Ramón Rojo

Ramón Rojo
Behind the scenes
Portrayed by	Gian Maria Volontè
Appears in	A Fistful of Dollars
Biographical information
Location	San Miguel, Mexico
Status	Deceased
Gender	Male

“When a man with a .45 meets a man with a rifle, the man with a pistol will be a dead man.”

–Ramón Rojo to Joe.

Ramón Rojo is a major character featured in A Fistful of Dollars. He is the middle of the Rojo brothers, including the gang's leader Miguel and the violent Esteban. Though not the leader of the cartel, he is the most ambitious and cunning.

Biography

Early life

Nothing is known of Paco's early life. He was likely born in Mexico and at some point turned to a life of crime, coming to the small border town of San Miguel with his brothers as part of their continuous efforts to smuggle alcohol and weapons into the United States.

Ramón is described as the most capable of the Rojo brothers. He is first seen when Joe rides to where the Mexican army is doing a trade with the Americans, but the army is massacred when the Americans turn out to be Ramón and the Rojos in disguise. Afterwards, Joe tricks the Rojos and the Baxters to go to the cemetery to find two "survivors" of the massacre, really two dead Mexican soldiers leaning up against a grave. Ramón is able to "kill" the "survivors" and capture Antonio Baxter in the process.

While the fighting happens, Joe searches for the gold that they stole, but hides when he hears someone coming. It turns out to be Marisol, Ramón's unwilling mistress. Unfortunately, Joe doesn't realize this until after he knocks her out. He takes her to the Baxters to help her, and they use her to trade for Antonio. Joe learns of her past, and frees her, causing all hell to break loose while Ramón searches for both of them. Ramón captures Joe and brutally interrogates him, but Joe escapes. Ramón thinks that the Baxters are protecting him, so he sets fire to there house and kills all the residents.

The next day, Ramón is now interrogating Silvanito, but Joe interrupts them. After a stand-off, Joe kills all of Ramón's guards, including Rubio, and challenges Ramón to see if he can reload his rifle faster than he can reload his revolver. He fails and Joe shoots him in the chest, killing him.

Trivia

• He prefers a Winchester Rifle and views rifles as superior to pistols.
• He is played by Gian Maria Volonté, who also plays "El Indio" in For a Few Dollars More.
• He is based on Unosuke from Yojimbo (1961)