Aside from other books in the western genre, Faust drew on his own earlier work for the convention of the virtuous outlaw in his characterization of Destry. Destry is also another of Faust's archetypal rebels, in a line stretching back to Dan Barry of The Untamed (1919). Of course, the theme of an innocent but wronged hero getting his revenge may have been suggested by The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas the elder, 1844). Curiously enough, Destry may be a western incarnation of the Greek god Dionysus who is the hero of the verse epic Faust was composing in the late 1920s. Several Faust heroes of this time have names beginning with "d" (Destry, Dunstan, Dunmore, Dunlin, for instance), and they exhibit Dionysian qualities of energy and lack of inhibitions.

The name "Bent" for the villain of Destry Rides Again is obviously an apt name for a hypocritical schemer...