William Blake
William Blake, played by Johnny Depp, is an accountant who travelled West to the frontier town of Machine on the promise of a job. When he arrives in the town, he discovers that the job has already been filled. Dejected, he goes to the town's pub, where he meets Thel Russell, and the two return together to her home. After engaging in sexual activity, he ends up killing her ex-boyfriend, who is the son of a wealthy industry owner. Blake then escapes on a stolen horse. In the altercation with Charlie, Blake was shot, and he passes out during his escape. When he awakes, a Native American man is attempting to remove the bullet from his chest. The man introduces himself as Nobody. Nobody confuses Blake for the English poet of the same name, and numerous parallels are drawn between the two characters.
Alongside Nobody, Blake travels around the frontier evading killers hired by Charlie's father to avenge the death of his son. They end up killing several more men. Blake then partakes in a Native American vision quest, experiencing hallucinations and making connections to the natural world around him. To signify this important transition, he lines his face with the blood of a dead fawn. Blake is shot again and his health begins to fail. He is set out the ocean on a funeral canoe and watches Nobody and one of the assassins engage in gun fire. Blake dies, and his canoe continues out to sea.
Blake begins the film as a nervous and nebbishy character. He is frightened and disturbed by his surroundings, and is distrustful of the people around him. After meeting Nobody, Blake grows more open and comfortable. He begins to act with his own agency as he stands up to the forces around him. During his vision quest he finds harmony in the natural environment, drawing upon Native American spirituality. By the time of his death, his character has completely changed.
Nobody
Nobody, played by Gary Farmer, is the Native American companion of William Blake. It is revealed that he was captured during the colonial period and taken to England, where he was educated in a formal, Western, sense. He eventually escaped and returned home to North America. Reversing conceptions of the "noble savage," Nobody is knowledgeable about the white man's culture. Unlike the character of William Blake, Nobody is familiar with the poet of William Blake, who he greatly admires.
Nobody is a deeply spiritual character. As they travel together, he educates Blake on the Native American world view and allows Blake to participate in various rituals. In many ways, Nobody rejects stereotypes of Native Americans as established in film and popular culture. He assists the white man (Blake) and attempts to find harmony between their cultures. He is distrustful of many of his fellow Native Americans. He often uses profanity and coarse language, suggesting an actual personhood and not merely the sacred body that is so often the popular representation of indigeneity. Nobody is incredibly complex and rewarding character, who deftly highlights the philosophical, spiritual, and personal depths of Dead Man.
Thel Russell
Played by Mili Avital, Thel Russel is a reformed prostitute who meets Blake at a bar. She is featured only briefly before being killed by her ex-boyfriend.
Charlie Dickinson
Played by Gabriel Byrne, Dickinson appears in a single scene. He shoots Thel, and then is shot in return by Blake.
Cole Wilson
Cole Wilson, played by Lance Henriksen, is one of the three assassins hired by John Dickinson to capture and kill Blake. He is a tough and unforgiving character revealed to have killed and eaten both of his parents. Relentless in his pursuit of Blake, Wilson shoots one of the other killers in the head. He tracks Nobody and Blake to the ocean, where him and Nobody engage in gun fire. They both fall to the ground as the film ends.
John Dickinson
John Dickinson is played by Robert Mitchum. The father of Charlie, Dickinson is a wealthy and powerful industrialist. He hires the three killers to avenge the death of his son.
Conway Twill
Michael Wincott acts in the part of Conway Twill. He is another bounty killer with a penchant for nonstop chatter. He aggravates every character around him with his incessant banter.
The Kid
Eugene Byrd handles the part of Johnny "The Kid" Pickett. He is the youngest of the three bounty hunters. Though he is African-American in the period following Emancipation, his race is not acknowledged. He is killed by Cole Wilson.
Sally Jenko
In a memorable cameo by Iggy Pop, Sally Jenko is a cross-dressing settler who enjoys reading from the Bible. Shortly after his introduction on the screen he is killed by Nobody and Blake.
