Manhunt / Characters

This is a list of characters from Manhunt and Manhunt 2. Spoilers ahead!

open/close all folders

Manhunt

Major Characters

James Earl Cash

Voiced by: Stephen Wilfong

The unwilling protagonist of the game and a death row convict, whose execution is faked by Lionel Starkweather and is subsequently set loose in Carcer City to be the "star" of a snuff movie. Starkweather attempts to have him killed in his last "scene", but Cash escapes the assault, vowing to get revenge. After slaughtering his way through the director's mansion, killing all of the guards and Piggsy, Cash finally kills Starkweather. It is unknown what happens to Cash after the events of the game, though the "J.E.C. & Sons Construction" sign you can spot in Manhunt 2 hints that he may have opened the company after escaping Carcer City.

All for Nothing: His efforts to rescue his family members end up for naught when Starkweather has the Innocentz capture and execute them not long afterwards.
Ambiguously Trained: One of the Wardogs suspects him of being a "Sneaky Pete" (Military Jargon for somebody whose a member of the Navy SEAL, the US Army Rangers, or the Green Berets), and as shown in From Camouflage to Criminal, this might hold some truth, given that he displays the skills one would expect from a member of those 3 groups.
Animal Motif: Downplayed, Cash is compared to a dog by Starkweather and some of the gangs. The Skinz derogatorily refer to him as a mongrel (a racist term for someone of mixed ancestry), call him a puppy, and Starkweather demands Ramirez to bring Cash "To heel" (a common command for dogs so they would follow their master). One of Wardogs says that he's going to snap Cash's neck "Like a puppy dog's leg".
Anti-Hero: Of the Nominal Hero variety. He's a death row convict who is forced to participate in a series of snuff films where he has to defend himself from gangs of hunters. Unlike Cash, the hunters have chosen to participate in snuff movies for nothing more than for fun and profit. They will kill Cash on sight with whatever they have at their disposal and the Director forces Cash to do the same by pitting them against each other for the movies. The corrupt police officers who hunt Cash would rather kill him than arrest him and the SWAT team are operating under the belief that Cash is a cop-killing maniac. Neither the cops nor the SWAT team are part of the snuff film ring but both have chosen to shoot first and ask questions later, which forces Cash to kill again to defend himself. Unlike these gangs, Cash is shown with some redemptive streaks as he does try to save his family from the snuff film operation and he guides an innocent journalist to safety, even after she witnesses him killing several policemen.
Asshole Victim: Enforced. Cash is on death row until Starkweather bribes the authorities into drugging him instead, so Cash will participate in the hunt. The public already believes Cash is dead and the Carcer City Police are on Starkweather's payroll. If Cash is found dead, people will be indifferent to him because he is just another death in the papers; if he escapes, there is absolutely no way he'd be able to plead his innocence.
Ax-Crazy: If you make him do the more brutal executions he comes off as this. Bonus points if the player actually uses the axe to kill hunters in "Drunk Driving".
Bald of Evil: He is a death row convict and knows how to kill people efficiently. Even more so if the player makes him do more brutal executions, as opposed to the quick ones.
Big "NO!": Should Cash begin falling to his death, he’ll exclaim this. This can only be done in Deliverance after you kill Piggsy by having him plummet to his doom, after which you’re free to follow him down if you’re curious.
Chainsaw Good: He uses a chainsaw to kill Piggsy and Lionel Starkweather at the end of the game. He can also use one in the bonus level "Time 2 Die".
Combat Pragmatist: Incredibly efficient with guns and all manner of improvised weaponry, but always prefers stealthy executions over head-on "fair" fights until points where the game literally doesn't give him (or you) a choice.
Death Faked for You: Cash is sentenced to die via lethal injection but Starkweather rearranges it so Cash is instead sedated and forced to participate in his Snuff Film instead.
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Starkweather claims he and his family weren't close at all, and that they weren't even at his execution, but he still tries to save them and gets really angry when Starkweather kills them anyway.
Eye Scream: The Gruesome execution for either the glass shard or the knife has Cash stabbing hunters In the Back, then gouging out both their eyes.
Flat Character: All the player knows about Cash is that he's a death row inmate who is, seemingly, estranged from his family because of his crime.
Forced into Evil: Not that he shows much resistance in joining the film industry since it means that he escapes the death penalty, and Starkweather does promise that he'll walk free if he just follows the script for long enough. That is until Starkweather makes it personal by abducting Cash's family and then recording their execution for Cash to watch.
From Camouflage to Criminal: Possibly. Dialogue spoken by members of the Wardogs has them mentioning rumors that Cash is a "Sneaky Pete", which is military jargon for a special operator such as a Navy SEAL, an Army Ranger or a Green Beret. Given Cash's survival instincts and proficiency with various weapons as well as his ability to maintain composure throughout the nightmarish situations he winds up in, it's quite plausible.
Half-Breed Discrimination: Subverted, the Skinz believe he is biracial, and try to kill him for that reason alone. However, Cash comes from a Caucasian family, suggesting this is something Starkweather or Ramirez told them to rile them up and to give them another reason to participate in the hunt.
Improbable Weapon User: He's encouraged to use whatever he can find as a weapon to execute his foes.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He may not say much, but from what little he does say, he's a bit of an asshole, threatening the Tramp and calling his family "idiots" and what have you. With that in mind, he appears to actually at least care about his family enough to wish them well when he frees them, and is noticeably devastated when he sees the videotape of them being slaughtered by the Baby Faces.
Mysterious Past:
- Cash's past is never revealed to the audience, all that is confirmed about him is that he's a remorseless death row inmate who is estranged from his family. His emotional numbness, stealth skills, and proficiency with firearms indicate that he may have had a history with the military. It's never revealed what crime he committed but it is severe enough to warrant the death penalty... unless Starkweather also rigged Cash's trial.
- According to his page on the Manhunt wiki, he was wanted by the San Andreas Police Department sometime before 1992, which caused him to abandon his family. He managed to evade the law for a full decade before being caught in Carcer City in 2000, with the events of the game taking place in 2003.
Named After Somebody Famous: Named after James Earl Ray, the man who assassinated Martin Luther King Jr..
Noble Demon: He's a death row convict and he's desensitised to murder as he gruesomely kills the hunters with no outward reaction; but he only kills people if he needs to, he saves his family, and he protects a Journalist when she revealed that she had evidence of Starkweather's wrongdoings.
Offstage Villainy: Some dialogue spoken by members of the Hoods suggest Cash is on death row for murder. If it was only murder that got him the death penalty, it may indicate that he was involved with organized crime, likely as an enforcer or a hitman.
Off with His Head!: Cash can behead enemies with the cleaver, machete, chainsaw, shotguns, sniper rifles, and partially with the baseball bat.
One-Man Army: Cash kills easily over a hundred people during the events of Manhunt, be it with plastic bags, knives, bats, pistols or rifles.
Pet the Dog: We're not given a whole lot of reasons to like Cash, but (trying) to save his family has to count for something. And later on he does help the journalist reach her apartment safely and urges her to leave the city, even after she witnesses him murder several police officers.
The Quiet One: He only talks in five levels, and has very little dialogue in all but one: An "Oh, shit!" when he first faces the Cerberus mercenaries at the end of "Road to Ruin", when he tells his various family members to escape in "Strapped for Cash", when he tells the Tramp to either stay put or follow him in "Drunk Driving", during the cutscene at the end of "Divided They Fall", and finally directs most of his dialogue, the same as with the Tramp and in cutscenes, at the journalist in "Press Report". Justified with the situation he's in, where he needs to stay quiet and talking to himself could get Cash discovered by the hunters.
Revenge Before Reason: He goes through great lengths, including fighting a lot of gung-ho corrupt cops, to make sure the journalist gets the evidence she needs to put Starkweather into jail, but declines her offer to comes with her. He tells the Journalist that she is his "backup" in case he dies, since he ultimately decides that he wants to kill Starkweather on his own. Though this is understandable, as Starkweather killed his whole family, tried to kill him, and forces him to fight for his life even before that, causing him to slaughter dozens of people. Since he's officially dead to the rest of the world, Cash has nothing else left to lose.
Serial-Killer Killer: By the end of the game, he has to count as this, what with the hundreds of serial murdering sickos he's personally butchered at Starkweather's behest and on his way to get Starkweather.
Shout-Out: He is named after the real life criminal James Earl Ray.
Sociopathic Hero: Sort of. He is completely emotionless as he hacks, bludgeons, and blasts the hunters, is perfectly okay with threatening the reporter and the tramp, and based on randomized dialogue when he's freeing his family members, is shown to be rude to them. But he actually gets upset when he watches Starkweather's tape of the Innocentz murdering his surviving family members.
The Stoic: He shows little emotion throughout the game, except when his family is killed and when he first encounters Piggsy. When he first encounters the Cerberus mercenaries he also seems surprised and/or frightened.
Supporting Protagonist: While he is the player character, the journalist is ultimately the one who exposes the snuff film ring and brings Starkweather to justice by revealing his identity to Cash.
Nominal Hero: Cash is amoral and shows neither remorse nor qualms about gruesomely killing people for Starkweather's film. The only reason he turns against Starkweather is that the latter ordered the deaths of Cash's family and then ordered the Smileys to kill him in "Kill the Rabbit" by setting a trap for him.
Unstoppable Rage: When his parents and siblings are killed. Crosses with Roaring Rampage of Revenge, as what started as being in a sick game for The Director becomes a Punisher-like motive for Cash, especially for the players.
Villain Protagonist: Cash is a death row convict, and given how cold and emotionless he is with his brutal executions, he is most certainly guilty of whatever got him the death penalty.

The Journalist

Voiced by: Kate Miller

A female reporter who helps Cash in the later stages of the game.

Escort Mission: ‘Press Coverage’ has you escort her down the street to her apartment, and unlike the Tramp, she will run to your side if you stray too far from her, no matter how terrible of a idea it may seem. Thankfully it’s a short walk to her apartment, only slowed down because of the police presence.
Go Mad from the Revelation: Her mind is unable to cope with the sheer depravity of Starkweather's sick "games".
Glory Seeker: Her dialogue implies that she is interested in exposing Starweather, more to make a name for herself, and less to do the right thing.
James: You can bring him down, this Starkweather?
The Journalist: Absoluty- this gonna make my career.
Intrepid Reporter: She has been investigating Lionel Starkweather for quite some time.
Kindhearted Cat Lover: Judging by the pictures in her apartment, she is one.
No Name Given: Although her name begins with "Rob".
Sanity Slippage: After Manhunt, it's revealed that events of the first game have caused her to develop extreme mental paranoia.

Main Antagonists

Lionel Starkweather

Voiced by: Brian Cox

The Big Bad and leader of a snuff film ring, who directs the entire manhunt for Cash.

Ain't Too Proud to Beg: Once Cash has him cornered, he tries to offer to make a sequel with him. Seeing how this is the man who ordered his entire family slaughtered, Cash doesn't listen.
Asshole Victim: After the nightmare he put him through, you can't say Starkweather didn't deserve the gruesome death that Cash gave him.
Beard of Evil: Has a scraggly beard.
Big Bad: He's the one directing Cash through his Snuff film and responsible for the slaughter that follows, though he doesn't become Cash's enemy until halfway through the game when his intentions to have Cash killed are revealed.
Bond Villain Stupidity: Even after Cash goes rogue and is out for his blood, Starkweather still orders his men to take him alive, even having them kill a SWAT team when they try to execute Cash.
Carpet of Virility: Type 2.
Characterization Marches On: Early development had Starkweather characterized as more vocal and bitter towards Hollywood and the film industry. This was later scrapped and any resentment he had is either "resolved" or still festering-away inside, albeit silently.
Chronic Backstabbing Disorder:
- It's implied several times that the gangs in the game are unaware of the full plot of the "movie" they're starring in. All they know is that they have to hunt and brutally kill Cash with whatever they have at their disposal. What they don't know is that Cash is encouraged to do the same in order to defend himself and he has the Director assisting him.
- After lying to Cash multiple times about freeing him, he has Cash's family executed and then tries to have Cash killed in an ambush.
Corrupted Character Copy: He heavily resembles Steve Scott, both in appearence and behavior, but unlike Scott he's also a deranged, cruel Snuff Film maker.
Dirty Coward: After trying to have Cash killed and putting him through all kinds of hell, Starkweather is reduced to hiding away in his mansion and begging for life when he's cornered and out of ammo.
Even Evil Has Standards: Zig-Zagged, he appears to have a dislike for the Skinz, a white nationalist gang known for killing people of color. However, it's never made clear if he's genuine in his hatred for them or if he's just goading Cash into killing them with more brutal methods and trying to act sympathetic. In Born Again, he refers to all the gangs as "scum", Ramirez (a Black Latin American soldier) is his right-hand man, and he only demands Cash to kill them because he finds them boring, not because he disapproves of their racism.
Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: After killing Cash's family, Starkweather insists that Cash should not miss them because they did not attend his execution, and that he'd make a better family for Cash instead. He also believes that Cash should owe him because he saved from the electric chair and made him a celebrity in the snuff industry.
Evil Is Petty: Starkweather had several of his past cinema associates gruesomely murdered in his snuff films just because he was resentful of his past career as a respected movie director going downhill.
Expy: In a file photo of him, he looks like Orson Welles.
Fat Bastard: An overweight, sleazy, sexually depraved psychopath who is directing Cash through his "scenes".
Faux Affably Evil: Shifts between this and jerkassery cutscene-wise, speaking to Cash in a friendly manner and acts as if they were buddies, though his tone is usually mocking. He is this gameplay-wise when Cash performs up to his "standards", complimenting him on his kills and reacting with glee at the more brutal executions.
"Get Back Here!" Boss: During his "boss fight", he runs and hides behind pillars while Cash gives chase, while shooting wildly with his pistol.
Glass Cannon: Starkweather is not a very tough man to eviscerate in his boss fight, but his revolver can hurt badly if you’re not careful to close the distance before charging.
Hate Sink: Given how he is the leader of a snuff film ring, this isn't really surprising. Becomes even clearer when he outrights kills Cash's family even after Cash went through so much effort to save them.
Hates Everyone Equally: Starkweather insults everyone in his movie, using all kinds of slurs to increase the anger and violence. He also uses sexist slurs by comparing Cash to a "teenage girl" who wants to be chased by men.
In Love with Your Carnage: Gets very excited when Cash kills the hunters in more brutal ways, and is heavily implied to actually masturbate to them.
Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Although he's obviously lying, Starkweather claims that the Wardogs kidnapped Cash's family against his orders, and orders Cash to rescue his family. He had Cash rescue his family, and claimed to be very proud of his heroism. Not long after, he has the Innocentz recapture them and execute them on tape, only this time overtly on his orders.
Kick the Dog:
- Terrible as a person that he is, Cash did not deserve to watch his entire family (or at least what is left of them at that point) be murdered on Starkweather's orders. Especially considering that Cash is shown to actually care about them, at least to an extent.
- He has Piggsy locked in the attic of his mansion and has him fed human remains as a means of corpse disposal. Piggsy is completely nude, wearing the decaying head of a pig as a mask, and forced to defecate on the floor. According to cut content, there was an incident between Piggsy and The Scarecrow that led to a strong animosity between the two. However, the main reason in the game is that Piggsy fell out of favour with Starkweather and is locked up until the latter could find a use for him.
Lack of Empathy: If he had even a tiny bit of it, he wouldn't go out making snuff films and having people tortured.
Laughably Evil: Though his actions are not Played for Laughs, some of his lines can be somewhat... funny.
Starkweather: (Excited) Oh my god, I've had an accident. I'm serious man, you brought me off.
Leave No Survivors: Should you forfeit stealth in favor of open combat:
"That’s it. To hell with hiding. SLAUGHTER EVERYTHING THAT MOVES!"
- He also has rather low opinions of certain gangs, particularly the Skinz and Smileys, and will gladly advocate for their deaths.
(On the Skinz) “Dumbass supremacist bastards. Always blaming others for their inadequacies. Butcher them Cash! Cut ‘em up, beat ‘em down, and choke the fuckin’ life out of them!”
(On the Smileys) “Just keep capping these crazies, they come out of the woodwork like termites!”/“That’s it Cash! Don’t let a single one of these nutjobs back onto the streets!”
- In general, Starkweather will giddily motivate you to gun down more targets in the more action oriented levels should you start chaining a lot of kills together.
Mad Artist: Fancies himself as a great director and artist, and went nuts when his movies started to flop, eventually resorting to filming snuff films, still seeming to believe he is a great director in his insanity.
Manipulative Bastard: After drugging Cash and dropping him into his "scenes", he takes this one step further by kidnapping Cash's family, and holding them hostage. Then he has them all killed, just to spite Cash.
Mission Control: Sometimes he actually goes through the effort to give Cash some advice, but most of the time he really just urges him to murder people creatively and throws childish tantrums whenever Cash takes too long.
- Mission Control Is Off Its Meds: Perform poorly by taking too long, standing idle or getting spotted and he’ll start insulting you, threatening to blow your cover and harshly making fun of you for screwing up.
Named After Someone Famous: Named after Charles Starkweather, a spree killer who killed eleven people in the states of Nebraska and Wyoming between December 1957-January 1958.
Nightmare Fetishist: He gets sexual gratification from watching people getting killed and tortured in brutal ways.
Non-Action Big Bad: While he does arm himself with a pistol, he doesn't do much as you kill him with a chainsaw in the final fight.
Sadist: He literally gets a hard-on from watching people suffering and dying.
Sinister Shades: His character model has a pair of sunglasses.
The Sociopath: Starkweather is a textbook example of psychopathy. He feels no empathy for anyone, is completely incapable of feeling guilt or shame, and feigns trustworthiness to manipulate others into doing his bidding.
There Is No Kill Like Overkill: He is more enthusiastic the more brutal Cash's kills are. In the end, Cash kills him by using a chainsaw to split his belly open horizontally, causing his guts to spill out of his stomach. Cash then uses the chainsaw to pulp Starkweather's head, before jamming it into what's left of Starkweather's corpse.
This Loser Is You: He's a creepy weirdo sitting in a darkened room in front of a computer screen, watching the player character through a camera and urging him to commit unspeakable acts of violence for no better reason than his own sick amusement. Three guesses as to who he's meant to represent.
Voice with an Internet Connection: He occasionally gives Cash advice to navigate through Carcer City.

Piggsy

Voiced by: Hunter Platin

An insane man who is kept chained in Starkweather's mansion.

Accidental Hero: It's because of Piggsy's rampage that Cash was able to escape from being executed by the Cerberus leader.
Acrofatic: For all his weight, he has absolutely no issues chasing you down through the decrepit attic while carrying that chainsaw.
Alas, Poor Villain: He's been locked in the attic for God knows how long and now he's been left a mentally broken, cannibalistic maniac. Killing him is more merciful than leaving him to rot in the attic again.
Allegorical Character: Piggsy is designed to embody human savagery and is often seen as a parallel and critique of players who enjoy violence in video games and believe their brutal actions in-game are OK because it's just a video game with no real-life consequences. Piggsy believes his actions are all part of a game and he immediately tries to quit the game by retreating back to the attic when Cash is beginning to get the upper hand, much like how a player would throw the game as soon as they are on the losing side. In the game, Cash is guided by the director and instructed to kill the hunters in increasingly violent ways in order to get high scores on the level. Piggsy, who lacks the director's help, simply kills the Cerberus guards for the fun of it and believes this is all part of a game. Piggsy's theme, Deliverance, plays when Cash wields the chainsaw to kill the remaining Cerberus guards and execute Starkweather, implying that the player is no different from Piggsy when they enjoy violence. Pigs are often seen as the representation of gluttony, the sin of over-indulgence and over-consumption, which Piggsy fulfills by over-indulging in violence and over-consuming corpses.
Alone with the Psycho: He is not affiliated with any of the previous gangs and was actually attacking the Cerberus guards during his own rampage. He and Cash wind up alone together on the floor below Starkweather and the two end up hunting each other in the mansion.
An Arm and a Leg: When the floor gives out from under Piggsy, he desperately clings to the edge. Cash uses Piggsy's own chainsaw to slice his hands off, causing Piggsy to plummet to his doom.
And I Must Scream: He was Cash's predecessor prior to the events of the game until he was driven insane by the constant murder and violence. After losing his sanity, Piggsy was stripped naked, forced to wear a severed pig head and locked up in Starkweather's attic until he died, with his only source of food being human corpses provided by Starkweather's films. Starkweather most likely kept him in case he was needed for another snuff film. Once he escapes, Starkweather demands his and Cash's execution.
Animal Motif: Invoked, Piggsy was forced to wear the severed head of a pig and stripped naked as a morbid form of humiliation and punishment for something he did in the past. Piggsy has been in the attic for so long that he now believes he's a pig and his obesity makes an apt physical comparison to a pig.
Animal Theme Naming: A morbidly obese cannibal is named Piggsy.
Ax-Crazy: He's a psychopathic chainsaw-using killer and cannibal who believes himself to be a pig, and he's only interested in killing and dismembering anyone he locks eyes with.
Beast in the Maze: Once Piggsy escapes his restraints and slaughters the Cereberus guards, he hunts Cash in Starkweather's home and the only way to reach Starkweather is to kill Piggsy in order to get his chainsaw.
Beast Man: Subverted, Piggsy is human and is suffering from both schizophrenia and clinical lycanthropy. He believes he's a pig and he was forced to eat corpses as a source of food.
Body Horror: Supposed years of captivity have turned Piggsy into a disgusting overweight cretin of a human being covered in sores and infected wounds. It becomes difficult to ascertain where the man ends and the pig begins.
Breakout Character: Out of all the characters in Manhunt, Piggsy became a fan favorite among players and the developers at Rockstar. Their future games like GTA 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2 feature Piggsy's mask as a cosmetic item and he's the only character from the original game to receive any sort of merchandise in the form of a limited-release statue.
The Brute: An almost mindless shell of a man that's perfectly capable of killing dozens of armed guards by himself. He's just about the last thing Cash has to deal with before he reaches Starkweather.
Chainsaw Good: It's his weapon of choice and the manual reveals that he purposefully leaves the blades dull so he can prolong the victim's pain.
The signature weapon of Piggsy, this tool will cut through human limbs as if it were paper-mâché. Piggsy purposefully leaves the blades dull so that maximum pain and damage will be incurred.
Climax Boss: Piggsy is the only opponent in the game treated like a genuine boss as he and Cash hunt each other in Starkweather's estate, and he's also the only target who requires multiple attacks to take down. By the time Cash has dealt with him, all that's standing between him and Starkweather is a handful of Cerberus Mooks, with Starkweather himself being incredibly easy to off provided you're not sloppy.
Deconstructed Character Archetype: Of the Player Character. Piggsy is used to parallel the audience that enjoys violence in video games and uses video games as an outlet for their darkest urges under the excuse that it's just a game with no real-life implications or repercussions. In the game, Cash is guided by the director and instructed to kill the hunters in increasingly violent ways in order to get high scores on the level. Piggsy, who lacks the director's help, simply kills the Cerberus guards for the fun of it and believes this is all part of a game. As soon as Cash starts to get the upper hand, Piggsy retreats to the attic and says that he doesn't want to play anymore, much like how a player would throw the game as soon as they are on the losing side.
Diabolus ex Nihilo: There's no in-game lore about him, it's only theorized that he was Cash's predecessor who was imprisoned in Starkweather's attic for losing his sanity. He's not affiliated with any of the previous gangs either and was on his own rampage when he crossed paths with Cash.
Disney Villain Death: Falls to his doom after he gets his hands cut off, and you get to watch him hit the ground. Subverted since a level "Hard As Nails" features Piggsy's body gored from the fall. Although you can't reach the area it is in, unless you use a hack.
The Dreaded: The Cerberus mercenaries are apparently terrified of him. Starkweather keeps him chained up in his attic. Once he escapes, Starkweather wants him dead and Cerebus shows a notable caution about the situation, stating "we can't be safe with these two bastards running around".
Expy: Of Leatherface from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre; both are mentally unstable, overweight, chainsaw welding psychopaths who wear masks made out of skin and serve as Dumb Muscle to a much more intelligent (but much less psychically threatening) boss. His weapon of choice and mask might also be a reference to Motel Hell.
Evil Smells Bad: According to the Cerberus who have to feed him, probably not helped along by the rotting pig head, him not being able to bathe, and being forced to urinate and defecate on the floor. It's so bad that the Cerberus guards can smell it through the gas mask.
AW, FUCK! This guy fucking STINKS!
Fat Bastard: Very fat, highly sadistic, incredibly dangerous.
Fed to Pigs: Invoked by his pig motif, any "actors" who didn't make it in Starkweather's films are fed to Piggsy as a means of corpse disposal.
Fluffy the Terrible: A hulking, psychotic madman strong enough to carry around a chainsaw without being hindered by it at all and is so dangerous that Starkweather has him locked up just so he won't cause any trouble for him and his business, given the silly name of "Piggsy".
Foil: He is this to Cash, who kills out of self-preservation and to avenge his family. Whereas, Piggsy has been performing in Starkweather's films for so long that he lost his humanity and sanity. Now killing for the fun of it and assuming that it's all part of a game.
Foreshadowing: Piggsy's presence in the game was foreshadowed in the promotional material and the main menu before he's officially introduced to the game.
Force Feeding: Starkweather locked Piggsy in his attic and fed him corpses in order to get rid of the bodies from his films. Over time, Piggsy developed a taste for it.
Full-Frontal Assault: That pig mask is the only thing he's wearing at this point and his penis is in full view.
Gag Penis: To the player's horror, Piggsy's penis almost reaches to his knees and it is full view whenever he faces Cash.
Half-Human Hybrid: Invoked, he's an obese cannibal who wears a decaying pig head as a mask to invoke the image of a humanoid pig.
Handwraps of Awesome: He wears bandages/handwraps around his arms.
Hoist by His Own Petard: Cash kills him using his own chainsaw.
Hulk Speak: The few times he speaks between the squeals are like this.
I'm a Humanitarian: He was a cannibal but it isn't clear how long as he's been working with Starkweather. For a long time, he was force-fed human remains as a means of corpse disposal. It's not clear if he was a cannibal while he was performing in the snuff films or he became a cannibal out of necessity since he had nothing else to eat in Starkweather's mansion.
Implacable Man: The only way to escape Piggsy is to hide from him, he's faster than he looks and will catch up to Cash when in pursuit.
Jiggle Physics: You'd think with his enormous size, it'd be his belly that jiggles. Instead, it's his swaying penis...
Leave No Survivors: He escaped the attic when Cash arrived and went on his own rampage as revenge against his former employer and tormenters.
Lightning Bruiser: Don't let his sheer girth fool you, he's only just barely slower than Cash when he's sprinting, and his chainsaw can cut Cash down in seconds if he gets cornered.
Lone Wolf Boss: He conveniently escaped from the attic once Cash arrived at the mansion and only attacks him once they are trapped in the same location together. Piggsy is more focused on killing the soldiers he came across until he found Cash in the elevator. Once Piggsy escaped, both Cerebus and Starkweather wanted to kill him and Cash.
Made of Iron: He gets stabbed in the back three times and is still kicking.
Mad Man In The Attic: For whatever reason, Starkweather has this thing chained up on the floor below his office.
Malevolent Masked Man: He wears the rotting flesh of a pig head as a mask, signifying his insanity and animalistic mind.
Mechanically Unusual Fighter: Downplayed, but to defeat Piggsy, you have to avoid him while trying to find three weapons, two glass shards and a wooden spike, and then perform multiple executions on him with them. This is something unique to the duology as a whole, as most bosses are a "Get Back Here!" Boss who die in one execution.
Mysterious Past: We are never told anything about who he was or what kind of person he was before he became one of Starkweather's "stars". It's also never revealed what Piggsy did exactly to warrant stripping him naked and locking him in the attic.
Mythical Motifs: Piggsy appears to be based on the Minotaur from Greek mythology. Both are hybrids of a mammal and a man (the minotaur is a half man, half bull. Piggsy is a man who wears the head of a pig and is convinced that he is one). Both were under the employment of a tyrant (King Minos for the minotaur, and while Starkweather isn't a member of the royal family, he was an esteemed director until his fall from grace and descent into insanity), and both are confronted in a dark maze.
Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Arguably, he unintentionally saved Cash from being executed by the Cerberus by ambushing them in the garage, terrifying the others into scattering and giving Cash time to hide from them.
The Nose Knows: He can sniff Cash out if he stays in the shadows for too long.
One-Man Army: He's been on a rampage of his own and Cash can find the dismembered remains of the soldiers while heading to Starkweather's mansion.
Outside-Context Problem: As a former snuff film star, Piggsy was imprisoned in Starkweather's attic until he could find a use for him in a future project. Nobody expected Piggsy to escape, grab a chainsaw, and start hunting his tormentors before going after Starkweather. Even Cash, who had faced several gangs and even a private militia, was forced to alter his tactics and rely on outsmarting Piggsy rather than catching him off-guard.
Pig Man: Not a real one, but he wears the flesh of a pig head over his own.
Puzzle Boss: Killing him involves backstabbing him several times and then tricking him into falling into a hole.
Psychopathic Man Child: He's described as a mentally broken down man who has been brought down to the state of an animal/child-like psyche. He speaks with simple dialogue and his behavior is akin to a child throwing a temper tantrum.
Serial Killer: The manual and other background material states that Piggsy was a frequent "star" of Starkweather's Snuff Films. For instance, one film saw Starkweather unleash Piggsy into a park, where he quickly began slaughtering anyone he could find.
Small Role, Big Impact: He doesn't make an official appearance until the finale but he's been unwittingly helpful to Cash. He forces Cerberus to scatter when they arrested Cash and it's Piggsy's chainsaw that helps Cash execute Starkweather.
Stock Slasher: Seemingly invoked through the snuff film franchise, Piggsy wears the severed head of a pig as a unique mask and speaks in a brief, disorganized way under the belief that he's an actual pig. Piggsy wields a chainsaw as his main weapon and he's one of the deadliest opponents Cash has faced so far, as he's extremely fast, can withstand several executions (with wooden spikes and glass), and can kill Cash very quickly.
To Serve Man: He was fed human remains by Cerberus under the commands of Lionel Starkweather.
Villainous Glutton: He's been fed human remains by Cerberus and he's been dismembering them with a chainsaw once he escaped.
You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Subverted, he was Cash's predecessor until he was driven insane by the violence and brutal killings. Since Piggsy is too big a liability to simply release and too valuable an actor to simply kill off, Starkweather callously had him stripped naked, chained him up in his attic and forced him to wear a pig mask while eating the remains of his dead "co-stars" as a means of corpse disposal. When Piggsy breaks free, he starts hunting his captors while Starkweather demands his and Cash's execution.
You No Take Candle: His dialogue is simplified and speaks in third-person.

Cerberus Leader

Voiced by: Brian Maillard

The leader of Starkweather's Cerberus mercenaries.

Co-Dragons: With Ramirez. While the Leader is in charge of Starkweather's own personal mercenary unit and drags Cash from one set to the next, Ramirez rallies the various hunter gangs for Starkweather and is the first one Starkweather tells to catch Cash after the latter escapes the "scene" supposed to kill him.
Decapitation Presentation: He tells his subordinates that he wants Cash's head on a spike.
The Dragon: He becomes Starkweather's sole right hand man for the final sections of the game after Cash offs Ramirez.
Flunky Boss: Always escorted by his fellow troops. It is possible to kill him first, but Cash will still need to kill the Leader's escorts to get the needed key.
Mook Lieutenant: He's the leader of the Cerberus, distinguished by his unique helmet and mask.
No Name Given: Nobody states his name, and he's only listed as "The Cerberus Leader" in the credits.
Psycho for Hire: A former NSA agent hired by Starkweather, and doesn't seem to have a problem with all the depraved murdering at all.
Rank Scales with Asskicking: Is noticeably tougher than the other Cerberus mercenaries.
Screw This, I'm Outta Here: He planned to do this after dealing with both Cash and the run-amok Pigsy, saying Starkweather can "clean up his own mess" this time. Cash kills him before he has a chance to run.
Static Stun Gun: Uses a taser on Cash at the end of "Trained to Kill".

Ramirez

Voiced by: Chris McKinney

The leader of the Wardogs. He is also seen giving orders to the Skinz and the Innocentz, seeming like Starkweather's primary go-to guy for rallying the gangs up in preparation for the film shoot.

Co-Dragons: With the Cerberus Leader. While Ramirez rallies the various hunter gangs for Starkweather and is the first one Starkweather tells to catch Cash after the latter escapes the "scene" supposed to kill him, the Cerberus Leader is in charge of Starkweather's own personal mercenary unit and drags Cash from one set to the next.
Cowardly Boss: Runs away and calls for reinforcements when Cash manages to kill the Wardogs guarding him.
Disc-One Final Boss: Killing Ramirez marks a pivotal point in the game's plot, where Cash finally breaks free of Starkweather's control and begins a "manhunt" of his own.
General Ripper: It is unknown if he used to be in the military, but his behavior towards the various gangs makes him appear as this.
Handicapped Badass: He's blind in one eye and one of Cash's most dangerous opponents.
Hunting the Most Dangerous Game: After beating up and disarming Cash, he has the Wardogs hunt him for sport, either out of personal sadism or on Starkweather's orders. This backfires when Cash turns the tables and wipes out Ramirez with the rest of the Wardogs.
Named After Someone Famous: Named after Richard Ramirez, a serial killer known as "the Night Stalker" who was convicted for thirteen counts of murder, five attempted murders, eleven sexual assaults, and fourteen burglaries.
Neck Lift: Besides doing this to a Skinz hunter before snapping his neck, he also grabs Cash by the throat when he and the other Wardogs ambush him, complete with banging Cash against a fence while throttling him.
Neck Snap: In his first scene, he establishes dominance over The Skinz by single-handedly breaking the neck of one of their members.
No-Sell: The only enemy in the game that cannot be executed, and he'll throw Cash off of him if you try to.
No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Inflicts one on Cash at the beginning of "Divided We Fall", though it should be noted that he caught him by surprise.
Phony Veteran: Implied, he's the leader of the Wardogs, a military-themed gang. However, it's said that the gang has very little, to no real soldiers in their gang and it's merely their theme. In the game, Ramirez does present himself as a general to the other gangs but he lacks the discipline and attitude of a real soldier.
Rank Scales with Asskicking: He can take way more bullets than his fellow Wardogs and beats the shit out of Cash at the beginning of "Divided They Fall".
Scary Black Man: He even was one of Starkweather's "stars" at one point.
Sociopathic Soldier: Ramirez is said to be an ex-soldier and he's shown to be the leader of The Wardogs, a military-themed gang. However, the legitimacy as a soldier does come into question when Starkweather implies that The Wardogs aren't actually soldiers and it may just be their gang theme. With that in mind, Ramirez is either the only real soldier in the gang who's training the rest, or he's a fake soldier like the rest of the gang. His scarlet beret shows that he served as a combat controller ^note during his service.

Gary Schaffer

Voiced by: (uncredited)

The chief of the Carcer City Police Department, highly corrupt and in Starkweather's pocket.

Dirty Cop: Starkweather bribes Schaffer to cover up his crimes, and to give him access to various areas in Carcer City to film his various... projects.
The Evil Genius: In a sense. He is competent enough to cover up Starkweather's projects and even give him access to quite a few sections of Carcer City. His involvement with Starkweather would have likely never been known if Cash hadn't helped the Journalist get the evidence she needed.
The Ghost: He only appears in one scene, as the voice Starkweather talks to on the phone in the beginning of "Press Report". Naturally this also means he is the only antagonist Cash never fights.
Karma Houdini: On a radio segment from Grand Theft Auto III it's revealed that all criminal charges against him were dropped, still allowing him to retain his title of police chief. It's likely that Mr. Nasty or another top player in the snuff-film ring managed to "take care" of anyone who was willing to testify.
- Though, considering GTA III takes place in 2001, and Manhunt takes place in 2003, it's possible this was an earlier trial, and any witnesses were made 'stars' in Starkweather's films. With Starkweather and his snuff film ring gone, Schaffer may actually be sentenced.
Named After Someone Famous: Named after Gerard John Schaefer Jr., a convicted ex-Deputy Sheriff and suspected serial killer.
Offscreen Karma: Cash never even meets him, but at the end of the game his involvement with Starkweather's crimes and his corruption are mentioned in the news, pleading "not guilty".

White Rabbit

Voiced by: Renaud Sebbane

One of Starkweather's "stars", appearing in the level "Kill The Rabbit". His job is to give Cash a rabbit to follow through the Darkwoods Penitentiary cellblocks and then trick him into walking into an ambush meant to kill him.

Acrofatic: He's a portly man whose role in the film is to outrun Cash and lure him into death traps.
Alice Allusion: He's based on the White Rabbit from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Starkweather calls Cash his "Big ugly Alice."
Bright Is Not Good: He wears a pink and white rabbit costume and is part of Starkweather's snuff film industry.
The Chessmaster: His role is to lure Cash into various deathtraps and utilize the environment to gain the upper hand.
Cowardly Boss: Runs away into a tower and hides behind several Cerberus mercenaries when it's clear that Cash will come after him.
Defiant to the End: When he has nowhere else to go, he picks up a shotgun to defend himself.
Fat Bastard: He's a portly man and the button loops of his suit are stretched out.
Flunky Boss: When he makes a run for it, a squad of Cerberus mercenaries arrive to stop you, and the tower he's in has some guarding him.
Follow the White Rabbit: His role is to lure Cash into death traps and Cash is instructed to "Follow the white rabbit."
"Get Back Here!" Boss: Cash has to follow him through Darkwoods Penitentiary so he can get the key to escape.
Oh, Crap!: When he sees that Cash survived the ambush meant to kill him and realizes that he's got the keys to getting out of the facility.
Smug Snake: Mocks Cash throughout the level and has quite the cocky attitude, but then Cash survives the ambush meant to kill him and the Rabbit's confidence breaks like a twig.
The So-Called Coward: To his credit, he does try to defend himself in the last stand against Cash when the latter survives the multiple ambushes. However, he will try to surrender if he's unarmed.
Stone Wall: When you corner him in a guard tower, he's inexplicably sturdy enough to take many more bullets to the chest than any enemy faced before, and he refuses to budge from his defensive position. A good headshot from the shotgun can instantly kill him, however, provided you get close enough for it.
Uriah Gambit: Starkweather makes Cash follow the White Rabbit so he'd be killed by the various deathtraps and ambushes.
Whole-Plot Reference: In-Universe, his name and stage persona is based on The White Rabbit from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

Mr. Nasty

The Man Behind the Man, an anonymous financial backer to the snuff films who helps distribute the films through his company, Valiant Video Enterprises. He is only ever mentioned in the games manual and on online promotional material.

Faux Affably Evil: Advertisements and promotions written or voiced by him are vulgar and crass, but are otherwise 'inviting' for any potential customers.
The Ghost: He seemingly never shows up in the game proper, and is not even mentioned by anyone. The only true reference to even Valiant Video Enterprises is a van bearing the logo found in the level Born Again, which can easily be passed off as just another shadowy hiding place during the games tutorial.
Greater-Scope Villain: Starkweather is the Big Bad, but Mr. Nasty is the one in charge of the snuff film ring and is never personally confronted by Cash.
Karma Houdini: It's unknown whether Mr. Nasty ever got busted for his involvement or crimes in general, but perhaps Cash cutting a huge swath through the gangs, getting the CCPD's Police Chief to be put on trial, and killing all of the films major players (Starkweather, Ramirez, Piggsy, etc.) could have at least crippled his snuff filming ventures. He tried to solicit the death of the Journalist in a post on his online forum, showing he is clearly worried about something.
The Man Behind the Man: While Starkweather directs the movies and mans the cameras overlooking the city, Mr. Nasty and his company are the ones truly behind the whole ordeal Cash is stuck in.
Video Nasty: He's named after the concept (fittingly, given he's a snuff film provider).
Welcome to Evil Mart: Runs an online catalogue alongside the snuff films, which sells all manner of tools and weapons meant for torture and murder (restraints, baseball bats, gimp materials, etc.).

The Hunters

The Hoods

The first group of "hunters" on Starkweather's payroll. A loose-knit, disorganized gang of criminals, street thugs and off-duty cops who try to find and kill Cash for financial gain.

Alas, Poor Villain: One of them will try to plead for his life by saying that he has a family, all while Cash has him completely pinned down and at his mercy.
Batter Up!: When they aren't using Good Old Fisticuffs, The Hoods are armed with either wooden baseball bats, or blackjacks (i.e., a mini-bat).
- I Know Madden Kombat: Maybe a coincidence, but considering some idle dialogue has them muttering about how they're going to "miss the game tonight for this", some may be baseball players or baseball fans.
Dirty Cop: Not as overt as the Carcer City Police who are fought later on, but some members of the Hoods are off-duty cops, and they participate in Starkweather’s Snuff Films for financial gain.
Gang of Hats: One of the more "normal" gangs of Hunters, their gimmick is mostly subdued in that they're mostly off-duty cops and street punks doing wet work for a quick buck. Their clothing is mundane and practical, and their masks are mostly just ordinary ski masks and balacalvas rather than anything too over-dramatic (though a few oddballs go to work wearing plastic bags, gimp gear and what seems to be pantyhose wrapped up as a mask).
Gangsta Rap: It seems, from their slang, that they're into this music genre.
It Gets Easier: At least one idle line acknowledges this, claiming that "It's weird at first, but you get used to it."
Joisey: Their accents indicate them as this, and since Carcer is apparently a little bit off from Liberty City, it's possible they really are (or at least the Manhunt/GTA equivalent)
Malevolent Masked Men: True to their "Hoods" namesake, they wear ski-masks and socks on their heads.
Plucky Comic Relief: Compared to the other gangs in the game, these guys are more funny and bumbling than near anybody else.
Punch-Clock Villain: They aren't really insane or cruel, just ordinary crooks. They seem it be in it mostly for the money promised by Starkweather.
Timed Mission: The bonus level, named Time 2 Die, has Cash apparently terrify the Hoodz so badly that the survivors are all trying to chicken out of the movie and escape via van pickup. Starkweather orders him to hunt them all down before time runs out and their ride shows up.
Warm-Up Boss: See above. They serve as being as "basic training" before the true hunters show up, packing only shoddy bats and their bare fists to the fight.
White Gangbangers: Most members appear to be white, low-class, and occasionally dress in punk attire.
The Worf Effect: Since they are the first gang to hunt Cash, Starkweather purposefully made them weaker than the others. They only use melee weapons and their fists, unlike the other gangs who are equipped with firearms and a nailgun.
Zerg Rush: The bonus level 'Hard As Nails' has Cash pitted against an increasingly larger wave of Hoodz coming for him in a basement, with nothing but a bat, a nail gun and explosive barrels to work with.

The Skinz

The second group of "hunters" who call the local junkyard their home. They are a gang of fanatical white supremacists and neo-nazis who hunt Cash down under the belief that he is a 'half breed' that must be lynched.

Absolute Xenophobe: They hate anyone who isn't of pure white ethnicity. They are after Cash because they are operating under the belief that he's a "half-breed" and refer to him as a mongrel, a racial slur towards someone with mixed or unknown ancestry.
Accidental Murder: Subverted, according to the manual, the Skinz have had a habit of accidentally killing their target runners too quickly. Despite the director wanting the deaths to be more violent and drawn out.
"Half the fun is watching the anger on the faces of the thugs after they realize they killed their runner too quickly. No one does it better than: The Skinz
Aggressive Categorism: They believe white people are the superior race and have the right to kill anyone who doesn't fit the bill.
Alcohol-Induced Idiocy: Implied, they were drinking heavily in their first cutscene and one member thought there was nothing suspicious about Ramirez, a muscular black man, fearlessly walking into white supremacist territory by himself. Once that drunk was killed by Ramirez, the others realize who he is and fall in line to avoid his and Starkweather's wrath.
Animal Motif: In the Official Strategy Guide, they are compared to a baboon pack because they are "very aggressive and willing to attack rashly". In the game, two gang members wear hockey masks resembling the face of a gorilla.
Asshole Victim: While all the gangs are deranged murderers, most of them are given moments of pity, whereas, The Skinz are all pathetic bigoted shitheads and even Starkweather hates them.
Bad People Abuse Animals: One Skinz member has been scalping animals as a hobby and one member talks to himself about an incident where someone bit off the head of an animal.
Bald of Evil: They have their heads shaved as part of their gang identity, some have grown back as buzz cuts.
Batter Up!: Use metal bats as part of the hunt.
Bigotry Exception: Subverted, they had every intention of attacking Ramirez until he killed one of their members to establish dominance over them and made himself known as Starkweather's primary enforcer.
Black Shirt: They're neo-nazis and neo-confederates who brag about racial purity and white supremacy. They are also beer-drinking trailer trash who live in squalor. From a narrative standpoint, they are the second gang pitted against James Earl Cash, and one member is easily killed by Ramirez in order to defend himself and assert dominance.
Boss's Unfavorite Employee: Zig-Zagged, Starkweather couldn't care less for his employees and encourages his stars to kill them as brutally as possible. That said, Starkweather appears to hate the Skinz more than the others for their racism as he praises Cash by saying "Not a white boy left standing, you're a credit to our tolerant society" when he executes a Skinz member. Interestingly, they are the only gang that doesn't advertise their services in the Instruction Manual for Manhunt. The format for the adverts appears to be praising Cash for killing them, not praising the gang for appearing in the films, the titles even mocking them "Hittin' the Skinz", "Skinz Skillz: Tactics 101" and "White Trash Bash". The movie reviews go as far as to mock the gang for killing their target too quickly. Finally, they have no special services for hire, probably because Starkweather and Mr. Nasty would never let them speak their minds on their products or encourage racism since it would be bad for business.
Church Militant: One of their members is a believer of Christian Identity and uses his faith as an excuse to kill Cash.^note This Skinz member often speaks about doing "the Lord's Work" by hunting those who aren't of full European descent.
"A SERPENT'S LAIR, come pilgrims, let us flush out the snake!!"
"And forgive us our trespasses; as we punish those who trespass against our nation!"
C-List Fodder: Implied, they are after The Hoods and only fare better because they are armed with firearms (a nailgun). Judging by Starkweather's hatred towards them and the comments about the gang in the instruction manual, the Skinz are the equivalent of bait dogs in Starkweather's film. To Starkweather, they are a sacrificial gang that can be used to encourage Cash to improve his stealth and ability to kill so it would make him more bloodthirsty (and more marketable) for the viewer.
Dead Guy on Display: The junkyard has their previous victims hung from cars. These were people the Skinz killed on the way there or they were the original occupants of the junkyard.
Death by Racism: Invoked, Starkweather calls them "Dumb assed supremist bastards" who blame others for their own inadequacies. It's not clear if Starkweather hates them for their racism or if he's just paying lip service to incentivize Cash to ensure he's more vicious and bloodthirsty against them.
Deep South: They're a group of Southern-accented criminals who are heavily implied to have neo-Confederates in their ranks.
Defiant to the End: Some of the gang members will continue insulting Cash even when they are left at Cash's mercy.
Drill Sergeant Nasty: At least one of the Skinz constantly yells all of his dialogue in the manner of an angry drill sergeant.
Enemy Mine: When they first meet Ramirez, they approached him with the intention of lynching him but quickly back off when Ramirez effortlessly kills one of their members. This act quickly makes the gang realise who he is and they take their orders to hunt Cash, who they believe is biracial.
Fat Bastard: Some of their members have big guts and go shirtless.
Four Eyes, Zero Soul: One member makes an idle comment about wearing contact lenses and how it is not "sitting right".
Freudian Excuse: A lot of them talk about making their dead fathers proud of them, and one in particular veers into Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain territory by making idle chatter about how his "pa" verbally and physically tormented him.
"You showed me nothing but the strap and your fist, didn't you pa?!"
"I ain't a loser... I ain't no geek!"
(When beaten down) "I'm sorry, Pa!"
- Openly defied by one Skin, who claims he has to beat the rest of his brothers into shape because "they're too soft... like my daddy was!"
- This is the entire character of another Skin, who's a young man who makes frequent mention of his father who'd beat him up and verbally torment him for basically anything, and is now trying his best to impress his father by joining the gang and the hunt. Compare his banter to the rest of the Skinz, and his prejudice is only half as visceral as the older members, not that it makes the character any less dangerous or merciful in the slightest. By his own admission, he's murdered homeless people in the past, killed animals, and has a hobby of collecting scalps.
Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: Discussed, Starkweather tells Cash that The Skinz are just blaming others for their own inadequacies. Starkweather doesn't call them out on this directly but encourages Cash to kill them for this reason.
Gang of Hats: A white nationalist gang, the Skinz are obsessed over killing those they deem as lesser and have lynched corpses as decoration to prove it. They dress in typical red, white, and black, are covered head to toe in threatening tattoos, have shaved heads, and wear hockey masks for intimidation. The gang itself appears to be homogenous, as they have taken influence from; white power skinheads, neo-Nazis, neo-confederates, and the Klu Klux Klan.
Half-Witted Hillbilly: A combination of the backwoods bigot (due to them being neo-nazis), inbred ignoramus and even half-witted hellbilly. Most of the members are more irrational and ignorant than outright bumbling fools, but special mention goes to the member who sounds like he can't be any older than his early 20s. He's very slow on the nature of the situation he's in, unaware of the danger Cash poses, barely tries to be stealthy by giddily chattering like a kid having fun, apparently only in the hunt because his 'pa pushed him into joining in to become a real man.
Hates Everyone Equally: They hate anyone who isn't of pure white ethnicity and straight, anyone who doesn't fit the bill will be lynched on sight. One of their members makes a sexist remark about someone.
Heteronormative Crusader: They make homophobic remarks as well as racist remarks.
Hypocrite: One member brags about being strong and brags about having beaten his siblings since his father was "too soft". One of his idle comments is complaining about how his contact lenses aren't staying on his eyes.
Insult Backfire: They are white supremacists who have phrases like "First to Go" and "NPFO" (Nazi Punks Fuck Off) emblazoned on their outfits. This suggests that the gang sees these insults as something to be proud of and they want to prove how unshakeable they are with their beliefs.
Irony:
- Some of The Skinz are shown wearing yellow laces with their shoes, something that actual skinheads use to disconnect themselves from the racist aspects of their culture.
- Their clothes have "NPFO" written on them and "First To Go". Which is assumed to be a reference to the Dead Kennedys song "Nazi Punks Fuck Off", a song that was written to deter their unwanted, neo-nazi fanbase.
- They believe white people are a race of fighters and are racially superior. However, they are 2nd gang encountered in the game and the first "official" gang that Cash fights, which makes them weaker than The Innocentz and the Smileys (both are composed of mixed-raced members).
- They refer to black people as monkeys yet they wear hockey masks that resemble the face of a gorilla.
I Want to Be a Real Man: Some members of the Skinz joined the gang to prove their manhood, the father of one member forced him to join to make him a man.
The Klan: Implied, there are several lynched corpses that can be found across their hideout, and they may threaten Cash with "the burning cross".
Make an Example of Them: Ramirez kills one drunken member to establish himself as Starkweather's primary enforcer and assert dominance over the gang.
Malevolent Masked Men: Some of them are shown to wear hockey masks.
Mass "Oh, Crap!": When Ramirez breaks a member's neck, the rest of the gang are taken aback by their friend's murder. Even as Ramirez is physically shoving the other members around, they're still too shocked to fight back.
Master Race: They believe themselves to be superior in every way and one member refers to themselves as "A race of fighters".
Misaimed Fandom: In-Universe, the outfits of some gang members reference the song "Nazi Punks Fuck Off" by The Dead Kennedys. The band did unwittingly make a Neo-Nazi fanbase and they made the song to deter their unwanted fanbase. The Skinz still wear these shirts and the emblazoned words on their clothes reference the song through "NPFO" and "FIRST TO GO!", the lyrics referenced are from the titular chorus, which is “In a real Fourth Reich you'll be the first to go!”. Since the gang are card-carrying racists, this may be intentional rather than accidental, either by twisting the lyrics into actual threats towards their victims or they are wearing the lyrics to show how shameless they are with their bigotry.
A Nazi by Any Other Name: The Skinz are a fusion of neo-confederates and neo-nazis, they have the Odal-esque runes and wolfsangel runes on their clothing, speak with southern accents, and a mask with a confederate flag design.
Nail 'Em: Their ranged weapon is the nail gun.
No Indoor Voice: One member (who's an Ax-Crazy lunatic even by the Skinz' standards), yells over 90% of his dialogue, often devolving into outright Angrish when he loses Cash.
"Lost him!! RRRAAAAGGGHHH!!!"
"Damn chicken-shit, hiding in the goddamn- GRRAHHH!!!"
No Swastikas: Their gang symbols resemble a cross between the Nazi swastika, the odal rune, and the wolfsangel rune.
Politically Incorrect Villain: They're white supremacists composed of neo-Nazis and neo-Confederates.
Pragmatic Villainy: Once they recognize Ramirez, a black man, as Starkweather's right-hand man; they sheepishly let him get away with killing one of their members, let him aggressively shove them around, and when Ramirez is finished barking orders, they quickly leave to start the hunt.
A Real Man Is a Killer: The father of one member specifically made him join the Skinz so he'd be a man.
Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: Implied, one of the members says that the other members have been "fraternizing" with women of "lesser blood". He also says how he's done "most of America" and wants to try Africa next. He's either stupid enough to practice his racism outside of America, or he's a serial rapist who rapes and murders women because of their skin color.
Red and Black and Evil All Over: Most members wear black clothing with red shoes, masks, suspenders, and symbols.
The Social Darwinist: They believe themselves to be a race of fighters and everyone else to be of a weaker race.
Sub-Par Supremacist: Their gang is composed of Christian Identity followers, neo-confederates, neo-nazis, and white supremacists who believe themselves to be superior to every other race. The Skinz are living in squalor, a majority of them have daddy issues, 2 of their members are obese, the entire gang is cowed by Ramirez (who came alone despite being outnumbered and he is a black man), and the gang is hated by Starkweather and his fanbase. The gang is also underequipped to handle Cash, as they use nail guns instead of actual firearms.
Tattooed Crook: Most members bear tattoos of obscenities, insults, and their ideology.
Terms of Endangerment: They refer to Cash as an animal to segregate him from their idea of racial purity.
Those Wacky Nazis: They're white supremacist skinheads that tend to wear symbols similar to the Nazi swastika.
Tragic Bigot: Some of them are indicated to have daddy issues and or have joined the gang to make their fathers proud.
Underestimating Badassery: They weren't expecting Ramirez to be a black man under Starkweather's employ and were fully prepared to lynch him. When they witness Ramirez kill one of their friends with his bare hands, they quickly realize who he is and sheepishly follow his commands.
Wake-Up Call Boss: Or rather, gang. Unlike the Hoods before them, the Skinz pack heavy melee weapons in the form of metal bats and don't often have anything weaker than that, meaning getting caught out and trying to fight them in melee combat can be incredibly risky and an outright death sentence if two or more join the fight. They're also the first group who bring ranged weapons into the fray, nailguns, which makes killing them in stealth mandatory unless the player found their own nailgun.
Wearing a Flag on Your Head: Some wear Confederate flag-style hockey masks.
"Well Done, Son" Guy: A lot of them were abused by their fathers and one member joined to make his father proud.
White Man's Burden: Discussed, their racism towards immigrants is rooted in the belief that their compassion is being manipulated.
The Worf Effect: Since they are the second gang to hunt Cash, Starkweather purposefully made them weaker than the others. Unlike The Hoods, The Skinz are only armed with Baseball Bats and Nailguns, unlike the future gangs who are armed with firearms and bladed weapons.
Xtreme Kool Letterz: Known as the Skinz.
Your Head Asplode: With the lack of weapon variety in Skinz territory, considering almost everyone is packing a baseball bat, expect many members' brains to be splattered against the walls thanks to the bat's third execution, necessary for getting high scores in their levels.
Your Mom: The Church Militant Skin often insinuates Cash is a "half-breed" because his mother was a border-hopping hooker who got herself knocked up.
"His father was cloven, and he suckled from a bitch's bosom!"
(When beaten down) "It was the devil who tricked your mama!! Let me help you!!"

The Wardogs

The third group of "hunters" who patrol around the Carcer City zoo, being led by Ramirez. They are a militia-like group made up of ex-military soldiers, huntsmen and extreme survivalists who treat hunting Cash down as if it was a weekend hunting trip. They appear again later after having ambushed Cash and releasing him to hunt him for sport, this time without Starkweather to help.

Cold Sniper: There are some Wardogs in ghillie suits, and they carry tranquilizer rifles. Later into the game, they bring actual sniper rifles to blow Cash away if he’s caught out.
Crazy Survivalist: The gang consists of survivalist types, along with huntsmen and war veterans.
Crotch-Grab Sex Check: Implied to take place if Cash gets killed by one of their members, who shouts at the others to spread the legs on Cash's corpse so he can make sure they were fighting a man.
Deep South: Of the Southern-Fried Private variety. However, unlike the Skinz, they employ Equal-Opportunity Evil, as there are African-Americans in their ranks, and they also take orders from Ramirez.
Face Death with Dignity: Unlike most hunters, who plead for their lives if beaten down, most Wardogs tell Cash to hurry up and kill them (although there are still a few who Ain't Too Proud to Beg)
"Don't leave me a crippled man, go and do the deed!"
"Come on, don't go and pussy out on me now!"
From Camouflage to Criminal: Some are heavily implied to be military veterans, and may mention that the hunt for Cash reminds them of A Shau valley. But as Starkweather notes, many, if not most of them never actually served in the military.
"None of these guys ever went to 'Nam, but you sure as hell gave 'em a taste tonight!"
Gang of Hats: Hardcore survivalists, weekend warriors, and bloodthirsty veterans (at least according to them). They dress in the typical wannabe-military gear of plaid, camo, and flannel, if not full-on Ghillie suits. They’re also fond of spouting military jargon while on the hunt, some of it proper, but mostly just to sound cool.
Hostage Situation: They’ve taken Cash's family hostage as part of the film, and will quickly blow their heads off if Cash alerts them before he can save them. But according to Starkweather and his sheer shock, they’re going off script and making up new rules as they go.
Hunting the Most Dangerous Game: They treat the entire thing as a hunt for a dangerous animal, and some even talk about skinning Cash's corpse.
Machete Mayhem: Wardogs use machetes as melee weapons.
Mildly Military: Due in part because they're more of a military-themed gang than an actual militia, and how most of them probably never were soldiers in the first place, their attitudes come across as a bunch of hicks, crooks and loners coming together with knives and guns than an actual force.
Mobile Shrubbery: Their twigs and ghillie suits.
Off with His Head!: The machete, the Wardog's weapon, involves a slow and agonizing decapitation done through multiple strikes whenever an execution is used against them, almost never killing on the first strike if the noises victims make is any indication. On the more practical side of things though, that means a constant source of head-lures.
Phony Veteran: The gang prides itself on its military aesthetics and discipline, but there’s a realistic chance a good portion of its veterans were never soldiers in the first place.
Sociopathic Soldier: Naturally, given that they’re a group of former soldiers (or at least Phony Veterans) who’ve taken to participating in Snuff Films, and are military-themed in general.
Soft-Spoken Sadist: One member speaks in mumbling and subdued toned near constantly while muttering about finding Cash and making a trophy out of him, only shouting out in the heat of a fight.
Took a Level in Badass: First time they’re fought, they’re brandishing machetes and tranquillizer rifles, the former of which is easy to stealth around and the latter more disorienting than dangerous. The second time they arrive, many members are brandishing full-on firearms in the forms of pump-action shotguns and sniper rifles and have set themselves up in a corridor/vantage point to easy blow Cash away if he isn’t quick enough to survive their ambushes or duck out of their sniper's sightlines.
Who's Laughing Now?: The second time you face them, they have you cornered, are taking their sweet time toying with you, and Starkweather, as much of a prick he was, isn't there to give you instructions on how to get out of this one...
Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: Ramirez and his Wardogs have Cash beaten down and at their mercy, once he survived the trap meant to kill him. Rather than stomp his brains out like Starkweather would’ve wanted though, the gang decides to have some sadistic fun first, setting Cash free in an abandoned apartment complex to hunt him down for sport. The attempt doesn’t pay off for any of them.

The Innocentz

The fourth group of "hunters" who inhabit the streets and cemetery. The Innocentz are two separate gangs merged into one for the film: the Skullyz, who are made up of Latino goths, gangbangers and Satanists, and the Babyfaces, a gang of pedophiles and criminally insane man-children.

Ax-Crazy: A good number of their members, since they enjoy inflicting pain on Cash, and some even brag about how they enjoy being hit back.
Bald of Evil: Some of the Skullyz have shaved heads while the Babyfaces are bald or have a receding hairline.
Bilingual Bonus: One member of the Innocentz has many lines spoken in Spanish, most of which are taunts, swears or prayers to his Satanic Gods.
Bondage Is Bad: The babyface member, Jules, apparently practices BDSM on his child victims.
Bright Is Not Good: The babyfaces wear white porcelain masks and bright Hawaiian shirts, they are also the evilest and most sadistic gang in the entire game.
Bring My Brown Pants: Implied, one of the babyfaces is wearing pajama bottoms as pants and it appears that the guy has soiled himself (as shown by the brown marks and yellow stains).
Dark Is Evil: The Skullyz are a group of devil-worshipers wearing reversed pentagrams and skull-faces, and are unrepentant murderers.
Drugs Are Bad: A few of their members mention doing drugs in their idle dialogue, and at least one of them is all but stated to be an addict who's joined up just to get his next fix:
"(SNIFF!!) Hey, I-I got three left, that's one per- ah shit, that ain't enough!"
Evil Is Hammy: The aforementioned junkie Skullyz member loves to play himself up like he's the Grim Reaper himself, ready to drag Cash to hell. Listening to him when he's not in character reveals he's just high.
Even Evil Has Standards:
- The mission 'Drunk Driving' has you escorting a homeless man to safety and the Innocentz tasked with hunting both of you down, and if you pass by a group of them undetected you might hear this in their conversation:
  "It's one thing to whack some psycho, but I ain't into killing no bum!"
- Both gangs actually hate each other and are only working together under Starkweather's command. The Skullyz hate the Babyfaces because of their pedophilia, while the Babyfaces hate them back.
Eye Scream: The Manchild Babyface mentions having an eyeball collection, and hopes Cash's eyes are green so they can finish it when searching for you.
Fat Bastard: The Babyfaces, who tend to be fat, criminally insane, and oftentimes pedophiles. Also said word for word by a Skullyz member.
"MOVE OVER, you fat bastard!"
Faux Affably Evil: The Babyfaces try to lure out Cash by saying they want to help and treat him like a child, but they quickly lose their temper before moving on.
Gangbangers: Half of the Skullyz are Latino gang members while the other half are White Gangbangers.
Gang of Hats: Two of them merged into one and together, these gangs form perhaps the most terrifying, unstable, and sadistic gang on Starkweather's payroll.
- The Skullyz are a mostly Latino group dedicated to Hollywood Satanism, wearing either skull face paint and religious tattoos or a full-on Grim Reaper getup with Halloween masks. They are also drug users who are implied to be hallucinating during the game as one of them is getting withdrawal and another believes he is the grim reaper.
- The Babyfaces are a brutal and sexually depraved gang known for their pedophilia, unsettling porcelain masks, and inappropriately cheery Hawaiian shirts.
Gasshole: The peyote-addicted member of the Skullyz tends to burp a lot in his dialogue, for some reason.
Groin Attack: The sickle has this as its second execution. Cash swings the sickle right between his victim's legs and violently yanks it towards him, the victim falling over from sheer shock or from quickly bleeding out.
Hate Sink: The Babyfaces are the vilest gang to appear in the game and hide under no pretenses of trauma or try to use their families to escape Cash's wrath. They are pedophilic serial killers who treat Cash like one of their child victims and it's implied by their dialogue that they collect eyeballs as trophies, likely the eyes of children.
Hollywood Satanism: Most of the idle dialogue has the Skullyz mention their worshipping of Satan and/or evil forces.
Hypocritical Humor: The pedophilic Babyface is played for nothing but sheer creepiness and horror, minus one line where he’s being beaten badly in a melee brawl.
(Calling for backup) HELP! I'm being VIOLATED!
I Want My Mommy!: The manchildren Babyfaces will cry out for their mommy (and backup from their gang) if they’re critically injured.
Karmic Death: The Babyfaces are pedophilic serial killers and they can be killed by having Cash swing the Sickle into their groin, ripping it out as they fall to the ground.
Knight of Cerebus:
- No, this has nothing to do with their Satanic worship. While the first few gangs are nothing much to write home about in terms of brutality and creepiness, the introduction of the Innocentz marks where the game takes a much darker and more action-packed direction. It's at this point of the game where Starkweather stops helping you and the gang members start being more serious in tone. They are also the ones who murder Cash's family at Starkweather's command, harming him personally.
- The Babyfaces pedophilia is played horrifically and seriously, as they creepily refer to Cash as a child and openly blame their victims for being molested. They are also the ones who specifically execute Cash's family.
Malevolent Masked Men: The Skullyz (generic enemies) wear Grim Reaper Halloween masks, or skull-face paint (particularly in Mexican "Day of the Dead" style). The Babyfaces wear Creepy Doll masks, complete with oversized glass eyes.
Mental Handicap, Moral Deficiency: Half the Babyfaces are composed of the intellectually disabled and the other half seem to be talking down to them so they can understand their commands. While they aren't fully aware of what they're doing, they have still chosen to act on their mission so they can collect human eyes, they want Cash to have green eyes so they can finish their collection. The same gang member can be the one who executes Cash's family under Starkweather's orders.
Pædo Hunt: The Babyfaces are composed of child killers and pedophiles, the pedophiles blame their actions on auditory hallucinations and try to coax Cash out of hiding by saying they want to help.
(Idle dialogue) "Daddy's gonna catch himself a filthy bit of FUN tonight..."
Plucky Comic Relief: There's one member who isn't a Hollywood Satanist, a hopped-up drug addict, a Psychopathic Man Child, or a predatory pedophile - basically, he's a shrimpy, high-pitched voice sort who apparently has to take a lot of crap from a woman/some women he wants to impress, and is in the hunt to prove how much of a badass he is(n't) by surviving in Carcer City for one night. He also has some over-the-top reactions when things start to go south for him.
" "Not man enough to cut it in Carcer", eh? Well, I'll show that bitch!"
"Make it through tonight, and all those bitches'll want me then!"
(On discovering a dead body) "Oh man, this is starting to suck... really SUCK!!!"
(When trying to call for backup while getting beat in a fight) "(Girly yelp) That hurt!!! Guys!!"
Psychopathic Man Child: The green shirt Babyfaces are this, talking in a Simpleton Voice while menacingly saying they're going to "play games" with you.
(On hearing a sound) "Heeheehee... Here comes me!"
(When fighting) "Skin the rabbit!! Skin the rabbit!!"
(When finding the player) "YOU!!! Come and play with me!!!"
Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: The Babyfaces are despised for their pedophilia and the way Jules tries coax Cash out of hiding is far creepier than the others as he's treating Cash like one of their child victims.
Simpleton Voice: One of the Babyfaces talks like this, fitting his Psychopathic Manchild personality.
Sinister Scythe: Some of them wield these. Goes well with their Grim Reaper vibe.
Sawed-Off Shotgun: One of their main choice in weaponry during gunfights.
Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: The Babyfaces and the Skullyz despise each other and only work with each other under Starkweather's command.
Terms of Endangerment: One-half of the Babyfaces refer to Cash as a rabbit, they're also implied to be hallucinating a rabbit. The other half are shameless pedophiles who refer to Cash as a child.
This Loser Is You: The shrimpy member can be another jab at players who believe they are as tough as their in-game avatar. The shrimpy member is more or less a boy trying to prove himself a man by throwing himself into a situation that he can't handle.
White Gangbangers: While it's still mostly a Latin American gang, the Innocentz also have members who are clearly all-white. Idle dialogue reveals one is a drug addict, and is basically in it to get his next fix, while the other is a shrimpy Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain who jumped into the hunt to prove he's badass enough to cut it in Carcer City.
White Mask of Doom: The Babyfaces wear white porcelain masks that are decorated with makeup.
Would Hurt a Child: The Babyfaces are the only gang to specifically target children as the gang is composed of paedophiles and serial killers. It's implied by their dialogue that they collect the eyes of children and keep them as part of a collection.
Xtreme Kool Letterz: Known as the Innocentz and the Skullyz.
Zerg Rush: The final stretch of Graveyard Shift has the entire gang hold up in an abandoned drug factory armed to the teeth with guns and patrols as part of their last stand against Cash, with incoming reinforcements near the exit for good measure.

The Smileys

The fifth and most dangerous group of "hunters", they are a gang of criminally insane murderers, criminal sociopaths and escaped maximum security mental patients that have overtaken the Darkwoods Penitentiary that once held them and use it as a base.

Alas, Poor Villain: A couple of them. The "shoes" Smiley was beaten by his mother and starts begging and pleading and apologizing for losing his shoes, while "Barry" killed his wife and assumed her personality out of guilt.
The Alcoholic: "Barry" is implied to have been an abusive alcoholic who murdered his wife during an argument.
Artificial Brilliance: If you encounter a Smiley armed with a melee weapon and aim your gun at them, they'll hastily retreat to cover until you let your guard down again, or until you come to them.
- Their overall madness is also tied into their in-game behavior. They have extremely random patrol paths compared to the other gangs, react to lures and noises in unpredictable ways (some ignore it, others are hypersensitive, etc.), and they also take a long time to relax after finding a body or seeing Cash.
Ax-Crazy: They're all criminally insane mental patients who took over the prison with violent force.
Cloudcuckoolander: An extremely dark variety, since they're all criminally insane, but most of them do fit the bill quite nicely. To name some:
- One is a man who still believes to be in a functioning asylum, and believes that Cash had stolen his shoes. He tries to resolve the issue by killing him.
- One is apparently named Barry, a Creepy Crossdresser who talks in a creepy female impersonation of his wife who believes that he is cheating on her with another women... except a few lines of dialogue, where his voice is deeper and he tries to apologize for beating her to death with a crowbar while sobbing.
- One believes he is hosting a high-class party with numerous guests, and that Cash is the "guest of honor" (though he is still more than willing to kill him).
Continuity Cameo: They're mentioned in Grand Theft Auto Online, with their masks being purchasable as cosmetic items. They even have a clothing line themed after their attire.
Couldn't Find a Pen: Graffiti around the prison is often written in blood, or poop.
Creepy Crossdresser: Half of them wear female blouses or dresses.
Dead Person Impersonation: The defining trait of "Barry", a Smiley who pretends to be his wife (who he murdered with a crowbar).
Death Row: Most, if not the entire gang were on death row. The execution chamber with the electric chair and crematory is visited towards the end of the gang's involvement.
Death Seeker: One of the Smileys, named Fug, will state that he's happy and ready to die when he is pinned and about to be murdered by Cash.
Disproportionate Retribution: The "Shoes" Smiley was a victim of this as a child. His mother beat him when he lost his shoes, and he ends up on the giving end of this when he tries to kill Cash under the mistaken belief that he was the shoe-thieving shoe-thief.
Domestic Abuse: What ‘Barry’ was guilty of, and what he accuses Cash of, as part of his Dead Person Impersonation.
”Oh sure, beat up on your wife, show the world what a BIG man you are!"
“WIFE BEEAATER"
Evil Is Hammy: All of them love shouting their bizarre or sadistic threats at the top of their lungs.
"I saw you with that WHOOORE! "
"THERE'S THE BASTARD! GET HIM!"
"HEEEAD, JUIIICE!"
Freudian Excuse: The "Shoes" Smiley heavily implies that his mother would beat him for losing his shoes.
Gang of Hats: Former asylum patients gone murderously insane and unable to perceive reality. They're fond of torn, raggedy clothing and clown-like masks and facepaint.
Girl with Psycho Weapon: Well, somewhat. The above Smileys who crossdress often times wield meat cleavers.
Great Escape: They escaped only recently in a grand riot, with the staff absolutely butchered and the prison turned into more of a fort than anything.
"Have a Nice Day" Smile: Their gimmick for their masks, albeit screwed-up beyond their typically happy tone.
Henpecked Husband: Judging from "Barry's" dialogue, his wife has given him a truly massive amount of nagging, not that he didn't deserve it though.
Hulk Speak: 'Fug' speaks this way, constantly referring to himself in third person and rants about wanting to beat Cash to a pulp. Ironically, he’s actually the most mentally stable and verbally eloquent of the gang.
Insane Equals Violent: The personification; though it's suggested that they are criminally insane, given that they are at Darkwoods Penitentiary and not an actual mental institution.
Moment of Lucidity: The "Barry” Smiley mostly speaks like he’s his dead wife during her final moments alive, or is echoing her every criticism of him as threats of violence to Cash. Rarely though, when he’s not aggravated and idle, he turns into a blubbering and slightly more sincere mess while remembering the moment he beat her to death in a fit of drunk rage.
Monster Clown: Two of them wear clown like face paint, not to mention their general motif is a similar tone of coloful false cheeriness hiding murderous intent. Interestingly, they were meant to face a rival gang with a more straightforward gimmick, but they were cut from the final version.
My God, What Have I Done?: "Barry" is broken up at the realization that he killed his wife.
Nightmare Fuel Station Attendant: Probably the creepiest gang in the game.
Psychopathic Manchild: One of the Smileys believes himself to still be a child with an abusive mother, all while chasing after Cash and trying to kill him for taking his shoes.
Reluctant Psycho: Implied with one of them, as he has the words "PLEASE STOP ME" painted on his mask.
Third-Person Person: The defining trait of "Fug", who talks in Hulk Speak.
The Unintelligible: One of the Smileys speaks almost entirely in grunts, squeals, and growls, and only rarely shouts a coherent word or sentence.
Video Game Cruelty Potential: At the beginning of ‘Mouth Of Madness’, there’s a patient strapped in an electric chair that must be electrocuted to lure a Smiley that refuses to investigate any noises Cash makes. After dispatching that Smiley, the player is free to leave the patient cooking without turning the chair off, to the point where his screams can still be heard much later into the level.
Zerg Rush: The mission ‘Kill The Rabbit’ has Cash enter a shooting gallery against a truly ridiculous amount of Smileys, and at 2 different points he’s locked in a cell block with no way out as all of the cells begin releasing a horde of armed Smileys.

Carcer City Police Department

The corrupt and excessively violent police force of Carcer City, encountered after Cash has escaped from the other hunters. They are assisted by a SWAT team, and are lead by Gary Schaffer.

Alas, Poor Villain: One member of the SWAT regularly talks about how proud he is of his son back home, similar to the Hood member way back at the beginning of the game. Again, you usually have no choice but to kill him to survive yourself.
Beating A Dead Player: They always beat Cash's corpse when he dies, unlike the other gangs' members, who only do so when at low health.
Cold Sniper: The CCPD ups the stakes considerably with snipers on the roof of buildings once Cash proves himself too dangerous for normal tactics.
Dirty Cop: Carcer City policemen deal drugs and beat the homeless for their own amusement, and actively collaborate with Starkweather, ignoring his snuff film productions and targeting the Journalist at his request. Some of them will try to act like they will let Cash surrender into custody if he'll just approach them with his hands up, but all of them will shoot to kill regardless.
Dirty Coward: One of the street cops is a meek man with a nervous voice who is scared half to death by the idea of confronting the crazy homeless man he's tasked to find, wishing for a safe desk job instead. He's also more than willing to resort to violence to save his own skin and intends on finding a safe, quiet spot where the perpetrator isn't at and let the other cops do all the work instead.
Elite Mooks: The SWAT team put up a better fight than the regular officers, and are placed in situations where guns are more useful than stealth kills.
Gang of Hats: Technically an official government institution, but let's be honest, they're just another gaggle of thugs and murderers at this point, using the badge to hide behind their misdeeds. The street cops have a near-universal disdain for the homeless and a penchant for police brutality, ranging from casual usage, overreactive, and sometimes outright ''glee'' from it. The SWAT, however, veer more into Punch-Clock Villain territory.
Gun Accessories: The SWAT team's weapons usually come with mounted flash lights, a trait that makes combat noticeably more difficult when you can't even hide from your Hunters anymore.
Killer Cop: While Cash is a convicted criminal and a prison escapee, the CCPD are still more than eager to murder him and be done with it, out of an unwillingness to do the extra paperwork, or because they just plain enjoy murdering people. Because of this, they can be considered to be another group of hunters despite not being an official part of Starkweather's snuff film.
Kill the Poor: Carcer City police despise the homeless and would rather see them either gone or dead, and believe Gary Schaffer's lie when he told them that the escaped death row convict on a murder spree is actually a homeless man high on drugs.
Police Brutality: They will always kick and punch Cash's body when they defeat him. The other hunters don't do so unless Cash has died after putting up a good fight.
Punch-Clock Villain: In a twisted sense, as it seems like most of the police officers are just doing their jobs, responding to a late-shift to look for some crazy homeless guy on drugs that the chief of police needs handled, bitterly mentioning how they're ditching their families and sleep for a petty job. On the other hand, nearly all of them display a fondness for unjustified violence and would much rather kill the perpetrator than apprehend him peacefully, even before it’s obvious Cash is on a massive cop-killing spree.
Revenge Before Reason: The SWAT team that corners Cash at the end of "Trained to Kill" are particularly angry that Cash killed so many of their friends and colleagues. Enough that they attempt to outright kill him rather than bring him to Starkweather alive or arrest him. However, the Cerberus show up and kill them all before they can.
Swat Team: A SWAT team is called in to assist the regular police units after Cash saves the Journalist. Unlike the CCPD though, the SWAT are seem to be responding to a murderous cop-killer running around town based on their dialogue, and seem to have no idea about what's actually going on. They utilize SWAT tactics when chasing Cash, meaning that his stealthy tricks are less effective.
Zerg Rush: When Cash sneaks into a casino being used as a police vantage point, he clears the entire building and disposes of the sniper preventing him from escaping. With police dispatch not getting any response from the now dead officers, a whole squad arrive from down the street to raid the casino with overwhelming force. Trying to skip clearing the casino and just walking down the street instead means alerting every cop on the block to come and gun you down in a volley of gunfire impossible to escape alive from.

The Cerberus

A mercenary force made up of former soldiers and ex-government agents who act as Starkweather's private security force. Commanded by The Cerberus Leader, they drags Cash from one snuff film set to the next, and provide the security for Starkweather's mansion in the final mission.

Artificial Brilliance: Cerberus tend to subvert old behaviors shown in previous Hunters: they prefer to investigate noises in groups (and will sometimes even wait for backup before proceeding), will often shoot into the shadows to flush Cash out, do not give up on searching as easily as other Hunters and catching the attention of one Cerberus will usually have him radio in everyone else to come to his location for a fight.
- Perhaps unintended, but the ending of the level Key Personnel has a room full of Cerberus who were manning the security cameras in the mansion, only accessible by a single door. You need to clear the room out to continue, and absolutely nothing will convince them to come out from their fortified position.
Beast in the Maze: The whole unit falls victim to this twice at once, with Piggsy breaking free and Cash escaping their custody. With two an absolutely insane butcher with a chainsaw and a vengeful ex-convict with dozens of kills to his name that night alone, the Cerberus are understandably nervous enough about the situation that they're planning on ditching Starkweather to deal with it by himself, but are stuck in the estate trying to hold off the duo's rampage.
Cold Sniper: The outer walls of Starkweather's mansion has a row of snipers guarding it, forcing Cash to shimmy along the darkness to take them out.
Continuity Cameo: They're mentioned in Grand Theft Auto Online, with their armor and masks being purchasable as cosmetic items.
Elite Mooks: By far the most difficult "hunters" that Cash faces, and are powerful enough to ambush and kill the CCPD SWAT team.
Foil: To the Wardogs. The Wardogs and the Cerberus are the two most militarized gangs in the game, and their respective leaders (Ramirez and the Cerberus Leader) even serve as Co-Dragons for Starkweather. However, the Wardogs are a ragtag group of huntsmen, survivalists, and even Phony Veterans with little in the way of discipline who participate in Starkweather’s Snuff Film and enjoy Hunting the Most Dangerous Game. The Cerberus, meanwhile, are much more organized and better equipped Private Military Contractors who are tasked with escorting Cash from one filming location to the next and protecting Starkweather’s mansion, and much of their dialogue implies that they are Punch-Clock Villains to at least some extent.
Gang of Hats: A more professional and compentent organization of hired guns, always seen wearing pitch-black body armor and gas masks with blood-red lenses. Mean streak aside, they’re probably the most down-to-Earth 'gang' faced in the game.
Gas Mask Mooks: Their dialogue complains about the lack of peripheral vision given by them.
Glass Cannon: By this point in the game, there are powerful assault rifles nearly everywhere for Cash to wield, which are lethal enough to shred an enemy in a second even by just aiming for their torso… but that also means the Cerberus are packing tons of these weapons as well. Chances are, one Cerberus can just as easily kill Cash almost as easily as he could kill him.
Mildly Military: They're crass, rude to each other and are far from what you'd consider a professional soldier. But then again, they're far better at teamwork than the rest of the enemies faced before.
More Dakka: Most of their members are equipped with assault rifles, making them the most well-armed enemies in the game.
Pædo Hunt: One of the searching lines a Cerberus may use is this:
"I bet this guy’s a pedophile! Only a paedo would hide like this!!"
Private Military Contractors: They're mercenaries who seem to work exclusively for Starkweather.
Putting on the Reich: The Cerberus soldiers dress completely in black, they use gas masks, and if you look closely one of the members has a red armband with a white circle and a black skull, obviously alluding to Nazi armbands.
Punch-Clock Villain: Much of their dialogue has them complain that they're working overtime for this, bitterly hoping that the pay's gonna be worth it. Idle dialogue also has them talk about mundane things like sports games and money bets they've made earlier.
Red and Black and Evil All Over: Pitch-black bodysuits, with red colored glasses for their masks.
Villainous Rescue: At first it was their job to escort Cash across different film shoot locations after he got himself knee-deep in a gang's territory, but it truly becomes a rescue when Cash is surrounded by a SWAT team about to summarily execute him on the spot before the Cerberus suddenly arrive to gun them all down and kidnap Cash to Starkweather's mansion.

Manhunt 2

Major Characters

Daniel Lamb

Voiced by: Ptolemy Slocum

The dazed and confused protagonist of the second game, who finds himself with a suddenly clear head after strangling a doctor injecting him with a drug amidst a massive thunderstorm, knocking out the power from his insane asylum. He meets and is guided by a fellow inmate named Leo Kasper, who guides him through his journey as they try to survive The Projects attempts to silence both of them. In actuality, Daniel Lamb is a former Project scientist who volunteered for an experiment meant to create effective government assassins via inserting a split-murderous personality in their heads, with the capabilities to switch personalities when an enemy must be killed / when the killer must remain ignorant of what happened.

Action Survivor: He is very reluctant to kill at the start of the game, though in his situation he quickly learns to at least cope with it. Though this is Played With, since the blackouts he gets are really Leo taking over his body momentarily.
And I Must Scream: Possibly implied after Dr. Pickman mind controlled him into calming down and obeying his orders after Daniel/Leo murdered their wife. Though Danny was seen calmly sitting down to watch TV and forget what happened, the last shot is a close up of Daniel's face as he screams in agony in his mind.
Anti-Villain: Type II, as he clearly regrets what he's doing. Most of his and Leo's targets are members of the Project, but the Anti-Villain line is blurred as there are some civilians and cops that he has the option to horrifically torture. While Leo pushes Daniel to commit these acts, Daniel has no desire or pleasure to.
The Apprentice: Leo views Daniel as this in some of his quotes.
Leo: You've become a bigger killer than I ever could. I'm fucking proud of you, brother!
The Atoner: In the good ending, specifically by mentally burying his dead wife that he murdered while under Leo's control.
Badass Bookworm: A lab technician who fights his way through scores of hardened criminals and killers during the course of the game. Also because he was under the control of his split personality as well.
Beware the Nice Ones: Though he's seemingly a genuinely Nice Guy, he can get brutal, especially when goaded into it by Leo.
Book Ends: Starts the game off with no recollection of his past, and reverts back to that state in the good ending.
Contrasting Sequel Main Character: He shares a few notable differences from Cash. Whereas Cash was The Stoic, never batting an eye when he kills someone violently, Daniel vomits after killing an orderly and displays remorse. Likewise, although Cash murdered people violently, he still kept even his most brutal kills relatively quick, while even Daniel's quickest and hastiest executions are still grisly and the worst of them border on torture. Cash doesn't have a lot to say, whereas Daniel speaks several times in every level. Finally, though both are guided by a disembodied voice, Cash is hearing Starkweather through an earpiece and Daniel is hearing Leo's voice in his head.
Death of Personality: Occurs in the alternate ending after Leo kills off his personality. Possibly occurs in the normal ending too considering how he apparently forgets absolutely everything about himself and his past and is guided by a simple note on how to start his new peaceful life free of his twisted past.
Expy: His appearance is based on the infamous sketch of the Zodiac Killer.
Final Boss: Only in the alternate ending. Unlike the level leading to the regular ending which concludes after Daniel uses stealth to avoid and execute multiple mental clones of Leo before burying the body of his wife, Leo's final level ends with a climactic mental showdown with the player controlling Leo as he engages in a final shootout with Daniel's personality and ultimately killing him off.
Four Eyes, Zero Soul: Subverted. Unlike Leo and despite being able to commit acts of senseless cruelty, he doesn't take any pleasure from the torture he inflicts on others.
Genius Bruiser: A normal lab technician turned brutal killer with a degree in biochemistry.
Heroic BSoD: When he finds out how his wife died. He then proceeds to try to rid Leo for causing it.
Identity Amnesia: He starts the game not knowing where he is, or who Leo is. He starts to remember by the end of the second level.
- Occurs again in the good ending, but this time with a note giving him a new identity and address to take in from a mysterious provider.
Improbable Weapon User: Goes from axes to sledgehammers and sickles... to pliers, syringes and even a pen. Not that it makes it any less gruesome.
Jekyll & Hyde: The Jekyll to Leo's Hyde.
Laser-Guided Amnesia: In the good ending Daniel rids himself of Leo and wakes up on a road in the woods, possibly from either killing his split personality or from Dr. Whyte's own doing. He has no memory of anything that has happened or even his own name, and he follows a note left for him that gives him a new identity and address for a new home to live in peace in.
My God, What Have I Done?: He seems very reluctant to kill, which is most present when he kills one of the doctors in the mental institute. He reacts with this when he realizes that he murdered his wife.
- To elaborate, he reacts to his first two kills very poorly: first he's mortified over what he's done and starts throwing up in disgust/horror, the second time he's stunned for a few moments before forcing himself to continue forward.
Nice Guy: The reason why he is in this mess was because he wanted to support his family, after all. He is at least friendlier than Leo.
No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Inflicts this with a shovel on Leo in the good ending.
Daniel: My name... is Daniel Lamb. My NAME... is DANIEL LAMB!!
One-Man Army: He takes on assassins, sexual deviants, scientists, militia, gangbangers, corrupt hicks and pimps with relative ease. Though his split-personality might have something to do with that.
Professor Guinea Pig: He was a member of the Project, and volunteered to have Leo inserted into his head to financially support his family.
Reluctant Mad Scientist: A former scientist on the Project. If the interviews he has on the official website are any indication, he regards the experiments in inserting the personalities of serial killers into ordinary people with abject horror, stating that they were creating monsters. As far as we can tell, his only contributions are a special drug that can temporarily restore the memories of amnesiacs, and allowing the scientists to insert Leo's personality into his mind as part of an experiment and only because the financial compensation will help his family.
Teach Him Anger: In order for them to survive, Leo makes Daniel to have no quarrels about killing in order to live, despite Danny's wishes. He gains the will to kill, though Leo later ends up regretting it.
Unscrupulous Hero: Was involved in The Project in order to support his family and later, forced to resort to brutal methods in order to stay alive. Becomes a Villain Protagonist if the player chooses to torture and kill some civilians and cops. Having him give in to this will allow Leo to take over his personality.
Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds:Both Manhunt 2's website and the game itself showcase the horrible things that the Project does to people For Science!; Before volunteering as their guinea pig, Daniel used to work for them as a researcher. Daniel can be considered The Woobie, but one can't help but wonder if he's also a Karma Houdini.

Leo Kasper

Voiced by: Holter Graham

A former government agent and Daniel Lamb's fellow asylum inmate, who helps guide Daniel through the chaos, whilst also teaching him how to kill and survive through the events of the game. In actuality, Leo is Daniel's split personality, meant to be the assassin-half of his mind through an experimental insertion of himself by The Projects desire to create effective killers. The experiment was only a partial success, in which they successfully inserted Leo into Daniels mind, but failed to allow them to switch when needed. Filled with wrath over what The Project's done, Leo is slowly trying to perform a Split-Personality Takeover in Daniel so he can fully exact his revenge against everyone related to The Project.

And I Must Scream: Attempted in the alternate ending. Rather than having Danny kill him like in the normal ending, Dr. Whyte advises Daniel to instead lock him up in his mind forever. It doesn't work.
Ax-Crazy: Goads Danny into committing Violent and Gruesome Executions against hunters, and whoops and hollers in glee if you shoot a bunch of them during a gunfight sequence.
Badass Boast: "No one can stop us, we're motherfucking invincible!"
The Bad Guy Wins: If the player achieves a higher "score" by committing more violent/gruesome executions, Leo will succeed in his Split-Personality Takeover by "killing off" the Daniel personality.
Blood Knight: He certainly loves to shed blood, and have Daniel do so as well.
Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: In many respects, Leo is one to Starkweather. Both are sadistic, immoral men who serve as a guide for the protagonists of their respective games, pretending to be their friends while encouraging them to murder their enemies as gruesomely as possible, and ultimately being responsible for the deaths of their loved ones (Cash’s family and Daniel’s wife, respectively). But whereas Starkweather was an overweight Snuff Film director who hired gangs and mercenaries to do his dirty work, Leo is an able-bodied government agent who loves shedding blood with his own two hands. Whereas Starkweather had fingers in every pie of Carcer City, to the extent of having its chief of police in his pocket, Leo, following his defection from The Project and its own influence over the city of Cottenmouth, has only Daniel to rely on. Whereas Starkweather was a normal man who communicated with Cash via an earpiece, Leo is revealed to be an alternate personality that resides within Daniel’s psyche. Finally, whereas Starkweather met his (well-deserved) end at the hands of Cash, Leo, depending on the player’s input, can either suffer the same fate courtesy of Daniel, or successfully enact a Split-Personality Takeover and come out on top.
Dark and Troubled Past: Implied. The Manhunt 2 website has files on several of the Project's experiments. One of them is one where a anti-social individual is subjected to disfiguring and horrifically painful surgeries to see if the pain and subsequent ostracization by the other patients would make him violent. It works. At the end of the file is a medical chart displaying all the surgeries performed. That chart is in Leo's file in the game manual, implying that he was the subject of that experiment.
Deadpan Snarker: When he isn't cheering over Daniel's kills or pushing him to commit murder, Leo can have a rather dry sense of humor.
Leo: (about a guard who can't tell that Daniel is holding up a severed head to the door slot) Dumb fuck can't tell his mother from his meth dealer.
Enemy Within: He is a split-personality of Daniel that was implanted by the Project, and is trying to take over Daniel's body so he could go on a murderous rampage. After being shown that Leo had murdered his wife using him, Daniel tries to get rid of him once and for all. He either succeeds or fails depending on your brutality throughout the game.
Even Evil Has Standards: While he ultimately wants to take over Danny's body, he is genuinely disgusted by what the Project puts people through, and desires to kill everyone.
Evil Feels Good: Tries to goad Danny into feeling this.
Faux Affably Evil: When he isn't giving out orders or annoyed with Danny spending too much time trying to remember his past, he almost seems to buddy with him otherwise, to the point of calling him a brother. Over the deaths of other people. This of course stops in the final chapter.
Freudian Excuse: See Dark and Troubled Past.
The Heavy: While Pickman is the Big Bad, Leo is the direct antagonist to Daniel, and he outlives Pickman in the storyline.
Hidden Depths: Implied. The interview session Dr. Whyte with him heavily imply that he'd actually enjoy living a normal, peaceful life but because of what they've done to him all he can think about is how many different ways he can kill the people around him.
Imaginary Enemy: After The Reveal.
Jekyll & Hyde: The Hyde to Daniel's Jekyll.
Kick the Dog: Throughly enjoys rubbing the death of Daniel's wife to poor Danny's face. He then either has his face met with a shovel, or kills the Daniel personality off.
Lackof Empathy: He doesn't show a single shred of guilt or remorse for all the people he's killed.
Offscreen Teleportation: Has a tendency to vanish after showing you where you need to go, and especially after a cutscene is over, usually by running offscreen. The fact that he can still speak to you after doing this is the first main hint that he doesn't quite exist as a physical presence.
Roaring Rampage of Revenge: He isn't too subtle about his plan to kill every single person involved in the Project.
Sadist: Responds with glee if Danny performs a more gruesome kill. Giving into this urge constantly will have him succeed.
Serial Killer: After the Pickman Bridge malfunctioned, Leo took over Daniel's mind and proceeded to go on a violent rampage, slaughtering police officers, random citizens and various members of the Project, culminating in him killing Danny's wife.
Skyward Scream: "I WOOOOOOOOOOOOOONN!!"
The Sociopath: He shows signs of being a textbook sociopath throughout the entire game, including a lack of remorse or guilt, fearlessness, no sense of right or wrong, manipulative behaviors, increased aggression, and so on.
Split-Personality Takeover: At first, it is shown that he simply wants to take out the Project, but this is revealed to be his ultimate plan. In the bad ending, he succeeds.
Villain Protagonist: When you play as him in specific levels. Though considering that he is a split-personality of Daniel, this trope is in full effect throughout the course of the game.
Voice of the Legion: During the final level, when he's a Hunter.
Walking Spoiler: At first, he isn't given much characteristics aside from the Ax-Crazy man who Danny escapes the asylum with who was a good friend of his, but the character takes a more interesting direction when he is revealed to NOT be his friend at all, but a Split Personality that Danny self-inserted when he used to work for the Project.

Main Antagonists

Dr. Pickman

Voiced by: Richmond Hoxie

Bad Boss: He subjects his own staff to horrific experiments and doesn't bat an eye at having them assassinated if they might compromise the Project.
Big Bad: Is the head of The Project, which seeks to implant ordinary people with the personalities of psychopaths, so that the "killer" personality can assassinate targets, and switches to the "normal" personality so that nobody can trace who sent the assassin, even under torture.
Disc-One Final Boss: Killing him is what Daniel and Leo want to do most, but Leo proves to be more of a threat to Danny's life.
Even Evil Has Standards: He looks horrified at the aftermath of Daniel killing his wife, although it could be he's just worried about what effect it will have on the Project. That said, even though he orders his underlings to coverup any evidence of the Project's involvment, he did at least spare Daniel's kids and had them placed with another family far away from Cottonmouth.
For Science!: This quote from the last chapter seals it:
I was continuing with our research, Daniel. I didn't deserve to die, there's still work to be done.
Know-Nothing Know-It-All: He HAS succeeded in implanting killer personalities into other people, but keeping the personalities separate and under control is where it all falls apart - most of the subjects have the killer personality completely override the original personality, and Dixmor Asylum is a living testament to how many people completely cracked because of this. Pickman loses his funding from The Government because of all these horrifying failures, and had to resort from "private funding" to continue the project. If Pickman had a chance to control the "experiments" of the project, he's clearly blown it a long time ago.
A Lighter Shade of Black: Pickman is a monster in his own right, but he's still miles better than Leo.
Lack of Empathy: He has absolutely no regard for his test subjects and treats his staff as disposable.
Mad Scientist: He performs all kinds of horrible and unethical experiments on people and animals with no regard for their well-being. His methods were so cruel that the government cut funding off for his work, leading Pickman to go underground and seek out illegal funding to continue his research.
Walking Spoiler: It's not so much what happens to him in the story line, it's what he was researching that leads to spoilers.

Judy Sender

A Project scientist that Daniel is trying to hunt down for answers about his past despite Leos objections. She's found overseeing The Pervs operations down in The Dungeon, and later The Pimps in the Bees Honeypot.

Flat Character: We're not given much information on her, other than Daniel believing she can explain what's going on.
Killed Mid-Sentence: Is shot by a sniper through the chest when she's cornered on the roof of a building, and then falls off onto the pavement below.
Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Does this twice when Daniel manages to track her down, first after giving him directions to his safehouse, second when Dr. Pickman orders her to try and capture Daniel alive.

Dr. Whyte

The scientist seen injecting Daniel with a drug while Daniel is viciously strangling her during an mental breakdown. She survived, and shows up again near the end of the game to explain the situation to Daniel after knocking him out.

The Atoner: Could be the reason why she's helping Daniel in the first place, if her involvement in the experiment was significant enough.
Black and Nerdy: A middle-aged black woman whose occupation is a scientist working for a Government Conspiracy.
Tranquilizer Dart: What she uses to knock out Daniel and Leo so she can take them away. The fact that only Daniel got hit with the dart and yet Leo got knocked out too is the final hint that they're not separate people, before she lays it all out for you in the following cutscene.
Unexplained Recovery: You're led to believe that she was strangled to death in the games introduction, but she suddenly appears again near the final missions of the game.
Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Part of what leads to the alternate Bad Ending is her encouraging Daniel to simply "lock" Leo away in his mind rather than actually confronting him and potentially losing his personality in the process. This only allows the Leo personality to organize his escape from the mental prison cell and gain the mental power to overpower Daniel's personality in the form of a submachine gun.

Michael Grant

Another scientist working for the Project and Daniel's best friend. He was killed in Leo's rampage six years prior to the start of the game.

Oh, Crap!: He's understandly terrified at being trapped on the island with Leo and being hunted by the Project's goons.
Noodle Incident: For some reason, Michael and Daniel had gone to an isolated, industrial island off the coast of Cottonmouth, which is where Leo killed him. Why they went there is never explained, although it's implied Leo took him there at gunpoint.
Posthumous Character: Leo murdered him in his rampage against the Project six years prior to the start of the game.
You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Pickman ordered the Project Militia to kill him, presumabely to prevent him from telling Leo how to remove the Pickman Bridge.

The Hunters

Asylum Patients (Legion)/Orderlies

Daniels fellow asylum inmates and the staff that take care of them, The Project uses this asylum as a dumping grounds for their insane failures. The plot of the game kicks off when a thunderstorm knocks out the power and releases everyone, including Daniel, from their cells, much to the horror of the staff.

The Artifact: Legion (The Patients) being a hunter group and carrying firearms in "Release Therapy" is odd considering how they're just a bunch of unarmed inmates in their limited appearances as this is likely a hold-over from the original version of "Domestic Disturbance" where the Legion (Dressed in brown robes with nooses around their necks and crosses on their backs) were used as a patrol force by the Project.
Church Militant: One of the inmates is deluded and is far from lucid, shouting at you like a priest with religious references.
Deadly Doctor: They're not exactly doctors, but the Orderlies/Nurses of the asylum have an obvious disdain for the inmates and would rather beat them to death than help.
Driven to Suicide: Some inmates take the chaos of the situation as an opportunity to end their own lives.
Insane Equals Violent: All of the patients are manic and violent, although there's context; apparently this is where the Project's failed attempts to brainwash effective killers are dumped.
Kick the Dog: The Orderlies can be seen brutally killing defenseless inmates.
Killed Offscreen: The tutorial to sneaking past hunters on the move is started with an inmate ambushing and dragging an Orderly into another room to stomp his brains out. Leo recommends you carefully avoid him.
Mook Horror Show: Not only are you free to pick off stragglers in the chaos for easy kills, but both sides are ending each other brutally. Special mention goes to an inmate in the fetal position being stomped to death by a pair of Orderlies, an inmate who got wedged in an elevator shaft and was torn in half by the moving elevator, and an inmate who got their head torn open not even 30 seconds into the mass escape.
No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Both sides are seen ganging up on each other, but the Orderlies in particular are seen most often ganging up on defenseless inmates to beat them to death. Thankfully, this means they're too busy to stop you from escaping in the chaos.
Politically Incorrect Villain: The Orderlies refer to the inmates as "loonies" and violently manhandle and mistreat them the first chance they get.

The Watchdogs

Black suited hitmen and Project agents sent out to silence any escapees and witnesses to The Projects experiments, they act as their first choice in cleaning up unintended messes.

Badass in a Nice Suit: The one common trait out of the gang. Most have variations of bandanas/ski masks/creepy masks in general, a hat, and/or Sinister Shades to compliment it.
Covert Pervert: One Watchdog can be seen browsing a Sex Shop in one of the levels.
Cloud Cuckoolander: One of the Watchdogs without British accents seems to think he's a literal dog, complete with sniffing, barking, growling, pissing to mark territory, dog-related puns and threats, and a desire to rip out Danny's jugular.
"You think when this is over you can scratch behind my ears again? I love that."
"I hate cats, man. I can't stand 'em"
"Come over here and rub my belly!"
"PAWS OF DEATH, MOTHERFUCKER!"
Dark Is Evil
Evil Brit: A few of the Watchdogs have clearly upper-class British Accents.
Forced into Evil: One member seems somewhat reluctant to his job, just asking Daniel to come out and make things easier. Dialogue tells that The Project had his family killed and forced him into serving them to wipe away his debts.
Gang of Hats: A (mostly) professional band of assassins that wear dark busniess suits and black bandanas, with the occasional fedora or shades.
The Men in Black: Deliberately invoke this vibe, as they're the Projects "Clean-Up Crew".
Red Eyes, Take Warning: A variant in Danny's mind have red Sinister Shades.
Wicked Cultured: See Evil Brit. Also, they have ridiculously upper-class European names names, like Grimmens, Hencheck, Hays...
- Upper-Class Twit: Considering how they fall for the same Artificial Stupidity as all the other hunters, they may unintentionally come off as this. One example is actually used in game as well:
Watchdog: Spengler, look for Higgs and Spaulding - they should be coming from the "adult specialty shop."
Spengler: It's called "porno", genius.
- A few also Subvert the above, like "Spengler" in the quote, by having blunt and generic American accents - not dumb, two-timing thugs, but not as classy as a Quintessential British Gentleman.

The Pervs

The Project employs The Pervs to manage one of their fronts. When they aren't conscripting new members into The Project, they're kidnapping people to satisfy their blood lust via torture in 'The Dungeon'.

Bondage Is Bad: They're located in a BDSM club.
Brainwashed and Crazy: Possibly a few: As Leo puts it: "Guys walk in expecting a blowjob, they walk out Project Zombies".
Cold-Blooded Torture: Their primary desire aside from conscripting new Project members, and the equipment and members found in The Dungeon in particular are a testament to how horrifyingly gruesome they can get. Naturally, you can turn the tables on them for some deserved karma.
Combat Sadomasochist: They enjoy torturing people to death in "The Dungeon".
Depraved Bisexual: Don't care who they torture, just so long as they get to torture someone.
Flamboyant Gay: One member in particular is a high pitched voice, fun loving man who tells gossip, playfully teases his fellow Hunters, and has a desire to molest and then murder Daniel.
Gang of Hats: Disgusting perverts and sadists at first glance with the typical taste in dark leather and chains. The even more violent members dress in fancy suits or aprons, along with Halloween masks as if they stepped out from a Slasher Movie.
The Hedonist: BIG time!
I Am a Humanitarian: One voice mentions that Danny's legs "look delicious" if they kill him.
One-Shot Character: Sorta - after Danny wrecks their operation in the BDSM club, only one gang member appears in "Red Light", manning the counter of a sex shop (and runs away if he sees you, letting the Watchdogs go after you instead).
Malevolent Masked Men: Some members wear BDSM gimp masks, but special mention goes to the torturers found in The Dungeon, who all wear rubber horse/unicorn/monkey masks while indulging in Cold-Blooded Torture.
Noodle Implements: One of them wears a gimp mask that has a strange apparatus in the form of a tube pointing upwards connected to a nozzle on it, and given their perverted nature, this is likely related to an incredibly obscure fetish.
Sham Supernatural: One member of the Pervs pretends to be a vampire, calling to the dark forces around him, making supernatural threats and has a desire to drink the blood of the dead people around him. In actuality he's just some ordinary guy who laments on how much of a loser he was in high school, and how proud he is to be a moderator on an online snuff forum.
Snuff Film: They shoot them in the rooms in the club's basement.
Unsexy Sadist: Their entire gimmick is this.

The Red Kings

A gang seen seizing control of a section of town (and murdering a civilian by ripping his tongue out), they happen to stand in the way of safely reaching the safehouse Daniel set up for himself.

Ax-Crazy: They murder a civilian by ripping his tongue out and attack Danny on sight, what else would they be!?
Brooklyn Rage: Seem to have something between Brooklyn and Bronx accents, which is odd since Cottonmouth appears to have attributes of the Deep South.
Establishing Character Moment: The aforementioned ripping out of a civilian's tongue out.
Faux Affably Evil: One of their lines when spotting Danny is "You lost buddy? We'll show ya the way home."
Gang of Hats: Mere petty goons and muggers, save for their remarkable perchant for brutality against outsiders. Wear dark red and black hoodies as their trademark.
I Love the Dead: One of their voices practically DROOLS over your corpse if he kills you.
Thank God I'm a necrophiliac...
In the Hood: Nearly all the members, except for one model in a leather jacket and a fedora - since this model usually seems to pop up only once in the level, he might be the leader of the gang. Might.
One-Shot Character: Only appear in the "Red Light" mission, and are apparently totally unrelated to the Project - you just happen to be stepping through their "turf" at the time.
Red and Black and Evil All Over: Their gang colors.
White Gangbangers

Project Militia

The (former) primary fighting force of The Project, this militia is comprised of former criminals given a chance of freedom at the exchange of fighting for them.

Boxed Crook: Composed of former criminals, who had their records "cleaned" by The Project.
- Hired Guns
Posthumous Character: Possibly, as they're only seen in the Flashback levels, with no mention of them whatsoever in the present day - since the Watchdogs are seen to do most of the Project's dirty work in the present day, it's likely that whoever wasn't massacred by Leo was expelled by The Project - if not worse.

The Pimps

Another front for The Project, this gang acts as the employees of a hotel called The Bee's Honey Pot, racking in the money from both their prostitution business and their Project benefactors.

Gang of Hats: Typical sleazy gangsters without a real theme, save that they collaborate with a Government Conspiracy.
The Guards Must Be Crazy: You can bypass one Pimp by waiting for his lap dance to cause him to moan loudly, which happens to be just loud enough for you to smash a window next to him undetected.
They Look Just Like Everyone Else!: They might be malicious hunters out to kill you, but look like ordinary people you would see as pedestrians in the Grand Theft Auto series. And are also are affiliates of The Project.
The Oldest Profession: The hotel they run acts as a front for a brothel, along with a government-funded mind control research project.
One-Shot Character: Again, only appear in one level, the "Bee's Honey Pot". However, they ARE more closely related to the plot than the Red Kings, as they're a front for The Project - it's unknown to what extent, but it's where Judy Sender is after you wreck the Pervs' operation in "Sexual Deviants". That said, it's unlikely they know all about the Project: they just take the money, turn a blind eye, and keep out any snoops.

The Bloodhounds

Bands of Hired Guns called upon to find and kill Daniel when all else fails.

Call-Back: The one with the black mask has a tattoo of the same rune that the Skinz wear.
Cloud Cuckoo Lander: One of them thinks Daniel is an actual stag he's hunting.
Cold Sniper: Their final appearance has nearly all of their members come equipped with scoped crossbows.
Composite Character: They have the Politically Incorrect Villain personalities of the Skinz, and the Militia theme of the Wardogs from the first Manhunt.
Deep South: They come with even thicker Southern accents than even the Skinz.
Gang of Hats: White supremist mercanaries like the Skinz, wearing faux-patriotic symbolism and leather masks. Some simply just wear raggedy overalls as well with virually no combat gear, as if they wear just plucked from a farming theme park.
Hired Guns: Are called Bounty Hunters by Leo, and most appear to be in the man hunt for a mix of the money, and the thrill of the hunt.
Hunting the Most Dangerous Game: Many of them treat the hunt for Daniel like they're looking for an animal. Special mention goes to one member in particular, who outright treats Daniel like a stag, complete with admiring his antlers, a wish to have his body taxidermied, and an obvious intent to use Daniel's meat to feed himself and his family.. (though he'll promise to go vegan while begging for his life).
More Dakka: Later levels have them drop their pistols and shotguns in favor of SMGs and Assault Rifles.
Politically Incorrect Villain: They're Obviously corrupt hicks, have Deep South accents, some have Confederate Flag bandannas, and some even have Ku Klux Klan hoods!
- Although strangely enough, their actual dialogue rarely has them say anything politically incorrect, making their Klansmen and Confederate Soldier apparel look more like they're meant for shock value than anything else.
Wearing a Flag on Your Head: One model of them wears a confederate flag bandanna.

Cottonmouth City Police Department

The police force of Cottonmouth who are usually encountered while on patrol.

Dirty Cop: While it's unknown if they have any ties to the project, Danny witnesses them beating a Red Kings gang member to death instead of arresting him.
Doesn't Like Guns: Oddly unlike the first game, none of the regular cops carry firearms with only the SWAT carrying firearms and only a shotgun as opposed to the more diverse set of weaponry of the Carcer City Swat Team.
Elite Mooks: The SWAT team are the last hunters encountered before the two finale missions and carry flashlight shotguns.
Gun Accessories: Cottonmouth SWAT use exclusively a shotgun with a flashlight attached.
Killer Cop: They seemingly have no interest in taking any criminals alive.
Police Brutality: Hard to call beating a suspect who's already down to death anything but this.
Shotguns Are Just Better: The SWAT team seemingly believes this as they exclusively use flashlight equipped shotguns.
Swat Team: The Cottonmouth SWAT team deploys midway through Domestic Disturbance.

Civilians

Regular innocent people that attack Danny/Leo if they see them.

Badass Bystander: They seemingly consider themselves this as they attempt to track down and beat down Danny or Leo, even saying how they won't call the cops in a specific voice line.
Suicidal Overconfidence: They aren't even part of the Police or Project, they are just ordinary people who consider themselves able to beat down what they consider a "Crackhead".
Violence is the Only Option: They hear mysterious sounds outside their home or have their motion activated lights turn on at the dead of night and decide to leave their house with a weapon instead of actually staying inside and calling the cops.

Characters / Manhunt

Manhunt

Major Characters

Main Antagonists

The Hunters

Manhunt 2

Major Characters

Main Antagonists

The Hunters

Previous

Index

Next

Characters / Manhunt

Edit Locked

Manhunt

Major Characters

Main Antagonists

The Hunters

Manhunt 2

Major Characters

Main Antagonists

The Hunters

Previous

Index

Next