Character Relationship Map: Badland

Characters

• Reginald Cooke (played by Bruce Dern) — protagonist
• Sarah Cooke (played by Mira Sorvino) — protagonist
• Matthias Breecher (played by Kevin Makely) — supporting
• Huxley Wainwright (played by Jeff Fahey) — supporting
• Harlan Red (played by Wes Studi) — supporting
• Senator Benjamin Burke (played by Tony Todd) — supporting

Canonical Relationships

Family, romantic, and professional connections based on plot evidence.

• Matthias Breecher → Senator Benjamin Burke (Professional Employer-Operative)

  Matthias is hired to track down Confederate war criminals, and the message from Burke tells him to proceed by any means necessary.

• Reginald Cooke → Sarah Cooke (Family Father-Daughter)

  The plot identifies Sarah as Reginald's daughter and shows her caring for him while he is dying of pneumonia.

Story Dynamics

Alliances, conflicts, and narrative interactions that evolve throughout the story.

• Harlan Red → Matthias Breecher (Conflict Rival Bounty Hunters)

  Red tells Breecher that they will one day come into conflict after meeting him on the western road.

• Matthias Breecher → Huxley Wainwright (Conflict Hunter And Target)

  Breecher travels to New Mexico in search of former Confederate Captain Huxley Wainwright.

• Matthias Breecher → Sarah Cooke (Alliance Protective Companion)

  Breecher stays at the Cooke homestead, becomes close to Sarah, and later helps defend her from an attack.

• Matthias Breecher → Reginald Cooke (Narrative Assigned Hunter And Target)

  Breecher travels west to find Reginald Cooke, who is identified as his next target.

Story Analysis

A wounded detective pursues Confederate war criminals while mercy, loyalty, and survival reshape his mission.

Plot Progression

1. A Mission of Reckoning
2. Mercy at the Homestead
3. Blood Over Land
4. Buried Alive
5. A Wounded Return