Ohanzee "Hanzee" Dent, later known as Moses Tripoli, is the main antagonist of FX's black comedy-crime drama Fargo. He is the overarching antagonist of Season 1, and the main antagonist of Season 2.
He is Dodd Gerhardt's accomplice and later the founder and head of the Fargo Mob. A Native American, Hanzee was taken in by the Gerhardt family. After serving in the Vietnam War, Hanzee betrayed his foster family. He founded the Fargo Mob, before being killed by Lorne Malvo in 2006.
History[]
Early life[]
Hanzee was taken in by Otto Gerhardt when he was 8 years old. In a flashback Hanzee can be seen sitting in a school with other Native American school kids; a magician pulls a rabbit out of his hat. He is totally unimpressed, which already shows how smart and observing Hanzee is. Hanzee served three tours of Vietnam during the war, mostly as a tunnel rat, and was awarded a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart.
Answering to Dodd[]
Working for the Gerhardts for a long time and as the right-hand man to Dodd Gerhardt, by 1979, Hanzee had built up a strong connection with the family. He was with Dodd when arguing with Rye, the last time he was with another member of the family (Waiting for Dutch). He is next seen with Dodd after interrogating a man who had his ears cut off and likely bled out. Hanzee and Dodd left the man dead in the barn. Hanzee then stood by Dodd in arguing to attack first. (Before the Law)
Upon Rye's disappearance, Dodd tasked Hanzee with finding Rye. Earlier that day he snapped the neck of a white rabbit and later gutted it at the Gerhardt sink. Talking with Dodd's daughter Simone, she agreed to lead him to Rye's apartment, there they met Skip Sprang, a business partner of Rye who asked him to talk with a local Judge. Meeting with Dodd at a construction site, Hanzee kills Skip by asking him to sit in a hole to be filled with hot cement. He kills him at Dodd's command. Dodd then orders him to go to Luverne to track Rye. (The Myth of Sisyphus)
At the crime scene where Judge Mundt had been murdered by Rye, Hanzee found a smash shard of a car's headlight. In the road, a blue light (previously synonymous with that of a UFO) shines over Hanzee, after what seems a few seconds, he checks his watch showing two hours to have passed. Whether an abduction, time anomaly or other unexplainable event, can be debated. Hanzee shows little response to the event.
He tracks the shard to a damaged car in the local mechanics belonging to Peggy and Ed Blumquist. There he threatens mechanic Sonny Greer with a blade and muses on his time in Vietnam though soon leaves. Tracking the car to their home, he confirms the bleach on the floor had cleaned the blood and finds Rye's belt buckle in their fireplace. (Fear and Trembling)
War with Kansas City and hunting The Butcher[]
Returning to Fargo, he informs the family of Rye's death. His words are spun by Dodd into convincing Floyd (the now established matriarch of the family) that Ed was a sleeper agent for Kansas City. Hanzee confirms Dodds words.
Floyd sends Hanzee and a group of Gerhardt enforcers to attack members of Kansas City while on a hunting trip. During the event Hanzee successfully slits the throat of enforcer Wayne Kitchen and decapitates negotiator Joe Bulo who had escaped the fight and believed himself to be safe. The head of Joe is later sent to Mike Milligan, the Kansas City enforcer who is now assigned the role of leading their northern expansion. (The Gift of the Magi)
Later, drinking from the hose in the Gerhardt compound, Bear Gerhardt talks to Hanzee about loyalty and considers him part of the family and has a seat at the table. Hanzee confirms his loyalty while loading his gun. Later, Bear attacks Dodd after learning he sent his son Charlie to kill Ed. (Who had failed.) Bear leaves Dodd once Hanzee points a gun at him. The two are ultimately broken up by Floyd.
Floyd then sends Dodd, Bear and a team of enforcers to find and kill Ed and remove Charlie from custody. Hanzee goes with Dodd who goes to the Blumquist's house. Dodd is blocked by County Sheriff Hank Larsson, Hanzee passes through the house from the back and knocks out Larsson. Dodd then sends Hanzee to the police station to kill Ed after learning he is being kept there. While Bear negotiates for Charlie's release, Hanzee searches the back and briefly holds eye contact with Ed through the window. State Trooper Lou Solverson leads Ed out another window and Hanzee closely follows. Coming through the woods, he hesitates, then decides to pursue Ed who had escaped on foot rather than Lou and Hank. (Rhinoceros)
Searching for Dodd[]
Ed and Peggy then kidnap Dodd and flee to South Dakota and take him to a cabin near Lake Vermillion and Sioux Falls. In Sioux Falls, Hanzee (who had followed them) visits a bar. Outside, he stops at a plaque commemorating 22 Sioux Indians who had been hanged on that spot on May 25th 1882. The plaque had been recently vomited on. In the bar he asks for a glass of water which the barman spits in. He asks him to pour a Tequila in front of him and asks for Ed and Peggy. The barman is racist to Hanzee and associates him with the Wounded Knee Occupation in 1973. Hanzee pays the barman and leaves. Three men follow him and racistly mock him outside the bar, Hanzee, fed up, shoots two of them in the lower leg with his revolver. Entering the bar, he shoots the barman, who had called the cops. Upon arriving, he fires at the cops with his assault rifle, killing one and seriously hospitalizing the other.
Arriving at a gas station, he intimidates the proprietor Maynard Oltorf into learning Ed and Peggy's location. Oltorf soon sees Hanzee's picture in the papers and how he is wanted by the police, so he calls them. Hanzee arrives in the small cabin were Ed and Peggy are keeping Dodd and finds Dodd to be stabbed twice in chest and once through the foot by Peggy as well as Ed recovering from being asphyxiated by Dodd. Dodd asks him to get him to the hospital though Hanzee shows little interest and simply asks Ed and Peggy to sit down. Annoyed at Hanzee's slow speed, Dodd calls him a mongrel and Hanzee shoots him through the head.
Despite Ed and Peggy's shock and the sudden violence, Hanzee remains totally calm and asks Peggy to cut his hair shorter for him. He asserts Ed remains sat down and Hanzee sits to have his hair cut. He mentions how he is "tire of this life". Just before she could make the first cut, Hanzee sees through the window, Lou Solverson and Hank Larsson approaching. He stands to fire at them and misses, Peggy then stabs Hanzee in the shoulder with the scissors who then fires at Ed. With no bullets, he leaves the cabin leaving both alive as Lou and Hank enter. (Loplop)
Sioux Falls Massacre[]
Hanzee returns to the gas station and shoots Oltorf through the head. He then stealls supplies to seal his wound and heal it. In Sioux Falls, Hanzee watches the South Dakota State Patrol unit prepare at the Motor Motel to trick Mike Milligan (who had arranged to receive Dodd from Ed). From a distance he observes them change into plain clothes to disguise as civilians. Annoyed at their tactics, Lou Solverson is ordered to leave. Hanzee later calls Floyd and tells her he found Dodd, who is being kept by Milligan, alive. Wishing for all members of the Gerhardt Syndicate to attend (including Floyd), he uses reverse psychology, asking Floyd to stay in Fargo so she is safe but Floyd insists in coming too. Changing his mind, Lou returns to Sioux Falls.
That night Hanzee meets with Floyd, Bear and every Gerhardt enforcer. They arrange to ambush to kill the cops, believing them to be Kansas City men. Bear tells Hanzee to stay back and protect Floyd, he then leads their men into firing at the cops, beginning the massacre at Sioux Falls as orchestrated by Hanzee. The cops begin to fire back and the Gerhardts realize their mistake and learn Dodd is not there. Floyd realizes Hanzee's betrayal and he stabs her twice in the ribs. Bear sees this and runs at Hanzee but is stopped by having his ear shot off by Lou Solverson. Bear turns to attack Lou as Hanzee enters a killing spree. With his assault rifle he kills cop and Gerhardt alike and continues his search for Ed and Peggy during the shoot-out. Hanzee wounds Hank and as he's about to enter Ed and Peggy's room, and Bear about to kill Lou, are they interrupted by a UFO. During its presence does Hanzee watch the craft while Lou shoots and kills a distracted Bear. Peggy and Ed then escape their room as Peggy throws boiled water in his face and Ed punches him. The UFO leaves and Hanzee pursues Ed and Peggy shooting at them, with Lou shooting at him. They escape with Hanzee close behind. (The Castle)
The couple run from Hanzee while Lou continues to pursue him. Stopping for help from a passing driver, Hanzee shoots and kills him. They continue running where Hanzee then shoots Ed in the back. He follows them to a supermarket that they're hiding in. About to enter, he is surprised by Lou and hides behind a car. He then leaves the pursuit, giving up on killing Ed and Peggy. Lou comes around the car to find Hanzee gone, he enters the shop where Ed has bled out from his wound and died and Peggy delusionally believing Hanzee to have followed them into the store. (Palindrome)
A new identity[]
Hanzee later meets with a man in a park in Fargo where he is watching a young Wes Wrench and Grady Numbers. There he adopts the name and identity of Moses Tripoli. He highlights his intentions to change his image with plastic surgery and build an empire of his own. Asked whether he will apprehend Kansas City, he reassures "Not apprehend. Dead. Don't care 'heavily-guarded'. Don't care 'into the sea'. Kill or be killed. Head in a Bag". He then approaches two older children bullying Wrench and Numbers and begins to pull out his knife. (Palindrome)
At a meeting of the Fargo Mob in 2006, Moses Tripoli brought up the subject of Sam Hess's murder. He was informed by Mr. Carlyle and Mr. Jergen that Numbers and Wrench had been deployed to round up his killer, but Tripoli was insistent that the person responsible be killed, in order to send a message. (Buridan's Ass)
He was later shot by Lorne Malvo, who stormed the compound with a machine gun for sending Wrench and Numbers to kill him. (Who Shaves the Barber?)
Analysis[]
Hanzee Dent can be separated from the other antagonists of Fargo due to his reclusiveness and presence as a far less verbal character. His main objective as a killer can be debated as he shows varying reasons to do so. Also, his betrayal of the Gerhardts can be debated to when and why it happened. Despite his claims of being 'tired of this life', it's likely he did not betray the Gerhardts as a moral turn-around but most likely an action built on revenge as revenge is something highly prioritized and present in Hanzee's character. For example, his main goal after destroying the Gerhardt family is to find and kill Ed and Peggy Blumquist for taking advantage of him when vulnrable and emotionally exposed. This strong intent is scaled into massacre, being a fitting response to the long-term wrongs dealt to Hanzee from the Garhardt family.
it is most likely Hanzee did not have any moral intention against the Gerhardts (killing them due them being generally bad people) as he goes onto leading an 'empire' of his own, under the name of Moses Tripoli. Hanzee does continue to have intentions as a killer beyond that of the Gerhardts, for example his willingness to kill those who the Gerhardt's order him to, as well as those in his way. He kills three people in a bar in Sioux Falls due their racism, though this is also likely due to Hanzee's regular quality of excessively up-scaling revenge. However, he does show a moral standing and understanding of right and wrong in his final scene in series two as he assaults the bullies of a young Wrench and Numbers.
Hanzee is also shown to have little response from abnormal or impressive situations. This is established by a flashback showing a young Hanzee Dent giving no credit to a magician performing with a rabbit. This feature is exercised by his silence and lack of response in the face of strong violence. This is later challenged upon his encounter with a UFO and reaction to the pain and violence inflicted on his own body.
Appearances[]
Season 1[]
- 106 - Buridan's Ass
- 107 - Who Shaves the Barber? (Death)
Season 2[]
- 201 - Waiting for Dutch
- 202 - Before the Law
- 203 - The Myth of Sisyphus
- 204 - Fear and Trembling
- 205 - The Gift of the Magi
- 206 - Rhinoceros
- 208 - Loplop
- 209 - The Castle
- 210 - Palindrome
Murders Committed[]
- Numerous unnamed Vietcong soldiers - Smothered in mud and throats slit, etc.
- Rabbit - Neck snapped. (The Myth of Sisyphus)
- Wayne Kitchen - Slashed throat. (The Gift of the Magi)
- Joe Bulo - Decapitated. (The Gift of the Magi)
- Unnamed bartender - Shot in the chest. (Loplop)
- 2 unnamed South Dakota State Troopers - Shot. (Loplop)
- Constance Heck - Strangled. (Loplop)
- Dodd Gerhardt - Shot in the head. (Loplop)
- Maynard Oltorf - Shot in the head. (The Castle)
- Floyd Gerhardt - Stabbed in the stomach. (The Castle)
- Unnamed Gerhardt enforcer - Shot in the chest. (The Castle)
- Unnamed South Dakota State Patrol officer - Shot in the chest. (The Castle)
- 3 unnamed Gerhardt enforcers - Shot in the chest. (The Castle)
- Unnamed driver - Shot in the head. (Palindrome)
- Ed Blumquist - Shot in the chest, bled out. (Palindrome)
Trivia[]
- His name derives from the Lakota word aháŋzi (/ahə̃zɪ/) that can be translated as shadow or shade.
- He holds similarities to Anton Chigurh, the antagonist of the Coen Brother's film No Country For Old Men. They are both cold, expert assassins with similar clothing, similar presentation as a force of nature and both betray their employers yet continue out their set task, though for different reasons.
| Season 2 characters | |
|---|---|
| Main | Ed Blumquist • Floyd Gerhardt • Hank Larsson • Lou Solverson • Peggy Blumquist |
| Recurring | Bear Gerhardt • Ben Schmidt • Betsy Solverson • Constance Heck • Dodd Gerhardt • Gibson • Hanzee Dent • Joe Bulo • Karl Weathers • Mort Kellerman • Mike Milligan • Irma Mundt • Jeb Cheney • Otto Gerhardt • Ricky G • Ronald Reagan • Rye Gerhardt • Simone Gerhardt • Skip Sprang |
| All characters | |