Includes minor SPOILERS for One Hundred Years of Solitude season 1.
Netflix’s One Hundred Years of Solitude examines the lives of the Buendía family, though they can be difficult to follow as the series progresses. The TV series is based on the acclaimed classic novel by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, a sprawling epic that examines the Buendía family across multiple generations in the town of Macondo. One of the book’s biggest challenges, however, is keeping track of the massive family tree, where many characters have similar names. In One Hundred Years of Solitude’s cast, the actors change due to time jumps in the story, increasing the challenge.
Notably, One Hundred Years of Solitude’s season 1 ending only covers the first half of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s novel, so the family tree in the series isn’t quite as big as it is in the book. Season 2 will expand the tree with future generations of the Buendía family. For now, using José Arcadio Buendía as the centerpiece of the family, there are three generations of Buendías in the show who are all vital to understanding Marquez’s story.
José Arcadio Buendía (Marco González & Diego Vásquez)
The Buendía Family Patriarch & Founder Of Macondo
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José Arcadio Buendía is the patriarch of the Buendía family and the founder of Macondo. In his hometown, he married his cousin Úrsula, whose family believed their children would be deformed. Because of this, the pair spent a long time not having sex until José Arcadio Buendía was insulted on the matter after a chicken fighting match. José Arcadio Buendía killed the man, named Prudencio Aguilar, by throwing a spear through his neck. After killing him, the man’s presence began haunting José Arcadio Buendía’s home, forcing him to move.
José Arcadio Buendía is an inquisitive dreamer who spends the majority of his life secluded in his workshop
José Arcadio Buendía desired to settle a new home for his wife and his community beyond the mountains, believing they would find oceans. The journey to what would become Macondo was long and perilous, and they ultimately gave up on the original goal, settling away from the sea. José Arcadio Buendía is an inquisitive dreamer who spends the majority of his life secluded in his workshop, pursuing various sciences like alchemy and astronomy in hopes of achieving the wonders of his imagination. This often leaves his family without a father, to the dismay of Úrsula.
Úrsula Iguarán (Susana Morales & Marleyda Soto)
José Arcadio Buendía’s Wife & The Buendía Family Matriarch
Úrsula Iguarán is José Arcadio Buendía’s wife and the matriarch of the Buendía family who travels with her husband from their hometown, helping to settle Macondo. She gives birth to three children, including Colonel Aureliano Buendía, who is the first person born in Macondo. Due to marrying her cousin, Úrsula has a deeply rooted fear that her family will produce babies with animal-like features, but she still maintains qualities of strength and leadership throughout the series. She begins a business making candy to sell in Macondo’s community.
Related One Hundred Years Of Solitude Review: Netflix’s Vivid Adaptation Reinvigorates The Magic Of A Timeless Masterpiece Visually appealing and deeply committed to doing justice to the source material, One Hundred Years of Solitude achieves all of its goals.
José Arcadio (Édgar Vittorino)
José Arcadio Buendía’s Firstborn Son
José Arcadio, not to be confused with his father, is the firstborn son of José Arcadio Buendía and Úrsula Iguarán, who’s notably well-endowed. This attracts the attention of Pilar Ternera, a grown woman who molests him, and they pursue a sexual relationship in episode 2, resulting in the birth of his son. However, when Pilar Ternera reveals that she’s pregnant, José Arcadio disappears from Macondo for a long time, demonstrating a similarity to his father’s impulsive personality.
Colonel Aureliano Buendía (Claudio Cataño)
José Arcadio Buendía’s Secondborn Son
Colonel Aureliano Buendía is the second son of José Arcadio Buendía and Úrsula Iguarán, who’s the first person born in Macondo. Aureliano Buendía is shown from an early age to have premonitions, demonstrated by a scene where he predicts that a bowl will fall from a table despite not being near the edge. The life of Aureliano Buendía is one of cyclical violence and myth as a military leader, as he’s the subject of Marquez’s masterful opening line, which is used in both the novel and the TV series: