Every Western has two essential character’s, the hero and the villain.  Throughout the story the hero is antagonized by the villain leading up to the one crucial moment when they come together in a glorious union of good and evil.  Every single thing that happens in the story leads up to this point, when the only thing that matters is who can use a gun better.  It is easy to think that the showdown is about good vs. evil, but in many cases the hero and the villain are morally the same.  The only major difference between the two is that one of them is the hero and the other isn’t.  But what makes the hero so special is that before the showdown they have sacrificed everything they have gained in the story to risk their lives in a face off.  By showing that he is willing to loose everything the hero is no longer fighting to defeat the antagonist, he is fighting for the right to have whatever he gave up.  By killing his enemy he earns the right to keep whatever he was willing to loose permanently.

    The heros of The Virginian, High Noon, and Shane go through this process similarly with different results.  In The Virginian the hero, Jeff aka The Virginian meets Trampas early on in the story during a poker game.  During that game Trampas accuses him of cheating and confronts him on it.  He attempts to call The Virginian a son-of-a-bitch, but is interrupted when The Virginian puts his gun on the table and urges Trampas to smile when he calls him that.  Trampas’ fate is sealed from then on.  That makes room for The Virginian’s true struggle, his search for love.  The Virginian faces many challenges in the story, but they are all a piece of cake for him save one.  That is his battle for the heart of Molly Wood which goes on in between everything else he does.  When he finally wins the battle with her all is well except one conflict still remains.  When Trampas appears The Virginian knows that he must kill him and there is only one thing keeping him from doing just that.  Molly believes strongly that murder in any form is wrong and tells The Virginian that if he goes to fight than she will leave him forever.  Of course The Virginian goes to fight anyways and defeats Trampas.  After that he returns to Molly who never really left him and they go on to be married.  The Virginian leaves the life of a cowboy and becomes a successful businessman.  It is assumed that he, Molly, and their children live happily ever after.  The face off had nothing to do with Trampas or Molly.  The Virginian was fighting to get away from his old life and begin anew, but before he could that he had to get rid of Trampas who represents the untamed frontier.