Chief

Chief
Current
Aliases	"Ace in the Hole" "El Gran Campeon" "The Real Boxer"
Relatives	Monica Bonera (wife, deceased) Carlo Martinez Bonera (son, deceased)
Affiliation	Casa
Biographical information
Marital status	Widowed
Physical description
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Eye color	Brown

Chief (チーフ), real name Ignacio Martinez, is a Megaloboxer who lives in a community of immigrants called the Casa. His career is relegated to the lower rings. His warm personality has made him a leader of sorts in the Casa group. He is a supporting character in the first episodes of season 2 of Megalo Box nomad.

Personality

At first appearing cocky, Chief is later understood to be a generally well-liked, sociable, strong, and kind man who has endured great hardship and loss in the past. His roughness compliments his good-hearted nature.

Appearance

Chief is a handsome man that has a strongly built upper body and chin, he wears small silver earrings. He has thick, medium-length dreadlocks and a rectangular goatee. Sometimes when reading or carving, he will wear rectangular-shaped white-rimmed glasses. Occasionally he will put his hair up into a ponytail. In the boxing ring, he wears low-waisted pants and his boxing gear adorns a symbol of a hummingbird on both of the outer shoulders.

Chief's hummingbird symbol pictured on his gear.

Biography

Chief fighting a fixed match with Joe.

He was a boxer who mostly fought in underground matches which were often rigged. He lost on purpose so that he could raise money to help his community of immigrants for whom he was like a leader. His main motivation was to help his community buy off the piece of land that they called mi casa es tu casa - my home is your home. He has a major influence on Joe's life as he helps joe to fight off his addiction to alcohol and pain killers and helps him to face his inner demons by confronting them. He is a major influence on the second season of Megalo Box as the entire style, music, and vibe of the show shifts to a much more Latino-related cultural surrounding due to him. In the past he too suffered a terrible loss losing his only son after his wife passed away during the time he and the immigrants were hiding in the ships to come to a new land, thus he understood best about Joe's situation because he too was in a similar situation sometime back. He and Joe share a deep connection as Chief and his son were huge fans of Joe who overcame every obstacle in his path and became the Megalo Box champion. He helped Joe get off his addiction and in return, Joe helped to train him for the upcoming Megalo Box championship, as the chief promised to win the championship and use the price money to buy off the land for his immigrant community. The tournament was held in a set of three matches with help of Joe as his second and Marla who was his mechanic he blazed through the first and second match even enduring all the racism and discrimination against him and his community. In the third and final match, his opponent repeatedly cheated by striking the back of his head and caused the serious injury but due to Joe's guidance and the hope of the people he was able to turn the match around and win the championship to pay off for the land for the immigrants. Before the match ended he made joe promise him one thing that if he won Joe would go back and confront his demons to which Joe agreed. After he won there was a celebration in the community at the end of the celebration he and Joe both thanked each other. He told Joe that he would not give up on the dream that joe created and wishes to face him in a match head-on in the arena without rigging as they had fought before when joe was still addicted to drugs and even though he could have defeated Joe easily he lost on purpose as the match was rigged. Before going to sleep he hugged Joe telling him that he is a part of his family now. Joe and the others found him dead the next morning resting in peace after his funeral the immigrants bought of the land with the money he collected. Joe kept his gear which was very dear to him as Chief and his son made it together. Joe then leaves to fulfill his promise he made to Chief as to confront his past and face his demons further setting the pain of events in the story although Chief's part in Joe's overall story may not be as big, but his impact on his life is the greatest as he brought him back from the darkness to the light. Even after suffering through the enormous loss of both his son and wife Chief stood up for his people not having any grudge against anyone he kept on smiling. His warm and caring nature makes him a born leader. The end credit song of the series was also first sung by Chief when he saw him in a bar the song perfectly reflects joe's current situation and his character is a major source of inspiration for both Joe and the series as a whole.

Hummingbird carved by Chief placed on top of his wife and son's grave.

In Ashita no Joe

Kumetarou Inaba（粂太郎 稲葉）in Ashita no Joe (あしたのジョー)

[This section contains spoilers for Ashita no Joe.]

In relative to Tetsuya Chiba (千葉 徹彌 /てつやちば）and Ikki Kajiwara's (梶原 一騎) Ashita no Joe（あしたのジョー）Chief seems to parallel Kumetarou Inaba and Carlos Rivera. Kumetarou Inaba helps guide Yabuki Joe back to his home, while in the season 2 rendition of the anime, Carlos Rivera brings Joe to get over his uncontrollable vomiting upon hitting his opponent in the head or temple due to trauma. Both Carlos and Chief have similar causes at the end of their career due to head trauma.

Carlos Rivera (カーロス・リベラ) in Ashita no Joe (あしたのジョー）

In the Touring Boxing Arch of Ashita no Joe, Yabuki Joe leaves his home in Doya haunted by causing the death of the person closest to him and suffering numerous losses in the ring due to this, sullying his formerly popular name in the professional boxing community. With nowhere to turn to, he takes up cheap and unprofessional tour boxing, where he refuses to fight in fixed matches. Joe meets Kumetarou Inaba, the former second-ranked professional featherweight boxer who now lives humbly, participating in fixed matches for money. Joe demands Inaba have a real fight with him, insulting the dignity of those who throw matches. Shiraki Yoko (白木葉子) brings Carlos Rivera to Japan for reasons that vary depending on the rendition of the story. Joe sees Carlos fighting professional matches in Japan from television, and his desire to box flares up again. Inaba sees that Joe has a place to go back to, and Carlos is what motivates Joe to move on with his life. In the season 2 rendition of the anime. Carlos spars with Joe and causes him to get over his yips while in other versions it disappears with little mention by the time Joe takes up tour boxing.

Could the snowfall at the end of the Megalo Box Nomad ending be a sentimental homage to the season 2 version of Carlos? While Inaba pushes Joe to go back to his home, Carlos is what gives Joe the will to keep on living, and both characters don't return, or in Carlos' case, at least return the same.

Chief states "I also have the acting skills to get me an Oscar for best actor." which appears to be an homage to the lines in the manga and anime where they compliment Carlos for his great acting skills, saying he deserves an Oscar. Furthermore, it shows Chief and Carlos' reputation to play tricks, though the two characters have different attitudes about this fighting style. Chief has the personality of an older man like Inaba, and is mentioned to have formerly had experience as a "high-ranking boxer who's duked it out in the professional ring" by the words of the announcer when he fights Gearless Joe in episode 1 as well. Both Chief and Inaba recognize Joe's skill and talent despite Joe being a shell of his former self, and both of their overall purposes are to send Joe back where he came from and get his life rolling again. Chief has the old timer's experience, humble sense of living, and overall story purpose of Kumetarou Inaba while having the fighting flame, similar fate, charisma, and cleverness of Carlos Rivera.

Quotes

Photos of Monica Bonera and Carlo Martinez Bonera kept at Chief's bedside.

"Vamos a terminar comest campeón"

"I lost my homeland, but this is where... my son and I can came home to. And I'll be damned if I'm gonna let anyone take it."

"I'm so nervous, I might just piss myself."

"I also have the acting skills to get me an Oscar for best actor."

"You should go back to your own home. Even if you aren't welcomed back."

"Hummingbirds aren't God's messengers. They symbolize our love for our homeland. When you lose your way, they remind us that we have a place to come back home to."

"Joe, I'm going to continue dreaming this dream that you showed me. So I want you to fulfill your promise to me."

"I'm scared to fall asleep... I'm scared I'm gonna wake up and find out everything was just a dream."

Decorations at Monica Bonera and Carlo Martinez Bonera's grave.

"You'll always be our champion. I want to get in that ring with you again someday. For real, next time."

Charm hanging in Chief's truck.

Concept Art

Concept art of the residents of la Casa

Concept art for Chief's bird carvings.

Color concepting for Chief's gear.