Chris Mannix

**Chris Mannix** (AKA **The Sheriff**) is the deuteragonist of *The Hateful Eight*. He is the man sent to be the new sheriff of Red Rock, but who ends up going on a deadly journey when he joins a caravan carrying Major Warren and John "The Hangman" Ruth, along with the latter's infamous captive.

He was portrayed by Walton Goggins, who also played Billy Crash in *Django Unchained*.

## History

### Early life

Chris Mannix was born somewhere in the Southern United States of America, in a typically racist household. When the American Civil War (1861-1865) broke out, Mannix' father, who leaned towards the Confederacy, formed the Mannix Marauders, a Lost Cause state militia, eventually joined by Chris himself, that consisted of at least 400 renegade Confederate soldiers, who in John Ruth's words, ransacked towns and killed an unknown number of innocent civilians, including African-Americans for the cause of preserving white supremacy which they failed to achieve after the defeat of the Confederacy in 1865, although Mannix defends their actions, stating they fought for what they believed for and were defeated with honor and dignity.

### Sheriff of Red Rock

At some point after the Civil War, Mannix' father passed away and soon after, Mannix was chosen to be the new sheriff of the city of Red Rock after the former sheriff was gunned down by an outlaw. Mannix traveled to Red Rock via Wyoming, but unfortunately he was caught in a fierce blizzard and his horse was so wounded he had to shoot it himself and then continued on foot, with the hopes of finding transportation to Red Rock.

### "Chapter Two: Son of a Gun"

While navigating around the blizzard, Mannix sees a stagecouch, driven by a man named O.B. Jackson and carrying bounty hunters Major Marquis Warren, John Ruth and figutive Daisy Domergue. Mannix claims he is travelling to Red Rock to be the town's new sheriff and persuades Ruth and Warren to let him on the stagecoach. Warren and Ruth form an alliance to protect each other's bounties. Mannix and Warren almost come to blows over their controversial war records but Mannix quickly calms down after Warren threatens to shoot him if he continues with his anti-African-American hot talk.

### "Chapter Three: Minnie's Haberdashery"

The group is forced to seek refuge from the powerful blizzard at Minnie's Haberdashery, a stagecoach lodge. They are greeted by Bob, a Mexican who says owner Minnie is visiting her mother and left him in charge. The other lodgers are Oswaldo Mobray, the Red Rock hangman; Joe Gage, a quiet cowboy travelling to visit his mother; and Sanford Smithers, a former Confederate general, to whom Mannix quickly shows his respect and admiration. As the two Confederate veterans bond, Mannix lets Smithers know his father was a great admirer of Smithers and had told Mannix stories of the general. Suspicious of the lodgers, Ruth disarms all but Warren.

As the group eats, Mannix surmises that Warren's Lincoln letter is a forgery. Warren admits this, saying the letter buys him leeway with whites, outraging Ruth. Knowing fully well that Smithers was responsible for the massacre of Black Union soldiers during the Battle of Baton Rouge and already fed up with Smithers' racist remarks, Warren leaves a gun next to Smithers and provokes him into reaching for it by telling him how he tortured, humiliated and killed Smithers' son. Mannix and the rest of the lodgers then witness Warren shooting Smithers first in lawful self-defense, killing him.

### "Chapter Four: Domergue's Got a Secret"

While everyone is distracted by the confrontation, someone seen only by Domergue poisons the brewing coffee. Ruth and O.B. drink it, vomit blood and collapse. The dying Ruth attacks Domergue, but she kills him with his own gun. Warren disarms Domergue, holds the men at gunpoint and leaves Domergue cuffed to Ruth's corpse. He is joined by Mannix, whom Warren trusts because he nearly drank the poisoned coffee.

Warren deduces Bob is an impostor who killed the original lodge owners and executes him. However, Bob had an alibi for the poisoning as he was playing the piano. When Warren threatens to execute Domergue too, Gage, whom Mannix correctly suspected of poisoning the coffee, admits he is the poisoner. A man hiding in the cellar shoots Warren in the groin. Mobray draws a concealed gun and shoots Mannix, who returns fire, mortally wounding Mobray and forcing Gage against the wall.

### "Chapter Five: The Four Passengers"

Earlier that day, Bob, Mobray, Gage, and a fourth man, Jody, arrive at Minnie's Haberdashery and kill everyone but Smithers. Jody tells Smithers they plan to ambush Ruth to rescue Domergue, Jody's sister; his gang will spare Smithers if he keeps quiet, as an extra lodger will make the setup more believable. The bandits dispose of the bodies, hide the evidence, and conceal guns around the lodge. As Ruth's stagecoach arrives, Jody hides in the cellar.

### "Last Chapter: Black Man, White Hell"

Mannix and Warren, both seriously wounded, hold Domergue, Gage, and the dying Mobray at gunpoint. They flush Jody out by threatening to kill Domergue, and then Warren kills him. Domergue claims 15 more of her brother's men are waiting in Red Rock to kill Mannix and ransack the town; if Mannix kills Warren and allows her to escape, the gang will spare him and let him claim the bounties of the deceased, except Jody's, which is worth 50,000$.

As Domergue and Mobray taunt Warren, Warren shoots Domergue in the foot, then Mobray in the leg; Mobray dies from his wounds. Gage then draws a hidden revolver but is shot dead by Mannix and Warren. Warren tries to shoot Domergue but is out of bullets. Mannix calls Domergue's bluff and rejects her alliance, but faints from blood loss. Domergue hacks off Ruth's handcuffed arm and frees herself. As she reaches for Mannix's gun, he regains consciousness and wounds her. Warren persuades Mannix to hang her from the rafters in honor of Ruth. Afterward, as the two lie dying, Mannix reads aloud Warren's forged Lincoln letter and admires his sense of detail. Mannix and Warren then die off-screen of their wounds.

## Murder victims

* Pete Hicox (Died after sustaining gunshot wounds from Chris and Warren)
* Grouch Douglas (Shot to death by both Chris and Warren)
* Daisy Domergue (Hanged by both Chris and Warren)