A selfish man wants his Self to be as great as possible. This greatness is only achievable by living an autonomous productive life of ambition and dedication, and to die shamelessly without regrets. By his own definition, a truly selfish man (if his primary concern is the expansiveness of his Self) can not live on the sacrifices of others. Every dictator, serial-killer, and villain has been the product of altruism and not selfishness.

This is the reason why the only hero is a selfish hero.

This is the reason why Nobody is the greatest hero ever put to film.

02. Jauntiness

Nobody lives his life with his own happiness as his primary goal. Typically, such a statement conjures images of a fat slob of a man spread out on a sofa with one hand in a bag of potato chips, the other in his pants. But not in this case, for Nobody knows what course of actions will bring the greatest amount of happiness.

Nobody is a tightly-wrapped, chiseled, Adonis of a gunfighter. In the grime of the Old West, Nobody's appearance "shines like the doors of a whorehouse".

Nobody's ambition is to be the greatest hero in all of history, not for glory or fame, but for FUN. It is not uncommon for Nobody to drag out a confrontation simply so that the joy of victory lasts longer. He doesn't merely beat his opponents, he humiliates them.

Nobody faces danger with his own original style, all the while smiling.

What may seem like a contradiction is actually brilliant. Nobody goes virtually nameless throughout the film. For example, when he wins the title of fastest gun in the West, the epitaph on the loser's tombstone reads "Nobody was faster on the draw". Even his greatest worldly achievement allows him the anonymity that he values. Nobody became the best because HE wanted to be the best. It doesn't matter to him what name the others call him. As I will discuss in section six, this does not mean that he dislikes the heroes of history. Perhaps he knows the unnecessary baggage that comes with fame, especially in such a volatile time as the Old West.

If he were to become famous, the tribal mobs of savagery (represented in the film by The Wild Bunch) would not permit his life. Nobody knows what he can and can not control. If he is to have fun until his dying day, he must do so in secrecy.

However, while his methods of stealth deserve recognition, I must emphasize that his primary reason for remaining nameless is that his success matters more to him than what anyone else has to say about it. He lives an efficient life.

03. Diligence

One can not be the best of the best by being buoyant, carefree, and happy-go-lucky. The only way to succeed is by clearly defining your method of success and sticking to it.

Nobody does not wander aimlessly in the southwestern deserts. He does not stumble from saloon to saloon. He does not gamble or drool over prostitutes. He could not have become the fastest gun if he was a drunk. Only by hard work and dedication did he become the best.

Throughout the film, Nobody has many opportunities to sway from his path. He is bribed and tempted but does not give in to temporary fleeting whims of pleasure. He remains true to his life-long ambitions.

While the story does not delve directly into Nobody's childhood, it does show his life as an adult. It shows his love for history and literature, a supreme knowledge of human behavior, and a physical prowess that could only have been achieved by a lifetime of productive work and practice. He enjoys freedom because he has been a slave to his self.

04. Audaciousness

Nobody's audaciousness can be seen on two tiers:

I. He is not afraid.

Because Nobody is the best in the West, he does not sleep in fear. In fact, he can (and often does) fall asleep just about anywhere he pleases. He certainly does not welcome death, but does not allow it to threaten him into a state of anxiety. Nobody will face any foe.

II. He is impudent in the face of convention.

Nobody has his own original way of doing things that often seem strange to others. The best example is his first on screen appearance when he is fishing in the muddy river with nothing more than a two-by-four and a cricket.

05. Intelligence

Nobody's bravery is exceptional because its moral weight is balanced equally with his intellect. Without his mind, he would be just another foolhardy gunfighter.

He is victorious because he has studied human nature. He knows what drives the men of the West and uses their weaknesses against them in battle. Often, he plays the fool to allow his opponents to misjudge him. He uses their over-confidence to destroy them. For example, he will pretend to be a coward to beat a bully. He will pose as a drunk to swindle a swindler.

What is amazing about Nobody is that he is the fastest gunfighter, but NEVER SHOOTS ANYBODY. This may seem like another contradiction, but it is not. His perfection of this violent skill is governed by his mind, and it is the supremacy of his mind that allows him to reach success.

His ability to shoot faster and more accurately than the rest is only a tool for his greatness. He is not a pacifist in the Ghandi sense of the word. He has more in common with a Shaolin warrior than a Tibetan monk.

Nobody's mind created the perfect plan to be the ultimate hero and to do so safely, gleefully, and confidently.

06. Reverence

As I mentioned earlier, although Nobody is not interested in fame and notoriety, he does not look down upon those whose actions have brought them public acclaim. In fact, he thrives on a very healthy dose of hero-worship.

Jack Beauregard (a vigilante and bounty hunter) is considered by everyone to be the greatest hero in the West, and he is a living god to Nobody. He knows everything there is to know about Beauregard, from every nuance of his character to every detail of every battle he ever fought. In fact, Nobody knows more about Beauregard than Beauregard himself.

The entire plot revolves around Nobody's reverence for Beauregard and how he uses Beauregard's accomplishments to become the best. I must stress that Nobody does not exist as a parasite of Beauregard's bounty; he only wishes to top him and does so in the spirit of true capitalism.

Nobody worships heroes simply so that he can exceed them. He believes that heroes exist to be topped, not beaten and hurt, but overcome for ones own pleasure...and as a side-effect, to further evolution and raise standards of life, because life can be good even in the grisly diseased Old West.

07. Lovability

Nobody is loved by thugs, prostitutes, winos, Indians, children, and the everyday fellow. Everybody loves Nobody even many of his enemies. Underneath their scornful sneers lies a definitive smile of adulation.

"My Name is Nobody" holds the ultra-positive ideal that if you live your life by Nobody's standards, you will be adored by nearly everyone you meet. Such a positive concept is reassuring to everyone who wants to be the best in this irrational world of altruism.

.......

Now that you understand the character of Nobody, there are two other aspects of the plot that I'd like to emphasize:

I. The Individual Versus the Masses

Imagine a film that places such a man as Nobody against his exact opposite, a tribe of collectivist savage looters who pillage and plunder the Old West like a swarm of locusts leaving nothing behind but a cloud of dust. In the beginning of the film, this gang is represented by "150 pure-breed sons of bitches on horseback", also known as The Wild Bunch. By the end, it is Nobody versus The Mob (organized crime).

Nobody defeats these hordes by remaining an individualist and by using his mind to overcome the odds that are stacked against him and Beauregard.

II. Humor

From everything you've read so far, you're probably imagining this film to be extremely serious. However, it is just the opposite.

While "My Name is Nobody" deals with the most delicate of philosophical principles, it is not a drama. This movie is a feat of pure comic genius. Today, we are inundated with obscene comedy. Fart jokes and self-deprivation rule the land of humor. The laughs in this film are sweet, ecstatic, and motivational.

There is an old fable that Nobody tells throughout his adventures. Paraphrased, it goes like this:

A baby bird falls from its nest to the ground. It is cold one night and the bird is about to freeze to death. Luckily a cow wanders past and drops a heaping pile of poo on top of the bird. The bird is pleased by the warmth of the poo, but its weight begins to suffocate him. The bird's cries for help are answered by a coyote that frees the bird from the poo and cleans it off. Once the bird is both warm and clean, the coyote eats it.

The moral of this story, as read by Jack Beauregard, is as follows: