Benjamin King: You forgot who you talkin' to. My name is Benjamin muthafuckin' King. I'm the man who took my crew from being a bunch of baby gangstas in Sunnyvale to being one of the most influential and feared forces in the goddamn city. You know how I did that? I said, you know how I did that?
Warren Williams: How, Mr. King?
King: I did it by knowing when it was time to build, when it was time to watch, and when it was time to act.
Warren Williams: How, Mr. King?
King: I did it by knowing when it was time to build, when it was time to watch, and when it was time to act.
Even as the Saints Row universe gets crazier with each installment, these characters manage to show off their devious stylishness and impressive charisma.
All spoilers are unmarked. You Have Been Warned!
Main Series
- The Boss, originally nicknamed "Playa", started it as self described "Kid from the Streets", who was saved from being killed in a gang war before being recruited by the Saints. Over the course of the series, the Boss near singlehandedly brings the Saints into power, bringing down their numerous rival gangs and defying death at ridiculous odds. Genuinely loyal and caring to their friends, The Boss becomes especially ruthless when they are harmed or threatened: when the Boss' surrogate brother Carlos is tortured to needing a Mercy Kill by the Brotherhood, the Boss tricks their leader into killing his girlfriend; and when their friend Aisha is killed by the Ronin, the Boss and Johnny buries one of their leaders alive. When the Boss faces an especially arrogant enemy, they tend to physically humiliate them or give them an Undignified Death. Eventually merging the Saints with Ultor, the Boss becomes a celebrity and more heroic, saving a city and even the country from a zombie outbreak and terror attacks. Their heroics eventually gets them elected as President. When facing the Zin invasion, the Boss' priority is the protection of humanity, even taking over Zinyak's empire after publicly fighting and killing him. By then, the Boss soon becomes known as "God Emperor of the Universe", with Satan wanting them to become general of Hell's army.
- Benjamin King is the founder and boss of the Vice Kings and the head of Kingdom Come Records. In addition to being one of the most powerful people in Stilwater, King is a "public darling" who has cultivated strong connections with city hall and the Stilwater PD. When the 3rd Street Saints declare war on him, he proves a capable opponent, bouncing back from losses, using his police connections to pressure the Saints, and luring many Saints into an almost completely successful trap. Dethroned in a coup led by two of his subordinates, King teams up with the Saints and personally takes revenge on those who betrayed him. Even after abandoning criminality, King achieves great success, first as an author and then in politics. One of the most savvy and charismatic crime bosses in the series, Benjamin King is notable as one of the very few gang leaders to tangle with the Saints and live.
- Dane Vogel, is the confident and charismatic Head of Special Projects at Ultor, taking over the deceased Richard Hughes' plans to gentrify Stillwater after a devastating storm. Vogel brought Ultor to the point that it pretty much runs Stillwater, with Vogel as its spokesperson. Vogel aims to continue his work by putting the new gangs of Stillwater against each other, to lower the city's property values and buying out the land, wiping out whatever gang comes out on top. Vogel initially works with the Ronin, until they shoot up a hospital and cut ties with him, at which point Vogel sells out high ranking Ronin members to the Saints, using himself as a bargaining chip. After being initially intimidated by Maero and the Brotherhood, Vogel soon turns the tables on Maero and tries to have a weapons shipment stolen out from under them. After the Board of Directors cross him, Vogel tricks the Boss into massacring them to rise up as Chairman and during his confrontation with the Boss, Vogel even attempts to fight them until he has exhausted his options. After his death, Vogel opens an Ultor branch in Hell, realizing he is better as a "kingmaker than a king". Dane helps Johnny and Kinzie undermine Satan's rule, and seeks out allies to help them. No matter the ending, Vogel and his allies come out on top of Hell's turf wars, sitting in a comfortable position of power.
- Julius Little is the original founder and leader of the Saints, founding the titular gang for the purposes of bringing protection and from the crime and corruption in Stillwater. Julius was a former member of the Vice Kings, which was founded on the same purposes, but defected when he felt they lost their way. Saving the life of the kid who would become "The Boss", Julius recruits them to the Saints and becomes a mentor to them. Julius leads the Saints to victory against their rival gangs, saving his friend and rival Benjamin King before making a deal to disband the Vice King's. When the Saints come out on top, Julius fears that the Saints are becoming the very thing they're trying to fight and that "Playa" is becoming too dangerous to control. When arrested, Julius makes a deal to disband the Saints, placing a bomb on the corrupt Richard Hughes yacht, killing Hughes and nearly killing "Playa". When a retired Julius is confronted by the Boss years later, Julius keeps his resolve and justifications, even towards his death. Years after his death, Julius' simulated memory maintains he did what he thought was right, and his only regret was his lifestyle getting his girlfriend, King's sister Angela, killed.
- Saints Row 2:
- The General, leader of the Sons of Samedi, the top drug runners of Stillwater and a warlord who utilized his old resources in arming his gang and pushing his product, and running his operations with an iron fist despite any setbacks. The General keeps himself under the radar by being constantly on the move, personally observing his operations. Always keeping a professional and level headed attitude, the General is as ruthless as he is affable, ordering mutilation as punishment for failures and betrayals; when his second in command Mr. Sunshine fails too many times, the General apologetically cuts off his ear, while expressing faith that he'll make things right. Despite their interference, the General sees the Saints as a mere nuisance, almost easily wiping them out after having the Boss kidnapped and drugged, with the Saints barely able to hold off the attack. The Boss and Shaundi had to plan ahead to ambush him, and even then the General threw all his manpower at the Saints, nearly slipping through their fingers, before being cornered and killed.
- Mr. Sunshine is the friend and second in command of The General, and the intimidating face of the Sons of Samedi. A practicing worshiper of Baron Samedi, Mr. Sunshine is the General's enforcer and overseer of many of their operations. Similarly taking the Saints interference in stride, Sunshine and The General have the Saints leader kidnapped and drugged, nearly crushing the Saints with an attack on their base. When punished for his failure, Sunshine doesn't even flinch when the General cuts off his ear, remarking he only needs one ear to hear the whispers of the Loa. When the Saints steal the Sons drugs, Loa Dust, Sunshine lures their customers into attacking the Saints, with the promise of taking the supply for free. Facing the Boss themselves, Sunshine invokes Samedi, showing his supernatural power in their fight; seemingly resurrecting after being gunned down repeatedly, the Boss eventually decapitates Sunshine to put him down for good; and even then, not everyone is sure he's actually dead.
- The Third:
- Zimos is Steelport's oldest and most influential pimp. An affable, old school gangster, Zimos was previously usurped by the Morningstar and made a gimp slave at their brothel. Escaping this, Zimos would join the Saints and help re-establish their criminal empire through drug trafficking and prostitution. Genuinely caring for the sex workers under the Saints, Zimos makes sure they are treated right, getting indigent over their mistreatment, allowing them to unionize, and having a abusive client killed. To bring down the Syndicate sex trafficking operations, Zimos would ostensibly offers the Boss off as a sex slave to infiltrate an auction, before rescuing their captives, as well as personally protecting those rescued from one of the Syndicate's ship.
- Oleg Kirrlov is a hulking, but cultured former KGB agent with a checkered past before joining the Saints. Kept captive for years and having his DNA harvested by Morningstar, when Oleg first meets the Saints, they immediately join forces to see the death of Phillipe Loren, before leading the Saints to allies to help fight the Syndicate. As intelligent as he is strong, Oleg utilizes both to aid the Saints in taking over Steelport and fighting STAG; from setting up a series of car bombs to lure STAG into a trap, personally tackling a fighter plane out of the sky, and aiding the Boss and Peirce to stop STAG and Killbane's army from laying waste to the city. A loyal if pragmatic ally, Oleg presents the Boss with ruthless but effective choices to empower the Saints; from taking Loren's former resources to add to their own; to weaponizing a zombie virus; to suggesting the Boss leave Shaundi and Viola to die to kill Killbane.
- 2022 reboot:
- The Boss remains a violent, yet charming and quick-thinking Villain Protagonist. Starting off as a mercenary working for Marshall Defense Industries, they show off a propensity for thinking on the fly, pulling off feats such as capturing the Nahualli and stopping Los Panteros' antique smuggling convoy, but get fired by Atticus Marshall after prioritizing protecting lives over securing a valuable artifact while thwarting a museum robbery. The Boss and their friends then decide to start their own gang: the Saints. Using a stolen briefcase full of land deeds, the Boss gradually expands the Saints into a sprawling criminal empire, financing illegal activity all over Santo Ileso, all while showing off other instances of ruthless resourcefulness such as infiltrating Marshall's Frontier Prison with trickery and defusing a bomb planted by the Idols before using it to destroy their yacht. But despite their lack of mercy for their enemies, the Boss is fiercely loyal towards their allies, treating even the low-ranking Saints with respect and going to great lengths to help their closest friends, up to assisting them in taking their own vengeance when they wish to on multiple occasions.
- Myra Starr is a professional and cordial Marshall Defenese Industries director, standing in contrast to her arrogant boss, Atticus Marshall. When the Boss is fired for prioritizing protecting Starr over securing an artifact, Marshall tells Starr to her face that she's expendable, at which point she starts plotting to undermine him. When Marshall takes over the Saints through a hidden clause in the Boss' contract, Myra explains to the Boss that this problem can't be solved through violence alone, and offers to help them oust Marshall through corporate sabotage, which will let Myra take over as CEO. Myra assists the Boss in pulling off a False Flag Operation, giving them a device that lets them hijack an AI-controlled tank developed by Marshall and go on a public rampage that ruins the company's reputation, turning his shareholders against him. At the board meeting, when the vote on whether to fire Atticus Marshall is tied, Myra presents the Boss as the deciding voter, which sees Marshall either killed or fired from his own company. After taking over the company, Myra keeps her promise to free the Saints from the clause, but warns them not to further interfere with Marshall.
- Agents of Mayhem: Persephone Brimstone is the calculating, no nonsense founder and leader of M.A.Y.H.E.M. Previously a Minister of L.E.G.I.O.N, Persephone directed L.E.G.I.O.N's attacks across the globe on Devil's Night, believing they would create a New World Order When she discovers the Morningstar's true intentions of rewriting reality, Persephone put a stop to it by destroying Dr. Babylon's lab, using L.E.G.I.O.N's ARK to continuously evade capture. When her formerly beloved husband has Paris destroyed to punish her, Persephone uses her resources and influence to create M.A.Y.H.E.M with the goal of ultimately destroying L.E.G.I.O.N, recruiting numerous agents of have similar vendettas. Persephone shoots down attempts to present herself in a heroic light, claiming that the fight with L.E.G.I.O.N is "Bad vs. Evil", even prioritizing the fight with L.E.G.I.O.N over collateral damage. Keeping a cool head on her shoulders, even when the ARK is attacked, Persephone sees the dismantling of Babylon's operations in Seoul, pulling out of the city after a job well done.
