Characters / Kane & Lynch

Characters from Kane and Lynch: Dead Men and its sequel, Kane and Lynch 2: Dog Days.

Kane and Lynch

Adam "Kane" Marcus

Kane in Kane & Lynch: Dead Men

Voiced by: Brian Bloom

The main protagonist of the first game, Kane is a washed up ex-mercenary trying to save his daughter and wife. In Kane and Lynch 2: Dog Days, he comes to Shanghai to help Lynch with an arms deal, hoping to finally get enough cash to retire.

He is the more intelligent and professional of the duo, since he was a mercenary for a long time and was in the military before that.

• Ain't Too Proud to Beg: In the first game, when his family is at the mercy of The 7.
• Anti-Villain: Kane's a ruthless mercenary who has a lot of blood on his hands. He's also completely aware of what kind of person he is and doesn't try to hide it; in fact, he's pretty miserable about who he is and never takes pleasure in his life of crime. On a brighter note, it's shown he genuinely loves his daughter and ex-wife.
• Archnemesis Dad: Sort of. His daughter Jenny hates his guts, despite all the trouble he went through to save her.
• Badass in a Nice Suit: He's frequently seen in casual suits.
• Beard of Sorrow: He has one at the start and near the end of Dead Men. Doubles as a Beard of Evil.
  • He's sporting a scraggly, unkempt one in Dog Days.
• The Cameo: Hitman: Absolution, where he's on death row and is shown writing a letter to Jenny, regretting his life choices and is broken up over never really knowing her.
• Catchphrase: "The fuck I did."
• Consummate Professional: He's (usually) the stoic and intelligent professional.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Oh yeah. His two-year-old shot and killed himself with Kane's service gun, leading Kane himself into a downward spiral in which he abandoned his wife and their daughter (who was five years old at the time). And that's not even going into what happens to him over the course of both games.
• Deadpan Snarker: Has shades of this. When he learns Lynch's pills are for his psychological problems, for instance:
  Kane: Those ain't exactly ulcer pills, are they?
  • He also shows this in the sequel.
  Kane: When we're done playing gangster, I want to go to my hotel.
• Even Evil Has Standards: While he's more pragmatic about it considering the amount of heat it brings on them, he's still genuinely disturbed when Lynch murders the bank hostages in a fit of psychotic rage.
  Kane: Nobody gets away with what you just did!
  • Later, when he finds out from Shelly that Lynch may have killed his wife, he's outraged.
  • A bit of an easy to miss moment in the sequel, but in the intro, in which we see flashes of Kane in the midst of a botched job, he's briefly seen in a playground where you can hear people (including children) screaming; you can hear Kane yelling "—away!!" before taking a few shots at whoever's trying to kill him and quickly fleeing away from the playground; which suggests he at least tries to avoid civilians casualties (story-wise anyway). Plus, given he has a kid who he obviously loves, it can be assumed he wouldn't hurt children; this is confirmed in the comics.
• Exhausted Eye Bags: If you looks close enough at him in Dog Days, you can see he has sunken eyes with visibly dark circles under them. Likely a result of his lifestyle and the stress he's frequently under.
• Expy: Keeping with the Michael Mann inspirations of the games, he's a mix of Neil McCauley in being an intelligent and professional criminal and Vincent in his cold-blooded, amoral actions.
• Handicapped Badass: A subtle example. When you look closely at his right eye, you can see it's clearly damaged. In the first game, he can been seen tilting his weapons slightly to aim with his left eye, implying he is at least partly blind in his right eye.
  • He gets referred to as a "one-eye fucker" at one point by one of the Dead Men he and Lynch break out of prison.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: Not as much as Lynch, but Kane will snap if pushed far enough.
• It's All About Me: He's completely selfish and egotistical, and he doesn't give a shit about anyone around him, including those he works with, as long as he's able to fulfill his own agenda. Although it is shown he can feel guilty about it.
• Jerkass: He's cold, self-centered, and short-tempered.
• Manipulative Bastard: The one thing people (especially Lynch) hate about him is his tendency to withhold important details for his purposes. Ironically enough, the tables are turned in Dog Days when Lynch is the one wildholding the details from Kane.
• Never My Fault: He shows a constant inability to accept responsibility for the horrible things he causes, though its questionable if this has to do with an unwillingness to face his guilt or his general amorality. It's also pretty telling that his Catchphrase is "The fuck I did!"
  • His backstory saw him abandon his wife and daughter and go into a downward spiral of crime after he couldn't come to terms with his role in the accidental death of his son.
• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: He delivers one to Mute, with a shovel.
• Nominal Hero: He's only "heroic" because he happens to be opposing people who are worse. And he started their conflict in the first place by abandoning them and screwing them out of a massive payday.
• Papa Wolf: His one redeeming trait is his genuine love for his daughter. The 7 learned that the hard way.
• Perpetual Frowner: Although he has plenty of reasons for that.
• Progressively Prettier: Inverted. He wasn't obviously a looker in Dead Men, but come Dog Days, Kane looks more visibly worn-out and haggard than before, a strong sign of how his criminal lifestyle has taken a toll on him.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The calm and intelligent blue oni to Lynch's violent and impulsive red. However, they temporarily swap places after his wife's murder; Kane is the one flipping his shit and Lynch is the one trying to keep them alive.
• The Sociopath: Subverted. While Kane exhibits a lot of sociopathic tendencies, such as a disregard for right and wrong and frequent aggression, he lacks the impulsiveness and actually shows regret for his actions. He also genuinely loves his daughter; his reason for joining up with Lynch for the arms deal in the second game is to use the money to benefit her and repair their relationship.
• Tragic Mistake: His woes started when he abandoned his comrades for money.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Lynch gives him one of these when he kidnaps Yoko.
  Lynch: Christ, Kane, you just got your own daughter kidnapped.

James Seth Lynch

Lynch in Kane & Lynch: Dead Men

Voiced by: Jarion Monroe

The main protagonist of the second game, Lynch is a paranoid schizophrenic who may or may not have killed his wife Annie. In the first game, he is The 7's watchdog, making sure that Kane doesn't try anything. He switches sides after The 7 betrays him, helping Kane get revenge.

Having no military training or previous experience, he is much less professional than Kane. He is prone to blackouts and fits of Unstoppable Rage, and consequently, Kane sees him as a dangerous liability.

In Dog Days, he works as a henchman for a crime boss in Shanghai, China, where he has developed a romantic relationship with a young woman named Xiu. He reunites with Kane for an arms deal.

• Anti-Hero: Lynch is a violent criminal, but strangely enough, he's not as bad as Kane in some ways.
• Ax-Crazy: In both games. Lampshaded by Kane in the sequel.
  Kane: I see you're still insane, Lynch.
• The Berserker: Even without the psychotic episodes, he's utterly manic and bloodthirsty in combat, shooting dead bodies and random people in front of him for no reason at all.
• Blood Knight
• The Cameo: Hitman: Absolution. You can find him on the far right of the shooting range.
• Dark and Troubled Past: He's a paranoid schizophrenic who's prone to black outs, and possibly (likely) murdered his wife Annie during one of his episodes and it's heavily implied during the audio in one of the loading screens that his condition was already putting a strain on the marriage.
  • The police reports for the game's media and advertising confirm his mental illness and medication was damaging his marriage, as well as causing trouble at his workplace.
• Deadpan Snarker: He has a few moments of this.
  • He has quite a few more in the comics:
  Kane: (when they are dragging the unconscious body of one of the antagonists) Grab a leg...
  Lynch: Do I get to make a wish?
• Domestic Abuse: According to the flashbacks, he was extremely violent towards his wife, which culminates in him (possibly) brutally murdering her.
• Even Evil Has Standards: He's a violent lunatic, but there are a few moments that show even he has some moral scruples.
  • In Dead Men, he shows contempt when he finds out Kane is kidnapping Yoko for ransom against her father, especially given Kane got his own daughter kidnapped. Later, he looks genuinely horrified when Kane's wife is murdered in front of him and their daughter.
  • In Dog Days, he shows disgust in regards to Hsing.
• Expy: His appearance and personality strongly resembles Waingro, especially in the first game.
• Fat Bastard: In Dog Days. The fat part is more downplayed, but you can clearly see at certain points that Lynch has a beer belly and is visibly more overweight than Kane.
• Funny Schizophrenia: No. Not this time. Realistic, violent, depressing, soul-wrenching schizophrenia. In fact, it's not entirely clear if the majority of Lynch's traumas stem from his violent psychoses or his having to face the consequences of his actions once he snaps out of it.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: He's a mentally disturbed criminal who kills everyone if he gets under pressure enough. Yoko learned that in the hard way.
• Informed Ability: A compilation of "evidence" and police reports made specifically for use in a sweepstakes reveals that Lynch is apparently very good at cooking. Justified in that there's really nowhere where it would make sense for him to use his superior culinary ability.
• Leeroy Jenkins: Deconstructed. Lynch's short temper and impulsive behavior is the main reason why everything goes From Bad to Worse.
• The Load: Kane sees him as this for the first half of Dead Men. It's unclear whether he changes his mind later in the game or in the sequel, but chances are he didn't.
• The Mentally Ill: Most media of this caliber would be inclined to play Lynch's mental health issues for laughs. Not this one. Lynch's episodes are clearly portrayed as crippling and his having to deal with the aftermath only a fraction less so.
• Morality Pet: Xiu in the sequel.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Sometimes, he shows genuine remorse over what he's done during the psychotic episodes.
• Psycho for Hire: Deconstructed. Lynch is seriously mentally ill (schizophrenia with acute psychotic episodes), and a lot of his traumas stem from having to deal with his actions during a psychotic episode when he snaps out of it.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The violent and impulsive red oni to Kane's calm and intelligent blue. However, they temporarily swap places after his wife's murder; Kane is the one flipping his shit and Lynch is the one trying to keep them alive.
• Reluctant Psycho: He used to be a pretty good guy before his psychosis turned him into a raging monster, despite his attempts to mitigate it with pills.
• The Sociopath: Subverted, like Kane. While Lynch really is unstable and exhibits numerous sociopathic behaviors, a lot of it has to do with his anger issues and it's not hard to see that he's genuinely mentally ill. On top of that, he does show a capacity to be disgusted by the actions of others.
• Sunglasses at Night: During the second game. Averted in the sixth chapter.
• Talkative Loon: He often mutters to himself, and also yells random gibberish during combat.
• Through the Eyes of Madness: Anyone playing Lynch on co-op will see his hallucinations, which include police officers with pig heads, among other things.
• Unstoppable Rage: Often. He doesn't remember them afterwards.
• What the Hell, Hero?: He's often on the receiving end of this, as he messes up so many times it's not even funny.
  • Lynch himself gives one to Kane when they are kidnapping Yoko, upon learning that Kane using her for ransom against her father - which is hypocritical seeing how Kane's own daughter is being held hostage.
  Lynch: [after picking up an unconscious Yoko] You had this all planned, didn't you? You fucking psycho!
  Kane: Let's just get her out of here.
  Lynch: For Christ's sake, you just got your own daughter kidnapped.

Characters from Kane and Lynch: Dead Men

The Brothers

The crimes lords in charge of The7 that seek revenge on Kane for his (presumable) betrayal.

• Arch-Enemy: To Kane specifically. This gets solidified when Kane targets them for his Roaring Rampage of Revenge for killing his wife.
  Kane: [preparing to deal with the Younger Brother] Stay here, I'm gonna kill him myself!
• Beard of Evil: The Older Brother has a pretty big one.
• Big Bad Duumvirate: These two are more or less directly responsible all of the duo's troubles.
• Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: And how. Kane even has a thick book of people they "disowned and ruined".
• Evil Counterpart: They seem to have similar Red Oni, Blue Oni dynamics as with Kane and Lynch themselves, but are also utterly devoid of any sort of conscience or morality.
• Evil Redhead: The Younger Brother has ginger hair, and also notably unhinged.
• Eviler than Thou: Their sole purpose in the story is make Kane and Lynch look like good guys in comparison.
• Final Boss: The Younger Brother is the final enemy you have to kill before saving Jenny.
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: The Younger Brother has scarring all over his face.
• Hypocrite: The7 boasts itself as a gang with a strong sense of honor and loyalty, showing no mercy to backstabbers like Kane, but at the same time the Brothers themselves are not above betraying and selling out their own to save their skins, as exemplified with Havana.
• I Have Your Wife: They try to use Kane's family as hostages to coerce him to recover their lost goods for them.
• No Name Given: Only known as "The Brothers".
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Young Brother is Red, being the more psychotic, vindictive outta the bunch, while Older one is Blue, cold-blooded, pragmatic and driven by the code, rather than vengeance.
• The Sociopath: Unlike Kane and Lynch, this duo is thoroughly rotten to core, without any mitigating or redeeming factors whatsoever. They even fail at Villainous Valor as they simply use the concept of Honor Among Thieves while it suits them, while perfectly willing to screw over countless people if it benefits them.
• You Have Failed Me: They try to have both protagonists, alongside with Kane's family, killed for failing to recover their goods...
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: ...but at same time they would have killed Kane anyway (which they even outright state), and, given the Brothers' hypocritical and disingenuous nature, probably would have offed his family as well. Hell, Kane even has a pretty big list of people they screwed over throughout their career.

Carlos

Kane's former friend, who stayed at The7's side.

• Anti-Villain: Stayed at the Brothers' side, believing that Kane is actually guilty of betraying The7.
• Enemy Mine: After being left behind by the Brothers, he joins up with Kane to take revenge on them.
• Evil Former Friend: Played with. He doesn't directly antagonize Kane, but he's still willing to abandon him to his death. He does keep his word and lets Kane see his family and later, he teams up with him after being betrayed by the brothers.
• Honor Among Thieves: He believes that mercenaries like himself or Kane can't bend the rules, only to proven otherwise when the Brothers ditch Carlos and his entire team.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Believed that Kane is a traitor who deserved what was coming to them for violating the gang's code, only to be betrayed and left at Kane's mercy himself.
• Punch-Clock Villain: Has a rather casual approach to his job as a mercenary.
• Token Good Teammate: The only member of The7 who isn't outwardly malicious, and also eager to turn on his treacherous bosses.

Mute

A silent killer working as an executioner for The7

• Four Eyes, Zero Soul: Wears a pair of glasses during his dirty work.
• Karmic Death: Right after he shoots Kane's wife, he's gets served Extreme Mêlée Revenge by the man himself.
• No Name Given: Only mentioned as Mute.
• The Sociopath: As a speechless, stoic executioner of The7, he shows zero emotion to his intended victims and also displays a bit of subtle sadism, taking his time to psychologically torment Kane by killing his family in front of him.
• The Speechless: True to his name, he doesn't make a single sound even as he's getting beaten to death by Kane.

Jenny Marcus

Kane's daughter.

• Broken Bird: Completely messed up and miserable by the end of the game.
• Complaining About Rescues They Don't Like: And how.
• Cluster F-Bomb: Somehow manages to out-do everyone else in this regard.
• Fan Disservice: She spends the level she's in without pants. However, she's also the protagonist's estranged daughter.
• Morality Pet: To Kane.
• You Should Have Died Instead: Absolutely hates her father after her mother's death.

Rific

The first "dead man" that Kane busts out of his cell who helps him locate and rescue the others.

• The Generic Guy
• Killed Off for Real: If you choose to try and save him and Shelly.

Thapa

A greedy "dead man" that reluctantly accepts to work with Kane.

• Jerkass: The most foul-tempered out of the group.
• Jerkass Has a Point: Rightfully calls out Shelly for "being full of shit" when he fakes being Christian, and he has a good reason for being mad at Kane, for working with treacherous The7.
• Only in It for the Money: Being the mercenary he is, he doesn't want anything than to get paid.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Calls it quits after not getting his promised bounty.

Shelly

The last "dead man" that Kane enlists for help. Apparently, while on death row, he found God.

• Even Evil Has Standards: He's opposed to working with Lynch due to his murderous tendencies and the fact that he may killed his wife.
• Hypocritical Humor: He's supposedly turned to God and accepted Christianity when you find him. However, he's perfectly okay with picking up a gun and going back to mercenary work again. Thapa calls him out on this.
• Karmic Death: If you choose to save him, he makes like a truly grateful fella he is and tries to escape without you. Then he's either blown up by a stray rocket, or shot by Kane in a fit of rage.

Retomoto

A prominent Japanese businessman and crime lord.

• The Dreaded: Lynch shits himself when he and Kane kidnap Retomoto's daughter.
• Noodle Incident: He's the one who blinded Kane's eye. It's not known why, however, though it's suggested Yoko had something to do with it.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: He only has one on-screen conversation with Kane in the pagoda. Physically he appears in his tower, only to be killed instantly by the explosion.
• Yakuza

Yoko

Retomoto's daughter. She owns the nightclub The Mizuki in Japan, and is implied to have been... rather close with Kane at some point. Is knocked out and held hostage so that Retomoto will give Kane the briefcase he needs to save his family. This plan fails when Lynch, in a fit of rage, kills her.

• Daddy's Little Villain: Like her father, she's involved with the Yakuza.
• Mafia Princess: Of the Japanese Yakuza variety.
• Outlaw Couple: She was this with Kane long before the events of Dead Men.
• Too Dumb to Live: She can't be blamed for the first time she's knocked out since it was unexpected, but when she escapes she goes to the exact same room, and doesn't think to make an escape. Kane and Lynch then knocks her out in the exact same way, in the exact same place.

Vaultbreaker

A nameless vaultbreaker who helps Kane in Withdrawal. He is later killed with the driver in a car crash in Cracking Up.

• The Alcoholic: It's heavily implied he was one in an exchange between him and Kane.
  Kane:: Your hands are shaking... thought you sobered up.
  Vaultbreaker: I did. But that shit never really leaves you.
• Everyone Has Standards: He's horrified when he and Kane find that Lynch murdered all of the hostages in a fit of psychotic rage.
  Vaultbreaker: Jesus fucking Christ! He killed the hostages! How fucked is that?!
• No Name Given: Doesn't say his own name for the sake of secrecy. He also advices Lynch to do the same.
  The less we know about each other, the better.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: Only remains alive for 2 levels.

Characters from Kane and Lynch 2: Dog Days

Glazer

An English-born expatriate crime boss who Lynch works for in Shanghai.

• Dirty Coward: He betrays Kane and Lynch to win favor with Shangsai, and he tries to run away after they survive the initial ambush. After they corner him, he tries to bargain with him for his life.
• Even Evil Has Standards: While a criminal himself, even Glazer thinks Hsing is a monster, referring to him as a "sick little bugger". He admits he used to do business with him, but then states he "doesn't associate with people like that anymore", implying he grew to be disgusted with Hsing's depravity and stopped doing business with him because of it.
• Evil Brit: He's from England, and is a gang boss.
• Hate Sink: He's an utterly annoying, insensitive, racist Jerkass without any likeable qualities. He also sells both Kane and Lynch out to Shangsi to cover his own ass.
• Jerkass: Extremely petulant, childish and self-serving to the bone.
  Glazer: (To his driver) Look, I don't fucking care that your mom's got fucking head cancer!
• Politically Incorrect Villain: He refers to the Chinese as "chinks" a few times. At one point, he calls Lynch, a mentally ill person, a "bloody retard".
• Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: Get shot by Shangsi's sniper once he outlives his usefulness.

Xiu

A woman that Lynch is romantically involved with during Dog Days. She is killed early on when the main duo end up captured.

• Disposable Woman: Her main purpose seems to be dying just to make Lynch's life suck even worse.
• Damsel in Distress: For the part of the game she's actually in.
• Morality Pet: The only person that Lynch has cared about for a long time.

Hsing

A psychopathic crime boss who owns numerous sweat shops across China and is involved in a variety of illicit activities - some of which are too disturbing even for hardened criminals like Lynch and Glazer.

• Ax-Crazy: This guy is an absolute nutcase, even by Lynch's standards.
• Bald of Evil
• The Dreaded: Glazer becomes immediately anxious when he wonders if Hsing is starting a gang war with him.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Not Hsing himself, but he invokes this reaction from Lynch and Glazer, who are both ruthless crooks themselves.
• Fat Bastard: He's overweight, and he's a ruthless sadist.
• Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: What he does to Xiu.
• Sadist: He lacerates Kane and Lynch with a box cutter when he tortures them. And that's not even getting into what he does to Xiu...
• Snuff Film: Heavily implied. He's got a video camera set up and running when he's torturing Kane, Lynch, and Xiu.
• The Sociopath: What is seen and said of him, it's obvious he's a psychopath; he's a crime boss who in involved in activities that disgusts even other criminals, he's totally calm even when he's at gunpoint, he manipulates Glazer's thugs into turning on Kane and Lynch, and he's a murderous sadist who engages in torture and rape.
• Torture Technician: Shangsi tasks him with torturing Kane, Lynch and Xiu and recording the whole ordeal on camera.

Shangsi

A corrupt government official who also runs a great deal of Shanghai's criminal underworld.

• Big Bad: He's the one leading the large manhunt of the protagonists throughout the entirety of Dog Days.
• Corrupt Politician: Uses his position in government to closely command the police and the military, while also running a criminal syndicate of his own.
• Dirty Coward: When Kane and Lynch finally corner him, he tries to weasel out, offering them to work for him. It doesn't work.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Deconstructed. His daughter's accidental death at the hands of the duo causes him to start a city-wide war with them, resulting in severe collateral damage and countless innocents getting killed in the crossfire.
• Faux Affably Evil: He's very soft-spoken and diplomatic when he's finally confronted, but beneath that he's utterly ruthless, cruel and vindictive, perfectly willing to have a psycho like Hsing torture his daughter's killers, rape and brutalize an innocent woman and tape the whole ordeal on camera.
• Manipulative Bastard: He willing to pull a lot of strings to get a shot at the protagonists, involving gangs, police, spec-ops, military, even using Glazer to lure them to the ambush point.
• They Look Just Like Everyone Else!: This powerful crime lord looks an unassuming old man.
• We Can Rule Together: When Kane and Lynch confront him in his office, he tries to offer them a deal in an attempt to save his own life. Lynch quickly shuts him down with a bullet.

The Cameraman

A cameraman that follows Kane and Lynch around Shanghai, who may or may not exist.

• Made of Iron: His camera can resists hundreds of bullets, explosions, debris and it never breaks.
• Not Afraid to Die: Very likely so, considering he's following two armed individuals picking a fight against all of Shanghai, for seemingly no reason at all.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: At the end of the game, he's simply left behind by Kane and Lynch after they board a plane to escape from Shanghai via hijacking a civilian aircraft. The last thing we see from him is him violently shaking the camera up and down and then, the credits roll as he is possibly taken into custody by Shanghai Public Security police.

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