Lionel Starkweather

"They're gonna be screaming your name boy. Mark my words."

- Lionel Starkweather at Cash. "Cash! I made you!"

- Lionel Starkweather's last words, mere moments before his death by the hands of Cash.

Lionel Starkweather, also known as "The Director" is the main antagonist of the controversial Rockstar game Manhunt.

He is James Earl Cash - the playable character - "Director" and archenemy. Starkweather is a man in his late forties. He wears a large light blue towel around his neck and a golden necklace as well.

He was voiced by Brian Cox.

Past
Lionel Starkweather was once a successful Hollywood (or more likely, Vinewood) film director until his movies started to flop badly and his career was finished, before moving to Carcer City and going insane. He begun filming underground pornography and snuff films, which he sold to certain Japanese businessmen.

His new found success made him very rich, allowing him to open a company named Valiant Video Enterprises and begun hiring people to help him. He even found those responsible for his previous failure and got his revenge by adding them into his movies where they were all killed.

Starkweather begun paying off the CCPD, allowing him to control the city and all the gangs participating in his snuff films took over the streets. With all this power Starkweather then remained isolated in his mansion, watching everything through security cameras and paying people to do all the work.

Manhunt
At some point, a Journalist discovered Starkweather's snuff film ring and begun gathering evidence against him. Meanwhile Starkweather found out about James Earl Cash and decided to make a movie starring him, so he bribes the police and prison officials to save him from death row.

Cash is given an earpiece so Starkweather can talk to him and he instructs him to kill many gang members, while Starkweather watches and films it through security cameras. He also has many parts of the city blocked off by electric fences which he can open once Cash has completed a task. He has the Cerberus group take Cash to each location and Ramirez organize the Hunters.

He soon has Cash's Family kidnapped, for Cash to save only one. Once he does, Starkweather has the rest of the family members killed anyway and shows the footage to Cash. Nearing the end of the film, Cash is set to die but fights back and escapes. Starkweather informs Ramirez to stop him but fails and is killed. He then has Gary Schaffer send police after Cash and the Jounalist. Cash soon breaks into Starkweather’s Estate and kills all the guards. Cash then enters Starkweather's office and Starkweather attempts to defend himself with a Revolver, but fails and is killed by Cash with a chainsaw.

Personality
Lionel Starkweather was once a hardworking and famous film director, who was praised for his talent and admired by every critics. However, deep down, Starkweather had sociopathic traits that worsen when he gone mad.

Starkweather currently presents himself as an extremely malevolent, depraved, cruel, sadistic, inhumane, immature, rude, disgusting, unpleasant, and perverted individual. He particularly enjoys the suffering of others, which make him extremely sadistic and misanthropic. He treats everyone, including his soldiers, as mere pawns from his horrible game.

Starkweather appears to be very impatient and temperamental, and shows no regard towards anyone's death. He gets very excited when Cash kills and annoyed when Cash waits around too long.

Dialogue at certain points indicate that he is possibly masturbating to Cash's murder spree (thus adding a bit of comic relief to the otherwise serious game), though as the game progresses, stealthy executions begin to lose their effectiveness in that regard for the Director, and that effectiveness is instead brought on by fire fights.

Villainous Acts

 * He is the one responsible for Carcer City's extreme decrepitude and the creation of an underground snuff-ring, featuring underground pornography as well as films with actual violence and executions. A high number of innocent people, including those responsible for his previous failures, but also many Carcer's criminals, cops and thugs, were gruesomely murdered in his movies, which he sold to some wealthy businessmen.
 * He forced Cash to participate in his snuff movies, telling him to kill any thug he comes accross. Then he betrayed him and ordered the death of his entire family.
 * He corrupted the Carcer City Police Department, allowing him to turn his snuff movies without troubles from the "officials".
 * He held captive one of his psychopathic actor named Piggsy for many years, which drove him completely insane.
 * When facing Cash in person, Lionel Starkweather offers him girls to slaughter.

Trivia

 * Despite being the main antagonist and being heard throughout the game, he is only seen in person during the final mission, Deliverance.
 * Rockstar possibly named Lionel Starkweather after Charles Starkweather.