Jacket

"Do you like hurting other people?"

- Richard questions Jacket.

Jacket, also known as The Mask Maniac, is the central character of the indie top-down shooter video game series, Hotline Miami. He serves as the main protagonist of Hotline Miami and later returns as a non-playable recurring character in its sequel, Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number. Throughout the series, Jacket does not speak a single line of dialogue.

Originally part of a US special forces unit known as the Ghost Wolves during the Hawaiian Conflict, Jacket eventually signs up for a patriotic movement known as 50 Blessings three years after the death of his best friend and comrade, Nicke. Soon after, through strange phone calls left on his answering machine, Jacket takes on several jobs which involve killing many criminals tied to the Russian Mafia and donning several animal masks along the way, all while seemingly losing his grip on reality.

Appearance
Jacket is man assumed to be in his late twenties to early thirties, with medium long blonde parted hair. During his time in Hawaii as a soldier, he sports a typical dark green outfit while wearing large backpack.

In 1989, he wears his signature yellow-brown and white letterman jacket, a white shirt underneath it and a pair of jeans.

1985
In a historically alternate turn of events, the final years of the Cold War escalate to the point of military conflict between the United States of America and the Soviet Union, for reasons which are never made clear. Jacket is one of the many American soldiers defending Hawaii from Russian forces.

March
On March 17th, Jacket is seen in a bar with his friends and fellow comrades Nicke, Barnes and Daniels, collectively part the special forces unit known as the Ghost Wolves. While Barnes and Daniels are engaged in a drinking game, Nicke tells the two of them that he feels drunk and leaves the bar to head back to their camp, with Jacket following him. Outside, Nicke and Jacket are stopped by journalist Evan Wright, who asks them if he can take a photo of them with a Polaroid. Jacket and Nicke step out into the sun and have their photos taken, with Nicke putting his arm around Jacket while Jacket flashes a peace sign for the camera. At Nicke's request, he receives a copy of the photograph before departing back to camp in a jeep.

Later that night, Jacket is seen chain-smoking at the Ghost Wolves' camp. Their commanding officer, a US Army Colonel, briefs Nicke on their next mission: to ambush a nearby Soviet camp. The Ghost Wolves successfully wipe out the Russian forces without any casualties. The group takes the surviving Soviets hostage, with Jacket holding them at gunpoint while Barnes beats up a larger captive. Daniels finds some Russian intel in a nearby hut and informs Nicke that they can show it to the Colonel.

October
Many months later on October 25th, the Ghost Wolves have set up camp by the beach, discussing what they wish to do after the war, with Nicke thinking about opening up his own convenience store back home, while Jacket remains silent, sunbathing. Nicke greets then greets the Colonel, who is visibly drunk. The Colonel cynically announces that he is being promoted to Lieutenant General, and sends the Ghost Wolves off on their next mission, lamenting that they might lose the war anyway. The Ghost Wolves assault a Russian-occupied hotel that the Americans have been trying to capture for weeks, but succeed in killing off the rest of the Soviet forces defending it and occupy it for the rest of the day.

On October 30th, the Ghost Wolves are informed of their last mission: to launch a borderline suicidal attack on a power plant heavily occupied by Soviet forces. Jacket is seen with the rest of his squad-mates while they complain about the mission, until their commanding officer suddenly walks into their tent wearing the skinned face of a panther as a mask, with a circle with three lines across carved into its forehead. The General fiercely rambles that they are animals being sent to kill or be killed and declares that violence is part of human nature and they love it. As Nicke nervously speaks up, the panther skin slides off the General's face, who snaps out of it, saying he may have had too much to drink and goes back to bed.

The next morning, the Ghost Wolves prepare for their last mission. The General gives his final briefing to Nicke and, knowing that their mission will likely end in tragedy due to them walking into a trap, tells him that he is proud of the Ghost Wolves before sending them on their way. The Ghost Wolves manage to wipe out the Soviet forces occupying the power plant without any casualties, cornering a Russian general, who has killed all of the engineers before shooting himself in the head. However, an alarm goes off in the power plant, indicating that the Soviet officer had put the power plant in meltdown before he committed suicide. Jacket and Barnes run to an elevator, which unfortunately happens to be booby trapped, setting off an explosion which blows Barnes in half and wounds Jacket. Bleeding out, Jacket is lifted up by Nicke and carried into safe elevator, while Daniels stays behind with Barnes, who is barely alive. Nicke and Jacket make it out of the power plant through an underground tunnel before it explodes. As reinforcements arrive nearby, Nicke angrily requests for a CASEVAC on the radio due to Jacket's life hanging in the balance. Nicke reassures Jacket that he will make it, with Jacket stretching his arm out towards Nicke after he had saved his life. Nicke tells Jacket there is no need to thank him and gives him the photograph of each other as a memento.

After this, it is presumed that Jacket's wounds are tended to and the two are discharged from the military, with Jacket heading back to Miami while Nicke heads back to San Francisco.

1986
On April 3rd, months after the suicide mission, Nicke has opened up his own convenience store in San Francisco and is talking to Jacket over a phone, showing that they have maintained their friendship. It turns out that Jacket is currently dealing with a breakup, and Nicke consoles him over the loss of his girlfriend. Nicke then requests for Jacket to send a copy of their photograph to Nicke if he gets the chance. Seeing a crowd gathering around in front of his store, Nicke tells Jacket that he has to go and hangs up. Wondering what is going on outside his store, Nicke steps outside only for Nicke, the crowd and the entire convenience store to be completely wiped out by a large explosion.

It turns out that the Soviet Union made one final retaliation towards the United States by dropping a nuclear bomb on San Francisco, resulting in the deaths of every citizen there, including Nicke. The bombing effectively ended the war between Russia and America, and a coalition between the two countries was put in place to prevent anymore catastrophic events from happening.

1989
Over the course of three years after the Russo-American coalition was put in place, many Russian immigrants move to the United States, gradually leading to many American citizens to grow resentful of Russians. Anti-Russian sentiments are further pushed when Russian organized crime syndicates begin to dominate the criminal underworld of Miami and grow more powerful through political connections, possessing military weaponry and profiteering from the drug trade and many other illegal activities. During this time, an American ultranationalist patriotic organization called 50 Blessings was formed in retaliation.

April
In a dark building with a surreal atmosphere, Jacket is greeted by three entities in animal masks: Don Juan, a woman in a green dress wearing a horse mask who is concerned for Jacket's mental well-being; Rasmus, a man in a white suit wearing an owl mask who shows Jacket nothing but resentment and disgust; and Richard, a sinister man in a letterman jacket (the same outfit Jacket wears) wearing a rooster mask who seemingly warns Jacket of what is to come in the future. Don Juan ponders if Jacket even he knows who he is, but considers that it may have to be kept that way by telling Jacket that he has done terrible things as of late. Rasmus rudely asks why Jacket is here, and tells him he is no guest here. Richard, however, states that he knows who Jacket is, asking him if the date "April 3rd" means anything at all to him in an attempt to jar his memory.

On April 3rd, exactly three years since the San Francisco incident, Jacket wakes up in his apartment to find a seemingly misplaced message on his answering machine: "Tim" from the bakery has left some cookies and ingredients at his front door. Jacket finds a package outside, not containing any cookies or ingredients, but a rooster mask and a list of instructions inside. The instructions tell him to find a briefcase and leave it inside a dumpster in a specific street, emphasizing that "Failure is not an option. We'll be watching you." Jacket leaves his apartment and drives to a metro station occupied by armed men in white suits. He puts on his mask and kills all of the mobsters there, as well as a man in a trench coat carrying a briefcase. He retrieves the briefcase and leaves the scene, driving to his next destination. After leaving the briefcase inside a dumpster, a homeless man armed with a baseball bat corners Jacket after he had stepped in his territory, and Jacket kills him self defense. Feeling nauseous from the murders he committed, Jacket rips off his mask and vomits. Successfully carrying out the orders given to him, Jacket leaves the crime scene. Afterwards, he seemingly visits Nicke at his convenience store, despite him dying three years prior to the nuclear explosion. Nicke happily greets him and, assuming he is out for a midnight snack, offers Jacket to take something from his store for free. Jacket takes a pack of beer and heads home.

After each hit Jacket completes, he collects more animal masks along the way. Each mask in-game offers its own perk when worn during each level.

On April 8th, Jacket has signed up for 50 Blessings and reads one of their pink pamphlets: "Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter! We appreciate your interest in our cause. America is a tune. It must be sung together." Jacket also receives another strange phone call: "Linda" says she needs a babysitter to look after some kids on East 7th Street and tels Jacket to "be discrete". Jacket once again complies with the task after seeing the warning from the instructions given to him on April 3rd, and heads out to East 7th Street. Jacket arrives at an apartment, once again occupied by thugs in white suits. Graffiti of a circle with three lines going across it is found outside the apartment. He puts on his mask, violently murders them and flees the scene. Jacket arrives at a pizzeria, which also happens to be run by Nicke. Upon seeing Jacket, Nicke has pizza ready and serves it to him for free. Jacket takes the pizza and heads home.

On April 16th, Jacket collects some newspaper clippings about his previous hit. They note that the police claims the bodies found at the crime scene are linked to a drug trade, while witnesses claim to have seen a "monster" leaving the apartment. Jacket listens to another message: "Thomas" from the methadone clinic schedules an appointment for Jacket at NW 184th Street. Jacket drives to the apartment to find another apartment occupied by mobsters and once again, slaughters all of them. Inside, he finds a bloodied and beaten corpse tied to a chair wearing a walrus mask. Jacket can collect the mask if the player chooses to, and leaves the scene. This indicates that Jacket is not the only person to have been taking on these jobs. Jacket heads to a VHS store, once again occupied by Nicke, who asks him if he has heard about the massacre that occurred on the previous night, joking about the scenario being similar to a slasher film due to the murders being carried out by a masked killer. Nicke doesn't consider the massacre too much off a loss though, due to the victims being "A bunch of Ruskies". Nicke then leaves a film on the counter for Jacket to pick up for free. Jacket takes the VHS tape and drives home.

On April 25th, Jacket collects more newspaper clippings, which notes that a series of gang related violence has been going on throughout Miami. The next message Jacket receives is from "Kate" from "Hotline Miami's dating service", stating that a date has been set up between Jacket and a girl from Southwest 53rd, concluding the message with "As usual, make sure you wear something fancy". Jacket drives to a villa owned by a film producer known as Wilson Fisker, who is holding a drugged, half-naked girl captive in his room with cameras and lighting pointed at her. Security cameras are placed around the villa, which is heavily guarded by armed mobsters. Jacket kills all of the mobsters there and as he is about to leave, Fisker, wearing a bullet-proof vest, leaves his room and tries to attack Jacket.

In retaliation, Jacket grabs a shotgun and shoots at the producer, knocking him down. After Jacket shoots at him a third time, the pellets appear to pierce through Fisker's vest, wounding him. Coughing up blood, Fisker begs for his life, but Jacket pins him down and pushes his thumbs into Fisker's eyes, gouging them out and gruesomely killing him. Jacket finds the girl weeping, telling him to get it over with. Instead, Jacket picks up the girl and takes her into his car. On the way back home, Jacket visits a bar, with Nicke serving as the bartender. Nicke notes that Jacket doesn't seem to look very well, but decides to get Jacket a special drink for free. Jacket finishes the drink and leaves.

May
Jacket finds himself back Richard, Don Juan and Rasmus' building. Don Juan notes that a clearer picture of what is happening is taking form and doesn't like the way it looks. Rasmus once again antagonizes Jacket, stating that Jacket isn't a nice person and makes him sick. Richard tells Jacket that he now remembers when they met, but knows that Jacket has no idea who he is or why they met in the first place. Before letting him go, Richard gives Jacket four questions to think about:


 * "Do you like hurting other people?"
 * "Who is leaving messages on your answering machine?"
 * "Where are you right now?"
 * "Why are we having this conversation?"

On May 5th, the girl has since been resting on Jacket's couch, who has left her a vomit bucket, a bedsheet and a pillow. The newspaper clipping of his previous job mentions that the surveillance cameras caught footage of him and his murders, but couldn't identify the girl. A phone call from "Blake" tells Jacket that a "power outage" needs to be fixed on 24th NW Street. Jacket arrives at the villa, continuing his routine of killing mobsters until he comes across a sealed room containing a man wearing a tiger mask tied to a chair inside. The man has explosives attached to him, which are wired to each of the doors to prevent him from trying to escape, while being interrogated by mobsters. Jacket grabs a shotgun and blasts open one of the doors, triggering the explosives and blowing up the entire room, leaving nothing left of the man or the mobsters interrogating him. Jacket quickly finishes off his hit and flees from the scene. Jacket visits Nicke at the convenience store again, with Nicke worrying about the streets no longer being safe due to the recent massacres. However, Nicke offers Jacket to pick up any of his goods he wants for the night for free and wishes him to take care. Before leaving, Jacket notices a group of mobsters cornering and assaulting a man wearing a wolf mask, leaving his bloodied corpse behind.

On May 11th, a newspaper clipping reports the bomb blast being heard all across town while multiple masked suspects have been witnessed elsewhere. The girl has gotten up and is about to take a bath in Jacket's bathroom. "Dave" from Miami pest control leaves Jacket a message about a vermin problem at SW 104th Street. Due to the public's reaction of the explosion, the caller advises Jacket to "not bother any of the neighbors". Jacket arrives at a house full of mobsters and kills all of them. After the hit is complete, Jacket can then use the crowbar found in the level to pry open a manhole found at the back of the house. In the sewers, Jacket finds a fatally wounded man covered in blood with a crocodile mask lying next to him. The man asks Jacket if everything that is currently happening is just a bad dream before dying of blood loss. Jacket collects the mask and leaves the scene. Jacket greets Nicke at the pizzeria afterwards, the latter being worried about closing down the pizzeria due to the lack of customers. Nonetheless, Nicke serves Jacket a pizza for free, and Jacket departs with it.

On May 13th, not long after his previous hit, more newspaper clippings suggest the dozens of victims on May 11th share connections with the Russian Mafia, with the police seemingly in denial of rumors concerning a possible violent vigilante movement. The girl is taking another bath comfortably in Jacket's apartment. Jacket receives another call: "Don" informs that the receptionist at Hotel Blue has called in sick and needs someone to take his place, as "VIPs" are currently staying at the hotel, sternly urging Jacket to give them a "great stay". As Jacket is about to leave his apartment, a grinning janitor watches him pass by. Jacket arrives at Hotel Blue to find Russians speaking with a pair of politicians in the hotel diner. Jacket takes some firearms from a room behind the reception desk and fires upon the politicians, as well as the Russians and waiters, who draw their guns on Jacket. After clearing the first floor, Jacket climbs out of a window and sidles across to a large balcony. Another grinning janitor is seen watching him from a locked room. Jacket kills the rest of the mobsters, who were guarding another politician outside while he was on the toilet. Jacket breaks into the bathroom, kills him and flees the scene, sparing the lone janitor at the scene. Jacket meets with Nicke at the video store again. Nicke is adamant of rumors going around that there are multiple masked assailants wiping out Russians across Miami, and once again compares the scenario to that of a movie. Nicke tells Jacket he can pick up any tape he wants free of charge, so Jacket does so and leaves.

On May 23rd, with newspaper clippings covered Jacket's second bed, his latest clipping reveals that the politicians seen negotiating with the Russian mobsters had strong ties to the Russo-American Coalition and thus, Jacket dealt a heavy blow to the coalition. On the answering machine, "Harry" informs Jacket of a pipe burst in need of fixing as soon as possible on SE 122nd Street, so Jacket drives there to find a large apartment complex full of mobsters. After he clears it out, a phone on the top floor unexpectedly rings. Jacket picks up the phone, with the caller telling him that a "prank caller" is at the telephone company, PhoneHom, and orders Jacket to drive to NW 342nd Street as fast as possible.

Jacket rushes to the PhoneHom headquarters and finds that every employee there has been brutally slaughtered. On the second floor, he finds Biker, a man in a pink vest wearing a turquoise motorcycle helmet and armed with a cleaver, hacking into a PhoneHom computer and successfully tracing the phone calls. Upon confronting Biker, the man immediately greets Jacket with hostility and threateningly approaches him. Jacket rushes and grabs a golf club out of a nearby bag and the two engage in a fight. Narrative-wise, the events of the fight are ambiguous due to both character's perspectives seeing different outcomes and both characters appearing alive in the sequel. However, from Jacket's perspective in the first game, he wins the fight by bludgeoning Biker across the head twice. A dying Biker cannot believe his fate due to being "so close" and tries to crawl away. Jacket stands above Biker with his golf club lifted high and smacks him across the head, tearing Biker's head apart. With Biker dead, Jacket flees the scene. Jacket then heads back to the bar, which is now empty. Nicke wonders if Jacket is feeling alright and admits that he does not feel too good himself, sensing that bad has happened tonight, commenting that he hasn't felt that way since San Francisco, referencing his death. Nicke then serves Jacket a cocktail for free before Jacket drives home.

Jacket reappears in the building of the three entities again, in a puddle of blood. Don Juan comments that Jacket looks ill, and suggests that he should rest or see a doctor. Rasmus is angry that Jacket has come back yet again, and says that if Jacket insists on coming back repeatedly, then he'll just leave himself. Richard asks Jacket if he has thought the questions that he has asked him, but won't give him any answers, as questions are the only thing he can offer for Jacket. Richard declares that the next time they will meet will be the last, and leaves Jacket with three predictions before he leaves:


 * "Someone you know is not who you think he is."
 * "Something will soon be taken from you."
 * "On July the 21st you will wake up in a bigger house."

On May 27th, Jacket seems to stop collecting newspaper clippings altogether due to his killings becoming a routine. As the girl has properly made herself at home, Jacket's apartment has now been tidied up, previously being messy before. Jacket receives his next job: "Pat" from the night club asks Jacket to be a DJ for the night club at NE 165th Street. Jacket arrives at the night club and kills all of the Russian mobsters occupying it. In the dance floor on the ground floor of the night club, he finds the dead body of a man who had been shot in the crotch, with a locust mask lying next to him. Jacket collects the mask and leaves the night club. Afterwards, Jacket arrives at Nicke's convenience store to unexpectedly find Biker's corpse near the entrance. Nicke, who offers him nothing this time around, tells Jacket that none of what he is seeing is actually happening, telling him to look at Biker's corpse as a demonstration. Biker's dead body wriggles around and gurgles before vanishing in a flash of static. Simultaneously, a bald man in a green jacket suddenly appears in the bathroom. Jacket leaves after witnessing the bizarre series of events.

Not long after his previous hit, on May 31st, Jacket receives another call: "Rick" from the real estate office tells him an open apartment is being shown at NE 24th Street and asks him to swing by. Jacket arrives at a heavily guarded building which houses a large cocaine operation for the Russian Mafia. In the middle of his hit on the second floor, a SWAT Team suddenly breaks into and swarms the building, while one of their snipers aims through the windows from afar. Jacket narrowly evades the SWAT Team and escapes. It is evidently clear that the ones behind the calls, 50 Blessings, are now deliberately sending Jacket on more dangerous missions. After his escape, Jacket visits the pizzeria only to find the same bald man in the green jacket who appeared in the bathroom at Nicke's convenience store behind the counter, while Nicke's corpse lies just beside him. The man, named Richter, is rude, impatient and scornful towards Jacket, a stark contrast to Nicke's friendly exterior. Richter offers Jacket nothing, and tells him to hurry up, as the pizzeria is closing soon. As Jacket leaves, he sees a vision of an undead mobster petting an undead guard dog. The mobster tells Jacket that they don't like strangers, while the dog growls at him.

June
On June 3rd, "Thomas" from Downtown Relaxation calls Jacket, telling him that they need him to fill in at the reception due to an employee calling in sick. Jacket arrives at a massive bath house owned by the Russian Mafia. After an intense struggle, Jacket kills every last heavily armed mobster left in the building. In one section of the building, he finds the corpse of Jake, an obese man with a green checkered shirt tied around him wearing a cobra mask. Jacket picks up the mask and flees the scene. Jacket visits the video store, which is occupied by a bloodied Richter wielding a hammer, while Nicke lies beside him dead. At first aggressively dismissing Jacket for staring at him, Richter notes that Jacket looks familiar and wonders if they have met before. Once again, Jacket is offered nothing and leaves.

On June 8th, both beds in Jacket's room seem to have been pushed together, heavily implying intimacy between him and the girl. Upon leaving the bedroom, he has a hallucination of an undead mobster scrounging through his fridge, furiously telling Jacket to get out of his face. Jacket routinely receives another job: "Jim" from the office needs a report at his desk on SE 24th Street by eight o'clock. Jacket drives to a Mafia office building swarming with mobsters, and manages to kill everyone there. On the way out however, Jacket narrowly dodges a black van crashing and swerving into the building. Several gangsters exit the van to attack Jacket, while the van driver throws molotov cocktails at Jacket. He manages to kill all of the driver's men, prompting the driver to leave the van and give himself up. However, Jacket refuses to spare him and brutally kills the driver by smashing his head into the floor, breaking his limbs and lighting his corpse on fire before leaving. Jacket heads to the bar to find Richter behind the counter, while a trail of blood leads into a room at the back. Richter orders Jacket to leave due the bar being open for VIPs only for the night. Jacket sees two undead mobsters sitting at a table, with one of them aggressively asking what Jacket is looking at.

Upon returning to his apartment, Jacket finds his front door open. He enters his apartment to find his girlfriend shot to death in the bathroom. He then finds Richter sitting on the couch wearing a rat mask and armed with a suppressed Uzi. Richter tells him he was wondering when Jacket would get back and shoots him. Jacket suddenly has an out-of-body experience, where he finds his own unconscious body in his apartment, which now has a dark and surreal atmosphere. Jacket finds Richard sitting on his couch, who tells him that none of Jacket's actions will matter. Jacket will never fully understand what is going on and everything he does from this point onwards will only be his fault. Saying his goodbyes to Jacket, Richard tells him that there is a bed to rest in across the hall. When Jacket exits his front door, he suddenly appears to be bandaged up and wearing hospital gowns. Jacket finds himself comatose in a hospital bed, causing his head to explode and his body to disappear.

Jacket realizes that he has been in a coma the whole time since his encounter with Richter, and has been reliving the events that has happened to him since April 3rd in a dream, explaining why he has been having surreal meetings with his dead friend Nicke, and attempted murderer Richter, as well as why he has been seeing visions of the people he has killed. It also becomes clear who each of the masked entities he meets represent: the concerned Don Juan appears to be nearly identical to the girl aside from wearing a horse mask, the hostile Rasmus is dressed as a Russian gangster, and Richard, who is dressed exactly like Jacket, has been attempting to jar Jacket's memories for what has happened to him by asking if he remembers who Richard is. It is also heavily implied that the death of Nicke at the hands of the Soviet Union's nuke has significantly fueled Jacket's urge to brutally kill Russians to avenge his best friend, who saved his life back in Hawaii. Further indicated by Richard's questioning, it seems as though that Jacket enjoyed killing each Russian he came across during his jobs.

July
On July 21st, Jacket overhears a police officer speaking to a doctor. The police officer is impatient, wanting to know when Jacket will wake up due to him being a prime suspect in the string of killings in Miami. The doctor is unsure when he will wake up, and the police officer urges him to do what they can with Jacket, since the hospital was unable to save Jacket's girlfriend, while Richter, who is now in police custody for his crimes, refuses to talk. Waking up from his coma after the doctor and police officer leave the room, Jacket now knows where Richter is being held and drowsily sneaks his way out of the hospital in his gowns. Jacket then heads back to his apartment by foot, to find his car vandalized. Inside, he finds that his apartment has since been cleared out and ransacked, while the girl's chalk outline is still visible on the floor.

Determined to find the man that took everything away from him, Jacket finds an extra set of clothes, puts them on and rushes to the nearby police station. Jacket assaults the police station, single-handedly killing many of the police officers. Upon reaching the third floor, the police chief holds a defensive perimeter in anticipation of his arrival, but Jacket manages to kill the chief and the rest of the officers.

Jacket grabs a set of keys, unlocks Richter's cell and corners him. Surprised to see Jacket alive, Richter apologizes for the murder of his girlfriend, assuring him that killing her was no personal vendetta, but tells Jacket that he doesn't have any answers for him. Jacket attacks Richter by either non-fatally shooting him, simply punching him or hitting him in the face with a baton. Richter then tells Jacket that they might not be too different from each other: he reveals that he has been getting the same strange phone calls as Jacket has, and has simply been carrying out orders, concluding that he was likely sent by 50 Blessings to take out Jacket. He informs Jacket that the police may have a file on the case somewhere in the precinct. Richter then says he hopes Jacket will spare him, but, thinking that Jacket has already made up his mind on what to do with Richter, willingly accepts his fate. Depending on the player's choice, Jacket can choose to either strangle Richter to death or spare him. Due to Richter appearing to have survived the events of 1989 in the sequel, it is assumed that sparing Richter is the canon choice. After either killing or sparing Richter, Jacket steals a police file on the case and flees the scene.

Back home on July 23rd, Jacket has scattered the police files on the floor on his apartment. Looking through them, he finds that different suspects have been threatened and instructed by the phone calls to carry out murders. The police file states that the calls appear to have been traced to a club on South 86th Street with ties to Russian organized crime. Despite the files claiming this to be insufficient evidence for a warrant, and the location not actually being the true source of the calls, Jacket unknowingly concludes that the Russian Mafia is the one sending out the calls and blindly sets out for revenge. Jacket fights his way through the club, killing every mobster there before reaching the club manager. The manager tells Jacket that he can take the money out of a nearby open safe, and begs Jacket not to kill him as he does not actually own the club. Feeling threatened, the manager falls back and fearfully reveals the address of the Mafia headquarters, NE 144th Place, further begging for his life. Jacket ignores his pleas, and beats the manager to death, using his bare fists to smash his skull apart. Jacket immediately rushes to his car and drives off.

Arriving at the boss' mansion, Jacket swiftly kills the guards at the entrance before making his way up the stairs. He confronts The Father, the underboss of the Russian Mafia, guarded by his two pet panthers and a female bodyguard armed with a katana. The Father quickly deduces that he is one of the people wiping out his men and sends his panthers to kill him. Jacket grabs a nearby trophy and uses it to bludgeon both of the panthers to death. The Father's bodyguard then tries to attack Jacket, only for him to throw the trophy at her and knock her over. Jacket then grapples her down and kills her by bashing her head into the floor. The Father is fascinated by Jacket's lust for blood and personally challenges him, hoping to see "who's hiding behind that mask". The Father grabs a pair of MP5s and starts firing at Jacket, who uses the fountains in the room as cover. Jacket grabs two of the bodyguard's throwing knives and throws each of them into The Father's hands. Defenseless and seeing the odds stacked against him, the Father taunts Jacket, telling him he'll spare Jacket the pleasure of killing him by pulling out a pistol and shooting himself in the head.

After the Father's suicide, the phone on his desk rings. Jacket picks it up and listens to the voice on the other end of the line, asking what is going on downstairs and exclaims that he is trying to sleep. Receiving no response, the man on the other end angrily hangs up. Jacket grabs the Father's gun and heads to the top floor in an elevator. He finds the boss of the Russian Mafia, Ivan Lebedev, a wheelchair bound elderly man. Initially asking what Jacket wants, Ivan decides to cut to the point and accepts his fate, saying that he has done terrible things. He tells Jacket to do what he came to do, so Jacket complies, shooting Ivan in the head. Jacket heads out to the balcony, rips off his mask and lights a cigarette. After finally wiping out the Russian Mafia, and finding his own way to avenge Nicke's death, Jacket no longer sees a reason to fight. He takes out the photograph of himself and Nicke in Hawaii and looks at it one last time before tossing it off the balcony.

Not long after, Jacket waits for the police to eventually arrive and willingly gives in, letting the police arrest them.

Legacy and Death
In the 1991 setting, Jacket remains incarcerated while 50 Blessings cease their operations for a while. But despite remaining in prison for his crimes, Jacket garnered an infamous legacy that served as the catalyst for the rest of the events in 1991:


 * To cash in on the masked killings, a slasher flick directed by Rouven Blankenfeld called "Midnight Animal" was produced, loosely based on Jacket's murder sprees. The lead actor, Martin Brown, plays as a slasher villain based on Jacket known as "The Pig Butcher", who goes on rampages which involve killing and raping teenagers. Jacket's "abduction" of the girl and his assault on the police station are echoed within the film. In his dreams, it is revealed that Martin himself is in fact a deranged individual who uses his role in the film to willingly act out his violent fantasies. During production of the film, Martin's role ends in tragedy, where he is accidentally shot to death with live rounds on-set.
 * A group of friends and former soldiers serving in the Hawaiian conflict, collectively known as The Fans, become obsessed with Jacket's killings and emulate Jacket's murders by finding criminal hideouts and killing hoodlums for fun. They are left to improvise Jacket's killing of the Russians due the Russian Mafia's decrease in power and dominance over the criminal underworld, until the brief resurgence of the Russian Mafia results in their deaths.
 * Manny Pardo, a corrupt Miami PD detective, grows envious of the press focusing their attention towards the legacy left behind by 50 Blessings and the masked killers. In his own twisted way, he tries to gain the same infamy Jacket did by moonlighting as a serial killer known as the "Miami Mutilator" and investigating his own crime scenes while framing other character by planting evidence of his murders in their homes. Despite receiving some attention from the press, Pardo's own paranoia of the police catching onto his crimes eventually leads to his downfall.
 * Evan Wright, the journalist that asked for Jacket and Nicke's photo has now become a freelance writer. He seeks to write a book about the killings, becoming increasingly dedicated in his research to the point of his wife, Sharon, leaving him. Because of this, Evan struggles whether to focus on his book or keep his family together.
 * Due to Jacket single-handedly crippling the Russian Mafia's grip on the criminal underworld, the rest of the criminal operations left in Miami are mostly occupied by hoodlums and petty drug dealers and, more significantly, the Colombians taking the Mafia's territory for themselves and establishing themselves as the top criminal empire in Miami. This leads to new boss of the Mafia, the son of The Father, becoming viciously ambitious to bring the Russian Mafia back to its former glory and crush Jacket's legacy. The Son wipes out his Colombian rivals and brings the Russian Mafia back as the top of the criminal underworld, but ends up destroying it after overdosing on his own product and going on drug-induced rampage.
 * Richard, the mysterious man wearing the rooster mask, returns in the sequel to visit many of the playable characters and warn them of their fates. On two occasions, Richard dons Jacket's outfit.

Jacket was seen as a hero by many citizens harboring Anti-Russian sentiments, and the revelation of the Russo-America Coalition being involved with the Russian Mafia further escalated these sentiments, which lead to protests and riots in 1991. Eventually, during an RAC conference between the American and Russian presidents on December 28th 1991, 50 Blessings launches a coup d'etat on the conference, resulting in the deaths of both presidents, instigating a nuclear war between both countries. While Jacket is alone in his cell, a nuclear bomb is dropped on Miami by the Soviet Union, killing the entire populace. While the rest of the remaining protagonists are shown being killed in the nuke, Jacket is the last one to be shown.

Trivia

 * The name "Jacket" was initially a fan-given nickname due several characters in the series being named after distinctive physical traits (e.g. Nicke being nicknamed "Beard" or many characters being named after their own masks). Thus, Jacket's name was given due to his own letterman jacket. Eventually, the developers Jonatan Soderstrom and Dennis Wedin themselves, as well as other promotional material, adopted the nickname and became his official moniker.
 * Due to the fact that the first and most prominent mask Jacket receives is a rooster mask nicknamed "Richard" and characters being named after their own masks, it has been theorized that Richard could possibly be his name.
 * According to the developers, Jacket's design seems to have been based off of Axel Foley's outfit from the 1984 film Beverly Hills Cop.
 * Since one of the inspirations behind Hotline Miami is Nicolas Winding Refn's 2011 film Drive, Jacket's character may or may not have been influenced by the protagonist of the film, the Driver.
 * Despite being a silent protagonist, Dennis Wedin has stated that Jacket is not mute.
 * Jacket appears as a playable crossover character in Overkill's PAYDAY 2. In the game, he communicates with his teammates with a tape recorder to make up for the fact that he doesn't appear to speak.
 * Out of all of the playable characters in the series, Jacket by far has the largest body count, having killed over 370 people.
 * As Jacket doesn't speak a line of dialogue within the games, he is the only playable character in the series to not be given a dialogue sprite.
 * Although Jacket is shown to collect many animal masks throughout Hotline Miami, only three of his masks are put on display during his trial: a rooster mask, a tiger mask and a pig mask.