Marcus Hamilton
Texas Ranger Hamilton is so close to retirement that he can almost smell it. He and Albert Parker are on the case of a series of early morning bank robberies at the Texas Midland Bank. Hamilton is the kind of cop who solves crimes by analyzing the personalities of the perpetrators, and then trying to consider what their next moves might be. He detects a pattern in their crimewave and so stakes out another branch of the Texas Midland Bank hoping to outwit them and catch them in the act but when they don't appear he begins to plot a map of potential robbery targets almost as he would do if he was one of the robbers. Unfortunately he always seems to be one step behind; He and his partner are on the way to the next likely target when it is robbed, at least proving his hunch correct. He guessed correctly as to their next target.
Despite his years of experience in law enforcement, Hamilton finds himself easily lured to a desert mountain ridge in pursuit of Tanner, one of the robbers. Tanner has drawn them off road on purpose and intends to ambush them. He shoots at the rangers, and when Parker is shot dead Hamilton thinks outside the box; he enlists the help of a local resident who knows the terrain far better than either the rangers or the gunman do. As the stand-off continues we see why Hamilton has managed to stay alive this long in a very dangerous job; he is a thinker. He circles behind Tanner, and kills him using the rifle he borrowed from the same local who helped him out with information.
We meet Hamilton a month or so later, after he has retired. Although he has physically retired from being a Ranger he is still preoccupied with his last case. He learns that Toby has been cleared of any suspicion of involvement in the robberies because of his clean record and previous good character. Feeling that an injustice has been done, Hamilton goes to Toby's ranch to tell him that although he may have fooled everyone else, he has not fooled him. He knows that Toby masterminded the robberies. He has no way to prove it, but he wants to know why he did it. He then pulls a gun on Toby because he holds him responsible for his partner's death. This shows that he is a loyal partner, and that he is also loyal to the truth. He is not the type of person who lets things go; he resolves to find Toby again and finish their "discussion"..
Tanner Howard
Tanner is an ex-con who cannot seem to live life on the straight and narrow; however, his first crime was for good reason, as he shot and killed his abusive father when he could not stand his abuse anymore. Only after this did he take up armed crime. He is also not as smart as his brother; he can carry out a crime but cannot devise one that is likely to succeed. He is in awe of his brother a little because he is smarter, and better at planning things. He is also a loose cannon. The plans that Toby comes up with are excellent, well thought out and easily executed, yet Tanner constantly puts them in jeopardy with his wild and knee-jerk nature. This provides the main source of friction between the two brothers who otherwise get along well.
Things degenerate when Tanner tries to rob a bank on his own, without his brother. We learn that Tanner is trigger happy and will shoot rather than try to escape a situation using other means. He shoots and kills a security guard and a civilian at the bank and also fires an automatic rifle into a crowd of townspeople. He doesn't seem to care if he kills them. Tanner has a stand off with the two Rangers and ultimately kills Parker, dying himself after Hamilton shoots him.
Toby Howard
Toby is the brains of the outfit, much calmer, and more measured, than his brother. Toby carries out the bank robberies so that he can pay off the loan on the family ranch that is about to be foreclosed on after the death of his mother. He is not like his brother who seems to enjoy shooting at people. Toby finds this wild nature in his brother frustrating and damaging to their goals. He is a man of previous good character and has no criminal record; on top of this he does not actually kill anyone during any of the robberies. These facts combine to make it very hard to pin the crime on him, although Hamilton is not fooled for a moment and sees through the lawful brother facade. Toby's motivation is to give his sons a better life than he had; that is far more important to him than having a better life himself.
Toby is just as capable as his brother was of killing anyone who seems to threaten his situation, and we see this when Hamilton tells him that he knows he was the mastermind behind the bank robberies, and also that he holds him responsible for Parker's murder. For his part, Toby holds Hamilton responsible for his brother's death and so wants to avenge it. He clearly intends to continue their adversarial relationship and will not let it go. It is not clear whether it is purely love for his brother that is driving him to want revenge, or whether it is more a case of recognizing a worthy adversary to whom he does not want to give an inch.
Alberto Parker
Parker is Hamilton's partner. They are a close team. Parker is a little in awe of his renowned partner. He seems to follow his lead rather than leading himself, but does not resent this at all. Parker is with Hamilton during all of their stake outs and this is why he goes with him when Tanner pulls them off-road in an attempt to ambush them. His death is almost random, because Tanner cannot see the Rangers from his vantage point; he is taking potshots with a sniper's rifle and Parker is hit more out of bad luck than good marksmanship.
His death impacts Hamilton enormously. He is just as much of a presence as a partner after his death than he was in life and it speaks very of him that Hamilton wants to avenge his murder.
