Wanted by the law, the young fugitive Doroteo Arango opts to change his name to Francisco Villa. Now living as a bandido, Pancho Villa will become a feared and respected name in all of northern Mexico.

Pancho Villa joins the Mexican Revolution and builds a reputation on the battlefield.

Pancho Villa is unjustly imprisoned after confronting General Victoriano Huerta; while he plots his escape from prison, new President Francisco I. Medero is murdered in a treasonous coup orchestrated by Huerta.

Now serving as General of the feared Division of the North, Pancho Villa leads the attack at Torreón, Coahuila; at the end of the fighting of what would be the biggest battle of the Mexican Revolution, Pancho defeats the Federal Army loyal to Huerta, and surprises the world with his military tactics.

Pancho Villa becomes a globally recognized figure and inks a Hollywood deal to have his battles filmed, the most important being the victory at Zacatecas. Villa finally defeats Victoriano Huerta's Federal Army, but his elevated status brings confrontation with Venustiano Carranza, the political leader of the Mexican Revolution.

Pancho Villa joins forces with Emiliano Zapata, commander of the South, in a confrontation with Venustiano Carranza and Álvaro Obregón's army, giving way to a bloody civil war. Villa and Zapata capture the capital of the country, but Carranza mounts an offensive with the backing of the United States government.

In a desperate attempt to reverse his bad luck, Pancho Villa escapes to the border to remake his army, but he suffers a final defeat thanks to the support provided by the United States government to the Carrancista army. With his best friends and allies all dead, in exile, or in some cases, fighting on the other side, Pancho Villa disappears and vows revenge.

Blinded by rage, Villa attacks the United States on its territory in Columbus, New Mexico, seeking to provoke an invasion and thereby, enabling him to lead the defense of his country. Supported by Carranza, the United States army sends thousands of boots into northern Mexico, but the operation is an all-around failure, as the inability to capture the Centaur of the North elevates Villa's already legendary persona.

Recognized as a feared warrior and perpetual threat, Villa finally accepts a peace deal with the government of President Álvaro Obregón that will enable him to step away from public life; Pancho Villa begins a successful social project on his land, demonstrating that a more just society is possible in Mexico. But concern that another armed uprising, with Villa at the helm, coupled with unsettled debts of violence, brings about a plot to assassinate the leader, thus giving life to the immortal legend of the Centaur of the North.