Barney Ross

Barney leads a crew of mercenaries that rescues hostages from pirates in the Gulf of Aden and drops Gunner for his violence. Then he accepts Mr. Church's mission: topple the dictator Garza in Vilena. On learning the real target is former agent James Munroe, he goes back to save Sandra, Garza's daughter, and the team follows. Barney is captured, rescued and, in the end, kills Munroe. His reward goes to rebuilding the island.

In Nepal, Barney rescues a Chinese businessman and his rival Trench Mauser. Back in New Orleans, the sniper Billy says he wants to retire with his girlfriend. Soon after, Church forces Barney to accept a mission in Albania. There, Jean Vilain kills Billy in front of the group. Barney vows revenge, recovers Billy's note for Sophia and leads the hunt to the airport, where he faces Vilain and kills him. At the end he toasts with the team in Billy's memory.

Barney discovers the arms dealer in Somalia is Conrad Stonebanks, the Expendables' former co-founder. Caesar is shot, and Barney, feeling guilty, disbands the team and recruits young fighters: Smilee, Luna, Thorn and Mars. Stonebanks captures them. Barney returns with the veterans and with Galgo, whom he had turned down. The two groups fight together against Stonebanks's army. Barney kills the enemy and accepts Galgo and the five young fighters into the team.

In Libya, Barney leads the team in the strike on Rahmat, but the plane is shot down and he appears to die in the crash, identified only by his ring. In truth, Barney survived the fall and faked his death. While the team goes after Ocelot, he reappears when it counts. At the end he kills Marsh, the CIA agent who turns out to be the terrorist, and escapes the nuclear blast with the team.

Barney Ross grew out of David Callaham's script Barrow, which Sylvester Stallone used as the starting point for The Expendables. Stallone directed the first film and starred in all four.