English Bob - What was the point?

His character didn't add anything of significance to the story, and dragged down the pacing of the film.

Is very bad to steal Jobu's rum. Is very bad.

I just watched it and the point of his character came through. He's meant to show you little bills zero tolerance of firearms in town, and his violent opposition to those seeking the "whores reward".

without this scene, the scene at the bar where little bill confronts will would feel a lot different. You wouldn't have nearly as much of a sense of little bills character going into the scene.

As for the scene on the train I would guess that was just to establish him as a self-important, arrogant outsider who thought he could do and say whatever he wanted without consequence. Something little bill showed no tolerance toward.

What's the point of any character in a film? In this case he provides another perspective on the bounty hunter (almost the polar opposite of Will and co), he allows us to witness an early taste of Little Bill's savagery and lack of tolerance for his authority being threatened, among other things.

Plus he gets some of the best lines in the whole film:

"I'll shoot for the Queen, and you'll shoot for... well, whomever."

Brilliant :)

English Bob serves as a counterpoint for Munny. Where Munny is somewhat of a legendary outlaw figure even though he's never sought the fame, his deeds actually exceed the stories that are told of him. And his meanness and ability as a gunfighter are in fact spot on. English Bob on the other hand is nothing at all like the myth that he's trying to perpetuate and he doesn't come close to living up to his reputation. In the end, Bill shows him to just full of hot air.

I also see English Bob as a sad commentary on celebrities, i.e. don't believe the hype. The Schofield Kid would have ended up like English Bob if he had the coldheartedness of a killer. The Kid initially wantrd the notoriety and celebrity status of a famous gunslinger but he soon realised that he had a conscience and wasn't cut out for that life.

Brilliant movie !!

In wrestling, they have these people called "jobbers" whose role is to lose matches in order to make other wrestlers look good.

English Bob was a jobber in Unforgiven. His role was to put over Bill.

It's called character development, and I mean that of Little Bill.

English Bob was there to provide us with a likable / charismatic character that Little Bill to be mean at and beat the crap out of.

So between that, his beating of Munny, and his torture / killing of Ned, we were suppose to root for [spoiler]his eventual[/spoiler] downfall.

It was kind of weird to cast such a prominent actor for a role that turned out not to be a central character though.

If you think English Bob is a pointless character then I think you missed the entire point of the film and the message it was conveying.

The film deconstructs the “myth” that was the Old West, English Bob is central to that theme.

Are you kidding? Some of the best dialogue in this movie is in the jail scene between Little Bill, WW and English Bob. About being cool-headed vs being just fast on the draw. You find out about English Bob's background and how he glamorized what really happened in his biography. It sets up how WW's interest went from English Bob, to a superior gun fighter in Little Bill, and then later to William Munny, the baddest of em all.