Perched on the roof of a building in Fallujah, Iraq, Chris Kyle aims his rifle at a woman and child on the street. With his finger poised on the trigger, Chris watches the woman pass a grenade to the boy. As a child growing up in Texas, Chris hunts with his father, a stern man who tells Chris and his brother, Jeff, that there are three kinds of people in the world: sheep, wolves, and sheepdogs, the protectors. Chris grows up to become a rodeo rider. However, when his girl friend, Sarah, leaves because Chris is never home, he wonders if he should change his lifestyle. A television news report about terrorist attacks in Tanzania and Kenya inspires Chris to visit an Armed Forces recruiting office, where a Navy officer suggests he consider joining the Navy SEALS. Chris undergoes brutal training in San Diego, California. At a bar, he meets Taya, who swears she will never marry a Navy SEAL but eventually agrees to go on a date with him. In sniper training, Chris impresses his instructor when he shoots a snake instead of the paper target and states, “I’m better when it’s breathing.” On September 11, 2001, Al Qaeda terrorists fly airplanes into two World Trade Center buildings in New York City, and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. Chris becomes even more adamant about serving his country. Taya worries about their relationship, but Chris declares his love and asks her to marry him. At their wedding, Chris learns that his unit will be deployed in a few days. He arrives in Fallujah, Iraq, where AQI (Al Qaeda in Iraq) has posted rewards for American heads. As a sniper, Chris’s job is to watch over Marines on the ground as they go door-to-door, ensuring that Fallujah is evacuated. On his first day, Chris watches from a rooftop as a woman hands a grenade to a young boy. He keeps the boy in his crosshairs as he approaches a convoy of U.S. soldiers, then shoots him down. The woman runs to pick up the grenade, and Chris shoots her as well. That night, he tells another soldier that he witnessed evil like he had never seen it before, and regrets his first “kills” were a woman and child. Over time, Chris earns the nickname “The Legend,” as he excels at sniping terrorists and thwarting attacks on U.S. troops. He calls home and speaks to a pregnant Taya, but does not answer when she asks if he has killed anyone. Taya informs him that Jeff, his younger brother, was recently deployed. Chris is briefed on a mission to find Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a top AQI operative. One day, Chris abandons his post on a rooftop to help Marines search buildings. They come across a family still living in their apartment and demand to know why they have not yet evacuated. The head of the household, Sheikh al-Obeidi, says he is following orders from “The Butcher,” Zarqawi’s ruthless “enforcer” who cut off the arm of one of the sheikh’s female family members. The shiekh asks for $100,000 in exchange for the Butcher’s real name. Later, Chris speaks to Taya on the phone as he rides to a building where the Butcher might be located. Meanwhile, Mustafa, an Olympic sharpshooter from Syria, aims a sniper rifle at Chris’s truck. Mustafa shoots, inciting a firefight, and Taya overhears the mayhem on Chris’s discarded phone. Taking cover inside a building, Chris uses a mirror to watch the street. He sees the Butcher drag the sheikh’s son into the middle of the street, drill into his head with a power tool, and shout, “You talk to them, you die with them.” The sheikh is also killed. Later, Chris learns the operation is being shut down pending further intelligence. He is frustrated that he is set to go home in three weeks. When he returns to San Diego, Taya, who is nine months pregnant, admits to feeling estranged. Chris promises he is the same despite his detached demeanor. At an ultrasound appointment, the doctor takes Chris’s blood pressure and discovers it is dangerously high, but Chris says he feels fine. On the way home, as he and Taya argue, she goes into labor. On his second tour in Iraq, Chris sees Jeff at the air base and embraces him. Although Chris says he is proud of his brother, Jeff reveals he has become disillusioned by the war. Due to Chris’s reputation as the deadliest sniper in Fallujah, a $180,000 reward is placed on his head, and Mustafa plans to collect it. One day, Marc Lee, a Marine in Chris’s unit, confesses that he is having a hard time believing in what they are doing. That night, Chris leads a group in a building search, and they find an apartment inhabited by an Iraqi family. The soldiers establish a base in the apartment, which is across the street from a restaurant where the Butcher is believed to be operating. After hours of staking out the restaurant, the soldiers join the Iraqi family for dinner. Chris notices the father has a callous on his elbow and suspects the man has been propping himself on the ground behind a sniper gun. In another room, Chris finds a store of weapons under the floorboards. He subdues the man and gives him the option of going to a detention center or helping his group gain access to the restaurant. Agreeing to help, the man goes to the restaurant door and knocks. The door opens, and U.S. soldiers immediately shoot down the armed man behind it. Chris’s group infiltrates the restaurant, killing more terrorists inside, where they find severed body parts and a dead man hanging from the ceiling. The Butcher escapes in a car, but Chris shoots at the vehicle, causing an explosion that kills the Butcher. Back in San Diego, a young veteran recognizes Chris at a mechanic’s shop and thanks him for saving his life. He tells Chris’s son, Colton, that his father is a hero, and suggests Chris visit the VA (Veterans Affairs) hospital. Later, Chris loses his temper when a nurse doesn’t attend to his crying newborn daughter in the hospital nursery. Taya tells Chris she is living her life alone and says the war has changed him. On his third tour in Iraq, Chris accompanies a fellow sniper to the medic tent after being shot. He suspects Mustafa is responsible, since the shot came from over 1,000 meters away. Returning to town, Chris witnesses as his friend Marc Lee is shot and killed. Chris returns to the U.S. to attend Marc’s funeral. There, Marc’s mother reads a letter in which Marc questions the pursuit of glory that motivates soldiers in war. On the way home, Taya tries to discuss the letter with Chris, who says Marc paid the price for giving up. At the VA hospital, Chris visits one of his wounded comrades, who tells him that he is officially the deadliest sniper in U.S. military history. In bed with Taya, Chris tells his wife she would be okay if anything happened to him. She worries that he wants to die and says he doesn’t know when to quit. She begs Chris to be human again, and threatens she and the kids might not be there for him if he goes to war again. Chris deploys on a fourth tour. He sets out to kill Mustafa, who has been sniping soldiers as they try to secure a wall in downtown Fallujah. Despite an oncoming sandstorm, Chris’s group is sent into town to stake out Mustafa. Chris spots him 2,100 yards away and requests to shoot. Although other soldiers discourage him from shooting, since the noise would alert AQI operatives on the ground to their position, Chris takes the shot and kills Mustafa. AQI fighters swarm the area and a bloody firefight ensues. Chris calls Taya in a panic and tells her he is ready to come home. The sandstorm descends, making it nearly impossible to see. Chris barely makes it inside a truck that arrives to rescue the surviving soldiers. Sometime later, Chris returns home but stops at a bar before seeing his family. Taya is disturbed by her husband’s antisocial behavior, and rushes to stop him when Chris almost attacks a dog at a party. Chris meets with a psychologist at the VA, who says the Navy credits him with over 160 kills. Chris claims that he regrets nothing but is haunted by all the men he failed to save. The psychologist suggests there are plenty of men who need saving at the hospital. Chris spends time with amputees and regains a sense of peace. He and his family move to a house in the country, where he and his son go hunting for the first time. On February 2, 2013, Taya embraces Chris and says she is proud of him. He tells her he plans to go to the shooting range with Eddie Ray Routh, a veteran going through a hard time. Taya eyes the man suspiciously when she sees him waiting in the driveway. Later that day, Chris is killed by Routh.