 In 1858 Texas , the Speck brothers , Ace and Dicky , drive a group of black slaves on foot . Among the shackled slaves is Django , sold off and separated from his wife , Broomhilda von Shaft . The Speck brothers are stopped by Dr. King Schultz , a German dentist @-@ turned @-@ bounty hunter from Düsseldorf , who asks to buy one of the slaves . When he questions Django about his knowledge of the Brittle brothers , a group of outlaws for whom Schultz is carrying a warrant , Ace becomes irritated and threateningly aims his shotgun at Schultz . Schultz , a superior gunslinger , immediately kills Ace with a Fast draw . King insists on honourably paying Dicky a fair price for Django before leaving him at the mercy of the newly @-@ freed slaves , who kill him and follow the North Star to freedom . 
