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* GunNut: Most evident in the Mission "We're Going to Need Guns"
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* KickTheDog\KickTheSonOfABitch: The Boss is fond of doing this, starting from the second game. Arguably the most brutal example was crippling Matt's hand with fireworks. Matt had nothing to do with The Brotherhood other than doing their tattoos and being close friends with Maero. Oh the other hand many still view killing a teenage girl by locking her in a car and having her boyfriend unknowingly run her over at a monster truck rally as the worst thing the Boss ever did, even though she was involved in the murder of Carlos.
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* KickTheDog\KickTheSonOfABitch: The Boss is fond of doing this, starting from the second game. Arguably the most brutal example was crippling Matt's hand with fireworks. Matt had nothing to do with The Brotherhood other than doing their tattoos and being close friends with Maero. Oh the other hand many still view killing a teenage girl by locking her in a car and having her boyfriend unknowingly run her over at a monster truck rally as the worst thing the Boss ever did, even though [[BitchInSheepsClothing she was involved in the murder of Carlos. Carlos.]]
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'''[[NoNameGiven Playa]] approaches Jack's table and [[ExactWords reaches for the money Jack had just been counting.]]
'''Jack''': "Evidently, you aren't familiar with the no-touching rule..."
'''Jack''': "Evidently, you aren't familiar with the no-touching rule..."
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* LiteralMinded: Occasionally shows signs of this. Take this instance in Saints Row 1, for example:
--> '''Jack''': "Hey kid, how'd you like to make some quick cash."
'''[[NoNameGiven Playa]] approaches Jack's table and [[ExactWords reaches for the money Jack had just been counting.]]
'''Jack''': "Evidently, you aren't familiar with the no-touching rule..."
--> '''Jack''': "Hey kid, how'd you like to make some quick cash."
'''[[NoNameGiven Playa]] approaches Jack's table and [[ExactWords reaches for the money Jack had just been counting.]]
'''Jack''': "Evidently, you aren't familiar with the no-touching rule..."
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* TranquilFury: When the boss get his revenge on the people who killed some of his teammates, he is calm but what he does to the Brotherhood or to Killbane if he gets his ends on him is especially gruesome and mean spirited. Also is reaction to when his evil clone says that he didn't even shed a tear when [[spoiler: aisha's death]] is a cold: is that what you think?
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* HypocriticalHumor: After escaping the 50's simulation in ''Saints Row IV'', the Boss complains to Kinzie that the clothes they are wearing are horrible. Much later, after saving Kinzie from the same simulation, the Boss makes fun about the clothes that Kinzie was wearing in this simulation. It is especially hypocritical if you play a female Boss, because in her version of the 50's simulation she is herself wearing a PaletteSwap of the poodle skirt.
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** Blonde ponytail, red tank and black trousers, or jacket and jeans and you have Series/{{Buffy|the Vampire Slayer}}. Crop top and cargoes, WesternAnimation/KimPossible. With a little work you can pull off JohnCena and RicFlair (replete with their signature taunts). All part of the fun of course. There are even tutorials on how to make your Boss into a doppelganger of one of the other Saints, leading to cutscenes with two Johnny Gats conversing with each other, the only concrete difference being the voice and the height.
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** Blonde ponytail, red tank and black trousers, or jacket and jeans and you have Series/{{Buffy|the Vampire Slayer}}. Crop top and cargoes, WesternAnimation/KimPossible. With a little work you can pull off JohnCena Wrestling/JohnCena and RicFlair Wrestling/RicFlair (replete with their signature taunts). All part of the fun of course. There are even tutorials on how to make your Boss into a doppelganger of one of the other Saints, leading to cutscenes with two Johnny Gats conversing with each other, the only concrete difference being the voice and the height.
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* BewareTheSillyOnes: Even his crew points out that he is ridiculous what with all the fashionista sense, wacky hijinks and problem catching up with technology, he is also a hardened killer who knows about gang warfare tactics.
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* TookALevelInKindness: In ''Saints Row The Third'' and especially in ''Saints Row IV''. ''How the Saints Saved Christmas'' makes Boss heroic to the point [[Franchise/MassEffect Shepard]] would be scouting for them, were it not for, say, killing Julius.
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* TookALevelInKindness: In ''Saints Row The Third'' and especially in ''Saints Row IV''. ''How the Saints Saved Christmas'' makes Boss heroic to the point [[Franchise/MassEffect Shepard]] would be scouting for them, were it not for, say, killing Julius. Subverted if you take the kill Killbane ending in the third game, as the Boss will let members of his crew die (Dedication to his gang was the only saving grace the Boss had in the second game) and take over the city.
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** Surprisingly ''{{averted}}'' in ''Saints Row IV''.
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** Surprisingly ''{{averted}}'' in ''Saints Row IV''. He still does his usual thing but it's on an alien Overlord simulation, hence the only victims are combatant or programs.
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** Also, when it came to light that his [[ProductionNickname Production Name]] was Mikey (pronounced "Mickey"), fans went with that.
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** Also, when it came to light that his [[ProductionNickname Production Name]] was Mikey (pronounced "Mickey"), fans went with that.[[note]]For the Female Boss, they use [[DistaffCounterpart Michelle]][[/note]]
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** BadassInANiceSuit: One of the possible starter clothing choices in VideoGame/SaintsRowTheThird.
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** BadassInANiceSuit: One of the possible starter clothing choices in VideoGame/SaintsRowTheThird.''VideoGame/SaintsRowTheThird''. The Boss was also depicted in suits for the pre-release teaser pictures for ''The Third'' and ''IV''.
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* BuxomIsBetter/BiggerIsBetterInBed: With the "sex appeal" slider all the way to the max, your female Boss will have BoobsOfSteel and the male one a GagPenis... Both with a wide variety of tops/pants to make it all the more obvious !
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* BuxomIsBetter/BiggerIsBetterInBed: With the "sex appeal" slider all the way to the max, your female Boss will have BoobsOfSteel and the male one a GagPenis... Both with a wide variety of tops/pants to make it all the more obvious !obvious!
* CanonName: PlayedForLaughs in ''Saints Row IV''. If you choose the Creator/NolanNorth voice, he says his name is actually Nolan.
** Also, when it came to light that his [[ProductionNickname Production Name]] was Mikey (pronounced "Mickey"), fans went with that.
* CanonName: PlayedForLaughs in ''Saints Row IV''. If you choose the Creator/NolanNorth voice, he says his name is actually Nolan.
** Also, when it came to light that his [[ProductionNickname Production Name]] was Mikey (pronounced "Mickey"), fans went with that.
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* SharpDressedMan: In ''all'' of the pre-release/teaser images for The Boss always shows him in a very nice tailored black suit with the Saints Fleur-de-Lis as buttons (and the pattern on his vest).
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* TechnicolorEyes: You can choose the eye color, which ranges from CommonEyeColors, to things like PurpleEyes, RedEyes, [[BlackEyesOfEvil completely black eyes]], completely white eyes or even [[AnimalEyes green eyes with cat pupils]].
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* TechnicolorEyes: You can choose the eye color, which ranges from CommonEyeColors, to things like PurpleEyes, RedEyes, {{Red Eyes|TakeWarning}}, [[BlackEyesOfEvil completely black eyes]], completely white eyes or even [[AnimalEyes green eyes with cat pupils]].
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* {{Adorkable}}: Unusually for a [[AxCrazy mass-murdering sociopath]], Female 1 boss shows shades of this in most of the games after ''2'', examples including her aforementioned interests in movies, dancing, art, [[{{Fanboy}} and Burt Reynolds]], and her gleeful, maniacal laughs when she starts learning superpowers in ''4''.
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* {{Adorkable}}: Unusually for a [[AxCrazy mass-murdering sociopath]], [[LauraBailey Female 1 boss boss]] shows shades of this in most of the games after ''2'', examples including her aforementioned interests in movies, dancing, art, [[{{Fanboy}} and Burt Reynolds]], and her gleeful, maniacal laughs when she starts learning superpowers in ''4''.
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* {{Adorkable}}: Unusually for a [[AxCrazy mass-murdering sociopath]], Female 1 boss shows shades of this in most of the games after ''2'', examples including her aforementioned interests in movies, dancing, art,[[{{Fanboy}} and Burt Reynolds]], and her gleeful, maniacal laughs when she starts learning superpowers in ''4''.
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* {{Adorkable}}: Unusually for a [[AxCrazy mass-murdering sociopath]], Female 1 boss shows shades of this in most of the games after ''2'', examples including her aforementioned interests in movies, dancing, art,[[{{Fanboy}} art, [[{{Fanboy}} and Burt Reynolds]], and her gleeful, maniacal laughs when she starts learning superpowers in ''4''.
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* {{Adorkable}}: Unusually for a [[AxCrazy mass-murdering sociopath]], Female 1 boss shows shades of this in most of the games after ''2'', examples including her aforementioned interests in movies, dancing, art,[[{{Fanboy}} and Burt Reynolds]], and her gleeful, maniacal laughs when she starts learning superpowers in ''4''.
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** "[[FlatWhat Fuck you say?]]" (In ''2''.)
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** BareYourMidriff: If chosen as a female, she can wear these outfits.
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* LargeAndInCharge: In Saints Row 2, The Boss is taller than almost every other person in the game by default; the only person taller is Maero. Gets really noticeable if you put Boss in heels as well.
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* LargeAndInCharge: Though the Boss no longer towers over everybody in Saints Row 3 and 4, you can still make him/her more freakishly muscular than any of the other Saints.
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* WhatTheHellIsThatAccent: The [[EveryThingSoundsSexierInFrench French Female voice]] for the Boss in ''IV'' will sound ''very'' awkward to a native French speaker, due to the fact that French isn't the voice actress' first language. What makes it particularly jarring is that [[BigBad Phillipe Loren]] from ''The Third'' was actually voiced by a Frenchman and had therefore a truly authentic accent. Also doubles as GratuitousFrench.
--> '''French Boss :''' "I am tré puissant !"
--> '''French Boss :''' "I am tré puissant !"
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* BuxomIsBetter/BiggerIsBetterInBed: With the "sex appeal" slider all the way to the max, your female Boss will have BoobsOfSteel and the male one a GagPenis... Both with a wide variety of tops/pants to make it all the more obvious !
* EvilIsSexy : And ''how''. Not only is it possible (especially in the [[VideoGame/SaintsRowTheThird Third]] and [[VideoGame/SaintsRowIV fourth games]]) to make a drop-dead gorgeous Boss of either gender, you also have access to a ''really'' wide variety of... Flattering outfits to choose from.
* CreepySouvenir: Each game allows you to get tattoos from rival gangs' logos. First, you'd wonder why a gangster who's all about loyalty to his gang would get such things forever marked on their skin... [[FridgeLogic Then, you realize]] that getting those tattoos ''after'' eliminating said gangs and viciously killing off their leaders means you basically show them off as [[BattleTrophy trophies]], the same way you do when you unlock rival gang cars (such as [[spoiler: Maero's [[CoolCar monster truck]]]]) to drive around in after you finish their storylines.
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* KnifeNut: It's easy to play such a character in the first and second game; in ''[[VideoGame/SaintsRowTheThird]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/SaintsRowIV]]'' however, there is only one bladed weapon and both are [[KatanasAreJustBetter swords]].
* LeanAndMean
* LeanAndMean
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* KnifeNut: It's easy to play such a character in the first and second game; in ''[[VideoGame/SaintsRowTheThird]]'' [[VideoGame/SaintsRowTheThird the Third]] and ''[[VideoGame/SaintsRowIV]]'' [[VideoGame/SaintsRowIV fourth]] games however, there is only one bladed weapon and both are [[KatanasAreJustBetter swords]].
*LeanAndMeanLeanAndMean: Though from the third game on, the shoulders' width cannot be changed, meaning even the skinniest Boss possible will still look strong to a certain degree.
*
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* GratuitousFrench: ''All over the place'' in ''[[VideoGame/SaintsRowIV Saints Row IV]]'' should you select the Female Voice 2. Sadly, the voice actress isn't a native speaker, making those frequent french bits sound really awkward to the native ear.
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* KnifeNut
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* KnifeNutKnifeNut: It's easy to play such a character in the first and second game; in ''[[VideoGame/SaintsRowTheThird]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/SaintsRowIV]]'' however, there is only one bladed weapon and both are [[KatanasAreJustBetter swords]].
* RedEyesTakeWarning: From ''[[VideoGame/SaintsRowTheThird Saints Row: The Third]]'' on, the Protagonist can have red eyes and it can even be [[JustifiedTrope justified]] if you make an [[EvilAlbino albino]] character.
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* SassyBlackWoman
* ScaryBlackMan
* ScaryBlackMan
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* SassyBlackWoman
SassyBlackWoman: In ''[[VideoGame/SaintsRow2 Saints Row 2]]'', you have a Female African-American voice, but it was replaced in the following games by a Russian and French voice, respectively.
*ScaryBlackManScaryBlackMan: The default player character in ''[[VideoGame/SaintsRow2 Saints Row 2]]''.
*
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** ''Definitely'' with Gat. The Boss leaps into action as soon as they learn about his murder trial in 2, in ''The Trouble with Clones'' in 3 there's no question the Saints are going to go help [[spoiler: Johnny Tag even though he's a flawed clone of Gat and not actually Gat]], and in 4 as soon as there's even a whiff of a chance that Gat is bouncing around inside the Zin Matrix the Boss is demanding to go after him.
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** ''Definitely'' with Gat. The Boss leaps into action as soon as they learn about his murder trial in 2, in ''The Trouble with Clones'' in 3 there's no question the Saints are going to go help [[spoiler: Johnny Tag even though he's a flawed clone of Gat and not actually Gat]], and in 4 as soon as there's even a whiff of a chance that Gat is bouncing around inside the Zin Matrix the Boss is demanding to go after him. So much so in fact, the Boss nearly beats [[spoiler:Matt]] to a pulp just for ''questioning'' whether this was a good idea.
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** CulturedBadass: Supporting the idea that the Boss's BookDumb aspects are mere ObfuscatingStupidity, they call themselves a "Puckish Rogue" in Saints Row VI (referring to Puck in Shakespeare's AMidsummerNightsDream), and are repeatedly mentioned to be fans of Creator/JaneAusten (on top of the Creator/TroyBaker Boss voice confessing that he read Literature/JaneEyre 13 times near the end of VideoGame/SaintsRowTheThird).
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** CulturedBadass: Supporting the idea that the Boss's BookDumb aspects are mere ObfuscatingStupidity, they call themselves a "Puckish Rogue" in Saints Row VI IV (referring to Puck in Shakespeare's AMidsummerNightsDream), and are repeatedly mentioned to be fans of Creator/JaneAusten (on top of the Creator/TroyBaker Boss voice confessing that he read Literature/JaneEyre 13 times near the end of VideoGame/SaintsRowTheThird).
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* FrenchJerk: Female 2 in ''IV''.
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* FrenchJerk: Female 2 in ''IV''. Though it only applies to ennemies; [[BenevolentBoss she's always very friendly and polite when talking to her fellows Saints]].
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* PoirotSpeak: Russian Boss in ''The Third'' and French Boss in ''IV''.
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* PoirotSpeak: Russian Boss in ''The Third'' and French Boss in ''IV''.''IV''; especially jaring for the latter since she was voiced by an American voice actress instead of a native French speaker, as opposed to Philippe Loren in ''[[VideoGame/SaintsRowTheThird The Third]]''.
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* TechnicolorEyes: You can choose the eye color, which ranges from CommonEyeColors, to things like PurpleEyes, RedEyes, [[BlaskEyesOfEvil completely black eyes]], completely white eyes or even [[AnimalEyes green eyes with cat pupils]].
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* TechnicolorEyes: You can choose the eye color, which ranges from CommonEyeColors, to things like PurpleEyes, RedEyes, [[BlaskEyesOfEvil [[BlackEyesOfEvil completely black eyes]], completely white eyes or even [[AnimalEyes green eyes with cat pupils]].
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* TechnicolorEyes: You can choose the eye color, which ranges from CommonEyeColors, to things like PurpleEyes, RedEyes, [[BlaskEyesOfEvil completely black eyes]], completely white eyes or even [[AnimalEyes green eyes with cat pupils]].
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* ProtagonistWithoutAPast: In the first game, he's just an ordinary schmuck who happens to walk right into a gang war, without any backstory. Was he a criminal beforehand, or a law-abiding citizen seduced by the criminal lifestyle? We don't find out. However, along with having ''way'' more dialogue, we get some small tidbits of info. For example, they mention coming to a bordello since they were a teenager, and one of the female voices reveals that her father loved guns and told her that you could never have enough. Plus, the events of the first game ''are'' your protagonist's past now. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in IV when the Boss says flat out that no one cares who they were before they joined the Saints.
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* ProtagonistWithoutAPast: In the first game, he's just an ordinary schmuck who happens to walk right into a gang war, without any backstory. Was he a criminal beforehand, or a law-abiding citizen seduced by the criminal lifestyle? We don't find out. However, along with having ''way'' more dialogue, we get some small tidbits of info. For example, they mention coming to a bordello since they were a teenager, one of the male voices in the third game implies he's been killing people from a young age, and one of the female voices reveals that her father loved guns and told her that you could never have enough. Plus, the events of the first game ''are'' your protagonist's past now. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in IV when the Boss says flat out that no one cares who they were before they joined the Saints.
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* EvilAlbino: The Boss can be one, if the Player so wishes. Made even easier from the third game onwards, allowing your Boss to have [[RedEyesTakeWarning red eyes]] to go with their white hair, pale skin and freckles.
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* TheGrinch: As shown in ''How the Saints Saved Christmas'', they are ''not'' a Christmas fan. Getting them out of this is one of the main plot points of the DLC, and both Shaundis did in fact refer to them as such, with them retorting that they don't know what it is.
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* TheGrinch: As shown in ''How the Saints Saved Christmas'', they are ''not'' a Christmas fan. Getting them out of this is one of the main plot points of the DLC, and both Shaundis Shaundi and Future Shaundi did in fact refer to them as such, with them retorting that they don't know what it is.
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The Scrooge really isn\'t a Christmas trope (referring to miserly characters). The Grinch is more like it.
* TheGrinch: As shown in ''How the Saints Saved Christmas'', they are ''not'' a Christmas fan. Getting them out of this is one of the main plot points of the DLC, and both Shaundis did in fact refer to them as such, with them retorting that they don't know what it is.
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* TheScrooge: As shown in ''How the Saints Saved Christmas'', they are ''not'' a Christmas fan. Getting them out of this is one of the main plot points of the DLC.
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!! The Playa/The Boss/The President/[[spoiler:The God emperor for life of the universe]] (all incarnations)
->'''Played By:''' Uncredited ([=SR1=]), large number of voice options thereafter[[note]]Male Voice 1: Charles Shaughnessy (''2''), Creator/TroyBaker (''3'' and ''IV''), Male Voice 2: Kenn Michael (''2'', ''3'' and ''IV''), Male Voice 3: Alex Mendoza (''2''), Creator/RobinAtkinDownes (''3'' and ''IV''), Female Voice 1: Katie Semine (''2''), Creator/LauraBailey (''3'' and ''IV''), Female Voice 2: Creator/GinaBowes (''2''), TaraPlatt (''3''), Diane Michelle (''IV'') Female Voice 3: Rebecca Sanabria (''2'' and ''3''), Creator/SumaleeMontano (''IV''), Zombie: Creator/SteveBlum (''3''), [[AsHimself Nolan North]]: Creator/NolanNorth (''IV'')[[/note]]
The fully-customizable[[note]]In the first game, could only be male[[/note]] protagonist of the series. An anti-heroic ([[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope except in the second game]]) [[TheSociopath sociopath]], the [[NoNameGiven unnamed]] protagonist, usually referred to as "Playa" in the first game and "Boss" afterwards, rises from an anonymous citizen on the streets of Stilwater recruited by Julius Little into the Third Street Saints, to a lieutenant of the aforementioned gang, the eventual leader of the Saints, an international celebrity, and finally the ''freakin' [[PresidentEvil President of the United States]]''. According to pre-release information for ''VideoGame/SaintsRowGatOutOfHell'', they eventually become [[spoiler:GodEmperor of the Universe]].
''Main Tropes''
* AntiHero: On good days... they don't come often.
** Mellows out considerably in the third game, and not ''quite ''willing to commit as many atrocities as in Saints Row 2, with several PetTheDog moments. However, the Boss is still quite the nasty piece of work and therefore, remains a VillainProtagonist.
** Veers straight into [[Analysis/AntiHero Unscrupulous Hero]] in Saints Row IV, wherein s/he not only expresses concern for the people under their jurisdiction as President, but also spends the ''entire game'' working to save people and take down the BigBad. And as the game takes place largely inside a simulation, technically they never commit any crimes at all.
* AscendedFanboy: The Boss working for Burt Reynolds.
** Female voice 1, going by the number of movie references, is evidently a film buff. She's basically living out a gangster version of ''Film/{{Scarface 1983}}'' with the action [[UpToEleven up to a hundred and eleven.]]
* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Obviously. The Boss is the single-largest Badass in the entire series, the leader of a very powerful and influential gang, and eventually, the United States of America.
* {{Badass}}: It would be easier to describe the ways the Boss isn't a badass.
** BadassBoast: Lots of voice options means lots of boasts.
---> '''Female 2''': ''(Defending against Zin)'' I will kill enough of you to build a ladder back to Earth!
** BadassInANiceSuit: One of the possible starter clothing choices in VideoGame/SaintsRowTheThird.
** BadassInCharge: It's telling that there has never been an attempt to dethrone the Boss after assuming power from within the Saints.
** BadassInDistress: In VideoGame/SaintsRowGatOutOfHell, he/she is kidnapped by Satan. The entire plot is to go ToHellAndBack and save him/her.
** BadassNormal: In ''VideoGame/SaintsRowIV'', the President is able to go hand-to-hand with Zinyak, an alien twice his size. They appear evenly matched until Zinyak invokes his psychic powers.
*** EmpoweredBadassNormal: The Boss gains superpowers in Saints Row 4, though only in the simulation and [[spoiler: in the finale thanks to PoweredArmor]].
** CulturedBadass: Supporting the idea that the Boss's BookDumb aspects are mere ObfuscatingStupidity, they call themselves a "Puckish Rogue" in Saints Row VI (referring to Puck in Shakespeare's AMidsummerNightsDream), and are repeatedly mentioned to be fans of Creator/JaneAusten (on top of the Creator/TroyBaker Boss voice confessing that he read Literature/JaneEyre 13 times near the end of VideoGame/SaintsRowTheThird).
* BadBadActing: The Boss simply cannot act, at all. Either on movie sets, or when their life really does depend on it while they're impersonating Cyrus Temple.
* BenevolentBoss: Despite being a [[TheSociopath Sociopath]], Boss is very protective and fair to subordinates so long as they stay loyal.
* BerserkButton: In the sequels, harming the Boss's subordinates is enough for them to take a break from carefree mayhem and give the perpetrator their ''full'' attention.
** Also betrayal, you can be an undercover cop or a former rival gang member but never fuck with the Boss when it comes to loyalties or your own personal grim reaper will hunt you to the ends of the earth.
** You honor the dead. Doesn't matter who you are, you honor the dead. Interrupting a funeral will have Boss help the mourner literally bury those who do so alive, unleash TheDragon to go on an AxCrazy RoaringRampageOfRevenge, and if you so choose go terrorist.
*** Makes one wonder what they'd do to the [[AcceptableReligiousTargets Westboro Baptist Church]].
** A more minor and humorous example is in the Boss's love of BizMarkie. You don't butcher Biz Markie and get away with it for long. Especially if you're NolanNorth.
--> "Zinyak! Zinyak, you leave Biz Markie alone! You leave Markie out of this!! Oh, you sunuvabitch...I'M GONNA KILL YOU! '''''IT'S NOT OPERA!!!!!'''''"
** In ''VideoGame/SaintsRowIV'', when Matt Miller suggests that [[spoiler:rescuing Johnny Gat]] is a bad idea, the Boss knocks him to the ground with a MegatonPunch and starts beating the shit out of him; had the other Saints not intervened, the Boss may well have beaten poor Matt to death.
* BiTheWay: All party members can be romanced by the Boss, regardless of gender.
* BookDumb: Zig-zagged. At times the Boss comes across as downright stupid, but there are occasional hints that it's of the [[ObfuscatingStupidity obfuscating]] variety and every once in a while the Boss says something genuinely insightful or smart (which almost always results in a shocked reaction from the other characters).
* ButForMeItWasTuesday: When you call up Keith David and [[spoiler: Maero]] as homies, Keith tells [[spoiler: Maero]] that he has never heard the Boss talk about him [[spoiler: or the Brotherhood]]. [[spoiler: Maero]] thinks it's because of this trope and figures the Boss probably doesn't bother thinking twice about the people they have killed. It's then subverted when Keith points out that the Boss has talked about the other gangs, their respective leaders and even [[ButtMonkey Donnie Wong]].
* CatchPhrase:
** "It's our time now! Let's get this shit started!" (Which is a BorrowedCatchphrase from Julius in the first game.)
** "[[PunctuatedForEmphasis Fuck. That.]]" (Which becomes something of a SharePhrase in the fourth game.)
* CharacterDevelopment: Goes from Julius' lieutenant to a borderline psychopath in the second game. The range of voice options can elaborate this further. The third game has Boss come across as more level headed than [[KillEmAll Shaundi]], helped further by player input on certain decisions (nuke the Syndicate's headquarters or keep it as a base, use zombie gas to create more homies or dispose of it, sacrifice Shaundi to go after Killbane or save her). In the third game, the Boss isn't as bitter or vengeful with Julius dead, enjoying the power and celebrity status earned from taking over Stillwater and fighting the Syndicate head on. By Saints Row IV the Boss admits they honestly, genuinely, care about their crew and would do anything to protect them.
** At least one voice in the third game mentions having a therapist, so that could be a contributing factor.
* CombatPragmatist: No matter the danger or absurdity of the situation, the Boss ''will find a way to win''. In addition to taking hostages, false surrenders, and having truly ludicrous proficiency with improvised weapons (fire hydrants, giant purple dildos, bricks etc), Boss is a master of psychological warfare. The Boss is perfectly willing to target loved ones, use humiliation tactics like winning a televised wrestling match against an enemy, or making demoralizing public media declarations.
* CoupDeGraceCutscene: Finished most of the gang leaders in the series like this. [[spoiler: Benjamin King briefly allies himself with the Saints after being betrayed by Warren and forced out of the Vice Kings in the first game then gets PutOnABus until IV, Matt Miller in The Third bribes the Boss into allowing him to pull a ScrewThisImOuttaHere instead.]]
* DamnItFeelsGoodToBeAGangster.: [[spoiler:Tells Julius this more or less before his death.]]
* DeadpanSnarker: Even in the game where he barely talks.
--> '''Gat:''' "I'm gonna skull fuck that bitch."
--> '''Playa:''' "Hope you don't mind hepatitis."
* {{Determinator}}: Might as well be a walking talking death machine.
** Even when stoned, the Boss can still fight off enemies ''en masse''.
* DevilInPlainSight: Given the impossibility of keeping the Boss dead or in jail.
* TheDragon: To Julius Little in the first game.
** DragonAscendant: The Boss reconstitutes the Saints under their own control after awakening from their coma in ''Saints Row 2''.
** DragonInChief: The Playa is much, much tougher than Julius. [[spoiler:So much so that Julius tries to kill them because he's so frightened of their growing power.]]
* DrivesLikeCrazy: Of course, this depends on how you play.
** Regardless of how you play, it's Lampshaded by almost every character who rides shotgun with you. Characters from the first game give a familiar ContinuityNod in regards to it. And Jane waxes poetic about your vehicular carnage.
** Here's something well hidden. Call up a homie then when they arrive dismiss them. S\he will get in their vehicle and take off. You can jump in the passenger seat and now Boss will give them crap over their driving. It's best to have a load of flashbangs to freak out your homie and any driver\passengers to encourage accidents.
-->[[TheMiz "Really? Really?"]]
* EtTuBrute: [[spoiler:In the second game, it was revealed that Julius tried to kill the Boss by destroying the Yacht seen in the finale.]]
* EvenEvilHasStandards: The Boss might be an amoral crime lord, but is still horrified after seeing [[spoiler: the corpses of people experimented on by Ultor]] in the ''Ultor Exposed'' DLC.
** Again in the third game. Murder, theft, human trafficking, insurance fraud, and wanton destruction are all fine. Hypercommercialisation, on the other hand, is something the Boss starts having doubts about. This may or may not stick depending on the ending chosen.
** In "Takeover the City" mission of ''The Third'' the Boss is noticeably disturbed when Pierce talks about collecting sex dolls.
** Also in the third game Boss doesn't like the way the director of the movie (that they happen to be starring in) treats the co-star actress, and quickly begins trying to screw with him in an effort to get him to stop. This is even though the director does nothing but praise whatever Boss does. They also try to get the poor girl to stand up for herself so he won't pick on her so much.
** In ''The Trouble With Clones'' Boss becomes kind of heroic, fighting off an army division attacking Pierce and [[spoiler: Johnny Tag]], even showing remorse for the Saints [[spoiler: failing Gat]].
** Boss also draws the line at [[spoiler:nuclear war and ''human'' genocide]].
* FauxAffablyEvil: Make no mistake, the Boss has a sadistic streak underneath that puckish roguery.
* ForTheEvulz: By the time of the second game, Boss made it clear that liberating the city for peace wasn't a priority anymore. The final lines of Saints Row 2 confirm this. "This is our city [now], we do whatever the fuck we want." Downplayed somewhat in later games.
* FromNobodyToNightmare: The first game begins with the Playa just walking down a street before being caught in a gang fight and co-opted into the Saints. Needless to say, Boss takes to the lifestyle like a duck to water.
** With the Boss' election as President of the US in [[VideoGame/SaintsRowIV Saint's Row IV]], they may very well have become the full-fledged champion of this trope. [[spoiler:And then the same person [[UpToEleven becomes]] the President[=/=]GodEmperor for Life of the Universe after taking over the Zin Empire, as shown in VideoGame/SaintsRowGatOutOfHell.]]
* GarbageWrestler: The only way the Boss was able to fight Killbane in Murderbrawl.
* HeelFaceTurn: Of sorts. The SignatureSong in ''VideoGame/SaintsRow2'' and ''VideoGame/SaintsRowTheThird'' were DamnItFeelsGoodToBeAGangster and VillainSong in tone. Two of the signature tracks in the fourth game are positively heroic and play when Boss commits positively heroic deeds, and even if they do make one strange President there's no question Boss is a lot better than before.
* HeWhoFightsMonsters: Inverted, the Boss starts Saints Row 2 as a vengeful gangbanger out for power and revenge. By the time Saints Row IV happens, the Saints are acknowledged as the closest thing Boss has to family, and goes so far as to save America from a nuclear strike and fight an alien invasion. Still a jerkass though.
* ImplacableMan: Both in and out of gameplay, assuming you do enough diversions. Blowing up the Boss just gets them pissed off, and in the second game, the full complement of perks means that the Boss can jump out of a plane, get hit by three exploding trucks [[IncendiaryExponent on fire]], and take a point-blank shotgun blast to the face without going down.
** The third turns this UpToEleven once you get around max respect level, with several upgrades making them ''immune'' to each type of damage. It can get to the point where Boss can only be harmed by melee attackers.
* InexplicablyAwesome: Throughout all the games, we never get anything more than tantalising glimpses into their MysteriousPast, never anything concrete that explains just how some random schmuck remade themselves into the most deadly person on the planet.
* InsistentTerminology: They prefer the term "puckish rogue" to "sociopath".
** "Sociopath" also seems to be a bit of insistent terminology. Despite some of their more questionable actions, by ''VideoGame/SaintsRowIV'' the Boss cares too much about the other Saints to be deemed as much.
* ItsAllAboutMe: Starts to have this attitude in the second game as they do things for their own benefit and personal reasons. It levels out somewhat in third game, but by the fourth game, the Boss' selfish attitude rises to a new level; the game opens with the Boss, the President of the United States, suffering a massive PR disaster since they proposed that the phrase "One nation under me" should replace "One nation under God". When helping Asha escape from her personal nightmare, the Boss keeps thinking that by having an evil twin in Asha's nightmare, it's about the Boss overall. CID also questions why the Boss keeps giving Pierce no respect at all, despite how Pierce always stayed loyal and gave ideas to help the Boss (The Boss claims they rag Pierce in good fun rather than malicious intent). It isn't until the Boss [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech gets called out for their selfish attitude and taking advantage of others]] by someone who had stayed loyal to them that the Boss starts to think about others for a change.
* {{Jerkass}}: On a bad day. [[PersonOfMassDestruction And that's putting it lightly...]]
--> '''The Boss:''' Evil Me is kind of an asshole.\\
'''Asha:''' Good You is kind of an asshole.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: In the third game, shows sincere affection and concern for their allies. Of course, the degree to which the gold shows in gameplay is [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential dependent on the player.]]
* KickTheDog\KickTheSonOfABitch: The Boss is fond of doing this, starting from the second game. Arguably the most brutal example was crippling Matt's hand with fireworks. Matt had nothing to do with The Brotherhood other than doing their tattoos and being close friends with Maero. Oh the other hand many still view killing a teenage girl by locking her in a car and having her boyfriend unknowingly run her over at a monster truck rally as the worst thing the Boss ever did, even though she was involved in the murder of Carlos.
* MadeOfIron: Leaps from a moving plane to another moving plane. With no parachute, or cables, or common sense. Plays in traffic for petty change, drives around an angry tiger at high speeds for ''training''.
* MeanCharacterNiceActor: Obviously none of the Boss's voice actors are sadistic murderers in RealLife.
* MercyKill: [[spoiler:Did this to Carlos after the Brotherhood mortally wounded and disfigured him]].
* NoNameGiven: Usually just referred to as the Boss.
** In the third game pairing Boss with Zimos may prompt some dialogue where Boss asks Zimos what his real name is when Zimos says it's "Need to know and you don't". When Zimos asks Boss their name the Russian female boss says her name is ''classified''.
*** Male 3 tells Zimos that his name is Winston Churchill. He doesn't buy it.
*** Also, Female 1 tells Zimos that her name is Martha Washington. He doesn't buy that either.
** The last Heli Assault activity against the Deckers reveals that Kinzie knows the Boss's real name. The Boss promptly tells her to shut up when she starts to say it.
** Was originally planned to be "Mikey" in the first game, but they scrapped it.
** In the fourth game, using the NolanNorth voice makes it clear that you are, in fact, [[AdamWesting playing Nolan North]]. So its possibly to assume that, all this time, the player character was just Nolan North all along.
* NotSoHarmlessVillain: Maero originally believes that The Boss is just a washed-up gangbanger and therefore gives them a pitiful proposition. He REALLY regrets this as the gang war between them becomes increasingly brutal and vicious.
* OneManArmy: Boss is a striding engine of destruction. You can run, but you'll just die trying.
--> '''[[spoiler: Dex:]]''' "I have you outnumbered."
--> '''Boss:''' "Doesn't seem to be helping."
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: But of course. Most of the time, they're referred to as "Boss" and sometimes "Player".
* OohMeAccentsSlipping: The Cockney voice (Male 1) in SR2 was particularly guilty of this, especially because the cutscene dialogue barely changes from one voice to another, which leads the Boss spouting sentences that no English person would ever use. In SR3 and 4, ''Male 3'' takes over as the Cockney voice. the newer voice actor is far more authentic, especially since more English slang words and phrases are inserted in place of Americanisms and any fixed dialogue in cutscenes is written to fit around all the voice characters.
* OurPresidentsAreDifferent: In Saints Row 4 they become POTUS. Definitely be President Action, but since they're also a major criminal, also be PresidentEvil.
* PayEvilUntoEvil: The Ronin and Brotherhood missions especially consist of increasingly bloody games of tit-for-tat between the Boss and whoever's stupid enough to try and hurt the other Saints. The Boss' ''main'' motivation for total war against the world's largest criminal syndicate was due to the death of ''one'' Saint.
* PersonOfMassDestruction: By the end of SRTT, the Boss is able to blow up a sky scraper, sink an aircraft carrier, take on a well-armed paramilitary group, bring down a [[AirborneAircraftCarrier flying warship]], [[spoiler: set up a citystate]], aside from kill a truly ungodly number of people.
* PetTheDog: Seems to show genuine care and concern for the Saints, especially the lieutenants. [[spoiler: This is especially apparent with their reaction to having to MercyKill Carlos]].
** In the "Gangstas In Space" DLC Boss is extremely nice to the actress they have to work with. They coach her throughout the DLC to stand up for herself and not take shit from the JerkAss director who insults and belittles her at every chance he gets. Soon they even become friends and she can be called as a homie upon completion of the last mission. [[spoiler:By the end Boss may have rubbed off on her a bit more than they intended...]]
** Gets a big one with Matt in the 4th game. [[spoiler:Since they are one of the last human leaders, they give Matt, a big Nyteblade fan, control of the entire Nyteblade franchise.]] Matt is left nearly speechless.
** If you think about everything Boss does over the quantrilogy there's a lot they don't have to do to be nice, but does so anyway. Help out who they're friends with, befriends a number of allies, lots of little and not so little strokes of the pooch throughout the four games.
** According to Keith, the Boss holds Donnie Wong in higher regard than Maero. Which is touching in a way, considering all they ever did was bully the poor guy.
** In Saints Row IV, [[EverythingsSexierInFrench French Boss]] in particular comes across as very gentle and kind when speaking to her lieutenants.
* ProtagonistWithoutAPast: In the first game, he's just an ordinary schmuck who happens to walk right into a gang war, without any backstory. Was he a criminal beforehand, or a law-abiding citizen seduced by the criminal lifestyle? We don't find out. However, along with having ''way'' more dialogue, we get some small tidbits of info. For example, they mention coming to a bordello since they were a teenager, and one of the female voices reveals that her father loved guns and told her that you could never have enough. Plus, the events of the first game ''are'' your protagonist's past now. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in IV when the Boss says flat out that no one cares who they were before they joined the Saints.
* RedBaron: The Butcher of Stilwater.
* TheScrooge: As shown in ''How the Saints Saved Christmas'', they are ''not'' a Christmas fan. Getting them out of this is one of the main plot points of the DLC.
* ShipperOnDeck: The Boss seems to ship Shaundi/Pierce.
* ShutUpHannibal: To Zinyak, [[spoiler: by ripping his head off]].
* SilentBob: In the first game the Boss only has four spoken lines, in the sequel they speak just as much as any other character. This is also {{lampshaded}} in the second game.
--> [[spoiler:'''Julius''']]: "Jesus...you haven't learned a god damn thing."
--> '''Boss''': "Wrong! I learned that being in charge was better than being a bitch who kept his/her mouth shut and does what s/he's told!"
** Also,
-->'''Aisha''': Oh my god, it's you.\\
'''Boss''': Surprised, Aisha?\\
'''Aisha''': What, that you're here, or that you're talking?\\
'''Boss''': Pick one.
** {{Lampshaded}} again during [=SR4=], during a throwback mission to [=SR1=], where they say, "I was too scared to talk back then."
-->'''Kinzie''': ''[[ServileSnarker That must've been nice]]...''\\
'''Boss''': [[ImStandingRightHere What was that?]]\\
'''Kinzie''': [[ImplausibleDeniability I didn't say anything!]]
* {{Squee}}: Has this reaction big time over Burt Reynolds.
* SuddenlyVoiced: Oh so much in the second game. The voice options are absolute gold.
* TalkativeLoon: Talks even more in the third game.
* TeamDad: Shows shades of this in Saints Row IV towards Shaundi. [[spoiler: Both of them.]]
* TheCaptain: After the first incarnation of the Saints.
* TheSociopath: Cares for lieutenants, but makes it clear that they're in the gang scene for the perks and power. Has nothing but contempt for [[spoiler:Julius]]'s attempt to be a "killer with a conscience," with no loyalty to his supposed crew.
-->[[spoiler:'''Julius:''']] Don't you get it? The Saints didn't solve a goddamn thing. Drugs were still being pushed, innocent people were still being killed... all we did was turn into Vice Kings that wore purple.
-->'''Playa:''' Jesus Christ, you sound like a pussy!
-->[[spoiler:'''Julius:''']] I sound like someone who's not a sociopath.
* TookALevelInBadass: In ''VideoGame/SaintsRow2''.
* TookALevelInJerkass: Also in ''Saints Row 2''.
* TookALevelInKindness: In ''Saints Row The Third'' and especially in ''Saints Row IV''. ''How the Saints Saved Christmas'' makes Boss heroic to the point [[Franchise/MassEffect Shepard]] would be scouting for them, were it not for, say, killing Julius.
* TrueCompanions: With the Saints, on a good day.
** ''Definitely'' with Gat. The Boss leaps into action as soon as they learn about his murder trial in 2, in ''The Trouble with Clones'' in 3 there's no question the Saints are going to go help [[spoiler: Johnny Tag even though he's a flawed clone of Gat and not actually Gat]], and in 4 as soon as there's even a whiff of a chance that Gat is bouncing around inside the Zin Matrix the Boss is demanding to go after him.
* TheUnfettered
* UndyingLoyalty: This is the Boss' most important redeeming quality. If you work for him, and he likes you, he will gladly take a bullet for you. If you die, be assured that no matter what happens, he will kill your killer for you.
* VillainProtagonist: Not exactly one of God's best children, being a murderer, drug trafficker, thief, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking possible jaywalker]]. Still, most of the people the Boss kills certainly deserve it.
** Of course, that's in the second game. In the first and third games, the Boss is more of an AntiHero.
** Surprisingly ''{{averted}}'' in ''Saints Row IV''.
* WalkingWasteland: In ''Saints Row IV'', the Buff power allows the Boss to set people on fire, freeze them solid, or electrocute them just by standing near them, while the Sprint Tornado power allows you to destroy whole streets just by running up and down them.
* WrestlerInAllOfUs: Can adopt wrestling moves in the second game from the Brotherhood.
** The third game, while doing away with four separate fighting styles, incorporates wrestling moves into the Boss's fighting style by default.
''Gender, Race and Playing Style Selection Tropes''
* AbsoluteCleavage: With the female boss' sex appeal set at maximum, and while wearing one of several outfits that become available. The "Elegant Couture" dress provides a textbook example of this trope, even if the Boss is virtually flat-chested.
* {{Acrofatic}}: You can make your Boss fat (ranging from "chubby" fat to [[Creator/GabrielIglesias "DAMN!"]] fat), and they'll still be able to sprint and jump without a hitch. Regarding the sprint, you can unlock infinite sprint... meaning you can run laps around the city and ''still'' look like you're in danger of having a heart attack at any minute.
* ActionGirl
* AdamWesting: Or to be more specific, [[NolanNorth Nolan Northing.]] The boss with the Nolan North voice ''is'' Nolan North.
* AdolfHitlarious: The third and fourth games allow to create a Hitler look-alike as a player character (complet with a toothbrush mustache). Combined with the goofiness of the game, the effect is interesting.
* AfroAsskicker
* AngryBlackMan: The default character in Saints Row 2. Kenn Michael is also the only voice actor to appear in every post-Saints 1 game.
* AnythingThatMoves: IV gives players the option to "romance" more or less the entire supporting cast, regardless of gender or race. Even a robot.
* AmbiguouslyGay[=/=]DepravedBisexual: Female boss definitely likes girls, even if there's one voice, when stoned, asking if Pierce was interested in her.
** The same voice also ask Johnny if a hospital is a good place to pick up guys and later remarks on phone watching two strippers perform.
*** Can be possibly confirmed as both the Male and Female bosses can romance all their crewmembers (yes, [[{{Polyamory}} ALL of them]]), regardless of gender.
* AndThisIsFor: In the third game, Female 1 voiced Boss will give one when planting each explosive during the final mission of the "Shock and Awe" ending. Makes it all the more poignant.
--> "One for [[spoiler:Shaundi]]..."\\
"One for [[spoiler:Viola]]..."\\
"One for my crew..."\\
"And one just for me..."
* AuthorAvatar: Obviously, it is possible to create one.
* {{Ax Crazy}}
* BadassGrandpa[=/=]NeverMessWithGranny: [[CaptainObvious You can make your Boss be an old man/woman.]]
* BaldofAwesome[=/=]BaldOfEvil
* BloodKnight: Female 1 voice of ''The Third'' clearly loves fighting, with BondOneLiners in combat either deriding her kills as being disappointing or occasionally commending them as a good fight.
* BoobsOfSteel: Possible for a female Boss with the Sex Appeal slider all the way up.
* CallBack: When drunk, she will laugh and laugh and laugh at the joke she made to Gat in the first game.
* CombatStilettos: These can be given to the boss, regardless of gender. Note that in some cutscenes, the Boss will be shown walking properly in them; in others, they will be walking flatfooted despite the shoes being actual heels.
* CulturedBadass[=/=]WickedCultured: Female 1 in ''The Third'' may mention having danced or painted in her BondOneLiners.
* DarkActionGirl: Possible after the first game.
* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: Male 2 mentions that he should call mom more often
* EverythingSoundsSexierInFrench: Female 2 in ''VideoGame/SaintsRowIV'' has a French accent.
* EvilAlbino: If you're making an albino character, this is what you're getting.
** By ''Saints Row IV'', however, this character arguably turns into a HeroicAlbino.
* EvilBrit: Voiced by Charles Shaughnessy, no less! In Saints Row The Third there is also the option of a British voice, this time voiced by RobinAtkinDownes.
* FatBastard[=/=]FatGirl
* FieryRedhead: If you chose red hair.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: Female voice 1 muses that when this is all over she might get into politics, and mentions an interest in dancing. Lo and behold, now she's the President and cannot pass up amateur night at a strip club.
* FourMoreMeasures: When singing "What I Got" with Pierce early on in the game, several of the voices will have Boss singing a line too early and noting that they always mess that part up.
* FrenchJerk: Female 2 in ''IV''.
* GirlyBruiser:
** Female 1 voice of ''The Third'', who says things relating stereotypical feminine traits of herself unashamedly... as {{Bond One Liner}}s.
--> ''"[[IBrokeANail Damn, chipped a nail!]]"''\\
''"That's no way to fight a lady!"''\\
''"After that I could use a massage."''
** Female 2 voice from ''IV'' mentions wanting to go shoe-shopping.
* HiddenDepths: Depending on the voice you use s\he be may drop interesting tidbits. Collecting glass unicorns for example. Female 1 apparently went to college and was on a co-ed curling team, while Male 1 has read ''Literature/JaneEyre'' [[SawStarWarsTwentySevenTimes thirteen times]]. The Zombie voice in ''The Third'', during "Three Way", [[spoiler:briefly drops the snarling to say that he's fluent in 6 languages]].
* HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood: Russian!Female Boss, dear god.
--> Russian!Female Boss: When I was a child, my father would make me fight the dogs for food. <sighs> It made me who I am today.
** The English Boss also drops hints of this during the "Gangstas In Space" missions:
---> "This is worse than finding out the tooth fairy was just my drunk uncle with a pair of pliers..."
* HimeCut: One of the hair styles available in ''Saints Row IV''.
* IntelligibleUnintelligible: In the third game, with the Zombie voice option.
* KnifeNut
* LeanAndMean
* TheLadette: Played straight with all the female voices in Saints Row 2 and the Russian and Latina voices in The Third. Female voice 1 in TT also counts, but she does occasionally show a feminine side. The Latina voice is this trope to a T though.
* MagicPlasticSurgery: Along with EasySexChange
** [[spoiler:Exploited in '''The Third'', using it to look like Cyrus Temple to infiltrate an aircraft carrier for the purpose of rescuing Shaundi imprisoned there.]]
* MagicSkirt: Even when the Boss wears tiny miniskirts, it's very difficult to get a pantyshot.
* TheMeanBrit: Male voice 1 in ''VideoGame/SaintsRow2'' (courtesy of Charles Shaughnessy) and male voice 3 in ''VideoGame/SaintsRowTheThird'' and ''VideoGame/SaintsRowIV'' (courtesy of RobinAtkinDownes).
* MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong: The "Russian" voice in Saints Row The Third skews to this. "Is exciting, yes? Like attacking a tiger with a knife!"
* MrFanservice / MsFanservice
* MusclesAreMeaningless: The flip side of the {{Acrofatic}} option; you can be skinny as a rail and still throw people around like rag dolls and kill Brutes like it's nobody's business.
* NolanNorth: The gimmick voice available in the fourth game, at the fourth wall's expense.
* PlatonicLifePartners: With Johnny Gat, if you play a girl. They're ''very'' close friends, but there's nothing sexual going on, and Johnny is hooked up with Aisha [[spoiler: until "Bleeding Out" anyway]]. Can be averted in Saints Row 4 however.
* PoirotSpeak: Russian Boss in ''The Third'' and French Boss in ''IV''.
* {{Retcon}}: It's been [[WordOfGod stated by the creators]] that, if you choose a female character in Saints Row 2, it is to be assumed that she was always female.
* SassyBlackWoman
* ScaryBlackMan
* SensualSlavs: In ''The Third'', it is possible to be one of these.
* SingleTargetSexuality: Russian Boss in ''The Third'' is rather shameless with confessing her obsession towards Pierce, of all people. Pierce is understandably creeped out while Shaundi gets a lot of snark value from all of this.
* SpicyLatina: Think of the hottest food you've ever eaten. She's even spicier than that, like the other voices the female Spanish voice in the second and third games make Boss this trope UpToEleven.
* StatuesqueStunner: The height is the only thing about the protagonist that cannot be changed. Thus female Boss' height is set at as least a foot taller than Shaundi, placing her at somewhere in the 6'2 - 6'5 range.
** Strangely, Shaundi in The Third is now almost Boss' height, possible thanks to her high heels. However a female boss will still tower a head height over most [=NPCs=].
* {{Stripperific}}: Entirely possible, but you could also go for broke [[FullFrontalAssault and get covered only by pixellation]].
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: In the first game's epilogue, the boss mentions that he wanted to go to Freckle Bitch's, and in the fourth expresses surprise that Freckle Bitch's never opened in Steelport.
* VillainousCrossdresser: Can be achieved by playing as a male Boss while wearing female clothes, makeup, and jewelry. Do not, under any circumstances, confuse him for a SissyVillain though...
* VirtualPaperDoll: Thanks to the many options in clothing and body builds, you can make your own Boss rather easily. And making it resemble to another character is far from impossible. Pick up long purple hair, a tanktop, some shorts and pretend you're in [[Manga/BlackLagoon Roanapur]].
** Blonde ponytail, red tank and black trousers, or jacket and jeans and you have Series/{{Buffy|the Vampire Slayer}}. Crop top and cargoes, WesternAnimation/KimPossible. With a little work you can pull off JohnCena and RicFlair (replete with their signature taunts). All part of the fun of course. There are even tutorials on how to make your Boss into a doppelganger of one of the other Saints, leading to cutscenes with two Johnny Gats conversing with each other, the only concrete difference being the voice and the height.
** With the Boss being the President in ''IV'', it is very possible to make him look like [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure Funny Valentine]].
** Want some extra meta-Fun with NolanNorth [[AdamWesting as Nolan North?]] [[http://www.saintsrow.com/community/characters/tag/deadpool Dress your character up as]] ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} (who Nolan voiced over for his animated and video game appearances).
* VocalDissonance: You can mix and match bodies and voices for the Boss. You can have a male body with a female voice, or the other way around. And then there's the zombie voice from ''The Third''...
* WhenIWasYourAge: Parodied; one of the lines demonstrating the "Male 1" voice in the third game complains about kids playing video games, saying that when he was young, he would've been playing outside... killing people in real life.
* WhiteGangBangers: Or black, or Latino, or Asian, or any other nationality or even [[AmazingTechnicolorPopulation color of the rainbow]].
->'''Played By:''' Uncredited ([=SR1=]), large number of voice options thereafter[[note]]Male Voice 1: Charles Shaughnessy (''2''), Creator/TroyBaker (''3'' and ''IV''), Male Voice 2: Kenn Michael (''2'', ''3'' and ''IV''), Male Voice 3: Alex Mendoza (''2''), Creator/RobinAtkinDownes (''3'' and ''IV''), Female Voice 1: Katie Semine (''2''), Creator/LauraBailey (''3'' and ''IV''), Female Voice 2: Creator/GinaBowes (''2''), TaraPlatt (''3''), Diane Michelle (''IV'') Female Voice 3: Rebecca Sanabria (''2'' and ''3''), Creator/SumaleeMontano (''IV''), Zombie: Creator/SteveBlum (''3''), [[AsHimself Nolan North]]: Creator/NolanNorth (''IV'')[[/note]]
The fully-customizable[[note]]In the first game, could only be male[[/note]] protagonist of the series. An anti-heroic ([[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope except in the second game]]) [[TheSociopath sociopath]], the [[NoNameGiven unnamed]] protagonist, usually referred to as "Playa" in the first game and "Boss" afterwards, rises from an anonymous citizen on the streets of Stilwater recruited by Julius Little into the Third Street Saints, to a lieutenant of the aforementioned gang, the eventual leader of the Saints, an international celebrity, and finally the ''freakin' [[PresidentEvil President of the United States]]''. According to pre-release information for ''VideoGame/SaintsRowGatOutOfHell'', they eventually become [[spoiler:GodEmperor of the Universe]].
''Main Tropes''
* AntiHero: On good days... they don't come often.
** Mellows out considerably in the third game, and not ''quite ''willing to commit as many atrocities as in Saints Row 2, with several PetTheDog moments. However, the Boss is still quite the nasty piece of work and therefore, remains a VillainProtagonist.
** Veers straight into [[Analysis/AntiHero Unscrupulous Hero]] in Saints Row IV, wherein s/he not only expresses concern for the people under their jurisdiction as President, but also spends the ''entire game'' working to save people and take down the BigBad. And as the game takes place largely inside a simulation, technically they never commit any crimes at all.
* AscendedFanboy: The Boss working for Burt Reynolds.
** Female voice 1, going by the number of movie references, is evidently a film buff. She's basically living out a gangster version of ''Film/{{Scarface 1983}}'' with the action [[UpToEleven up to a hundred and eleven.]]
* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Obviously. The Boss is the single-largest Badass in the entire series, the leader of a very powerful and influential gang, and eventually, the United States of America.
* {{Badass}}: It would be easier to describe the ways the Boss isn't a badass.
** BadassBoast: Lots of voice options means lots of boasts.
---> '''Female 2''': ''(Defending against Zin)'' I will kill enough of you to build a ladder back to Earth!
** BadassInANiceSuit: One of the possible starter clothing choices in VideoGame/SaintsRowTheThird.
** BadassInCharge: It's telling that there has never been an attempt to dethrone the Boss after assuming power from within the Saints.
** BadassInDistress: In VideoGame/SaintsRowGatOutOfHell, he/she is kidnapped by Satan. The entire plot is to go ToHellAndBack and save him/her.
** BadassNormal: In ''VideoGame/SaintsRowIV'', the President is able to go hand-to-hand with Zinyak, an alien twice his size. They appear evenly matched until Zinyak invokes his psychic powers.
*** EmpoweredBadassNormal: The Boss gains superpowers in Saints Row 4, though only in the simulation and [[spoiler: in the finale thanks to PoweredArmor]].
** CulturedBadass: Supporting the idea that the Boss's BookDumb aspects are mere ObfuscatingStupidity, they call themselves a "Puckish Rogue" in Saints Row VI (referring to Puck in Shakespeare's AMidsummerNightsDream), and are repeatedly mentioned to be fans of Creator/JaneAusten (on top of the Creator/TroyBaker Boss voice confessing that he read Literature/JaneEyre 13 times near the end of VideoGame/SaintsRowTheThird).
* BadBadActing: The Boss simply cannot act, at all. Either on movie sets, or when their life really does depend on it while they're impersonating Cyrus Temple.
* BenevolentBoss: Despite being a [[TheSociopath Sociopath]], Boss is very protective and fair to subordinates so long as they stay loyal.
* BerserkButton: In the sequels, harming the Boss's subordinates is enough for them to take a break from carefree mayhem and give the perpetrator their ''full'' attention.
** Also betrayal, you can be an undercover cop or a former rival gang member but never fuck with the Boss when it comes to loyalties or your own personal grim reaper will hunt you to the ends of the earth.
** You honor the dead. Doesn't matter who you are, you honor the dead. Interrupting a funeral will have Boss help the mourner literally bury those who do so alive, unleash TheDragon to go on an AxCrazy RoaringRampageOfRevenge, and if you so choose go terrorist.
*** Makes one wonder what they'd do to the [[AcceptableReligiousTargets Westboro Baptist Church]].
** A more minor and humorous example is in the Boss's love of BizMarkie. You don't butcher Biz Markie and get away with it for long. Especially if you're NolanNorth.
--> "Zinyak! Zinyak, you leave Biz Markie alone! You leave Markie out of this!! Oh, you sunuvabitch...I'M GONNA KILL YOU! '''''IT'S NOT OPERA!!!!!'''''"
** In ''VideoGame/SaintsRowIV'', when Matt Miller suggests that [[spoiler:rescuing Johnny Gat]] is a bad idea, the Boss knocks him to the ground with a MegatonPunch and starts beating the shit out of him; had the other Saints not intervened, the Boss may well have beaten poor Matt to death.
* BiTheWay: All party members can be romanced by the Boss, regardless of gender.
* BookDumb: Zig-zagged. At times the Boss comes across as downright stupid, but there are occasional hints that it's of the [[ObfuscatingStupidity obfuscating]] variety and every once in a while the Boss says something genuinely insightful or smart (which almost always results in a shocked reaction from the other characters).
* ButForMeItWasTuesday: When you call up Keith David and [[spoiler: Maero]] as homies, Keith tells [[spoiler: Maero]] that he has never heard the Boss talk about him [[spoiler: or the Brotherhood]]. [[spoiler: Maero]] thinks it's because of this trope and figures the Boss probably doesn't bother thinking twice about the people they have killed. It's then subverted when Keith points out that the Boss has talked about the other gangs, their respective leaders and even [[ButtMonkey Donnie Wong]].
* CatchPhrase:
** "It's our time now! Let's get this shit started!" (Which is a BorrowedCatchphrase from Julius in the first game.)
** "[[PunctuatedForEmphasis Fuck. That.]]" (Which becomes something of a SharePhrase in the fourth game.)
* CharacterDevelopment: Goes from Julius' lieutenant to a borderline psychopath in the second game. The range of voice options can elaborate this further. The third game has Boss come across as more level headed than [[KillEmAll Shaundi]], helped further by player input on certain decisions (nuke the Syndicate's headquarters or keep it as a base, use zombie gas to create more homies or dispose of it, sacrifice Shaundi to go after Killbane or save her). In the third game, the Boss isn't as bitter or vengeful with Julius dead, enjoying the power and celebrity status earned from taking over Stillwater and fighting the Syndicate head on. By Saints Row IV the Boss admits they honestly, genuinely, care about their crew and would do anything to protect them.
** At least one voice in the third game mentions having a therapist, so that could be a contributing factor.
* CombatPragmatist: No matter the danger or absurdity of the situation, the Boss ''will find a way to win''. In addition to taking hostages, false surrenders, and having truly ludicrous proficiency with improvised weapons (fire hydrants, giant purple dildos, bricks etc), Boss is a master of psychological warfare. The Boss is perfectly willing to target loved ones, use humiliation tactics like winning a televised wrestling match against an enemy, or making demoralizing public media declarations.
* CoupDeGraceCutscene: Finished most of the gang leaders in the series like this. [[spoiler: Benjamin King briefly allies himself with the Saints after being betrayed by Warren and forced out of the Vice Kings in the first game then gets PutOnABus until IV, Matt Miller in The Third bribes the Boss into allowing him to pull a ScrewThisImOuttaHere instead.]]
* DamnItFeelsGoodToBeAGangster.: [[spoiler:Tells Julius this more or less before his death.]]
* DeadpanSnarker: Even in the game where he barely talks.
--> '''Gat:''' "I'm gonna skull fuck that bitch."
--> '''Playa:''' "Hope you don't mind hepatitis."
* {{Determinator}}: Might as well be a walking talking death machine.
** Even when stoned, the Boss can still fight off enemies ''en masse''.
* DevilInPlainSight: Given the impossibility of keeping the Boss dead or in jail.
* TheDragon: To Julius Little in the first game.
** DragonAscendant: The Boss reconstitutes the Saints under their own control after awakening from their coma in ''Saints Row 2''.
** DragonInChief: The Playa is much, much tougher than Julius. [[spoiler:So much so that Julius tries to kill them because he's so frightened of their growing power.]]
* DrivesLikeCrazy: Of course, this depends on how you play.
** Regardless of how you play, it's Lampshaded by almost every character who rides shotgun with you. Characters from the first game give a familiar ContinuityNod in regards to it. And Jane waxes poetic about your vehicular carnage.
** Here's something well hidden. Call up a homie then when they arrive dismiss them. S\he will get in their vehicle and take off. You can jump in the passenger seat and now Boss will give them crap over their driving. It's best to have a load of flashbangs to freak out your homie and any driver\passengers to encourage accidents.
-->[[TheMiz "Really? Really?"]]
* EtTuBrute: [[spoiler:In the second game, it was revealed that Julius tried to kill the Boss by destroying the Yacht seen in the finale.]]
* EvenEvilHasStandards: The Boss might be an amoral crime lord, but is still horrified after seeing [[spoiler: the corpses of people experimented on by Ultor]] in the ''Ultor Exposed'' DLC.
** Again in the third game. Murder, theft, human trafficking, insurance fraud, and wanton destruction are all fine. Hypercommercialisation, on the other hand, is something the Boss starts having doubts about. This may or may not stick depending on the ending chosen.
** In "Takeover the City" mission of ''The Third'' the Boss is noticeably disturbed when Pierce talks about collecting sex dolls.
** Also in the third game Boss doesn't like the way the director of the movie (that they happen to be starring in) treats the co-star actress, and quickly begins trying to screw with him in an effort to get him to stop. This is even though the director does nothing but praise whatever Boss does. They also try to get the poor girl to stand up for herself so he won't pick on her so much.
** In ''The Trouble With Clones'' Boss becomes kind of heroic, fighting off an army division attacking Pierce and [[spoiler: Johnny Tag]], even showing remorse for the Saints [[spoiler: failing Gat]].
** Boss also draws the line at [[spoiler:nuclear war and ''human'' genocide]].
* FauxAffablyEvil: Make no mistake, the Boss has a sadistic streak underneath that puckish roguery.
* ForTheEvulz: By the time of the second game, Boss made it clear that liberating the city for peace wasn't a priority anymore. The final lines of Saints Row 2 confirm this. "This is our city [now], we do whatever the fuck we want." Downplayed somewhat in later games.
* FromNobodyToNightmare: The first game begins with the Playa just walking down a street before being caught in a gang fight and co-opted into the Saints. Needless to say, Boss takes to the lifestyle like a duck to water.
** With the Boss' election as President of the US in [[VideoGame/SaintsRowIV Saint's Row IV]], they may very well have become the full-fledged champion of this trope. [[spoiler:And then the same person [[UpToEleven becomes]] the President[=/=]GodEmperor for Life of the Universe after taking over the Zin Empire, as shown in VideoGame/SaintsRowGatOutOfHell.]]
* GarbageWrestler: The only way the Boss was able to fight Killbane in Murderbrawl.
* HeelFaceTurn: Of sorts. The SignatureSong in ''VideoGame/SaintsRow2'' and ''VideoGame/SaintsRowTheThird'' were DamnItFeelsGoodToBeAGangster and VillainSong in tone. Two of the signature tracks in the fourth game are positively heroic and play when Boss commits positively heroic deeds, and even if they do make one strange President there's no question Boss is a lot better than before.
* HeWhoFightsMonsters: Inverted, the Boss starts Saints Row 2 as a vengeful gangbanger out for power and revenge. By the time Saints Row IV happens, the Saints are acknowledged as the closest thing Boss has to family, and goes so far as to save America from a nuclear strike and fight an alien invasion. Still a jerkass though.
* ImplacableMan: Both in and out of gameplay, assuming you do enough diversions. Blowing up the Boss just gets them pissed off, and in the second game, the full complement of perks means that the Boss can jump out of a plane, get hit by three exploding trucks [[IncendiaryExponent on fire]], and take a point-blank shotgun blast to the face without going down.
** The third turns this UpToEleven once you get around max respect level, with several upgrades making them ''immune'' to each type of damage. It can get to the point where Boss can only be harmed by melee attackers.
* InexplicablyAwesome: Throughout all the games, we never get anything more than tantalising glimpses into their MysteriousPast, never anything concrete that explains just how some random schmuck remade themselves into the most deadly person on the planet.
* InsistentTerminology: They prefer the term "puckish rogue" to "sociopath".
** "Sociopath" also seems to be a bit of insistent terminology. Despite some of their more questionable actions, by ''VideoGame/SaintsRowIV'' the Boss cares too much about the other Saints to be deemed as much.
* ItsAllAboutMe: Starts to have this attitude in the second game as they do things for their own benefit and personal reasons. It levels out somewhat in third game, but by the fourth game, the Boss' selfish attitude rises to a new level; the game opens with the Boss, the President of the United States, suffering a massive PR disaster since they proposed that the phrase "One nation under me" should replace "One nation under God". When helping Asha escape from her personal nightmare, the Boss keeps thinking that by having an evil twin in Asha's nightmare, it's about the Boss overall. CID also questions why the Boss keeps giving Pierce no respect at all, despite how Pierce always stayed loyal and gave ideas to help the Boss (The Boss claims they rag Pierce in good fun rather than malicious intent). It isn't until the Boss [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech gets called out for their selfish attitude and taking advantage of others]] by someone who had stayed loyal to them that the Boss starts to think about others for a change.
* {{Jerkass}}: On a bad day. [[PersonOfMassDestruction And that's putting it lightly...]]
--> '''The Boss:''' Evil Me is kind of an asshole.\\
'''Asha:''' Good You is kind of an asshole.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: In the third game, shows sincere affection and concern for their allies. Of course, the degree to which the gold shows in gameplay is [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential dependent on the player.]]
* KickTheDog\KickTheSonOfABitch: The Boss is fond of doing this, starting from the second game. Arguably the most brutal example was crippling Matt's hand with fireworks. Matt had nothing to do with The Brotherhood other than doing their tattoos and being close friends with Maero. Oh the other hand many still view killing a teenage girl by locking her in a car and having her boyfriend unknowingly run her over at a monster truck rally as the worst thing the Boss ever did, even though she was involved in the murder of Carlos.
* MadeOfIron: Leaps from a moving plane to another moving plane. With no parachute, or cables, or common sense. Plays in traffic for petty change, drives around an angry tiger at high speeds for ''training''.
* MeanCharacterNiceActor: Obviously none of the Boss's voice actors are sadistic murderers in RealLife.
* MercyKill: [[spoiler:Did this to Carlos after the Brotherhood mortally wounded and disfigured him]].
* NoNameGiven: Usually just referred to as the Boss.
** In the third game pairing Boss with Zimos may prompt some dialogue where Boss asks Zimos what his real name is when Zimos says it's "Need to know and you don't". When Zimos asks Boss their name the Russian female boss says her name is ''classified''.
*** Male 3 tells Zimos that his name is Winston Churchill. He doesn't buy it.
*** Also, Female 1 tells Zimos that her name is Martha Washington. He doesn't buy that either.
** The last Heli Assault activity against the Deckers reveals that Kinzie knows the Boss's real name. The Boss promptly tells her to shut up when she starts to say it.
** Was originally planned to be "Mikey" in the first game, but they scrapped it.
** In the fourth game, using the NolanNorth voice makes it clear that you are, in fact, [[AdamWesting playing Nolan North]]. So its possibly to assume that, all this time, the player character was just Nolan North all along.
* NotSoHarmlessVillain: Maero originally believes that The Boss is just a washed-up gangbanger and therefore gives them a pitiful proposition. He REALLY regrets this as the gang war between them becomes increasingly brutal and vicious.
* OneManArmy: Boss is a striding engine of destruction. You can run, but you'll just die trying.
--> '''[[spoiler: Dex:]]''' "I have you outnumbered."
--> '''Boss:''' "Doesn't seem to be helping."
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: But of course. Most of the time, they're referred to as "Boss" and sometimes "Player".
* OohMeAccentsSlipping: The Cockney voice (Male 1) in SR2 was particularly guilty of this, especially because the cutscene dialogue barely changes from one voice to another, which leads the Boss spouting sentences that no English person would ever use. In SR3 and 4, ''Male 3'' takes over as the Cockney voice. the newer voice actor is far more authentic, especially since more English slang words and phrases are inserted in place of Americanisms and any fixed dialogue in cutscenes is written to fit around all the voice characters.
* OurPresidentsAreDifferent: In Saints Row 4 they become POTUS. Definitely be President Action, but since they're also a major criminal, also be PresidentEvil.
* PayEvilUntoEvil: The Ronin and Brotherhood missions especially consist of increasingly bloody games of tit-for-tat between the Boss and whoever's stupid enough to try and hurt the other Saints. The Boss' ''main'' motivation for total war against the world's largest criminal syndicate was due to the death of ''one'' Saint.
* PersonOfMassDestruction: By the end of SRTT, the Boss is able to blow up a sky scraper, sink an aircraft carrier, take on a well-armed paramilitary group, bring down a [[AirborneAircraftCarrier flying warship]], [[spoiler: set up a citystate]], aside from kill a truly ungodly number of people.
* PetTheDog: Seems to show genuine care and concern for the Saints, especially the lieutenants. [[spoiler: This is especially apparent with their reaction to having to MercyKill Carlos]].
** In the "Gangstas In Space" DLC Boss is extremely nice to the actress they have to work with. They coach her throughout the DLC to stand up for herself and not take shit from the JerkAss director who insults and belittles her at every chance he gets. Soon they even become friends and she can be called as a homie upon completion of the last mission. [[spoiler:By the end Boss may have rubbed off on her a bit more than they intended...]]
** Gets a big one with Matt in the 4th game. [[spoiler:Since they are one of the last human leaders, they give Matt, a big Nyteblade fan, control of the entire Nyteblade franchise.]] Matt is left nearly speechless.
** If you think about everything Boss does over the quantrilogy there's a lot they don't have to do to be nice, but does so anyway. Help out who they're friends with, befriends a number of allies, lots of little and not so little strokes of the pooch throughout the four games.
** According to Keith, the Boss holds Donnie Wong in higher regard than Maero. Which is touching in a way, considering all they ever did was bully the poor guy.
** In Saints Row IV, [[EverythingsSexierInFrench French Boss]] in particular comes across as very gentle and kind when speaking to her lieutenants.
* ProtagonistWithoutAPast: In the first game, he's just an ordinary schmuck who happens to walk right into a gang war, without any backstory. Was he a criminal beforehand, or a law-abiding citizen seduced by the criminal lifestyle? We don't find out. However, along with having ''way'' more dialogue, we get some small tidbits of info. For example, they mention coming to a bordello since they were a teenager, and one of the female voices reveals that her father loved guns and told her that you could never have enough. Plus, the events of the first game ''are'' your protagonist's past now. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in IV when the Boss says flat out that no one cares who they were before they joined the Saints.
* RedBaron: The Butcher of Stilwater.
* TheScrooge: As shown in ''How the Saints Saved Christmas'', they are ''not'' a Christmas fan. Getting them out of this is one of the main plot points of the DLC.
* ShipperOnDeck: The Boss seems to ship Shaundi/Pierce.
* ShutUpHannibal: To Zinyak, [[spoiler: by ripping his head off]].
* SilentBob: In the first game the Boss only has four spoken lines, in the sequel they speak just as much as any other character. This is also {{lampshaded}} in the second game.
--> [[spoiler:'''Julius''']]: "Jesus...you haven't learned a god damn thing."
--> '''Boss''': "Wrong! I learned that being in charge was better than being a bitch who kept his/her mouth shut and does what s/he's told!"
** Also,
-->'''Aisha''': Oh my god, it's you.\\
'''Boss''': Surprised, Aisha?\\
'''Aisha''': What, that you're here, or that you're talking?\\
'''Boss''': Pick one.
** {{Lampshaded}} again during [=SR4=], during a throwback mission to [=SR1=], where they say, "I was too scared to talk back then."
-->'''Kinzie''': ''[[ServileSnarker That must've been nice]]...''\\
'''Boss''': [[ImStandingRightHere What was that?]]\\
'''Kinzie''': [[ImplausibleDeniability I didn't say anything!]]
* {{Squee}}: Has this reaction big time over Burt Reynolds.
* SuddenlyVoiced: Oh so much in the second game. The voice options are absolute gold.
* TalkativeLoon: Talks even more in the third game.
* TeamDad: Shows shades of this in Saints Row IV towards Shaundi. [[spoiler: Both of them.]]
* TheCaptain: After the first incarnation of the Saints.
* TheSociopath: Cares for lieutenants, but makes it clear that they're in the gang scene for the perks and power. Has nothing but contempt for [[spoiler:Julius]]'s attempt to be a "killer with a conscience," with no loyalty to his supposed crew.
-->[[spoiler:'''Julius:''']] Don't you get it? The Saints didn't solve a goddamn thing. Drugs were still being pushed, innocent people were still being killed... all we did was turn into Vice Kings that wore purple.
-->'''Playa:''' Jesus Christ, you sound like a pussy!
-->[[spoiler:'''Julius:''']] I sound like someone who's not a sociopath.
* TookALevelInBadass: In ''VideoGame/SaintsRow2''.
* TookALevelInJerkass: Also in ''Saints Row 2''.
* TookALevelInKindness: In ''Saints Row The Third'' and especially in ''Saints Row IV''. ''How the Saints Saved Christmas'' makes Boss heroic to the point [[Franchise/MassEffect Shepard]] would be scouting for them, were it not for, say, killing Julius.
* TrueCompanions: With the Saints, on a good day.
** ''Definitely'' with Gat. The Boss leaps into action as soon as they learn about his murder trial in 2, in ''The Trouble with Clones'' in 3 there's no question the Saints are going to go help [[spoiler: Johnny Tag even though he's a flawed clone of Gat and not actually Gat]], and in 4 as soon as there's even a whiff of a chance that Gat is bouncing around inside the Zin Matrix the Boss is demanding to go after him.
* TheUnfettered
* UndyingLoyalty: This is the Boss' most important redeeming quality. If you work for him, and he likes you, he will gladly take a bullet for you. If you die, be assured that no matter what happens, he will kill your killer for you.
* VillainProtagonist: Not exactly one of God's best children, being a murderer, drug trafficker, thief, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking possible jaywalker]]. Still, most of the people the Boss kills certainly deserve it.
** Of course, that's in the second game. In the first and third games, the Boss is more of an AntiHero.
** Surprisingly ''{{averted}}'' in ''Saints Row IV''.
* WalkingWasteland: In ''Saints Row IV'', the Buff power allows the Boss to set people on fire, freeze them solid, or electrocute them just by standing near them, while the Sprint Tornado power allows you to destroy whole streets just by running up and down them.
* WrestlerInAllOfUs: Can adopt wrestling moves in the second game from the Brotherhood.
** The third game, while doing away with four separate fighting styles, incorporates wrestling moves into the Boss's fighting style by default.
''Gender, Race and Playing Style Selection Tropes''
* AbsoluteCleavage: With the female boss' sex appeal set at maximum, and while wearing one of several outfits that become available. The "Elegant Couture" dress provides a textbook example of this trope, even if the Boss is virtually flat-chested.
* {{Acrofatic}}: You can make your Boss fat (ranging from "chubby" fat to [[Creator/GabrielIglesias "DAMN!"]] fat), and they'll still be able to sprint and jump without a hitch. Regarding the sprint, you can unlock infinite sprint... meaning you can run laps around the city and ''still'' look like you're in danger of having a heart attack at any minute.
* ActionGirl
* AdamWesting: Or to be more specific, [[NolanNorth Nolan Northing.]] The boss with the Nolan North voice ''is'' Nolan North.
* AdolfHitlarious: The third and fourth games allow to create a Hitler look-alike as a player character (complet with a toothbrush mustache). Combined with the goofiness of the game, the effect is interesting.
* AfroAsskicker
* AngryBlackMan: The default character in Saints Row 2. Kenn Michael is also the only voice actor to appear in every post-Saints 1 game.
* AnythingThatMoves: IV gives players the option to "romance" more or less the entire supporting cast, regardless of gender or race. Even a robot.
* AmbiguouslyGay[=/=]DepravedBisexual: Female boss definitely likes girls, even if there's one voice, when stoned, asking if Pierce was interested in her.
** The same voice also ask Johnny if a hospital is a good place to pick up guys and later remarks on phone watching two strippers perform.
*** Can be possibly confirmed as both the Male and Female bosses can romance all their crewmembers (yes, [[{{Polyamory}} ALL of them]]), regardless of gender.
* AndThisIsFor: In the third game, Female 1 voiced Boss will give one when planting each explosive during the final mission of the "Shock and Awe" ending. Makes it all the more poignant.
--> "One for [[spoiler:Shaundi]]..."\\
"One for [[spoiler:Viola]]..."\\
"One for my crew..."\\
"And one just for me..."
* AuthorAvatar: Obviously, it is possible to create one.
* {{Ax Crazy}}
* BadassGrandpa[=/=]NeverMessWithGranny: [[CaptainObvious You can make your Boss be an old man/woman.]]
* BaldofAwesome[=/=]BaldOfEvil
* BloodKnight: Female 1 voice of ''The Third'' clearly loves fighting, with BondOneLiners in combat either deriding her kills as being disappointing or occasionally commending them as a good fight.
* BoobsOfSteel: Possible for a female Boss with the Sex Appeal slider all the way up.
* CallBack: When drunk, she will laugh and laugh and laugh at the joke she made to Gat in the first game.
* CombatStilettos: These can be given to the boss, regardless of gender. Note that in some cutscenes, the Boss will be shown walking properly in them; in others, they will be walking flatfooted despite the shoes being actual heels.
* CulturedBadass[=/=]WickedCultured: Female 1 in ''The Third'' may mention having danced or painted in her BondOneLiners.
* DarkActionGirl: Possible after the first game.
* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: Male 2 mentions that he should call mom more often
* EverythingSoundsSexierInFrench: Female 2 in ''VideoGame/SaintsRowIV'' has a French accent.
* EvilAlbino: If you're making an albino character, this is what you're getting.
** By ''Saints Row IV'', however, this character arguably turns into a HeroicAlbino.
* EvilBrit: Voiced by Charles Shaughnessy, no less! In Saints Row The Third there is also the option of a British voice, this time voiced by RobinAtkinDownes.
* FatBastard[=/=]FatGirl
* FieryRedhead: If you chose red hair.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: Female voice 1 muses that when this is all over she might get into politics, and mentions an interest in dancing. Lo and behold, now she's the President and cannot pass up amateur night at a strip club.
* FourMoreMeasures: When singing "What I Got" with Pierce early on in the game, several of the voices will have Boss singing a line too early and noting that they always mess that part up.
* FrenchJerk: Female 2 in ''IV''.
* GirlyBruiser:
** Female 1 voice of ''The Third'', who says things relating stereotypical feminine traits of herself unashamedly... as {{Bond One Liner}}s.
--> ''"[[IBrokeANail Damn, chipped a nail!]]"''\\
''"That's no way to fight a lady!"''\\
''"After that I could use a massage."''
** Female 2 voice from ''IV'' mentions wanting to go shoe-shopping.
* HiddenDepths: Depending on the voice you use s\he be may drop interesting tidbits. Collecting glass unicorns for example. Female 1 apparently went to college and was on a co-ed curling team, while Male 1 has read ''Literature/JaneEyre'' [[SawStarWarsTwentySevenTimes thirteen times]]. The Zombie voice in ''The Third'', during "Three Way", [[spoiler:briefly drops the snarling to say that he's fluent in 6 languages]].
* HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood: Russian!Female Boss, dear god.
--> Russian!Female Boss: When I was a child, my father would make me fight the dogs for food. <sighs> It made me who I am today.
** The English Boss also drops hints of this during the "Gangstas In Space" missions:
---> "This is worse than finding out the tooth fairy was just my drunk uncle with a pair of pliers..."
* HimeCut: One of the hair styles available in ''Saints Row IV''.
* IntelligibleUnintelligible: In the third game, with the Zombie voice option.
* KnifeNut
* LeanAndMean
* TheLadette: Played straight with all the female voices in Saints Row 2 and the Russian and Latina voices in The Third. Female voice 1 in TT also counts, but she does occasionally show a feminine side. The Latina voice is this trope to a T though.
* MagicPlasticSurgery: Along with EasySexChange
** [[spoiler:Exploited in '''The Third'', using it to look like Cyrus Temple to infiltrate an aircraft carrier for the purpose of rescuing Shaundi imprisoned there.]]
* MagicSkirt: Even when the Boss wears tiny miniskirts, it's very difficult to get a pantyshot.
* TheMeanBrit: Male voice 1 in ''VideoGame/SaintsRow2'' (courtesy of Charles Shaughnessy) and male voice 3 in ''VideoGame/SaintsRowTheThird'' and ''VideoGame/SaintsRowIV'' (courtesy of RobinAtkinDownes).
* MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong: The "Russian" voice in Saints Row The Third skews to this. "Is exciting, yes? Like attacking a tiger with a knife!"
* MrFanservice / MsFanservice
* MusclesAreMeaningless: The flip side of the {{Acrofatic}} option; you can be skinny as a rail and still throw people around like rag dolls and kill Brutes like it's nobody's business.
* NolanNorth: The gimmick voice available in the fourth game, at the fourth wall's expense.
* PlatonicLifePartners: With Johnny Gat, if you play a girl. They're ''very'' close friends, but there's nothing sexual going on, and Johnny is hooked up with Aisha [[spoiler: until "Bleeding Out" anyway]]. Can be averted in Saints Row 4 however.
* PoirotSpeak: Russian Boss in ''The Third'' and French Boss in ''IV''.
* {{Retcon}}: It's been [[WordOfGod stated by the creators]] that, if you choose a female character in Saints Row 2, it is to be assumed that she was always female.
* SassyBlackWoman
* ScaryBlackMan
* SensualSlavs: In ''The Third'', it is possible to be one of these.
* SingleTargetSexuality: Russian Boss in ''The Third'' is rather shameless with confessing her obsession towards Pierce, of all people. Pierce is understandably creeped out while Shaundi gets a lot of snark value from all of this.
* SpicyLatina: Think of the hottest food you've ever eaten. She's even spicier than that, like the other voices the female Spanish voice in the second and third games make Boss this trope UpToEleven.
* StatuesqueStunner: The height is the only thing about the protagonist that cannot be changed. Thus female Boss' height is set at as least a foot taller than Shaundi, placing her at somewhere in the 6'2 - 6'5 range.
** Strangely, Shaundi in The Third is now almost Boss' height, possible thanks to her high heels. However a female boss will still tower a head height over most [=NPCs=].
* {{Stripperific}}: Entirely possible, but you could also go for broke [[FullFrontalAssault and get covered only by pixellation]].
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: In the first game's epilogue, the boss mentions that he wanted to go to Freckle Bitch's, and in the fourth expresses surprise that Freckle Bitch's never opened in Steelport.
* VillainousCrossdresser: Can be achieved by playing as a male Boss while wearing female clothes, makeup, and jewelry. Do not, under any circumstances, confuse him for a SissyVillain though...
* VirtualPaperDoll: Thanks to the many options in clothing and body builds, you can make your own Boss rather easily. And making it resemble to another character is far from impossible. Pick up long purple hair, a tanktop, some shorts and pretend you're in [[Manga/BlackLagoon Roanapur]].
** Blonde ponytail, red tank and black trousers, or jacket and jeans and you have Series/{{Buffy|the Vampire Slayer}}. Crop top and cargoes, WesternAnimation/KimPossible. With a little work you can pull off JohnCena and RicFlair (replete with their signature taunts). All part of the fun of course. There are even tutorials on how to make your Boss into a doppelganger of one of the other Saints, leading to cutscenes with two Johnny Gats conversing with each other, the only concrete difference being the voice and the height.
** With the Boss being the President in ''IV'', it is very possible to make him look like [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure Funny Valentine]].
** Want some extra meta-Fun with NolanNorth [[AdamWesting as Nolan North?]] [[http://www.saintsrow.com/community/characters/tag/deadpool Dress your character up as]] ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} (who Nolan voiced over for his animated and video game appearances).
* VocalDissonance: You can mix and match bodies and voices for the Boss. You can have a male body with a female voice, or the other way around. And then there's the zombie voice from ''The Third''...
* WhenIWasYourAge: Parodied; one of the lines demonstrating the "Male 1" voice in the third game complains about kids playing video games, saying that when he was young, he would've been playing outside... killing people in real life.
* WhiteGangBangers: Or black, or Latino, or Asian, or any other nationality or even [[AmazingTechnicolorPopulation color of the rainbow]].
