The film doesn't give any specific clues about his past or what kind of person he was. We don't even know if Mahogany is his name or the name of the man who changed to a killing machine standard. Mahogany is an expert butcher, that's for sure. Day time it's his job, night time it's his obligation. He waits the train to empty enough so he can make his move: kill everyone on board, butcher them by removing their eyeballs, teeth, fingernails and hair. He doesn't kill out of pleasure. He was forced to serve a certain task for the rest of his life by an upper class being, not fully human, if at all. This being likely removed the old motivation of Mahogany's life (family, friends or other relatives). He's simply named The Driver. Although we can never be sure if it was he who converted this man, it's safe to say it was someone like him. Seemingly his purpose is to drive the train to creatures called The Fathers, who feed on humans. The Driver explains that they must be fed with human flesh in order to keep the worlds separate. Whether this is their only purpose or not, is unknown. The Driver makes it clear that the Father race cannot breed on human soil. This was Mahogany's purpose. To prepare the meal for them. During the film Leo gets deeper in the picture and finally learns that he is to replace Mahogany's position. Mahogany was getting old and was dying of an unknown disease, possibly human papilloma virus related. This proves that Mahogany was merely human, however the film never explains how he's able to smash people's heads off with a small hammer or singlehandedly lift a human with a hook up on the ceiling. Perhaps he was granted superhuman strenght of some kind or he was just naturally a strongman. Show less «