Boyd "Bible" Swan

"Just wait 'til you see it... What a man can do to another man."

- Boyd Swan

T/5 Boyd "Bible" Swan was one of the main characters and secondary heroes that appears in the 2014 war movie "Fury". He is a truly good yet battle-hardened soldier in the 66th Armored Regiment, 2nd Armored Division. He was the tank loader.

He was played by Shia LaBeouf.

Biography
As the Allies make their final push into Nazi Germany, Collier commands an M4A3E8 Sherman tank named Fury and its five-man, all-veteran crew: Boyd "Bible" Swan, gunner; Grady "Coon-Ass" Travis, loader; and Trini "Gordo" Garcia, driver. The tank's original assistant driver/bow gunner has been killed in a battle that has killed all the rest of Fury's regiment. Wardaddy hides on top of Fury and sees a Nazi SS officer riding on horseback through the ruins of the battle, looking for survivors. Wardaddy jumps on him, knocks him off the horse and stabs him in his eye socket viciously several times until he dies. Wardaddy then lets the horse go. Wardaddy returns to the tank and kicks Coon-Ass until he gets the broken tank fixed enough to drive them back to their camp. Bible makes his first appearance here by relieving himself into an ammo can. There, Wardaddy sees that his gunner's replacement is a recently enlisted Army typist, Norman Ellison who has neither seen the inside of a tank nor experienced the ravages of war. Norman eventually earns the nickname "Machine", given to him by Grady Travis. While at a forward operating base, it is revealed that Wardaddy greatly despises the Waffen-SS, shown when he harasses an injured captive SS officer before telling Norman to kill every one of them he sees.

The surviving crew, who have been together since the North African Campaign, belittle the new recruit upon meeting him, for both his lack of experience and for his reluctance to kill Germans, especially the children of the Hitlerjugend; a decision which results in the destruction of Lieutenant Parker's tank and its crew. Wardaddy is furious and, enraged, forces Norman to look at an American soldier who committed suicide while burning alive. Wardaddy angrily screams to Norman that this is his fault. Later, in an effort to 'educate' him to the realities of war, he violently attempts to force Norman to take his weapon and kill a captive German artilleryman, who is wearing a looted American trenchcoat. When Norman refuses to do so, Wardaddy forces the gun into his hand and makes him execute the prisoner.

The bond between Norman and Wardaddy becomes stronger after capturing a small German town which is riddled with hanged children displaying signs. Wardaddy reads the signs and translates them. They say that the dead children were "cowards" for not fighting for Germany. Wardaddy and the rest of the crew kill all the Nazi soldiers that have taken it over and Wardaddy realizes that most of the surviving soldiers who are surrendering are merely children being forced to fight. Wardaddy lets the children live but sees an SS officer and asks if he was the one hanging children in the town. The townsfolk identify him as the murderer and Wardaddy promptly has him executed. Later, Wardaddy and Norman meet a German woman, Irma, and her cousin Emma. Norman presumably sleeps with Emma, then joins Wardaddy and Emma's cousin for breakfast, during which time Norman discovers that Wardaddy has horrific, severe burn scars on his back. The rest of the crew barge in and cause tensions while at the table, (all of whom but Bible were looting the town and enjoying the spoils of war) but Wardaddy stops them from harming the two women. Coon-Ass continues to be rude, taking Emma's eggs and licking them before putting them back on her plate. Wardaddy switches plates with her and eats the eggs Coon-Ass licked instead. Shortly afterwards, a German bombardment hits the town, killing Emma and some of the American forces. This, coupled with observing the retreating Germans burning their own towns and the cruelty they show to those who do not fight for the Wehrmacht, hardens Norman.

A platoon of four tanks, led by Wardaddy, gets a mission to hold a vital crossroads from advancing Germans, protecting a clear way to supply trains and a camp full of army doctors and cooks. If the Germans were to reach the camp, all those people would likely be killed and the whole unit may be in jeopardy. After encountering and engaging a heavily-armored German Tiger I tank, only Fury remains, the other three vehicles being outgunned and annihilated by the Tiger. Wardaddy's vehicle is then immobilized after hitting a landmine; shortly afterwards, a battalion of three hundred Waffen-SS infantry approaches. Wardaddy refuses to leave, and the rest of the crew, initially reluctant, decide to stay and plan an ambush.

Outnumbered and outgunned, Wardaddy and his men nevertheless inflict heavy losses on the Germans using both the tank's and the crews' weapons, but gradually, one by one, Coon-Ass and Gordo are all killed, and Bible is shot in the eye and killed by a German sniper. Wardaddy is shown to have great affection for Bible, as he hugs his corpse and apologizes, saying that he did the best he could. Wardaddy is then killed and Norman survives by hiding under the tank. The few surviving German soldiers move on.

The next morning, U.S. Army medical units discover Norman, and it is inveighed to Norman that the German offensive failed because of the crew's last stand. As Norman is being transported to safety, he looks back at the carnage of the many dozens of dead German SS troops surrounding the remains of the destroyed Fury.

Trivia

 * Bible was studying to become a preacher before being drafted into the army, according to the script.
 * Shia LaBeouf, an extreme method actor, worked to become the exhausted soldier of Swan. He didn't bathe for over a month, grew a mustache, and even cut his own face and pulled out his own tooth to further distinguish the character.
 * Shia LaBeouf converted to Christianity after playing the role of Swan.