Raylan Givens is a

fictional character In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person, ...

created by

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

and

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

Elmore Leonard Elmore John Leonard Jr. (October 11, 1925August 20, 2013) was an American novelist, short story writer, and screenwriter. His earliest novels, published in the 1950s, were Westerns, but he went on to specialize in crime fiction and suspense thri ...

. Givens is a Deputy

U.S. Marshal The United States Marshals Service (USMS) is a federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The USMS is a bureau within the U.S. Department of Justice, operating under the direction of the Attorney General, but serves as the enforce ...

and initially appeared in the novels ''

Pronto Pronto, stylized as PRONTO, is the second-generation contactless payment system for automated fare collection on public transit services in San Diego County, California. The system is managed by the San Diego Association of Governments, operat ...

'' and ''

Riding the Rap ''Riding the Rap'' is a 1995 crime fiction novel by Elmore Leonard. It is the sequel to Leonard's ''Pronto'', released in 1993. Synopsis Like ''Pronto'', ''Riding the Rap'' centers around Harry Arno, World War II veteran and bookie, now 67 yea ...

''. (''Pronto'' was adapted as a TV movie in 1997 with

James LeGros James Le Gros () (born April 27, 1962) is an American actor. He was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male for his performance in ''Living in Oblivion''. Career James Le Gros appeared as Rick in Gus Van Sant's 1989 ...

as Givens.) Leonard later penned the short story "Fire in the Hole", which became the basis for the television series '' Justified'' starring

Timothy Olyphant Timothy David Olyphant ( ; born May 20, 1968) is an American actor. He made his acting debut in an off-Broadway theater in 1995, in ''The Monogamist'', and won the Theatre World Award for his performance, and then originated David Sedaris' ''Th ...

. In April 2011, Leonard revealed in an interview that the success of ''Justified'' had inspired him to begin work on a new novel about the character. The novel, titled '' Raylan'', came out in 2012, and was Leonard's last work to be published before his death.

Creation

Author Elmore Leonard has stated names are important in the creation of his characters. For Raylan Givens, it was an introduction at a lunch during a book distributor convention which provided the character's name.

Overview

In the novel ''Pronto'', Givens is described as about forty years old, thin and rangy, and perpetually wearing a

cowboy hat The cowboy hat is a high-crowned, wide-brimmed hat best known as the defining piece of attire for the North American cowboy. Today it is worn by many people, and is particularly associated with ranch workers in the western and southern United S ...

. He is a native of

Harlan County, Kentucky Harlan County is a county located in southeastern Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 26,831. Its county seat is Harlan. It is classified as a moist countya county in which alcohol sales are prohibited (a dry county), but conta ...

. Raylan likes ice cream as mentioned on ''Justified''. He has an intuition about people and their criminal intentions which usually leads to him shooting them despite his best efforts to resolve things peacefully. While Raylan mostly attempts to act righteously, he has cornered certain adversaries with every intention to kill them. This is the very thing that lands Raylan back in Harlan at the start of season one of ''Justified''. In the novels, his hat is described as a flat-brimmed hat akin to the kind worn by the police officers in the photo of

Lee Harvey Oswald Lee Harvey Oswald (October 18, 1939 – November 24, 1963) was a U.S. Marine veteran who assassinated John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, on November 22, 1963. Oswald was placed in juvenile detention at the age of 12 fo ...

's murder. According to the novel ''

'', before he became a Deputy Marshal, Givens served in the

Marines Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...

. After being given the slip by a federal grand jury witness, Harry Arno, at Atlanta Airport, Givens was appointed as a Firearms instructor at the U.S. Marshals Service Basic Training Academy in

Glynco, Georgia Glynco is an area in Glynn County, Georgia located on the northwestern edge of Brunswick, Georgia. Glynco is a portmanteau of the words "Glynn County". History In 1942 the Naval Air Station Glynco was established on the area now known as Glynco. ...

. Givens, who was an expert marksman with a handgun and an expert at the fast draw with any pistol as well as an expert with other weaponry, perceived this appointment as a demotion or reprimand for losing his witness.Pronto - p.43 Raylan uses several handguns throughout his appearances. In the novel ''Pronto'', Raylan carries a

Colt Python The Colt Python is a .357 Magnum caliber revolver manufactured by Colt's Manufacturing Company of Hartford, Connecticut.Dougherty, Martin ''Small Arms: From the Civil War to the Present Day'', New York City: Fall River Press, 2005, page 48. It ...

revolver with a 6-inch barrel, which fits his "cowboy" personality. On the show ''Justified'', Raylan carries a

SIG Sauer P226 Sig used as a name may refer to: *Sig (given name) *Sig, Algeria, a city on the banks of the Sig River *Sig Alert, an alert for traffic congestion in California, named after Loyd Sigmon *Sig River, a river of Algeria also known as Mekerra sig (lo ...

for the shooting of Tommy Bucks, which he draws faster despite Bucks using the faster-drawing Glock 19. Raylan carries a small customized Colt Officers ACP .45 Handgun during his first case in Harlan and uses this to shoot Boyd Crowder. He then upgrades to a ".45

Glock Glock is a brand of polymer- framed, short recoil-operated, locked-breech semi-automatic pistols designed and produced by Austrian manufacturer Glock Ges.m.b.H. The firearm entered Austrian military and police service by 1982 after it was th ...

" (presumably meaning a

Glock 21 Glock is a brand of polymer- framed, short recoil-operated, locked-breech semi-automatic pistols designed and produced by Austrian manufacturer Glock Ges.m.b.H. The firearm entered Austrian military and police service by 1982 after it was the ...

but the actual pistol shown is a 9mm

Glock 17 Glock is a brand of polymer-Receiver (firearms), framed, Recoil operation#Short recoil operation, short recoil-operated, locked-breech semi-automatic pistols designed and produced by Austrian manufacturer Glock Ges.m.b.H., Glock Ges.m.b.H. The ...

Adaptations

Timothy Olyphant at the 70th Annual Peabody Awards

Raylan Givens was first portrayed by actor

in a 1997 television adaptation of ''Pronto''. In early 2010, the

FX Network FX is an American pay television channel owned by FX Networks, LLC, a subsidiary of the Disney General Entertainment Content unit of The Walt Disney Company. It is based at the Fox Studios lot in Century City, California. FX originally launc ...

premiered the television show ''Justified'' starring

in the role of Givens. On the official Elmore Leonard website, some trepidation was expressed about the television show getting the correct hat for the character. While the show ''Justified'' does not get the hat exactly correct, Leonard considers the show's portrayal of Givens to be perfect. Givens is native to the rural eastern

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

mining area of Harlan County but is assigned to

Miami Beach, Florida Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It was incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on natural and artificial island, man-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the ...

in the novels ''Pronto'' and ''Riding the Rap''. For the short story "Fire in the Hole", Leonard has Givens returning to his roots and being assigned to Kentucky as a punishment for his actions in the previous novels.

List of literary appearances

*''

'' (1993) *''

'' (1995) *''Fire in the Hole'' (2001) *'' Raylan'' (2012)

References

External links

Elmore Leonard's Official website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Givens, Raylan Justified (TV series) Fictional American police officers Fictional government agents Fictional gunfighters Fictional vigilantes Fictional characters from Kentucky Drama television characters Characters in American novels of the 20th century Literary characters introduced in 1993 Fictional hapkido practitioners Fictional Muay Thai practitioners Fictional male detectives Fictional United States Marine Corps personnel Western (genre) peace officers