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"Mature Content Warning!" |
| “ | Nathan, I did what I was ordered to do out there, and I have no remorse. So, what do you say we put the past behind us? | „ |
| ~ Bagley coldly defending his actions against the Native Americans |
| “ | Algren: I need a bath. Bagley: After living with those savages, can only imagine. |
„ |
| ~ Bagley showing his xenophobia of the samurai |
Colonel Benjamin Bagley is one of the two main antagonists (alongside Omura) of the 2003 film The Last Samurai.
He is an American military officer who served as the commander of the 7th Cavalry during the American-Indian Wars. With his second-in-command, Captain Algren, Bagley fought countless campaigns against the Native Americans, until one day, he decided to destroy a neutral native village, massacring its population. This event left Algren scarred from guilt and trauma, but Bagley coldly shrugged off any responsibility.
In 1876, Bagley and Algren were sent to a rapidly modernizing Japan to act as military advisors for the Imperial Japanese Army, with the ultimate goal of crushing an ongoing samurai rebellion. However, Algren was captured by the samurai and came to sympathize with their culture, eventually switching sides. Under the authority of Japanese businessman and politician Omura, Bagley commanded the Japanese army against the samurai's last stand, where he was ultimately killed by Algren.
What Makes Him A Hate Sink?[]
- During his years as a US military officer, he helped wage war against Native American tribes, committing horrendous atrocities by raiding their camps with his cavalry unit and slaughtering innocent women and children. When Algren understandably developed a hatred of Bagley because of his massacres, he coldly shrugged off his acts, claiming he did "what he was ordered to do".
- He is a racist, seeing Japanese people as inferior to Americans. This is especially true for his perception of the samurai, whom he views as a savage culture. He only agreed to work for Omura and the Imperial Japanese Army due to the prospect of being paid for his work.
- His xenophobia leads him to underestimate the samurai's strength, agreeing to Omura's demands to send an untrained conscript army to fight the samurai rebellion, even after Algren proved the army's lack of professionalism.
- Upon Algren and the samurai's return to Tokyo, Bagley was concerned that Algren had to live with "savages" whilst completely ignoring the fact that Algren was lucky to have been spared by Katsumoto, since the samurai rarely took prisoners of war as their code of bushido dictated it was more honorable for one to take their own life than to be taken captive.
- While he wasn't directly involved in Omura's attempted assassination of Algren, it is very likely he had agreed to Omura's plot to get rid of Algren given he was becoming more of a liability to the war effort. Even if he didn't know about Omura's plans, there's nothing to suggest he would have cared once he found out, considering how much bad blood there was between the two officers.
- Before the final battle marking the samurai's last stand, Bagley attempted to negotiate a peaceful end to the conflict, stating the samurai would not be harmed if they surrendered. However, given his previous record, and considering he contradicts himself in his next line of dialogue by threatening to give Algren no quarter, it is very likely Bagley would not have kept his word and would've chosen to kill all the samurai anyway. Even if he did honor their surrender, Bagley would have made sure the culture of the samurai was completely eradicated, like Omura had wished from the beginning.
External Links[]
- Colonel Bagley on the Villains Wiki