Blood
He is first seen spotting drifter John Rambo, and seeing his ungroomed appearance, assumes him as a hippie, and offers to give him a ride. Because it is December, he accepts, and asks if there is a restaurant he could get a bite to eat. Teasle tells him that he can't eat in his town and if he wants to eat than he will have to hitchhike 30 miles up the highway. Teasle drives Rambo to the city limits, but a hungry Rambo turns back, only to be arrested for vagrancy. His old friend, deputy Art Galt books him and begins beating him up. Rambo is hosed down with a high-pressure fire hose and beaten with a nightstick, but before he can be maliciously dry shaven, Rambo has flashbacks to his traumatic days when he was a prisoner of war in Vietnam. Fearing for his corporal integrity and life Rambo snaps and fights his way out of the police station, fleeing into the mountains. A big hunt starts and Art Galt flies after Rambo in a helicopter, attempting to shoot Rambo in cold blood. Rambo is shot at repeatedly with a rifle, and Rambo is forced to hurl a large rock at the chopper so he doesn't die. Because Galt wasn't wearing his seatbelt, he falls to his death and Teasle vows to avenge his friend. He goes into the woods with a team of heavily armed deputies, but Rambo uses his green beret skills to improvise weaponry and use his survival knife to wound the soldiers. He sneaks up on Teasle and tells him to "let it go", but Teasle's anger seems to only be fueled by this, and he vows to kill Rambo. Trautman, Rambo's former commander, arrives in town from Washington D.C. and reveals that Rambo wasn't really a hippie, but was actually a homeless veteran that was sleeping in the woods because America hated veterans so much. Trautman suggests letting Rambo go so nobody else gets hurt, but Teasle refuses. Rambo finally escapes a rocket blast by crawling through an old mine, hijacks a National Guard truck, and drives through a police blockade back to town. Rambo takes an M60 heavy machine gun from the back of the truck and blows up the town's gas station and a gun store. Rambo also knocks the power out to the town and begins destroying main street with machine gun bullets. Teasle gets to the roof of the destroyed police station and attempts to kill Rambo, but he is shot through the roof. A wounded Teasle eggs Rambo on to kill him, only to be stopped by Trautman. Teasle is last seen being taken to the hospital with the scorned look of Rambo and Trautman. Even though Rambo never killed anyone, Teasle is angry that he didn't get his revenge on Rambo.
His life after the events of First Blood is largely unknown but it is implied it will be dark for him, because of his unjustly treatment of Rambo and that of his deputies and because of his later agenda of revenge against Rambo, which escalated the whole situation. He probably leave Hope in disgrace for treated Rambo badly and won't be sheriff anymore since being investigated by the internal affairs and the district attorney for police brutality and hate crimes on people like Rambo.