List of characters in the Rambo franchise

There are several characters in the Rambo films. Several of them only appear in one of the films.

John Rambo in Rambo.

Samuel Trautman, Colonel

Main characters

John Rambo

Main article: John Rambo

John James Rambo is an iconic fictional character and the basis of the Rambo saga. He is played by Sylvester Stallone in the films and voiced by Neil Ross in the animated series.

Sam Trautman

Main article: Sam Trautman

Colonel Samuel "Sam" Trautman is the secondary character in the franchise. He's played by Richard Crenna in the first three Rambo films and voiced by Alan Oppenheimer in the animated series.

Introduced in First Blood

Main articles: First Blood and First Blood (novel)

Will Teasle

Sheriff Will Teasle (Brian Dennehy) appears in First Blood as the main antagonist. He strongly dislikes drifters. He arrests John Rambo for this reason, before he escapes. As the film progresses, Teasle becomes enemies with Rambo. He initially wants to take Rambo alive, but when Art Galt is killed by Rambo, Teasle becomes obsessed with hunting him down and killing him, even after hearing that Rambo was a war hero in Vietnam. Will later meets Colonel Trautman. At the end of the movie, Rambo severely injures him and almost kills him before Trautman stops him, unlike in the novel, where Teasle and Rambo kill each other. He is last seen being taken into an ambulance and is not seen or mentioned again in later films.

Art Galt

Deputy Art Galt (Jack Starrett) is Teasle's head deputy, and also his closest friend. He is shown to be very cruel, as he tortures Rambo to the disapproval of the other deputies. He gets beat up by Rambo as he escapes the police station. Teasle sends him to look for Rambo in a helicopter. Despite Teasle's orders to take him alive, Galt tries to kill him in cold blood as he climbs down from a cliff, threatening to kill the pilot if he doesn't fly straight so that he can get a clear shot, and ignoring Teasle on his radio. When Rambo is cornered against a tree, he throws a rock at the helicopter's windshield, causing Galt to fall from the helicopter into the gorge, to his death.

Introduced in Rambo: First Blood Part II

Main article: Rambo: First Blood Part II

Co-Bao

A native girl named Co-Bao (Julia Nickson) appears in Rambo: First Blood Part II. She wants to go to America, and who arranges for she and Rambo to go upstream with a group of river pirates. Rambo comes to the camp, and in contradiction to his briefing, he finds American prisoners there and rescues one of them from a makeshift crucifixion. Later, Co enters the camp in the guise of a prostitute and comes to the hut in which Rambo is held captive. Rambo agrees to Podovsky's condition, but instead threatens Murdock on the radio that he is "coming to get you", then escapes from captivity into a nearby jungle with Co's help. Co then tends to Rambo's wounds and begins to implore him to take her to the United States. Rambo agrees and they kiss, however they are then attacked by some Vietnamese soldiers and Co is killed. Rambo kills them all (except for their commander, who escapes, but is later killed by one of Rambo's exploding arrows) and then buries Co's body in the jungle.

In Rambo: The Force of Freedom, Co-Bao was used for the inspiration for Katherine Anne "K.A.T." Taylor (voiced by Mona Marshall).

Co appears in Rambo via flashbacks. The flashbacks were scenes from the second film.

Marshall Murdock

Marshall Murdock (Charles Napier) is an American bureaucrat who is in charge of the operation. In Rambo: First Blood Part II he tells Rambo that the American public is demanding knowledge about the POWs and they want a trained commando to go in and search for them. Rambo is briefed that he is only to photograph the POWs and not to rescue them, nor is he to engage any enemy soldiers. Rambo reluctantly agrees and he is then told that an agent of the American government will be there to receive him in the jungles of Vietnam. Later in the film, he betrays Rambo.

Captain Vinh

P.O.W. Camp commander.

Introduced in Rambo: The Force of Freedom

Main article: Rambo: The Force of Freedom

Force of Freedom

• Edward "Turbo" Hayes (voiced by James Avery) - An African-American mechanical engineer and race car driver.
• White Dragon (voiced by Robert Ito) - A heroic ninja who is Black Dragon's twin brother.
• T.D. "Touchdown" Jones - A former football player and ally of Rambo.
• Chief - An Indian ally of Rambo.

S.A.V.A.G.E.

S.A.V.A.G.E. stands for Secret Administrators of Vengeance, Anarchy and Global Extortion. They always have goals for world domination until they end up fighting the Forces of Freedom. In addition to a substantial number of soldiers, among the members of S.A.V.A.G.E. are:

• General Warhawk (voiced by Michael Ansara) - The leader of S.A.V.A.G.E. who serves as the primary antagonist of the series.
• Sergeant Havoc (voiced by Peter Cullen) - General Warhawk's second in command. He has strength that rivals Rambo.
• Gripper (voiced by Lennie Weinrib) - A European mercenary with a metal right hand (hence the name) that wears an eyepatch.
• Nomad (voiced by Ed Gilbert) - A Middle-Eastern terrorist.
• Mad Dog (voiced by Frank Welker) - The leader of an unnamed biker gang. He is first called Spike in the episode "Battlefield Bronx," but renamed Mad Dog in all subsequent episodes.
  • Animal - Member of Mad Dog's biker gang.
  • Jerkface (voiced by Lennie Weinrib) - Member of Mad Dog's biker gang.
  • Razor (voiced by Frank Welker) - Member of Mad Dog's biker gang.
• Black Dragon (voiced by Robert Ito) - A rogue ninja who is the twin brother of White Dragon.
• Snakebite (voiced by Peter Cullen) - A man who was born and raised in the Okeefenokee Swamp and likes wild animals like venomous snakes, insects, and black rats which he carries in his Beast Pack.
• Dr. Hyde - A cybernetic mad scientist whose head is in a dome-shaped helmet.
  • Max - Dr. Hyde's android henchman.
  • X-Ray - Dr. Hyde's cybernetic henchman.

Introduced in Rambo III

Main article: Rambo III

Colonel Zaysen

Colonel Zaysen (Marc de Jonge) is a Soviet colonel, who has managed to keep his sector of an Afghan province under total control since 1983. He is a ruthless commander of the Soviet garrison in which Colonel Trautman is imprisoned in, and is also a veteran combat helicopter pilot. He and his henchman Kourov (Randy Raney) capture Trautman who Rambo later rescues.

Robert Griggs

In Rambo III, Robert Griggs is the embassy field officer. He is portrayed by Kurtwood Smith. While in Afghanistan, Trautman's troops are ambushed by Soviet troops while passing through the mountains at night. Trautman is imprisoned in a Soviet base and coerced for information by Colonel Zaysen (Marc de Jonge) and his henchman Kourov (Randy Raney). Rambo learns of the incident from Griggs and convinces Griggs to take him through an unofficial operation, despite Griggs' warning that the U.S. government will deny any knowledge of his actions if killed or caught (to which Rambo replied "I'm used to it").

Introduced in Rambo IV

Main article: Rambo (film)

Michael Burnett

Michael Burnett (Paul Schulze) is the leader of a church mission attempting to deliver humanitarian aids to a Karen tribe in Burma. He and Sarah were engaged before the events of the film. He and the rest of his group (including Sarah) were captured after Tatmadaw overran the tribal villiage and killed most of its residents there, causing the church pastor to hire mercenries and Rambo to mount a rescue. Initially expressing disgust to the visible aspects of war and killing people in general, stating that taking a life is never right, he was eventually able to come to term with the fact that sometimes even mere survival needs to be fought for (shown near the end of the film when he knocked out- and likely killed- a Tatmadaw soldier by smashing his head with a rock to save a mercenary). He survived the journey to be reunited with Sarah.

Sarah Miller

Sarah Miller (Julie Benz) is a sixth grade teacher stateside. She is engaged to Michael Burnett (Paul Schulze). An idealist, she managed to persuade a disillusioned Rambo into taking them to Burma and was the only person in the church mission who attempted to strike a conversation with him. She was taken prisoner by Tatmadaw, being rescued by Rambo only seconds before a Burmese soldier was about to rape her. Thanks to subsequent efforts by Rambo to throw off Tatmadaw pursuers and protection rendered by a mercenary called School Boy, she remained free from re-captivity upon the rescue mission's completion. After the climatic battle, she reunited with Michael.

"School Boy"

School Boy (Matthew Marsden) is a young British mercenary and ex-SBS sniper who turns out to be more personable than the rest of the group. His skills were demonstrated when, during the covert assault on the Tatmadaw camp where the captured missionaries were held, he eliminated multiple sentries to keep the escape route open. When Rambo separated from the group to locate Sarah, he volunteered to wait for him while the rest of the group made their escape, later being entrusted with Sarah's safety when Rambo took a series of actions to disrupt Tatmadaw's attempt to hunt them down. He and Sarah remained undetected by Tatmadaw troops upon Tatmadaw's defeat (indeed in part because of Rambo's efforts).

Karen Rebels

They provided guides for the mercenary group sent to rescue captured missionaries. These guides, along with Rambo, ended up improvising a disguise as a truck-borne patrol for infiltrating the Tatmadaw base where the missionaries were held and tourtured. During the climatic battle near the end of the film, Karen rebels participated en masse to help turning the tide in favor of the mercenaries.

R. Rambo

R. Rambo, is the name found on a mailbox at the end of the movie Rambo. In an earlier scene, Sarah asks Rambo if he had any family. Rambo says that he thinks his father is still alive. R. Rambo is presumably his father.

See also

• Rambo (film series)
• Hunter (Huggins novel)

References