Walk into any dive bar where people still argue about Quentin Tarantino, and mention the name Chris Mannix. You’ll probably get a mix of eye rolls and heated debates about whether he was actually the Sheriff of Red Rock.
Honestly, when Walton Goggins first pops up in the snow in The Hateful Eight, he’s the guy you want to see die first. He’s loud. He’s a former Confederate marauder. He’s basically a walking, talking headache for Major Marquis Warren and John Ruth. But if you look closer, this "renegade from South Carolina" is the only person in that blood-soaked haberdashery who actually changes.
While everyone else is busy lying or protecting their own skin, Mannix is the guy holding the mirror up to the audience.
The Mystery of the Badge: Was Chris Mannix Lying?
This is the big one. Was he really the new Sheriff of Red Rock, or just a guy who didn't want to freeze to death?
A lot of fans think he was full of it. They point to the fact that he has no papers, no badge, and a very convenient story. But think about the context. He knows details about the town. He knows about the previous sheriff being murdered. He even knows about the execution orders that Oswaldo Mobray (who we later find out is "English Pete") is supposedly carrying.
If he was lying, he was playing a high-stakes game with people who knew the area better than he did.
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Then there’s the ending. You’ve got a man who is literally bleeding out. He’s dying. There is zero tactical advantage to keeping up a lie at that point. When he declares his "first and final act as the Sheriff of Red Rock" is to hang Daisy Domergue, it feels real. It’s a moment of bizarre, grim dignity.
Walton Goggins and the "Arrested Development" of a Racist
Walton Goggins has talked about how he viewed the character as being in a state of "arrested development."
Basically, Chris Mannix is a guy who never had an original thought in his life. He grew up in the shadow of his father, Erskine Mannix, a man who led a band of renegades. Everything Chris says in the first half of the movie is just a regurgitation of what he was told. He’s a parrot for the Lost Cause.
But then the blizzard happens.
Inside Minnie’s Haberdashery, his world starts to crack. He realizes that the "noble" Confederate General Sanford Smithers is just a tired, broken old man. He sees that the white people he’s supposed to be "allied" with are the ones who poisoned the coffee.
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Contrast that with Major Warren. Mannix hates him, sure. But as the movie goes on, he starts to respect Warren’s intelligence. It’s a messy, uncomfortable transformation, but it’s the only one we get in a movie filled with "hateful" people who stay hateful until their last breath.
Why the "Lincoln Letter" Matters to Mannix
The Lincoln Letter is the most famous prop in the movie, and it serves as the ultimate test for Chris Mannix.
Early on, Mannix laughs at it. He calls it a "get out of white jail free card." He mocks Warren for the very idea that Abraham Lincoln would write to a Black soldier. He’s right, of course—the letter is a fake.
But look at the very last scene.
Warren and Mannix are leaning against the bed, dying together. Mannix asks to read the letter. He reads it out loud, with a weird kind of reverence. He knows it’s a forgery. He knows it’s a lie. But in that moment, he finally understands why it exists. He sees the "nice touch" of the sentiment.
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It’s not a "kumbaya" moment. It’s not about them becoming best friends. It’s about two enemies finding a shred of common ground in the middle of a literal and metaphorical frozen hell.
What You Should Do Next
If you haven’t watched the 4-part "Extended Version" on Netflix, go do that now. It gives the characters—especially Mannix—more room to breathe.
Pay close attention to the way Goggins plays the physical transformation. He starts out twitchy and "big," trying to fill up the room with his ego. By the end, he’s small, quiet, and surprisingly resolute.
Once you've done that, look into the history of the "Mannix Marauders." While the characters are fictional, they are heavily inspired by real-life Confederate guerrilla groups like Quantrill’s Raiders. Understanding how those groups operated makes the backstory of Chris Mannix much darker and his eventual "justice" much more complicated.