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| “ | Muerte: Two mad dog killers, ready to murder each other. They step into the next room, an' I'm thinkin', now they gonna do it. Candy: Mmpphh... Muerte: But no! They sit down in front of a tv an' solve their differences with a Kung-Fu fightin' videogame. I tell you, Candy, I was so depressed, I strangled them both with the videogame cables. Candy: Oh, Rico, you're so bad. Muerte: I am, ain't I? |
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| ~ Rico boasting about a particular crime to Candy Dawn shortly before they're both interrupted by Max Payne. |
Rico Muerte is a minor antagonist from the 2001 third-person shooter game Max Payne. He's a contract hitman with a fearsome reputation, who's been often affiliated with the Punchinello crime family.
He was voiced by Joe Maruzzo, who has also voiced the transit police, one of the mobsters and a member of the Trio by the name of Joe Salem.
He was portrayed by an unknown actor in the graphic novel.
Biography[]
Once the Finitos are done for, Max inspects a letter on their office desk and realizes that Rico Muerte, an infamous assassin working for the Punchinello family, is currently staying at the room 313 of Lupino's hotel.
While traversing through the decrepit building and fending off its many armed visitors, Max discovers the room 313, however, as soon as he opens the door, a booby trap in a form of a shotgun is triggered. He successfully survives the trap and, apart from more weapons, finds a note signed by Angelo Punchinello, the don of the Punchinello crime family himself, talking about a certain Chicago "screw-up" that Muerte will be able to compensate for by serving as a backup for the Valkyre deal, thus confirming the don's involvement in the case, the fact that previously had no credibility behind it.
A little later, Max Payne also inspects the room of Candy Dawn, a prostitute who turns out to be a blackmailer and an informant for some mysterious "highest bidder". Through the secret compartment located inside the room he reaches the elevator leading to the laundry and the boiler room, then, through the hotel's kitchen, the protagonist eventually runs into the aforementioned V-deal, with several thugs sitting around the table, trading a suitcase of money for a suitcase full of the transparent tubes with Valkyr. Max interrupts the deal and in the same room he finds a key to the hotel's bar. In the bar he witnesses a peculiar scene; Rico Muerte boasting about his recent murders, all the while receiving a fellatio from the blackmailing prostitute Candy Dawn, who seems to be rather impressed by his cruelty. Max Payne catches them both off-guard by calling Rico out, with Candy Dawn recognizing the hero and Rico reaching for his Ingram. While Candy stays behind the counter, Muerte, literally caught with his pants down, resorts to running away through the nearby door and firing at Max. The protagonist chases him down the hallway towards the lobby, where he's met with more thugs aiding Muerte and the assassin himself standing at the end of the hallway, still shooting at Max. Nevertheless, Rico Muerte, Candy Dawn and the lesser gangsters all end up becoming history.
He's later mentioned on the television news once his bullet-ridden corpse is discovered by the police (along with the Finitos), confirming that he's killed multiple people before in the Chicago area before getting imprisoned (the aforementioned "Chicago screw-up") and the fact of him being a fugitive, meaning he wasn't just bailed out by the Punchinello family, but rather helped to escape the prison illegally.
Appearance[]
Rico is a slightly overweight, tall Caucasian male with short dark hair in his late thirties/early forties. He wears a black necktie, white shirt with tactical concealed double draw shoulder holster over it, black shoes, pants and matching underpants.
He wields an Ingram machine pistol and is seen with his pants down to the floor when Max confronts him.
Personality[]
Muerte is a typical cold-blooded assassin who revels in his own depravity, taking great delight in doing his job, as seen when he gleefully shares a story with Candy Dawn about him murdering two men, paying almost no mind to the prostitute, which also demonstrates his massive ego, since Rico is more busy admiring his own viciousness and toughness rather than enjoying the act itself, and gets even more turned on when she playfully remarks how "bad" he is. The same story shows his sadistic, thrill-seeking nature as well, since the whole reason he killed those men was due to him getting upset over them choosing to solve a dispute with a videogame rather than by brutalizing each other.
In the same way, Rico's moral bankruptcy and boastful, overconfident behavior are expressed in him not caring about receiving fellatio from Candy while the other thugs are present in the room.
Considering Muerte's murderous expertise and ruthlessness, it comes as no surprise that he's made quite a reputation for himself in the criminal underworld. In fact, his mere presence at the hotel was enough to terrify its visitors into compliance and conducting a Valkyr trade without any troublemaking. Even Max Payne refers to him as a "regular Keyser Soze", both signifying Max's own experience in dealing with such caliber of criminals and Rico's almost mythical status. On the other hand, Max also jokingly calls Rico a "big-time hustler", possibly implying his venality and willingness to carry out any mission for a large sum. However, despite his infamy as an uncannily proficient hitman, Rico is still a human who is capable of failure and underestimating a serious situation, which is evident by Angelo Punchinello mentioning the time when Rico has messed up during an unknown mission in Chicago and him being most likely aware of Max Payne closing in on the hotel and posing danger to the V-deal, but choosing to have fun with Candy Dawn instead of being thoroughly prepared.
Nevertheless, Muerte is still inventive and paranoid enough to booby trap a door of his room to prevent any loitering, even though it's very unlikely that any of the gangsters would dare to try and steal something belonging to him.
Powers and Abilities[]
- Assassination methods: Apart from his efficiency in handling an Ingram, Rico seems to have a knowledge in all sorts of weaponry, including shotguns that can be found in his hotel room and even a sniper rifle, considering he was assigned by Nicole Horne to take out the mayor by using it. He's also presumed to be able to improvise by employing ordinary household objects, such as the time when he strangled two men with the videogame cables.
- Marksmanship: Rico is noticably more accurate than his fellow gangsters while firing his Ingram during the scuffle with Max Payne.
- Durability: Muerte's significantly tougher than the regular enemies, being able to withstand the whopping 17 body shots from a Desert Eagle or 36 bullets from a Beretta.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Rico Muerte can be literally translated from Spanish to "rich from death", which makes sense, since he's a contract assassin who makes a living by killing people.
- Ironically, the number of his hotel room symbolizes enthusiasm, creativity, growth and optimism, with its last part, 13, being more fitting, since it represents misfortune, fear and death in certain cultures.
External Links[]
- Rico Muerte on the Max Payne Wiki
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 Villains
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Max Payne Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne Max Payne 3 Max Payne (film) See Also | ||