Who's This? A Mexican bandito.
The facts: El Papagayo - "The Parrot" - is a Mexican bandit who tangled with Jonah Hex a number of times, perhaps enough to call him Hex's archnemesis (most Hex villains don't survive meeting him). He first appeared in Jonah Hex #2 (June 1977), along with his parrot Pepito, both creations of Michael Fleisher and José Luis García-López. His family was killed by Jonah's father, Woodson Hex, so he has a personal stake in returning as often as he did (9 additional times across the first two volumes of Jonah Hex, plus once as a robot in the first issue of Hex). He met his end in Jonah Hex: No Way Back (2010).
How you could have heard of him: The ghost of El Papagayo appeared in DC You's Bizarro series (in #3). He is not to be confused with the Z-list Batman villain of the same name who first appeared in the Golden Age, but was last seen in 2011 facing Batman Inc.
Example story: Jonah Hex #9-10 (February-March 1978) by Michael Fleisher, Ernie Chan, Danny Bulandi and José Luis García-López
Hex has been pressganged into escorting gold to Mexico City, but Mexico is El Papagayo's territory, as Jonah recalls after stopping at a hotel on the way:
The bandit leader only grazes Hex's skull to take him out. When one of his men dares call it a mistake, El Papagayo shoots him between the eyes to show he wouldn't accidentally miss at this range. He's one of the those villains you probably don't want to work for, like the Joker. With fewer laughs and more stereotypical accent. His intentions towards Jonah involve killing him SLOWLY.
Hex of course escapes, at which point we jump issues and Papagayo gains José Luis García-López (praise be his name) as artist. Not trusting Hex to actually die, it seems the bandit and his men stayed close.
After finding Jonah's presidential letter, the Parrot changed his mind about killing Hex, and only went through the motions of setting a death trap for him. Now, he's gonna follow the gunslinger to the Mexican fort and get a shot at that gold. Convoluted, but just about works. Of course, El Papagayo has his work cut out for him because the bullion will be guarded by a very alive Jonah Hex AND a squad of Mexican soldiers.
Okay, maybe the latter isn't that big an obstacle. The Parrot and his men steal the military uniforms to gain entry into the fortress and get the gold. Hex goes along with it; he's outnumbered. But once inside Veracruz, El Papagayo's man cause a ruckus - one of the legitimate soldiers recognizes fancy stolen pistols taken off his brother and a fight breaks out. The man is rumbled, caught and sent to the firing squad, at which point he gives his boss up. Jonah gets caught in the splash zone and the two enemies are both put in the same cell. But not Pepito!
The parrot went and got help, and it also seems that El Papagayo is quite gracious in promising Hex his share of the gold. Is there a kind of honor between outlaws? Pepito may be the real hero of this segment, but I can't help admiring El Papagayo too as the violent escape proceeds apace. He's just as much of an action anti-hero as Jonah!
Ultimately, he might break his promise to Jonah when he pulls a gun on him and forces him to attempt a dangerous stunt to solidify a rope bridge. But it's his MEN who should have been worried.
Ultimately, he doesn't want to share with Hex either, but he underestimated the gunslinger's raging pheromones and his moll Estrellita's susceptibility to them.
Jonah should have checked the body to make sure, but maybe he was too shocked by the rain revealing the gold was fake - a decoy - and this was all for nothing. Cheated of his money AND his good riddance to bad rubbish (the Parrot WOULD return), Hex makes the journey back to Texas under torrential rain.
Though I could have done without the character's broken English and "written" accent, I can see why writers would want to bring back El Papagayo. He's fun, he's got flair, he's very competent (except in choosing henchmen and women), and even his bird is useful. Though one might say co-creator José Luis García-López is his BEST asset.
Who's Next? A blob of light.
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