stood by or even arrested the victims.

El Pachuco is representative of the very subculture (also called "Pachuco") embodied within this play. A pachuco is a Latino playboy with a strong aesthetic sensibility who wears zoot suits and engages in street gang activity and the nightlife scene. It is also a term associated with those migrating to El Paso, Texas, where the concept of a "pachuco" is thought to have originated. Spanish-speakers would refer to this migration as "going pa' El Chuco."

In the play itself, El Pachuco mirrors Henry "Hank" Reyna, offering himself up as a symbol of self-criticism and negativity. He serves as a "reality check" that forces Henry to give up his destiny, embodying the spirit of Pachuco culture in order to preach fidelity to la Raza. 

In a 1988 interview, Valdez, the playwright, said El Pachuco is "the power inside every individual that's greater than any human institution." El Pachuco is Hank's alter ego, the part of him that refuses to allow Anglo society to degrade and abuse Chicanos. He serves as a sort of master of ceremonies, talking to the audience and making comments about the action. El Pachuco is the cool Chicano that everyone wants to be. He is confident and assertive and represents the proud, unwavering Chicano. 

Zoot Suit is a play based on the Zoot Suit riots in Los Angeles, California, in 1943. The Zoot Suit riots were a series of riots between servicemen, Marines, and young Mexican-Americans (pachucos). The female equivalent to a pachuco is a pachuca. Pachucos favored the wearing of zoot suits, with their long, baggy pants and mid-thigh length jackets. At the time, zoot suits were symbols of ostentatious fashion and rebellion. The Zoot Suit riots were a frustrated response by Mexican-Americans (mostly young men) against the injustices of the 1942 Sleepy Lagoon Trial, where members of the 38th Street Gang were wrongly accused of the murder of Jose Williams.

Henry Reyna is the protagonist of the play; his character is based on the real-life leader of the 38th Street Gang, Henry Leyvas. Henry Leyvas died in 1971. El Pachuco is Henry's alter ego; he is also the master of ceremonies at dances as well as the embodiment of the Aztec deity of the night, Tezcatlipoca.

SO, how does El Pachuco transgress in this play? You would think that Henry's alter ego would support Henry staunchly throughout his ordeal during the trial and his time in prison; however, El Pachuco sometimes surprises us. When Alice tries to tell Henry that she is on his side, El Pachuco is dismissive; he scoffs that Alice is just a 'dumb broad' and implies that she is only good for taking to bed. In the play, El Pachuco is always skeptical that Henry will get the justice he deserves. He embodies the deep distrust Mexican-Americans of the time possessed towards law enforcement and towards mainstream American society. The press also portrayed pachucos and pachucas as threats to societal integrity; during WWII, they were viewed as unpatriotic (many of them never deployed), un-American, and worse, vicious gang members intent on destabilizing society.

When Henry finds himself in solitary confinement, El Pachuco tells him point-blank that Henry is in for life, and that he will never get out of prison, no matter how many appeals are made on his behalf in court. He brutally lays out the cold reality of Henry's situation. He doesn't want Henry to have any illusions about the chances for any reprieve.

So, you could say that El Pachuco's one great transgression is that he is too much of a pessimistic realist; he is so focused on the reality of Henry's ordeal that he forgets to encourage him nor to sympathize with Henry's plight. Although his pragmatism serves to shield Henry against lethargy and nonchalance, his stance is entirely antagonistic and violent. When Henry tells him to get away, El Pachuco leaves Henry to his own devices, a seeming betrayal of trust. However, they are reunited later, with Henry sheepishly admitting that he thought he had lost El Pachuco forever.

El Pachuco, who was stripped of his zoot suit by the servicemen in the riots, proudly tells Henry that it would take more than naval servicemen to wipe him out, indicating that the Mexican identity will always be intact and strong despite the harsh trials of life.

One of the major themes in the play is how the press helped to build negatively and hatred towards the zoot suit culture. Many of the scenes involving El Pachuco revolve around this theme. As he states:

The press distorted the very meaning of the word "zoot suit." All it is for you guys is another way to say Mexican.

At the beginning of the opening scene, the backdrop consists of a newspaper front page with the headline "ZOOT-SUITOR HORDES INVADE LOS ANGELES. US NAVY AND MARINES ARE CALLED IN." Behind the newspaper, the playwright states that black drapes create "haunting shadows ... evoking memories and feelings like an old suit hanging forgotten in the depths of a closet." From behind, El Pachuco slices through the newspaper with a knife, walks on stage, and begins to dress into his zoot suit.

In scene 8, act one where El Pachuco is described as "the only who relaxes and moves," newspapers are arranged by the "PRESS" to form a jail cell.

Both scenes show how determined and resistant El Pachuco is against even the most oppressive forms of mainstream culture.