The villain of the Alamo, Santa Anna, was even produced once. In general, however, the evil characters were either licensed characters from a movie or show, such as Butch Cavendish from The Lone Ranger, or a generic “baddie” developed from an accepted concept of a true western villain.
What may be surprising for many is that Native Americans only rarely appeared as evil characters. Even during the 1960s, Native characters, like Tonto, were marketed as friends of the cowboys. When they did appear as villains, they were usually portrayed as misunderstood, not bad. Of course, this subtlety did not necessarily translate into play style. I recall many kids who used Native characters as their main enemy force. Companies strongly relied on the color black to create their villains. Even when using a well-known character, such as Jesse James, the toy manufacturer carefully dressed him predominately in black. Sam Cobra, for example, the only character in the large Best of the West set who was marketed as purely bad, was dressed, quite nattily, all in black, complete with all-black accessories.
In marketing, these bad boys' dishonesty, cowardice, and untrustworthiness were their key selling points. No one was portrayed as a murderer, not even an actual felon such as Billy the Kid. Rather, they were often thieves, and gambling was one of their usual pastimes. The prevailing mythos represented the western bad guy as a stagecoach, train, or bank robber or as a cowardly, dishonest poker player. Probably for fear of offending parents, the manufacturers downplayed the idea that these men were real killers.
Sam Cobra, from Marx's Best of the West line, personified this type of character. A no-good, cheating gambler, he came with many deceitful accessories. A special knife could be hidden in his sleeve, a derringer could be hidden in his belt buckle, and another could be cached in a cue ball. No ideal western villain would be complete without his bundle of dynamite to blow up the bank's safe. Cobra was an oddity, though, being marketed very clearly as a bad guy. Most others, even Jesse James and Billy the Kid, were simply sold as one more player in little Bobby's dugout of characters, allowing the child to decide the role they would play.
Once licensing characters from major shows became the norm, those characters that were evil on the show were naturally evil in toy form as well. Butch Cavendish, the nemesis of the Lone Ranger, is possibly the best example. Dressed predominately in black and riding a black horse, he was the antithesis of the Masked Man. Specific play sets developed with Butch Cavendish in mind almost always involved robbery as the crime. These figures represented a less violent evil. The description of El Lobo, another villain in the Lone Ranger's West, is a perfect example: “El Lobo, the Mexican Outlaw, scheming enemy of the Lone Ranger.” Deceitfulness, either in stealing or while playing cards, was the predominate trait of the western bad guy action figure.
