Anton Chigurh is the main antagonist of the 2005 novel No Country for Old Men and its 2007 film adaptation of the same name. He is described as a ruthless hitman who was one of the pioneers of the unstoppable killing machine genre.
He was portrayed by Javier Bardem.
Name[]
To be added.
Development[]
To be added.
Design[]
In the novel, his appearance is less remarkable; he doesn't have the distinctive bowl haircut portrayed in the film, and he is described by a witness as looking "like anybody". He is also described as being average in height and in good shape.
In the movie, Anton appears wearing jeans, leather cowboy boots, a brown shirt, a black jacket, and a bowl haircut. In the novel, he is described as having blue eyes "like wet lapis stone"; in the film, however, he is portrayed as having brown eyes. Sometimes before he kills his victim, he flips a coin to decide their fate.
Personality[]
Anton Chigurh can be best described as a textbook psychopath; he is utterly devoid of any empathy and compassion, has a flat, emotionless personality, and kills without compunction or remorse.
Chigurh is described as an unstoppable, cold-hearted killing machine, but also as a man who has his own moral code, albeit a twisted one. While he does not kill at random or without purpose, his reasons for murder can be abstract, and seem almost senseless to an outside viewer. He seems to take pleasure in not just killing people, but also deciding whether they live or die. He sees himself as a hand of fate, an instrument that exacts consequences on a person based on their past actions.
Chigurh is a hitman who has no remorse or compassion for other human beings. He is described by one character as a "psychopathic killer", while another character compares him to the bubonic plague.
He occasionally gives his victims the chance to survive by making deals, either personally or by flipping a coin, and in one scene says, "What's the most you've ever lost on a coin toss?" In the novel, Chigurh is depicted as a man of great endurance, capable of withstanding the pain of a fractured arm and multiple gunshot wounds. In the film, Anton kills or attempts to kill nearly every person he meets. The only people he spares are a gas station proprietor who correctly guesses his coin flip, a woman in a trailer park where he is hunting Llewellyn, the woman at the front desk of the hotel in which he murders Carson Wells, and the two bicycle riding kids who give him one of their shirts to bind his wounds after he breaks his arm in a car accident.
Origins[]
Not much is known about Anton Chigurh's past, with the only things people being able remember about him are a very weird hair style and a tendency to kill without hesitation or emotion.
History[]
No Country for Old Men (both novel and film)[]
In 1980, he is hired to retrieve a bag of money from a drug deal that went wrong, but he discovers that a hunter named Llewelyn Moss has taken it already and has left town. Chigurh tracks Moss down to a motel using a receiver that connects to a transponder hidden in the satchel of money.
However, Moss unintentionally tricks Chigurh into believing he was in the room next to his when he hides the money in the ventilation system. That room was being occupied by a group of Mexican gangsters who were set to ambush Moss. Chigurh brutally murders the Mexicans and searches for the money, but it is nowhere to be found as Moss heard the gunshot and hastily left the motel with the money.
Moving to a hotel in the border town of Eagle Pass, Moss discovers the tracking device as he wonders how there is someone managed to track him down, but Chigurh has already found him. Their firefight spills onto the streets, killing a bystander, and wounding both. Moss flees across to Mexico, stashing the case of money in weeds along the Rio Grande.
Chigurh finds out about a bounty hunter named Carson Wells who, like Chigurh, has been hired to retrieve the bag of money. Chigurh kills Wells after Wells tries to make a deal with Moss. Chigurh ruthlessly tracks Moss down until Moss is eventually killed by Mexican gangsters at another motel. Once again Moss hid the money in the vents, which was unseen by the Mexicans at the time of their ambush of Moss. After his previous experience with Moss, however, Chigurh knows where the money will be. He arrives at the scene of the crime after the police have left, retrieves the money from the vent and returns it to his employers.
Near the end, Chigurh pays a visit to Moss' grieving widow and debates whether or not to kill her, relying once more on her to call a coin toss. However, she refuses to call the coin toss, saying that the choice is "just you". After killing her and leaving her house, Chigurh is involved in a car crash, leaving him badly injured with a broken arm and a limp. He then offers money to a teenager on a bicycle to give him his t-shirt. He and the teenager create a sling for his injured arm and Chigurh leaves the scene before the ambulance arrives.
Other Media[]
Disaster Movie[]
To be added.
The Simpsons[]
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Abilities[]
Endurance[]
Anton has a great deal of physical endurance; he is capable of withstanding pain from a shotgun ricochet and a broken or fractured arm. He also has a broad medical knowledge and can even take care of his own wounds.
Intelligence[]
Anton has shows some level of intelligence as seen when he escapes a sheriff's precinct and steals medical supplies from a drug store filled with civilians and security.
Captive Bolt Pistol[]
Anton's main weapon of choice is a captive bolt pistol, which he uses to either kill his victims or to destroy cylinder locks on doors.
Semi-silence Shotgun[]
Anton also uses a silenced semi-automatic shotgun, which comes in handy in the scene where he single-handedly killed a group of Mexicans who were sent to kill Chigurh's target, Llewelyn Moss.
TEC-9 pistol[]
Anton also carries with him a TEC-9 pistol.
Coins[]
Anton has also collects coins which he always carries for luck.
Weakness[]
To be added.
Reception[]
Critics have praised Javier Bardem's portrayal of Chigurh, which won him an Oscar, a Golden Globe, and a BAFTA. Chigurh has been added to numerous lists of greatest villains; UGO.com has ranked him #10 in their list of Top 11 Psychopaths, and he is ranked #44 in The 100 Greatest Movie Characters on Empire.com.
Quotes[]
To be added.
Gallery[]
- Main article: Anton Chigurh/Gallery
Victims[]
- To be added.
Trivia[]
- To be added.
References[]
Template:Movie Villains