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"Mature Content Warning!" |
| “ | As a slave of the LeQuint Dickey Mining Company; henceforth until the day you die, all day, every day, you'll be swingin' a sledgehammer, turnin' big rocks into little rocks! Now; when ya get there, they gonna take away ya name, give ya a number and a sledgehammer, and say, "Get to work!" One word of sass, they cuts out your tongue! And they good at it, too. You won't bleed out! Oh, they does that real good! They gonna work ya; all day, every day, 'til ya back give out! Then; they gonna hit ya in the head with a hammer, throw ya ass down the n***a hole, and THAT will be the story of you, Django! | „ |
| ~ Stephen to Django upon capturing him. |
Stephen is one of the two main antagonists (along with Calvin Candie) of the 2012 Quentin Tarantino revisionist Western film Django Unchained.
He is the old head house slave from the Candyland plantation in Mississippi by 1858. Serving as Calvin Candie's right-hand, Stephen proves himself instrumental when he uncovers the truth behind the visit of Django and Dr. Schultz, Calvin's recent guests, who plan to free Django's wife Broomhilda from Calvin's employment.
He was portrayed by Samuel L. Jackson.
His Evil Ranking[]
What Makes Him Close to Being Pure Evil?[]
- Rises up to become the influential head house slave of Candyland by winning over the owners through most likely immoral methods, letting him rule over his fellow co-workers even though they are oppressed slaves just like him, keeping all of them in check for decades at least. He likes this job particularly because while he’s still a slave he can still enjoy some of the benefits of a slave owner like expensive food (sometimes) and Stephen is one of the only slaves in Candyland to never get tortured. He just needs to keep all of the house slaves in check like preventing them from escaping and torturing them if they even try to escape, and while being of the same race, still lets them get oppressed, he lets this happen because again it gives him power and a advantage. Another example of his heavy involvement in Candy Land’s slavery is that he runs the plantation once Calvin is gone.
- Life in Candyland for slaves is very harsh if not inhumane, as slaves are seen overworking or being tortured very often, with some of them getting killed too. However, Stephen shows not even an ounce of care for his fellow people despite the injustices they face, supervising their slavery.
- Helps in the raisining of his employer Calvin Candie and is very possible that he made into the sadistic and cruel slave master that he is by the time of the film's events, in addition to becoming his right-hand, He spies on his guests to make sure if they pose a threat of the Candie family or not.
- Tricks Django and Dr. Schultz, Calvin's latest guests, into showing some care for his fellow co-worker and slave Broomhilda (who is actually Django's wife), leading him to conclude that Django wants to take Broomhilda away from Candyland and informing Candie, who threatens to hammer Broomhilda's skull if Django and Schultz don't pay him for her freedom, setting into motion the chain of events that sees Candie and Schultz killed. To be fair, Shultz and Django genuinely did care for Bromhilda.
- Ordered Django’s death but when it seemed that Django was going to kill all his men, Stephen forces Django to surrender unless he wants to see Broomhilda's brains "blown out" by his henchmen, leading Django to be recaptured and tortured again, under Stephen’s orders.
- Opts to avenge Calvin by not letting one of his men castrate Django but instead reveal to him that he will send him to the horrible LeQuint Dickey Mining Company to work again as an oppressed slave there with no rest or name, sadistically mocking Django while revealing his intentions.
- Tries to kill Django one last time with the help of his men after Calvin's burial, cursing Django in his last moments of life instead of expressing remorse or pleading for undeserved mercy.
- While he has somewhat comedic moments at first, they highlight how apathetic and cruel he is due to these consisting of Stephen insulting or harming people.
- While he regularly flirts with and acts kind to housemaid Cora, it's more than likely out of lust than care, as he also regularly comments on her body.
What Prevents Him from Being Pure Evil?[]
- Though he is a hypocrite who sides with his slaver owners and believes in white supremacy, Stephen is somewhat tragic as he rose up through the ranks so he could avoid a position in eternal slavery like most of his fellows, with his position as head house slave being the "comfiest" a black man like him could have at Candyland. This is, however, a very minor prevention given how he still chose to willing uphold and engage a corrupt idealogy in an effort to gain power, even if it meant torturing his fellow slaves. He also expresses no regrets about doing this to other slaves, being as sadistic as Candie now. This means that whatever tragedy he had is now far behind him.
- Genuinely cares for his employer, as he always acted on Calvin's best interests no matter how he subtly manipulated him and was distraught when Schultz killed Candie, being this his main reason to seek vengeance against Django for his involvement.
External Links[]
- Stephen on the Villains Wiki
- Stephen on the Hate Sink Wiki
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 Near Pure Evils
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Animated Features Live-Action Features See Also | ||
 Near Pure Evils
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Reservoir Dogs Kill Bill Inglourious Basterds Django Unchained The Hateful Eight | ||