Cast of the game

A short list of major characters in the Hotline Miami saga. Please let me know if I missed
someone or something in the comment section down below!

 Jacket - the protagonist of the first game.

 Richard - the mysterious rooster figure; generally considered the equivalent of Death in
the HM universe.
 Beard - lieutenant of Ghost Wolves, Jacket's unit from the Hawaiian conflict.
 Richter Berg - the man forced into obeying 50 Blessings' orders; murderer of the Hooker
in the first game. His only seen family is his mother, Rosa.
 Hooker - Jacket's de facto girlfriend in the first game.
 The Fans - a group of friends who served in the Hawaiian war - Tony (tiger mask), Corey
(zebra mask), Mark (bear mask), Alex Davis and Ash Davis (swan masks) [Alex is the
chainsaw-wielding sister, Ash is the gun-using brother].
 The Son - a son of the Russian Mafia's underboss. He appears as a playable character
in HM2.
 The Father - the first's game's final boss. His weapons of choice are two SMGs.
 The Boss - Ivan Lebedev, a crippled mafia leader whom Jacket executes at the end of
the first game.
 The Henchman - a minor Russian Mafia member who wants to get out of the mafia
business.
 Jake - a stereotypical redneck who helps 50 Blessings because he sees their actions as
patriotism.
 Manny Pardo - a hard-boiled detective who abuses his badge as a way of getting out of
trouble.
 Evan - a man who is trying to write a book about crimes indirectly carried out by 50
Blessings.

NOTE:
No, Beard's name is not Ben Smith, nor is it James or even Nicklas. He uses several
different aliases in his appearances, with none of them ever being confirmed to be the
actual name. Please do not refer to this issue in the comments section.
Brief introduction to the story
Hotline Miami takes place in a timeline alternate to ours. The main difference between
reality and the game is the fact that USA is not a superpower - its “role” is taken by Russia,
which has access to nuclear missiles. This has the United States under a constant threat of
a global thermonuclear war with the global superpower.
1985 - The Hawaiian Conflict
In 1985, USA is involved in an armed conflict with Russia. The battles are set on Hawaiian
grounds, with Ghost Wolves assaulting Russian military outposts on March 17th (Ambush),
a mansion overtaken by Russian forces on October 25th (Stronghold), and a power plant
on October 30th (Casualties), which is mentioned to be their last mission in this conflict
before they are sent back home.

In the intro to Ambush, you can see the Fans sitting in the same bar as the Ghost Wolves,
however they do not interact with each other. You can recognize them by their builds and
their hair. From left to right, they're Alex, Ash, Corey, Mark and Tony.

In the same scene, Evan asks Beard and Jacket if he can take a picture of them. The same
picture is later mentioned in the storyline.
The most notable scene is Casualties. In the intro, Beard's team commander mentions that
he is going to be promoted to General position. In the scene itself, Barnes (one of Beard’s
squadmates) dies and Jacket, who served with Beard in the same unit, is injured by a
booby-trapped elevator, which makes Beard have to carry him to the evacuation zone.
When in there, Jacket takes a photo of them together for himself, with Beard saying the
phrase which Jacket later associates with him: "it's on the house".
1986 - "We don't want another San Fran"
On April 3rd, in the outro to the Casualties scene, Beard is seen talking over the phone with
Jacket, mentioning a photo they took of each other a year back and if Jacket is eventually
going to send Beard the copies. He puts the call on hold, telling Jacket that something is
happening outside of the store and he wants to take a look. Mere seconds later, he and the
rest of San Francisco are wiped out in a nuclear missile launched by Russia. This event,
due to its very controversial nature, presumably kickstarts the 50 Blessings's existence.

Beard's death is the most plausible explanation behind Jacket's PTSD and his
hallucinations of Beard being a store clerk and saying one of the last phrases Jacket
remembers him saying - "it's on the house".

1987 - The year that never happened

This year is only mentioned in the Digital Comic’s fifth issue, which details the Ghost
Wolves’ assault on a Russian military outpost in the Paradise Hotel on August 10th. It is a
huge discrepancy in the lore, as Beard dies in 1986, which obviously prevents him from
participating in the attack, so the chapter is most likely not canon.

1989 - The original killing spree

Without a doubt, most of the saga's events take place in this year, with 1991 coming in
second on the list.

The year starts with April 2nd, showing us Richter's first job for 50 Blessings (First Blood).
The game shows us that he, just like Jacket, obeyed 50 Blessings' orders because of fear
of their threats becoming real.

A day later, on April 3rd, Jacket is tasked with the first job for 50 Blessings - retrieving a
briefcase from the Russian mobsters in a metro (The Metro). The sudden return to killing
after his participation in the war makes him literally and visibly throw up (much to the
player's disgust).

Jacket and Richter did their jobs in a similar time frame, with the chapters mostly crossing
over each other with their dates. Jacket executes 50 Blessings's orders on April 8th (No
Talk), April 16th (Overdose) and April 25th (Decadence), while Richter did his jobs on April
10th (Demolition) and April 23rd (House Call). As a side mention, Jake's first chronological
appearance falls on April 25th, where we see him unknowingly obey the 50B phonecall in
the scene Hard News.

The Wrong Number Digital Comic's issue 2 happens on April 27th, when Jake receives the
50B pamphlets, and on May 2nd, when Jake is "rewarded" by the 50 Blessings for his
actions during the protest march with a mask of his own.
This creates a minor time discrepancy in the lore, as Jake's first scene takes place before
he receives the snake mask.

The rest of Jacket's sprees that occured separately from Richter's were on: May 5th
(Tension), May 11th (Full House), May 13th (Clean Hit), May 23rd (Neighbors), May 27th
(Push It), May 31st (Crackdown), June 3rd (Hot & Heavy), June 8th (Deadline). On June
8th, upon returning to his house, he is shot by Richter on 50 Blessings' orders.

Following Deadline's outro's events, Jacket is hospitalized for 6 weeks and 4 days (46
days). He wakes up from his coma on July 21st (Trauma) and escapes the hospital while
still dizzy. He returns to his house to change into his regular attire and then slaughter his
way through the Miami police department, in order to find clues regarding his case and who
is responsible for the mafia activity and his involvement in this.
Worth mentioning is, the Hooker's remains can be seen stuffed in the fridge, although it's
unknown if it's Richter who committed this deed or if it's just someone else who broke into
the house during Jacket's absence.
At the precinct, Jacket encounters Richter, who is under arrest. While he does beat him up,
he lets him live (as opposed to the game giving the player a possibility to outright kill him in
revenge for The Hooker's death), possibly because of Richter explaining that he was
manipulated just as much as Jacket was.

Two days later, on July 23rd, Jacket makes his way to a Russian club mentioned in the
police case files to find the mafia boss and kill him. He instead finds the owner of the club,
who, while begging for mercy, gives Jacket the address. He is killed as Jacket doesn't bat
an eye on his pleas.
Later on July 23rd, he assaults the Russian Mafia's main base. There, he kills three minor
thugs, the Father's bodyguard and the Father himself, then makes his way up to the Boss's
room, where he executes him with a point blank headshot.

After killing the Boss, Jacket goes to the balcony, lights a cigarette and throws away a
photo. Said photo is the same one taken by Evan in the intro to Ambush, and the one which
Beard let Jacket keep for himself. Following the moment of calmness, he is arrested by the
Miami police. His arrest is shown in the first issue of the Wrong Number Digital Comic.

Footnotes

Interestingly enough, Hot & Heavy happens on the same day as HM2's Withdrawal does
(June 3rd). Depending on the player's performance, Jake will either be dragged off by the
Russian mafia for questioning and then killed for not revealing anything, or, if he survived
the last floor of Withdrawal, will be executed by a 50 Blessings member for knowing too
much. As Jake's corpse is found in a building controlled by Russians, it means that in the
canon, Jake didn't make it out alive and instead he died while assaulting the Russians. His
body was found by Jacket on the same day Jake died.

It is worth mentioning that Biker's storyline intertwines with Jacket's, with him doing a gig on
a Chinese restaurant on May 13th (Safehouse), the same day as Clean Hit. He later
slaughters a Russian club on May 16th (Fun & Games). He finally grows tired of the orders,
so he decides to find out the truth about the killings and who is giving him the directions.

On May 23rd, he goes to the Phonehom company to find out the phone call registry
(Prankcall). Due to the Janitors' interference, Jacket is dispatched after Biker, who is
deemed to be past his usefulness. Jacket's point of view is flawed, as his memories claim
that he broke Biker's skull with a golf club. The second game proves that Biker actually
survived their battle at Phonehom, though not unscratched, as proved by a bruise on his
face.

The next day's exact events depend on the player's playthrough and whether they have
found all the puzzle pieces to access the Janitors' computer. Judging by Evan's hidden
conversation with Biker in the Bar of Broken Heroes, he did not find the password and the
revelation of a greater conspiracy sent him insane as he decided to flee to the desert and
simply wander around for a long time to find peace.

1990 - Prison riots

On July 20th (Release), Richter is visited by the two Janitors who orchestrated the calls in
the first game on behalf of 50 Blessings. They thank him for his (unwilling) cooperation and
say that he is no longer useful to them. When Richter is escorted out of the meeting room,
the prison riots begin, which allows him to get out of imprisonment while disguised in a
prison guard outfit.

The prison riots have been presumably orchestrated by 50 Blessings in order to eliminate
Richter. This theory is supported by the fact that the mini-boss prisoner Richter fights at the
beginning of the chapter has two tattoos on his head: one consists of the initials "50B" and
the other one is the 50B logo.

Richter's story ends with him fleeing to Hawaii after the prison riots. Following the
conversation, Evan covers the plane ticket's costs for Richter's mother, so she can join her
son in Hawaii.
1991 - Repercussions of Jacket's sins
The first mention of the Fans and who they are appears in the Wrong Number Digital
Comic's fourth issue, in which they attack a Russian warehouse on October 9th,
presumably with no reason other than boredom. The level does not seem to appear in the
game nor is it later alluded to in the game.

Manny Pardo's first chronological appearance is on October 25th (Homicide). He makes his
way through a gang-controlled shopping centre, as an introduction to the character -
reckless, badge-abusing cop who is just as crooked as the people he's fighting.

The Fans make their first in-game appearance in the second game's first scene - Down
Under (October 31st). Their presentation is preserved from the Digital Comic and the
trailers - a bunch of friends who murder people for fun and in following of their idol's
actions.

Jacket is put on trial on November 5th (First Trial). There, the players are accustomed with
Evan - a writer that aims to write a book about the murders carried out by the 50 Blessings
agents at all costs, even if it means risking his life. The Fans can also be briefly seen
protesting outside the building without their masks, with the Biker standing alongside in
silence.
On November 11th (Subway), Evan takes the metro and is forced to take out a street gang
that is trying to claim the subway station as their territory.

As the story progresses by seven days, The Son appears for the first time chronologically,
on November 18th (Seizure). He attempts to satisfy his father, unable to cope with the fact
that he's been dead for over two years. The attempt is, namely, an attack at a Colombian
Cartel controlled strip club.

Three days after the attack (November 21st, No Mercy), The Henchman asks The Son if he
can get out of the mafia business. The Son allows him to quit, but under one condition - he
performs one last job for the Russians. He does the hit and takes the bag of money found
there for himself. The Henchman drives with the bag to his home and hides the money
under his bed.

The next day (November 22nd), he finds that the bag of money is gone. His SO leaves a
note on the kitchen table that she apologizes and claims that he would have done the same
- meaning she has left him and ran away with the money. The desperate Henchman tries to
call her again from a Russian controlled building, which has been targeted by the Fans. He
is murdered by all the Fans together (Execution).

On December 2nd, the Fans perform a house call for one of their friends; namely they are
tasked with rescuing a girl from a gang house (Moving Up). When they make it to the girl,
she states that the gang members were her friends and she threatens the character who
met her with a gun.
The attack does not have any greater impact on the story itself, but it serves as somewhat
of a comparison between the Fans and Jacket, where the Fans "save" a girl from people
she was friends with, and Jacket saved the Hooker from the snuff film producer and the
Russian Mafia.

December 7th marks the Son's attempt at a Colombian Cartel controlled bank (Blood
Money). The heist comes to an end in the vault, where he hallucinates his father and his
boss being disappointed in him, ending with Richard shaming the Son's deeds.

December 9th is yet another one of the Fans' gigs (Into The Pit). They discover a street
gang melting bodies in acid baths in the sewers. Despite the inhumanity of the act, the acid
baths are never mentioned in the story again.

One day later, on December 10th, Manny Pardo single-handedly murders the entire crew of
a Colombian boat in the city docks, estimated for about 90 people on it (Dead Ahead).
When he is done with the job and getting off the boat, his colleagues scold him for his
recklessness and rushing head first into the combat, however he does not care about their
responses to the act he has just committed.

On December 14th, the Son launches a final attack on the Colombian Cartel, effectively
ending all their operations and the cartel itself (Take Over).

The penultimate day of the storyline, December 20th, is encompassed in two scenes -
Death Wish and Apocalypse. The Son unknowingly provides the fans with an address of a
newly acquisited building over a cellphone they stole from the Henchman. They promptly
slaughter everyone in the building, but in the end, the Son murders Mark and Corey off-
screen and Alex & Ash on the roof. (Death Wish)

After Death Wish's events take place, Manny murders Tony, who is the last man standing
out of all the Fans, cornered in a room with several SWAT units guarding outside, the only
reason being Manny's jealousness about all the attention they received.
When Manny goes back home, he has a dream where he is found out to be the Miami
Mutilator by his colleagues (Caught) due to him leaving a gun with his fingerprints at the
crime scene. In the dream, he slaughters his entire department. When he wakes up, he
makes sure the gun from the dream is still in his possession; this way he reassures himself
he's not dreaming and that the dream wasn't a prophetic one.

The last scene has the player return to playing as the Son on December 20th. Overcome
by the feeling of success after obliterating the last of the Colombian Cartel, he overdoses
on drug pills and goes on a massive bad trip (Apocalypse), which results in death of several
of his goons and the Fans themselves (which he hallucinates as demons) - effectively
proving that Apocalypse is the Son's point of view on his own drug-fueled rampage.
Ultimately he walks off the roof on a rainbow, when in reality he falls off the building to his
death. His dead body can be seen in the outro to Death Wish, laying under a white sheet.

1991, part 2 - The epilogue

The final day in the Hotline Miami saga is December 28th, 1991, which takes place in the
outro of Apocalypse. The camera shows Richter and his mother sitting in a beach house in
Hawaii, watching TV. The channel is just about to air the interview with Martin Brown, when
suddenly the program is interrupted by a national emergency broadcast. The announcer
says that during a meeting, a rogue general has staged a coup d'état and assassinated the
presidents of USA and Russia. The killing is said to be seen as an act of war towards
Russia as the announcer says that the repercussions of this may be very severe. The
signal then cuts out.

While not confirmed word by word in the game, the rogue general who murders the two
presidents is the same person who commandeered the Ghost Wolves in the Hawaiian
conflict. In fact, he is the creator of 50 Blessings. The fact is revealed in a blink-and-you'll-
miss-it shot in the intro to the scene Casualties. In his quarters, you can see a bloody
drawing of the 50B logo on the American flag. The general himself also wears a panther
mask, but this fact is brushed off as his drunken episode. The theme of masked murderers
obviously becomes a main trait of the 50 Blessings's operations later on in the storyline.
Once the TV cuts out, Richter's mother is "overtaken" by Richard, who starts conversing
with Richter about his actions. Once Richard mentions that "no one can stop this now" and
"no one has enough time", Richter calmly responds that since he cannot stop it, there's
nothing to worry about. Their conversation is abruptly ended by a nuclear missile barrage
launched by Russia hitting the American grounds, destroying the beach house and killing
them both, as well as most of the USA's population.
The Miami Mutilator and Manny Pardo
Manny Pardo's behaviour in his final scene, "Caught", may appear to some as out of place,
as if he was freaking out and going insane. However, a closer examination of his actions
proves that he does have a reason to be panicking - he is the man branded by the citizens
of Miami as the Miami Mutilator and the scene "Caught" is actually taking place in his
nightmare. This section will explain the claim.

In the intro to "Dead Ahead", we see him visit Alex's house where he asks her if she knows
where Ash is. While not too hidden, a detail is often overlooked by some people - when he
goes inside Alex's house, he plants a wallet under the kitchen table.

Additionally, in his car's trunk there is a cuffed man shaking around in panic.
During the story line, Manny is called in to examine several crime scenes in between the
game's levels. One of them, in particular, matches the things which we see in the intro to
"Dead Ahead". The victim is described to be missing a wallet (which Manny planted as
evidence to pin the crime on Alex)...
...and having cuff marks around his hands (the constraints which he was in while in the
trunk).
The moment in "Caught" where the Commissioner scolds Manny for his crimes and tells
him to turn himself in, just as the entire scene itself, is Manny's psyche imagining a
scenario which is very likely to occur once he is caught red-handed.
Martin Brown's role in the story
The most probable reason behind Martin Brown's inclusion in the cast is just a show of
what impact has Jacket made on Miami and its citizens.

However, there is a theory which, despite not being confirmed to be canon, is in my opinion
interesting enough to include it here.
The theory says that Martin Brown is an "alter-ego" of Manny Pardo, and the whole actor-
in-a-slash-film theme is merely a projection of Manny's mind to make him feel less guilty by
thinking that someone else is actually carrying out the imagined killings.

The evidence that supports the theory is, as follows:

-sometimes Manny will hallucinate a film crew being around him; this might be Manny's
imagination crossing over with his conscious self.
-Martin and Manny use the same execution animations (i.e. stomping the head to pieces).
-both characters use a unique animation of holding a shotgun in only one hand when
suddenly turning around.
-"pardo" is Spanish for "brown" (gray-brown[www.spanishdict.com], to be exact).

Please do not read this as a confirmation or the official story. It is not confirmed to
be a part of the canon. This is only a fan theory.

I failed to find any dates in the second game and the comic that would indicate the time of
Martin Brown's chapters. The only date I found was in the Wrong Number Digital Comic,
issue 3 - September 23rd, 1991. However, it seemed to look more like it's a date of the
events happening in his movie and not in the game's timeline.

If you do find anything that would correctly place the chapters on a timeline, please let me
know in the comment section below! :)
The Abyss
At this point it's no secret that Hotline Miami 2 contains a bonus chapter called "The
Abyss". In it, you play as Evan, who visits the abandoned 50 Blessings headquarters.

Quite a few people have asked me about Abyss and why isn't it included in this
explanation. The reason is simple: The Abyss is non-canon. It's not a part of the story
arc, since the way to obtain it directly contradicts the canon events.

I'll try to put it simple. To unlock Abyss, you have to finish Jake's last level's last floor
(Withdrawal) without dying. This will allow you to go back to the 50 Blessings HQ and
snatch a floppy drive from the desk. Shortly after, Jake is executed by a 50B member for
knowing too much about them.

In the outro, Evan visits the police evidence locker under Manny's watch. If you died on the
last floor of Withdrawal (as the canon timeline goes, since if you do get killed, Jake will be
dragged off by a Russian Mafia member for questioning and then executed in a room of the
building from Hot & Heavy), Jake will obviously not have the floppy drive. However, if you
did complete the floor in the first try, Evan will be able to collect the floppy with the info,
thus unlocking Abyss.

To summarize - to even be able to access The Abyss, you have to go against the canon
timeline.
Barebones timeline of the chapters
In case you just want to see what happens in what order instead of reading through
stuff, feel free to read this list!

March 17th, 1985 === HM2 - Ambush

October 25th, 1985 === HM2 - Stronghold
October 30th, 1985 === HM2 - Casualties
April 3rd, 1986 === HM2 - Casualties (outro)
August 10th, 1987 === Wrong Number Digital Comic, issue 5 (most likely not canon)
April 2nd, 1989 === HM2 - First Blood
April 3rd, 1989 === HM1 - The Metro
April 8th, 1989 === HM1 - No Talk
April 10th, 1989 === HM2 - Demolition
April 16th, 1989 === HM1 - Overdose
April 23rd, 1989 === HM2 - House Call
April 25th, 1989 === HM1 - Decadence
April 25th, 1989 === HM2 - Hard News
April 27th, 1989 === Wrong Number Digital Comic, issue 2 (conflicts with events of
Hard News)
May 2nd, 1989 === Wrong Number Digital Comic, issue 2
May 5th, 1989 === HM1 - Tension
May 11th, 1989 === HM1 - Full House
May 13th, 1989 === HM1 - Clean Hit
May 13th, 1989 === HM1 - Safehouse
May 16th, 1989 === HM1 - Fun & Games
May 23rd, 1989 === HM1 - Neighbors
May 23rd, 1989 === HM1 - Prankcall
May 24th, 1989 === HM1 - Resolution (one of the outcomes is not canon)
May 27th, 1989 === HM1 - Push It
May 31st, 1989 === HM1 - Crackdown
June 3rd, 1989 === HM2 - Withdrawal (one of the outcomes is not canon)
June 3rd, 1989 === HM1 - Hot & Heavy
June 8th, 1989 === HM1 - Deadline
July 21st, 1989 === HM1 - Trauma
July 21st, 1989 === HM1 - Assault
July 23rd, 1989 === HM1 - Vengeance
July 23rd, 1989 === HM1 - Showdown
July 23rd, 1989 === Wrong Number Digital Comic, issue 1
July 20th, 1990 === HM2 - Release
October 9th, 1991 === Wrong Number Digital Comic, issue 4
October 25th, 1991 === HM2 - Homicide
October 31st, 1991 === HM2 - Down Under
November 5th, 1991 === HM2 - First Trial
November 11th, 1991 === HM2 - Subway
November 18th, 1991 === HM2 - Seizure
November 21st, 1991 === HM2 - No Mercy
November 22nd, 1991 === HM2 - Execution
December 2nd, 1991 === HM2 - Moving Up
December 7th, 1991 === HM2 - Blood Money
December 9th, 1991 === HM2 - Into The Pit
December 10th, 1991 === HM2 - Dead Ahead
December 14th, 1991 === HM2 - Take Over
December 20th, 1991 === HM2 - Death Wish
December 20th, 1991 === HM2 - Apocalypse
December 20th, 1991 === HM2 - Caught
December 28th, 1991 === HM2 - Apocalypse (outro)
The end
Thank you for reading through this! I hope that I have managed to clear up any
inconsistencies in the game's timeline. However, if I missed something, feel free to let me
know in the comment section below!

Many thanks to anyone and everyone who contributed to clearing up any mistakes in this
guide!

If you liked the guide, please give it a like and share it with others! :D