NoHo Hank

"*50/50 with Cristobal; I like the sound of that.*"
―Hank to Barry about killing Esther.[src]
**NoHo Hank** was the secondary antagonist of *Barry*. He served as the secondary antagonist in Season 1, the main tritagonist of Season 2, a major character in Season 3 and one of the two main antagonists (alongside Monroe Fuches) of Season 4. He was portrayed by Anthony Carrigan.

Hank was a member of the Chechen Mafia and a high ranking member of the Los Angeles operation under Goran Pazar. Initially serving as his right hand, Hank eventually took over leadership. Despite his involvement with the mafia, he was a positive, lively individual who often presented himself as naïve rather than menacing or violent. He also grew a one-sided friendship with Barry Berkman and also a romantic one with Cristobal Sifuentes.

## Biography

### Meeting Barry

When Goran Pazar discovered his wife cheated on him, he decided to have a contract killer assassinate Ryan Madison, the man she slept with. The Chechen mob entered contact with Monroe Fuches, who sent hitman Barry Berkman to Los Angeles to meet them and complete the assignment; Hank offered Barry some refreshments and food and assisted Pazar in briefing him about who his target was. Some time after, noticing a delay on Barry's part, Hank went looking for him and found him seemingly hanging out with Madison as friends.

Hank and other men decided to take care of the killing themselves later, shooting Madison in the head. They then saw Barry finding the body and were about to kill him, but Barry managed to shoot them all first. Hank was injured, but not killed, and was able to report to the Chechens, who then kidnapped Barry and Fuches. Pazar and Hank offered the opportunity for them to settle the score by eliminating another target, coercing a reluctant Barry into agreeing by threatening to torture Fuches.

### Clashing with the Bolivians

Hank contacted Barry before he could take out Paco, the new target, to make sure the killing was delayed, as he had sent a bullet via mail to the Bolivian mafia and was tracking it, wanting the death to happen just as they received the bullet for the message to be more effective. While this was happening, Pazar informed Hank that the Chechens were going to send them a new assassin, Stovka. Both of them got very excited with the news, as they were fans of Stovka, regarded as a legend among them.

Despite being shot by Barry before and being in a dynamic where he was forcing Barry to carry out a hit, Hank appeared cheerful as he called Barry, asking how he was and sending him a cat meme with the words "hang in there" while Barry waited. Once the bullet arrived in its destination, Hank signalled Barry to go ahead with the killing.

Because Hank had forgotten a camera in his car the night he was shot by Barry, the police began looking for someone physically similar to Barry as a suspect in Ryan Madison's murder; this angered Pazar, who was still reaching out to Fuches and wanting Barry to clear out a Bolivian stash house in order to claim it for the Chechens. Pazar and Hank later visited the massacred stash house and were impressed with Barry's work, not knowing Taylor Garrett was actually responsible for all the killing.

After the assault on the factory, the Pazar contacted by Bolivian mob leader Cristobal Sifuentes, who surprised them by turning out to be as nice and cheerful as Hank, even quoting from "The Four Agreements", a positivity book Hank also liked. He expressed that he would have been open to sharing the stash house with them if they had asked instead of attacking. Pazar and Hank were also confused to hear that more of Cristobal's men were attacked shortly before his arrival in Los Angeles, supposedly by Barry; according to Cristobal, two military men were killed in this attack, and Hank mistakenly assumed that Barry was one of them.

### Helping Barry

When Fuches called to ask if he heard anything from Barry, Hank let him know about Barry's supposed death, saying he was "super broken up about it." Both of them continued to speak on the phone later, reminiscing about Barry; Hank also let him know that Pazar was unhappy with Fuches for convincing them to start a war against the Bolivians, who were actually "off-the-charts nice guys."

Fuches later visited the Chechens to speak with Pazar, revealing that Barry was actually alive. Fuches sought to make things right with Pazar by offering up Barry, but the Chechens already knew they could find Barry at the acting class where he was usually present, and refused to cooperate with Fuches, intending to kill him instead. Hank pondered whether Barry would have simply gone to his acting class after the hit on the Bolivians. Pazar held Hank by the shirt asked if he was "in love" with Barry, questioning his loyalty.

Hank was told to stay at the house rather than go with the rest of the Chechens to find Barry. Once they left, he actually called Barry to give him the heads up about the plans to kill Fuches and look for him in the acting class. Barry thanked Hank, who told him he was "a super good guy." Barry managed to kill Pazar and three of his men, rescuing Fuches; Hank discovered Pazar's dead body as he was taking him a tray with tea. Hank appeared distraught the second he found Pazar, but content the moment he realized it must have been Barry. Hank and the rest of the men escaped before the police arrived and went to the Bolivians, where he began to bond with Sifuentes given their mutual politeness and positive outlook.

### A New Partnership

Following Pazar's death, NoHo Hank took charge of the Chechen operation in Los Angeles. Hank was very happy with his new partnership with the Bolivians, with their teams appearing to have a great time together. He grew quite close to Cristobal Sifuentes, describing him as not only a guru that taught them important leadership values, but possibly "a true friend." Hank believed the partnership would lead them to surpass their rivals, the Burmese mafia, in crime family rankings.

To his surprise, Esther, head of the Burmese, visited them with a proposition to get them involved in the heroin trade: the Burmese had set up a monastery through which they could bring in all type of contraband into the United States. Esther was willing to offer them a fair share if they were willing to share the stash house with the Burmese. Hank was unwilling to accept, not wanting to jeopardize his relationship with Cristobal; however, Cristobal was interested in having access to Esther's smugglers and assassins, seeing them as more skilled than Hank's team.

Aside from Hank's discomfort at this, he had to contend with Batir and the rest of the Chechen family leaders back in Chechnya, who disapproved of the relationship with the Bolivians, suspecting them to be Pazar's killers due to the traditional rivalry that existed between their families. They threatened to have Hank killed for siding with the Bolivians, but Hank used the situation and blamed Esther for Pazar's death, causing her to become a target; he hoped to make good with Chechen leadership while getting rid of Esther.

Hank tracked down Barry and informed him what was going on, asking him to kill Esther for him. Barry, who had been trying to stop killing, refused to do it and offended Hank, who then threatened with telling the Chechens the truth about Pazar if he didn't do what he was told. Barry had no choice but to listen to Hank, who took him to observe Esther's operation. Hank also gave him a bullet sent by the Chechens, which he planned to send back covered in Esther's blood to prove he had handled it.

### Training an Army

Barry was unable to kill Esther and ended up having to escape from her men after being seen at the monastery. This caused Hank's plan to backfire completely. Because Esther's life was threatened, Cristobal invited the Burmese to be at the stash house to ensure her safety, asking Hank and his men to make room for them. Upset at Barry, Hank took one of his men to have him killed, but they failed.

Wanting to be done with his hitman life, Barry proposed a new deal: he could train Hank's men to be better killers, and that way, Hank could count on them to do what he wouldn't. Hank liked the idea, and although Barry suggested that he could even claim the entire operation for himself once his men were more skilled, he was pleased enough with the prospect of splitting things "50/50 with Cristobal." Soon afterwards, Barry and Hank began taking the rest of the Chechens far into the desert for their training in combat and shooting.

Esther and Cristobal's friendship continued to develop, much to Hank's chagrin. Hearing about Esther's plans to leave the stash house, Hank thought he and his men would have a perfect window to attack and take over the Burmese monastery before it was fully defended and told Barry, hoping to get him involved, though Barry reminded him he was going to step away as part of their deal now that the Chechens were far more skilled. Hank gifted him a pin from Chechnya that meant "the debt has been paid" and briefly directed some annoyance at Khazam, his accordion player, for playing unexpectedly while they were saying their goodbyes.

### Losing Respect

Hank and his men planned to hit the monastery, but the night they set out to do it, all the Chechens were rounded up outside the stash house and held at gunpoint. Hank's accordion player, Khazam, scorned due to Hank's earlier comments, double-crossed him and revealed his intentions to Esther and Cristobal, who confronted Hank.

Hank and the Chechens were restrained and kept inside of a container overnight before eventually being taken into a secluded location in a school bus. There, Esther and her men poured gasoline over the bus and lit it on fire, aiming to eliminate them all. Hank instantly gave up and accepted his incoming death, taking the opportunity to confess to his men that he did not see himself as someone who should be leading them; he mentioned thinking he was "nice and polite" and ought to be doing something different instead of pretending to be a ruthless gangster.

While Hank talked, he ignored the fact that his men, now highly capable, were working on freeing themselves. They left the bus and overpowered their enemies in the ensuing shootout, forcing them to escape with Esther. Hank saw it all happen while still zip-tied to a bus seat and shouted for his men to rescue him; the smoke engulfed him, but they eventually returned and saved him. Hank tried talking to them, congratulating them on the effort, but they lost their respect for him as a leader due to what he said on the bus and displayed no reaction to him or his words; when he began to speak menacingly to the accordion player (who the men captured during the fight), one of the Chechens simply shot him before Hank could finish talking.

After the ordeal, the Chechens took over Esther's monastery and began to work on fortifying it, as they expected an attack from the Burmese and Bolivians. Hank presented the monastery to the team as their new home and kept trying to make nice, trying to find a good table to buy for the heroin shipment; the men became more united than ever, but continued ignoring Hank. He then received a call from Batir, who told him he was in Los Angeles to replace him and that he'd be returning to Chechnya. Hank called Barry to mention his predicament and asked if he could help make the men trust him again, seeing as the men looked up to him, though Barry refused.

Hank was then visited by Fuches, who was having his own conflict with Barry at the time, and seeking the protection of an army. Fuches convinced Cristobal to forgive Hank and brought an apparent peace to the conflict between the crime families. Hank, not realizing the extent of the problem between Fuches and Barry, sent a text to Barry just to report that Fuches had helped with his previous issues, revealing that Fuches was at the monastery. A furious Barry then arrived in pursuit of Fuches and murdered nearly everyone inside, including Esther and the men he helped train. Hank hid during this massacre and later saw Batir, who arrived to confront him, but seemed happy to see Esther's dead body.

### Forbidden Love

Following Barry's killing spree at the Burmese monastery, both Hank's and Cristobal's operations were severely crippled. Cristobal lost all of his men in Los Angeles, while Hank only had Batir, Akhmal, and Yandar. The dire situation ended up bringing Hank and Cristobal closer, with both starting a secret romantic relationship and being infatuated with each other.

Hank was interrogated following the massacre and pinned it all on Fuches, who the Chechens had taken into hiding in Chechnya. During the interrogation, it became clear to Hank that Barry had not only killed most of his men, but also attempted to blame the Chechens for the death of LAPD detective Janice Moss by leaving the "debt has been paid" pin previously given to him on her body. This made Hank refuse to help Barry when he appeared later, seemingly into killing again and desperate for proper work.

Hank and Cristobal's relationship hit an unexpected obstacle when a group of Bolivian gangsters arrived in Los Angeles to restore their operation in the city; they were accompanied by Cristobal's father-in-law, revealing that Cristobal was actually married and had kids back in Bolivia. When the Bolivians planned to attack the greenhouse where the Chechens had been operating from, Cristobal warned Hank, who took his men away on a bus tour of Los Angeles to prevent them from being killed. Cristobal later decided to end things with Hank due to the Bolivian presence.

Barry eventually went to Barry, asking if he would blow up the house that Cristobal's father-in-law, Fernando along with the Bolivian were living in. Hank was pleased when Barry returned with an injured Cristobal, having done the deed. This however brought Cristobal's wife, Elena to LA who quickly found and took Cristobal.

### Captured by the Bolivians

As Cristobal was captured, Hank's operation was attacked by the Bolivians. The operation was destroyed with Akhmal and Yandar being captured and sent to Bolivia. Hank flew down to Bolivia in the hopes of finding them but as he roamed the streets, he was attacked by a Bolivian spy and taken to the Sifuentes mansion.

Hank was tied up in the basement and forced to listen to Akhmal and Yandar get mauled to death by a tiger. The tiger soon began to bang on the wall, terrifying Hank. He managed to break free from his restraints and took down a guard, taking their gun and killing the tiger.

Hank then went to the upper layers where he found Cristobal being tortured in the hopes of converting him to being straight. Hank killed Elena and the other man and freed Cristobal. The two fled the mansion.

### Starting Over

Hank and Cristobal then moved to a temporary remote house in Santa Fe, New Mexico and considered retiring from their criminal lives. Informed about the struggles of importing sand for profit, Cristobal suggests using his criminal contacts to make money. Hank, who had been struggling with insomnia since the events in Bolivia, was not particularly fond of the idea. He was also surprised when he called Barry and was answered by another person, eventually discovering his arrest. This prompted him to move back to Los Angeles with Cristobal.

Hank contacted a man named El Toro in the hopes of breaking Barry out of prison. Hank and Cristobal brought two rival gangs to a Dave & Busters where they convinced the gangs to become one and began a new operation. Hank then mentioned to Cristobal that they will need to get Barry out for this plan.

That night, Hank was confronted by Cristobal about why Barry was needed. As Hank defended his decision, he was called by Fuches who revealed that Barry was giving information about them to the FBI. A disappointed Hank returned to Cristobal, telling him they must kill Barry.

As their crew was ecstatic over the arrival of the imported sand, Hank and Cristobal met with Toro. Toro agreed to send hitmen to kill Barry who hosted for a well-known gadget review podcast, though Hank observed that none of the gadgets work.

Later, Hank is shocked to find Batir has managed to get into the compound and warned him to rejoin the Chechens or he will be killed. That day, Hank was called by Barry where Hank confronted him on his lies and revealed that he knows that Barry talked to the FBI. A calmed Hank exchanged insults with a crazed Barry before hanging up, with Hank cutting him out of his life.

### Betraying Cristobal

After Barry's escape, Hank and Cristobal increased security in their operation base, as well as rewarding their workers by giving them an entertainment room. During the party, Hank decided to show the sand to the crew, which has been kept in a containment silo.

Inside, the group took selfies before Hank asked Cristobal to join him outside for a moment, but Cristobal was called back by the crew who wish to show him something. Suddenly, Hank closed the door and a trap door was opened beneath the sand, burying and suffocating everyone except Cristobal, who kept his head above the sand. Hank barely returned to save him in time and got him outside. Hank had intended for him to survive a planned attack on the compound, which is part of a raid by the Chechens.

That night, after dinner with the Chechen mafia heads, Hank is confronted by Cristobal over his actions. Hank defended it, claiming they would have betrayed them and the Chechens would have killed them if they never joined.

Hank claimed that he had to do it but as Cristobal attempted to leave, Hank's menacing figure crumbled. Hank failed to convince Cristobal to stay and went back inside to cry until a Chechen soldier entered and apologized for having to kill Cristobal.

### A New Life

Eight years after the death of Cristobal, Hank has built up a company called NoHoBal, a sand importation based company. When Fuches was released from prison, Hank invited Fuches and his men to the headquarters to continue their partnership.

That night, the two groups were having dinner when Hank got angered by Fuches' drunken rant about how Hank killed Cristobal. Hank's anger led to an argument that ended their partnership, Hank ordering them to leave by the morning. When Fuches refused to follow this, Hank went to Fuches' hideout with a rocket but when they launched it, the rocket missed and Hank was attacked by Fuches' men.

Hank survived the attack and while on his way back to his headquarters, ran into Barry's wife, Sally Reed and son, John.

### Death

Hank called Barry and showed him that he has them. Hank told Barry to come for them just before calling Fuches and asking him to come as well. When Fuches and his men arrived, Hank and Fuches had a stand off. Fuches eventually gave Hank a new deal: Admit to getting Cristobal killed and he and his men walk.

Hank tearfully admitted to it and claimed that he just wanted to be safe. As they brought John out, Hank called the deal off and is quickly shot in the chest by Fuches. Hank falls onto the Cristobal statue and watches as the others in the room gun each other down. When the shooting stops, Hank grabs the hand on the statue, dying right there.

## Personality

NoHo Hank is personable and polite. He likes to offer refreshments to visitors so they feel comfortable. Although he is loyal to the Chechens, he also forms strong friendships with those outside the mob, such as Barry and Cristobal Sifuentes. He may be a member of the mob, but he depends on his two closest friends to keep him safe from harm. Hank can also be careless. His obsession with the lipstick camera helps Goran find out about his wife's affair with Ryan Madison, but it also results in the police obtaining video evidence of Ryan Madison's murder.

Hank's sunny and friendly disposition also extends to his possessions. His fox mug matches Cristobal Sifuentes' raccoon mug seen in the second season. Hank already owned the fox mug in season one, implying that he bought Cristobal a matching mug to celebrate their bond.

## Media

### Episode Stills

* Season 1
* Season 2
* Season 3
* Season 4