His familiarity with the region and its criminal inhabitants, such as his father Arlo and his old friend Boyd Crowder, makes him the lead Marshal for all things Harlan County.
His military experience and skills with firearms often come in handy during hostage stand offs when a precision shot is needed to end it quickly and efficiently.
After Raylan shoots him in the chest he claims to have found Jesus and when released from prison starts his own church for fellow ex-cons to restart life and fight to keep Harlan clean of drugs and crime.
Fellow miners recruit him to help rob the coal company they work for, Black Pike, but Boyd is wise to their true intentions of killing him once they have the money.
In season 4 Boyd continues his criminal relationship with Wynn Duffy which brings him into the world of the Detroit Mob when he is tasked with locating Drew Thompson for Nicky Augustine and Theo Tonin.
In season 6 he is recruited by Katherine Hale and Wynn Duffy to rob banks, specifically one where Avery Markham keeps a safe deposit box.
When he is unsuccessful in keeping Thompson from being arrested and thus able to testify against Detroit Mob boss Theo Tonin, he flees Kentucky to avoid the wrath of Augustine.
In season 5 the Detroit Mob is dismantled under Sammy Tonin's ineffective leadership, and a three-way partnership between Duffy, Boyd and Ethan Picker is born to smuggle heroin out of Mexico.
Colton "Colt" Rhodes (played by Ron Eldard) is an old army friend of Boyd's who comes to Kentucky to join his criminal empire in season 4.
Dewey Crowe (played by Damon Herriman) is a dimwitted criminal and gator poacher from South Florida who first appears in season 1 as a member of Crowder's Commandos.
Carl Lennon (played by Justin Welborn) is a newly recruited member of Boyd's gang, introduced in season 5, as well as the older brother of Earl.
In season 3 it is revealed that his deceased mother had left roughly $3,000,000 with a local banker and criminal, Elstin Limehouse, who is under obligation to release the money only to Dickie.
Raylan arrives shortly after receiving a call from Loretta and after a brief struggle manages to shoot Coover in the neck causing him to fall to his death at the bottom of the mine shaft.
After Drew Thompson is arrested by the Marshals Theo flees the country and Sammy takes over the Detroit Mob but proves an incompetent leader and soon loses control.
Robert Quarles (played by Neal McDonough) is the adopted son of Theo Tonin, who comes to Harlan with ambitious plans to expand Detroit's drug empire.
His preferred weapon is a subcompact pistol chambered in .32 ACP which he mounts on a rail to his left forearm; it is revealed he got the idea for it after being forced to watch Taxi Driver as a child.
This leaves him with lasting scars and psychological problems causing him to abduct and abuse other young men, much to the displeasure of Theo and fellow Detroit Mob members such as Wynn Duffy.
Upon learning that the FBI has lost control of the investigation to the Marshals, Nicky shoots Barkley in the head and tasks Wynn Duffy with locating Thompson.
In the season finale, Wendy (on behalf of the Marshals) manages to talk Darryl into confessing that he was the one who shot Art Mullen and recording it on her cell phone.
His short temper and love of knives leads him to challenge most adversaries to proves themselves with the "21 foot rule" where a knife is said to beat a holstered gun within 21 feet.
He quickly gains a rivalry with Boyd Crowder, who is attempting to rob him of $10,000,000 and also stifles Markham's plans to acquire properties through his own threats against the land owners.
She convinces Duffy to bring Boyd on to help them rob banks, specifically one where Markham stores his fortune as she blames him for her late husband's incarceration and death.
Boon (played by Jonathan Tucker) is a quick draw artist with strong psychopathic tendencies employed by Markham after the mercenary crew fails.
Sheriff Shelby Parlow (played by Jim Beaver) originally worked for Black Pike Coal at the same time as Boyd Crowder in season 2.
In season 4, it is revealed that Shelby is notorious fugitive Drew Thompson, who fled after shooting Theo Tonin in the eye in Panama and stealing $2 million worth of cocaine.
Ash Murphy (played by Todd Stashwick) is a corrupt prison guard at Tramble who is bribed by Boyd in order to gain access to Dickie Bennett in solitary confinement.
Agent Jeremy Barkley (played by Stephen Tobolowsky) is an FBI SAC from Lexington who begins to survey Sammy Tonin in season 3 and holds a strong resentment towards Raylan Givens, believing him to be dirty and working on Boyd Crowder's payroll.
Ironically, season 4 reveals that Barkley himself was dirty as he was working on the Drew Thompson case in order to provide information to his old friend Nicky Augustine, a henchman for Theo Tonin.
Ellstin Limehouse (played by Mykelti Williamson) is a butcher and the omnipresent protector of Noble's Holler, who knows everything about events in Harlan via the people who invest their money with him and has harbored abused women over the years seeking protection from their husbands, such as Raylan Givens's mother Frances and Ava Crowder.
Introduced in season 3, his main storyline revolves around Dickie Bennett attempting to reclaim his mother's $3,000,000 that was left with Limehouse and having to deal with his right-hand man Errol's moves risking exposing the people of Noble's Holler.