In 1880, at Greely’s whorehouse in Big Whiskey, Wyoming, a drunken cowboy named “Quick Mike” orders his friend, Davey Bunting, to hold down prostitute Delilah Fitzgerald while he slashes her face in retaliation for laughing at his small penis. Greely’s proprietor “Skinny” Dubois stops Mike at gunpoint. Complaining that Delilah is now “damaged property,” Skinny tells the sheriff, “Little Bill” Daggett, that he wants compensation for lost revenue. Seasoned prostitute “Strawberry Alice” argues that Mike and Davey should be hanged, but Little Bill forgoes hanging or whipping. Instead, he orders them to repay Skinny seven ponies. Scheming revenge, Strawberry Alice rallies the prostitutes to pool their savings. Sometime later, on his small farm in Kansas, widower William Munny enlists the help of his children, Will and Penny, in corraling sick pigs. A cocksure young man calling himself the “Schofield Kid,” after his Schofield revolver, arrives in search of the “cold-blooded assassin,” William Munny, he heard about from his Uncle Pete. The Kid wants to team with Munny to collect a $1,000 reward on the heads of Quick Mike and Davey. Munny claims he is no longer a killer since his late wife, Claudia Feathers, cured him of his drinking problem and showed him the error of his ways. The Kid is riding due west to the Western Trail in case Munny changes his mind. Returning to work on his ailing farm, Munny has a change of heart. He tells his son, Will, to take care of the younger Penny, and promises to be back in two weeks. He has a hard time mounting his horse, not having ridden in some time, and explains to the children that the recalcitrant horse and sick pigs are his comeuppance for past sins. On his way to meet the Kid, Munny stops by the home of his old partner, Ned Logan, and offers to split the reward three ways if Ned wants to join in. Although Ned has also changed his ways, and his Native American wife Sally Two Trees does not approve, he is lured by the money. Meanwhile, hoping to collect the $1,000 reward, British assassin “English Bob” arrives in Big Whiskey, accompanied by his biographer, W. W. Beauchamp. Getting word that his old rival English Bob is in town, Little Bill seeks him out and demands he relinquish his weapons. English Bob tries to conceal his .32 pistol, but Little Bill finds it and brutally beats him, shouting that there is no “whore’s gold” to be won. Little Bill takes English Bob to jail, where the sheriff regales W. W. Beauchamp, the biographer, with his own gun-fighting stories. When Munny and Ned Logan catch up with the Kid, they quickly realize the boy is shortsighted, and can only see within fifty yards. That night, Munny and Ned complain of their discomfort when they make camp. The Kid boasts that he has killed five people, and asks Munny about a notorious shootout in Jackson County, in which he was rumored to have killed two deputies who had him cornered at close range. Munny, however, claims to not recollect the incident. A rainstorm hits, and the three mount their horses and ride on. Munny refuses Ned’s offer of liquor to stay warm. The next day, as they enter Big Whiskey, they see a bruised English Bob being driven out of town in a carriage. At the jail, Little Bill gets word that three men have come into town, and at least two of them are armed. He goes to Greely’s whorehouse and finds Munny, soaked through and feverish, in the saloon. While the Kid and Ned are upstairs receiving an “advance” on their reward, Little Bill demands Munny’s firearm and beats him when he lies about having one. Munny is kicked out in the rain, just as the prostitutes push the Kid and Ned out an upstairs window. The three take cover in a shack, where Ned stitches a gash in Munny’s face. The next day, the prostitutes bring supplies. Still suffering a high fever, Munny believes he is dying and begs Ned not to tell his children about his checkered past. When his fever finally breaks, he wakes up to find Delilah Fitzgerald tending to him. He sees the scars on her face and remarks that he must look like her now, but assures her he does not think she is ugly. Delilah offers him sex, informing him that Ned and the Kid have been sleeping with the women in advance of their reward, but Munny cannot be unfaithful to his wife. Unaware that he is a widower, Delilah commends his loyalty. Munny joins Ned Logan and the Kid as they set out to find Quick Mike and Davey Bunting. They locate Davey with a group of cowboys branding a calf. Ned shoots Davey’s horse, and the horse pins him. Ned aims at Davey but cannot bring himself to shoot. Munny takes over and, with only one bullet left, shoots Davey in the gut. Afterward, Ned announces he is going home. Munny discourages him from quitting, but promises to share the reward with him regardless. A group of local cowboys catch Ned on his way back to Kansas and bring him to Little Bill, who brutally whips him and demands the names of his accomplices. Munny and the Kid stake out the Bar T ranch where Quick Mike is in hiding. Finally, Quick Mike has to use the outhouse, giving the Kid an opportunity to ambush him. He shoots Mike in the chest three times, and a group of Bar T ranchers shoot at Munny and the Kid as they flee. At a designated meeting spot, the assassins wait for their reward. Shaken, the Kid swigs alcohol and admits he never killed before. When he starts to cry, Munny empathizes, saying, “It’s a hell of a thing killing a man.” Teenage prostitute “Young Sue” delivers the reward money and reports that Ned died while Little Bill was torturing and interrogating him. Learning that Ned’s body is on display outside Greely’s, Munny becomes enraged. He demands the Kid’s Schofield revolver, and the Kid willingly hands it over, vowing never to kill again. Munny entrusts the Kid to deliver his portion of the reward money to his children, and to deliver Ned’s portion to his wife, Sally Two Trees, if Munny does not return within a week. At Greely’s, Munny interrupts Little Bill as he organizes a search party. Wielding a rifle, Munny demands to speak to the owner. Skinny Dubois identifies himself, and Munny shoots him point blank. Next, he aims at Little Bill, who chuckles when the rifle misfires. As the sheriff draws his gun, Munny tosses the rifle and draws the Schofield. He shoots Little Bill and three more men, then warns the rest to flee unless they want to die. Munny pours himself a drink. Riveted by what he just witnessed, W. W. Beauchamp asks Munny about his strategy. Munny claims he has always been “lucky in killing folks,” then threatens Beauchamp to leave him alone. Little Bill stirs, and tries to draw his gun, but Munny shoots him point blank. As he walks out of Greely’s, Munny threatens anyone who tries to shoot. One man points his gun but is too cowardly to pull the trigger. Munny mounts his horse and shouts that the people of Big Whiskey better give Ned Logan a proper burial and stop mistreating prostitutes, or he will come back to kill everyone. Some years later, Claudia Feathers’s mother, who never approved of her son-in-law, visits her daughter’s grave in Kansas, but Munny is long gone. It is rumored he went to San Francisco, California, where he prospered in dry goods.