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"Mature Content Warning!" |
| “ | You know, wearing that jacket, looking the way you do, you're asking for trouble around here, friend. | „ |
| ~ Teasle to Rambo, and his most famous quote. |
William "Will" Teasle is the main antagonist of the 1982 film First Blood, based on the 1972 novel of the same name. He is an overzealous, rogue sheriff of the Ligget County Sheriff Department and is best described as a redneck and control freak who is willing to abuse his power to get undesirable people out of what he thinks of as his town. Although he is the film's main villain and shows little care for his heartless actions, he is far more civilized in temperament and behavior than his old friend Art Galt; ironically, Art Galt is the only person in the film that dies whereas Will Teasle survives in the end.
He was portrayed by the late Brian Dennehy.
His Evil Ranking[]
His Villainous Deeds[]
- It is apparent that Teasle abused his position as the sheriff to get rid of any undesirable people out of what he thinks of as his town, especially Vietnam veterans.
- In the film, he assumed Rambo was a hippie and denied him eating in the town. After driving him to the city limits, Rambo tries to turn back, but Teasle arrested him for vagrancy, resisting arrest and carrying a concealed weapon.
- At the police station, he had his friend and deputy sergeant Art Galt to book Rambo, allowing Galt and other deputies to bully him, to the point where Rambo snaps and attack the deputies.
- Not long after Galt fell to his death, and Rambo tries to turn himself in, Teasle opened fire on him along with other deputies (although he did told them to stop).
- After the forest hunt eventually resulted in Orval Kellerman and other deputies getting injured by Rambo, Teasle felt humiliated by Rambo and contacted the National Guard to capture him.
- When Colonel Trautman tries to convince Teasle to give up the hunt on Rambo, he rejected the colonel's advice and insists on capturing Rambo.
- After believing Rambo was killed by the National Guard and Trautman does succeed in convincing Teasle to walk away, he eventually rejects it and goes back on killing Rambo, after hearing that he was still alive.
Why He Doesn't Stand Out?[]
- He failed the Heinous Standards way too much, since he only have bullied Rambo and tried to kill him as his worst act, in contrast to the sequels' much heinous villains.
- He had a somewhat tragic backstory in both the novel and movie version. In the novel, his wife had divorced him at some point, and he lost his father Orval Kellerman during a hunting trip. He was also a Korean War veteran, and he harbored jealousy towards Vietnam War veterans due to being the more popular topic by then, therefore ignoring all the services Korean War veterans, like Teasle, have done.
- Because of that, this also makes him insecure.
- He cared about the townspeople and his fellow deputies, especially Galt, as he was saddened by his death and motivated his revenge on Rambo.
- He is shown to have some standards, as he stopped Galt from shooting at the public when Rambo escapes from the police station, fearing he will harm the pedestrians. Also, he initially wanted to capture Rambo, not to kill him, it was only after Galt's death pushes him over the edge.
- There are moments of him showing kindness to others. In a deleted scene, he shows remorse towards Galt's widow, who's grieving over Galt's corpse, and attempts to apologize to a deputy's wife for her husband's injuries Rambo caused. Also, he showed respect towards Colonel Trautman, as he was a fellow Korean War veteran.
- He is ultimately a well-intentioned extremist, as while his actions were unreasonable, everything he's done was to keep his town safe and to uphold the law as well as to put forgotten Korean War vets back in the light again.
- Although he ultimately rejected his chance of redemption, Teasle does show remorse when he confesses his desire to kill Rambo and tried to make amends for his actions.
External Links[]
- Will Teasle on the Villains Wiki