Profile
User Name/Nick: Rycca
User LJ: On File
AIM/IM: On File
E-mail: On File
Other Characters: Severus Snape, Randal Graves, The EMH, and Sarah Harding
Character Name: Reuben J. “Rooster” Cogburn
Series: True Grit (novel / 1969 movie)
Age: 50s (Explained in notes)
From When?: 1880
Inmate/Warden: Warden; it is a very tough call for Rooster, but he would have jumped at a deal with the Admiral.
Item: A John Doe writ on a tri-folded piece of paper; when something occurs with his inmate's involvement, the details will fill themselves out.
Abilities/Powers: None.
Personality:
Rooster Cogburn is a man who falls into the territory of moral gray area. He’s neither all good nor all bad, and definitely has his own way of looking at the world. He exemplifies what it means to be an anti-hero: a drunkard who rode with Captain Quantrill during the Civil War, and who killed 23 people in the four years he served as a federal marshal, but still infused with a sense of right and wrong and the desire (however latent) to uphold those standards.
He has been described as mean, fearless, “double-tough”, and pitiless, though the latter depends on who requires his pity. When serving a writ, the criminal he’s after will see no mercy from him; he’d just as soon shoot the man and lose the reward offered than bring him in alive. However, he does have a sense of justice and chivalry for people he feels deserve it. It does take some time for those traits to surface, however; an example of this is when LaBoeuf took a switch to Mattie Ross. Rooster allowed it to carry on for a moment or two, but then drew a gun on the ranger to stop him. He is indeed fearless: when Ned Pepper, backed by three other mounted men, insults Rooster, he pulls the reigns of his horse between his teeth and rides at the four horsemen with both guns drawn.
Rooster is very full of himself and talks big. He likes to tell stories about himself, though in many cases they’re little more than grandiose exaggerations, and he’ll often lie to people if he thinks it will help his cause (for example, telling Quincy and Moon he has five federal marshals with him when there are only LaBoeuf and Mattie.) He’s smart, though uneducated - he can barely write - and can be sarcastic and mocking of people for whom he holds low regard, such as the lawyer, Goudy. In a cross-examination in court, Goudy asks Rooster which direction he was backing away. Rooster replies snidely, “I always go backwards when I am backing up.” He thinks of women not necessarily as lesser, but definitely weaker. He does give them the opportunity to prove themselves to him, however, and will give them just as much respect as he does to men.
Rooster is a heavy drinker and often this gets in the way of any decency he might have. It isn’t an emotional issue or an effort to numb some inner pain: he just likes to drink. He likes to be drunk. He enjoys other people being drunk with him. He thinks whiskey is a good solution to many things. He’s decent enough at being sober and can hold off on the booze, but if he gets going, he doesn’t stop until he passes out. It was mentioned already that he likes to talk; the more he drinks, the less he cares whether anyone is listening. He also has a bit of a sweet tooth, loves taffy, and pours sugar and honey on most everything if he thinks it would improve the taste.
It should be noted that he can be sensitive about his age, weight, and eye. He knows he's good and capable, and being told he can't do something because he's a fat old one-eyed man is as good as a dare. If it's said insultingly, he'll shoot the speaker.
He will come aboard the Barge with two firmly held beliefs: first, he’ll be very clear on the point that criminals are criminals and redemption is not something that can be worked toward. Rats don’t care about redemption. Second, he’ll believe that these people who have graduated have somehow bamboozled the Admiral into believing they’ve truly repented of their crimes. Despite these ideas, he’ll do the job anyway because there’s money in it for him if he can get his own inmate to pull the penitent act for the Admiral. After some time aboard, he’ll come around to the idea that people really can better themselves.
As a warden, it depends on the nature of Rooster’s inmate to say for certain how they’ll be treated. If it’s a young man who hasn’t become a hardened criminal, Rooster will be tough and even fatherly toward them (once he comes around to the idea that they can be fixed). If it’s someone older, with more crimes under their belt, he’ll be merciless and mean, and it will take much longer for him to ease into the redemption idea. If it’s a woman, all bets are off. He won’t even be aware there are women as wardens when he comes aboard, much less as inmates, and he might have some trouble accepting that these ladies have done the things the Admiral says they did. He will try to talk to his inmate, but he won’t hesitate to strike or shoot them. Rooster will, for the first few months, walk a very fine line between being a warden and being demoted to inmate, himself.
History:
Rooster's History
Synopsis of the novelization of True Grit
Synopsis of the 1969 film.
Sample Journal Entry:
[Rooster’s first entry is heralded by a feedback whine from the microphone. He’s apparently talking to himself at first.]
- can’t do nothing right. Everything’s got to be new and polished up and no one’s got any appreciation anymore for tried and trusted ways of doing things. Hello?
Okay.
[Now he's talking to you.]
I am U.S. Federal Marshal Reuben J. Cogburn, lately of Fort Smith, Arkansas. Most people call me Rooster if they know me personally. You inmates don’t know me personally, so that’ll be Warden, Marshal, or Mister Cogburn to you. If you're in some kind of hurry, you can call me "Sir". I don't plan to answer you if you get a burr in your saddle and decide to call me by my given name.
Those of you men that are here like me as a warden have the professional courtesy of addressing me like you want to be addressed.
Now, when I came aboard here and made an arrangement with the old Admiral for -
[He interrupts himself, and his tone changes from authoritative to thoughtful and bemused.]
Say, now, where is he, anyhow? I haven’t seen hide nor hair of him since yesterday. I’ve got a few amendments to make on our agreement, and one of ‘em is for a horse. I don’t know how he did it, but this boat’s got a big grass field and I mean to go riding in it when the notion takes me. People here have got themselves cats, dogs, birds, snakes, and monkeys. Well, I want a horse. And I don’t mean one of those piddling Texas sheep, either, that keel over and die on you after ten miles. I want a tall, sturdy horse that ain’t been gelded and can jump a four-post fence.
Besides that horse, I’m going to need two pounds of taffy, tobacco, rolling paper, matches, cartridges, whiskey, and if someone can manage it, I want a bed with slats. I can’t sleep on that damn Chinese rope bed anymore. My back doesn’t agree with it.
[Back to business.]
Where’s the criminal I’m supposed to improve and make fit for society?
Sample RP:
Rooster fumbled with the rolling paper for a moment; he somehow always managed to pack the tobacco too loose inside. In the end, he decided to give it up for lost. He slipped the lot of it into the pocket of his coat and instead produced a bottle of whiskey.
Most people might have glanced around to make sure they were alone first, then would have taken a quick nip from the bottle before secreting it back out of sight; Rooster didn't bother. He uncorked it and took a long swig, then leaned forward onto the rail of the ship. He shook his head at the void beyond, then had himself another drink.
Before long, the bottle was bone dry and Rooster was unsteady on his feet. He took a step back from the rail, peered through the mouth of the bottle, then drew his arm back. He staggered slightly to the left and pitched the bottle into the air, meaning to throw it into the emptiness. In the same instant, he drew his gun and fired at the rubbish with his free hand. The shot went wild by several feet and seconds, and Rooster fell to the ground with a grunt.
"Must be something wrong with this gun," he mused, looking down the barrel. He pointed the weapon back toward the rail and cocked it. Whatever he was planning to shoot, however, wouldn't hold still (or perhaps it was that he was swaying a bit), so he decocked the pistol and holstered it.
Special Notes:
Age. Oh, age. In the novel, Rooster is in his early 40s. John Wayne is very obviously not forty in the movie (he was in his early sixties). I'm taking the middle road and saying Rooster's in his fifties.
Also, "LaBoeuf" is not a misspelling. That's how the name is presented in the book and on IMDB for the 2010 film; Wikipedia has it as "Le Boeuf" and "La Boeuf".