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Jacket (Hotline Miami)

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Articles About Jacket
Hotline Miami Jacket
Crossovers PAYDAY2 - Travis Strikes Again

Do you like hurting other people?
~ Richard to Jacket

Background

Jacket is the main protagonist and player character of Hotline Miami, and a side character in Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number. Over the course of the first game, he dons various animal masks and performs a number of brutal assassinations in response to cryptic messages left on his answering machine. The second game explores the causes and consequences of his massacres two years after the first game's events, with Jacket himself making brief appearances in several cutscenes.

This dropdown contains the synopsis of Jacket’s story. Read at your own risk as you may be spoiled otherwise!

Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number
1985
During 1985, America and the USRR went to war due to unknown reasons. Jacket was in the US Special Forces, part of an elite squad consisting of him, Beard (the leader of the unit), Barnes, and Daniels, directed by an unnamed US Army Colonel/General in Hawaii, America. Their unit, also known as the Ghost Wolves[1], were sent in for missions that no other units could pull off.

March 17th, 1985
Before their mission, Beard and Jacket take a Polaroid for Evan, which Beard holds onto for the next few months. Beard's Unit attacks several Soviet Military outposts later that night within the jungle and Capture several Soviet soldiers and a Soviet intel officer, who is killed at some point with a shot to the head. The unit acquired information for their forces to progress.

October 25th, 1985
The Colonel is promoted to General and says to the Ghost Wolves that America can't possibly win the war. Beard's Unit is assigned a supposed 'Final Mission', which is to capture a resort being used by the Russians as a base that local troops were unable to successfully take over in a previous siege. After Beard's Unit takes over the resort, D Company Commander congratulates and praises them for managing to take over the resort that his men couldn't.

October 30th, 1985
Beard's Unit receives another 'Final Mission' where they are tasked to take over a Power Plant by themselves whilst the local forces actively hold back, which they deem as an impossible mission. The General responds to this by killing a panther, skinning it and wearing its face as a mask as mockery of the foolish plan. On the next morning, Beard's Unit assault the Soviet controlled Power Plant and eventually reach the Soviet General, who shoots all the engineers in the room with his pistol, sends the Power Plant into meltdown and then shoots himself. Beard's Unit tries to escape the exploding Power Plant but Barnes is killed by an explosion, which also incapacitates Jacket, Daniels is left behind as Beard escapes the Power Plant carrying Jacket out with him.

Beard calls for reinforcements, ultimately saving Jacket's life. Beard gives Jacket the picture that Evan took for them as a reminder of his deed, telling Jacket "No need to thank me, kid, it's on the house. You'd do the same for me, right?". The two ultimately are discharged and retired from the military.

1986
April 3th, 1986
A few months later after returning to civilization, Jacket and Beard are talking on the phone, where Beard asks Jacket when he plans to send a copy of the Polaroid they took together. Moments later, a nuclear bomb drops on San Francisco, that ultimately kills Beard.

Hotline Miami
April, 1989
April 3th, 1989
Jacket wakes up on April 3rd in his dirty and notably two-bed apartment. He receives a call from "Tim's Bakery" telling him a package of ingredients has been sent to him. The package contains the Richard rooster mask and instructions to pick up a package at a metro and deliver it to a dumpster at "point F-32." Jacket dons the mask and does so, killing several Russian mafia enforcers on the scene, but at F-32 he is confronted by an old bum, who attacks him for interfering with the dumpster and is promptly killed. This provokes Jacket to vomit at the scene.

Jacket drives to a local convenience store where Beard is the cashier. Beard greets him and says he hasn't seen him in a long time and was worried about him. He comments that the last time they talked Jacket told him about his girlfriend dumping him. He quickly switches the topic and gives Jacket a midnight snack "on the house".

April 8th, 1989
On April 8th, Jacket's kitchen table features several 50 Blessings newsletters from a patriotic organization he's subscribed to. He gets a call from "Linda" to discipline naughty kids. He arrives at the given address to find it's a Russian mobster hangout and kills them. He proceeds to a local pizzeria, where Beard is the cashier. Beard gives Jacket his desired pizza before Jacket orders, telling him it's "on the house."

April 13th, 1989
On April 13th, Jacket's apartment contains several newspaper clippings of his April 8th job as mementos or trophies. "Thomas" at the methadone clinic leaves him a message to swing on by. Jacket again arrives to find a den of Russian mobsters, this time seeing the tied up corpse of a walrus-masked killer, Earl. He visits a local VHS store, where Beard is the cashier. He raves about the recent killings, saying that a bunch of "Ruskies" is no loss if you ask him, and that it all sounds like a cool slasher flick. He gives Jacket a movie, again "on the house." He encourages Jacket to enjoy himself.

April 25th, 1989
On April 25th, Jacket's apartment is cluttered with empty pizza boxes and more news clippings. Hotline Miami's dating service worker "Kate" tells Jacket they've set up a date for him. He arrives at the address to find it's an expensive villa guarded by several Russian mobsters and many security cameras. After dispatching them, the owner, a movie producer wearing a bullet proof vest, attacks Jacket, who retaliates by gouging his eyes out. In the media room Jacket finds a drugged Girl surrounded by cameras who begs him to kill her (or if it's done so by the player, Jacket starts to leave and the girl yells at him from the room, calling him an "asshole" and harshly encourages him to "finish the job." the player cannot leave until he goes to the girl). He instead takes her to his car. Jacket heads to a bar, where Beard comments that he looks sick. He makes him a custom drink for free.

May, 1989
May 5th, 1989
On May 5th, Jacket's apartment has more newspaper clippings revealing that he was recorded in the movie producer's villa (though he remains anonymous due to his mask). The Girl is on his couch next to a vomit bucket. "Blake" from an electrician service calls about fixing a power outage. Jacket arrives to find a large mafia hangout, where he finds and detonates the body of another masked killer, this one in a tiger mask which is presumably damaged and bloodied by the explosion. He visits Beard's convenience store, the inside of which is empty, and the outside of which features a group of Russian mobsters beating a wolf-masked killer to death. Beard comments that the streets are no longer safe and that he was worried about Jacket. He again gives him a snack for free because Jacket's his friend and his money's "no good here."

May 11th, 1989
On May 11th, Jacket's newspaper clippings and empty pizza boxes have been moved out of the living room and into the kitchen (away from where Girlfriend sleeps), as has the vomit bucket. Girlfriend is in the bathroom, looking in the mirror. "Dave" from pest control sends Jacket to a large house full of Russian mobsters. After killing them, Jacket inspects a nearby manhole cover and finds the mutilated dying body of an alligator-masked killer, Jones. Jones tells him that he finally understands that it's all a dream and dies. Jacket visits Beard's pizzeria, and Beard comments that Jacket looks worried and that business has dried up, saying "maybe they've lost their taste for pizza... maybe it's time to close up shop after all." As always, Beard gives him his order for free.

May 13th, 1989
On May 13th, The Girl is taking a bath, and pizza crumbs are present on her sheets on the couch. Jacket has further tidied up, moving all his newspaper clippings save the most recent onto the spare bed. "Don" from the Hotel Blue calls Jacket to come in as a back up receptionist, because their other one "went home due to stomach problems" (Biker instead uses May 13th to investigate the phone calls). On his way downstairs he meets a suspicious Janitor (Dennis) but continues to his car. The Hotel Blue is full of armed waiters, Russian mafia guards, and mafia-affiliated pro-Russian politicians connected to the Russo-American Coalition, all of which Jacket kills, but he spares yet another suspicious Janitor monitoring the job (Jonatan).

Jacket visits Beard's customer-less VHS store, where Beard excitedly asks him if he's following the news of the killings, and says that a friend of his in the police force told him about a rumor that there's a full group of masked killers. Beard comments that it fascinates him, like something from a movie. He tells Jacket to take whatever he wants on the house, because "that's what friends are for."

May 23th, 1989
On May 23rd, all kitchen clutter and clippings has been either thrown away or moved onto Jacket's spare bed. The Girl sits upright on her couch. "Harry" from condo management tells Jacket about a huge mess he needs to clean up. He arrives at a series of several Russian occupied condos, which he quickly clears out. Before returning to his car, the phone of the top level condo rings, informing Jacket that a prank caller needs to be dealt with at the phone company, Phone Hom.

Jacket arrives at Phone Hom headquarters to find a motorcycle parked outside and all the employees inside dead. In the manager's office he confronts a Biker hacking the manager's computer, who tells him he's "dead meat" and attacks him with a meat cleaver. After a long fight and multiple hits with a golf club Jacket apparently defeats Biker, seemingly destroying Biker's entire head with the golf club (It is revealed later that this event did not go as Jacket depicted it, and was the only job he ever failed).

Afterward, Jacket visits Beard's customer-less bar. Beard comments that Jacket doesn't look happy, and admits he feels pretty bad himself, "something in the air, like something terrible has happened tonight," and comments that he "hasn't felt this way since San Francisco". This foreshadows that Jacket's failure to actually kill Biker will have repercussions for him that will lead to loss of someone he cares about.

May 27th, 1989
On May 27th, Jacket's apartment is completely free of pizza boxes and newspaper clippings, and The Girl has moved to sleeping on his spare bed instead of the couch. "Pat" from the Club calls Jacket in as a spare DJ. Notably the phone call says beer "is on the house." Jacket arrives at the dance club to find the body of the grasshopper-masked killer Carl and several Russian mobsters, one of which has a cell phone.

Jacket visits Beard's customer-less convenience store, which is now marked in the same manner as all other targeted locations. Beard says he has to tell Jacket something important, gesturing to the exploded-head corpse of Biker and saying "that did not happen" and that all of this "is not happening." He sees that Jacket doesn't believe him, and demonstrates as the screen turns to surreal static. The corpse of Biker is gone, but a blood stain remains, revealing that Jacket merely wounded Biker. A mysterious man, Richter, appears in the bathroom of the convenience store. Beard seems to "reset" and tells Jacket it's nice to see him, that friendly faces are "few and far between these days" and to help himself to whatever he wants. The surreal static intermittently continues as Jacket leaves.

May 31st, 1989
On May 31st, The Girl is nowhere to be seen. Jacket's kitchen table has a new cloth, his NES system is gone, and his TV has been moved from his bedroom into the living room. "Rick" from the real estate office calls Jacket about an apartment showing. Jacket arrives to find the apartment full of Russian mobsters packaging cocaine. Halfway through dispatching them, the place is raided by a SWAT team and Jacket is forced to flee the scene. Jacket visits Beard's pizzeria, which has a zombie Russian and zombie guard dog out front who are hostile to Jacket. Behind the counter is the corpse of Beard with the new cashier being the mysterious Richter, wiping Beard's blood off his jacket. Richter tells Jacket to hurry up as they're closing soon, and Jacket leaves.

June, 1989
June 3rd, 1989
On June 3rd, The Girl is again nowhere to be seen, but pink and teal couch pillows are on Jacket's couch in the living room, as is a potted plant. "Thomas" from Downtown Relaxation Spa calls Jacket to come in as a back up receptionist, mentioning that another "employee" has "called in sick" (alluding to Jake's assassination in the spa). Jacket arrives at the spa and clears out the Russian mobsters in it, finding a cobra-masked killer corpse, Jake. Jacket visits Beard's VHS store, where again Beard's corpse is behind the counter, Richter toying with the hammer he apparently used to crush Beard's skull. Richter rudely asks what Jacket's looking at, and then seems to recognize Jacket and asks if he's seen him before. Jacket leaves.

June 8th, 1989
On June 8th, an untampered newspaper is open on Jacket's kitchen table, and a zombie bouncer is looking through his fridge. The two beds are now pushed together. Girlfriend is in the living room, watching TV. "Jim" from the office asks Jacket for his report, and hangs up the phone fourteen times. Jacket arrives at the office to see it full of Russian mobsters, which he dispatches largely with a silenced pistol. As he heads out of the lobby a van crashes through the entrance and disgorges several Russian mobsters and bouncers while a teal-haired Richter lookalike throws Molotov cocktails at Jacket. The surreal dream static returns as Jacket slowly mutilates and sets fire to the Van Driver. Jacket goes to Beard's bar to find a blood trail leading from the cashier, Richter, to the back room. Richter tells Jacket "VIPs only tonight, I think you'd better leave." In lieu of customers Russian mobster zombies are being served, implying that Jacket associates Richter as a servant of Russians.

Jacket arrives back to his home from his June 8th job to find it tagged for a hit. He sees The Girl's corpse riddled with gunshot wounds in the bathroom. He enters the living room where Richter is watching TV with a silenced submachine gun resting on his lap. For the first time, he's wearing an animal mask, revealing him to be a masked killer just like Jacket. Richter says "Well, let's get this over with then..." and shoots Jacket.

The dream static returns as Jacket wakes up in his own apartment and walks over to his body. Richter has been replaced on the couch by Richard. Don Juan and Rasmus have gone and Jacket is left alone with Richard. Richard tells Jacket none of this will have a happy ending, that what he does upon waking up will have no consequences, that Jacket will never see the full picture and it's his own fault. Jacket exits the apartment and his outfit changes into a hospital gown and head bandages; he opens the door to the apartment across the hall to find himself in a hospital bed, his head then explodes. The dream static erases his headless body, much like Biker's in Push It's outro.

July, 1989
July 21st, 1989
At some point during his coma, Jacket drowsily overhears a conversation between a nurse and a cop, informing him that he's recently out of surgery, The Girl's dead, and Richter's in the local precinct. The cop mentions Jacket is the prime suspect in a major case, and that Richter isn't talking.

On July 21st, Jacket wakes up in his hospital room. He shimmies out the window and dodges several nurses and guards to escape the hospital. He drowsily returns home, finding it a gang-trashed former crime scene. There seems to be blood near the fridge, implying Jacket walked over there or was dragged by Richter after being shot in the head, potentially explaining the June 8th fridge zombie in his dreams. Moving to the laundry basket in the bathroom, Jacket gets another burst of dream static before donning his clothes, implying he fell asleep and some time has passed, making it either July 22nd or July 23rd as he heads downstairs.

Jacket proceeds to his trashed Acado GT and drives it to the local precinct, where he proceeds to kill around thirty cops and a Police Chief to get to Richter and the evidence room. Richter confirms that he takes orders from the same mysterious phone messages as Jacket, prompting Jacket to spare him and turn to the police file on the case for clues (the player has the option of strangling Richter, but this has no bearing on subsequent events, as Richter is still alive in Hotline Miami 2). The police have traced some of the calls to a club of suspected Russian mafia ties (deemed the Golden Truck Stop in the sequel), but have insufficient evidence for a warrant.

July 23rd, 1989
On July 23rd, Jacket again heads out of his apartment and takes his Acado GT to the Golden Truck Stop. The place is lavishly decorated with golden floors and monster trucks and of course guarded by several Russian mobsters. A Russian mafia associate in the main office has opened the safe for Jacket and begs him not to kill him. He tells Jacket his boss isn't here today, and gives Jacket his address. He moves toward the desk with an open drawer with a magnum in it, but stumbles and falls over well out of reach of it. Regardless, Jacket bashes his head in for a solid minute and proceeds to the Russian kingpin's house.

Now at what he assumes is the source of the calls, Jacket kills his way through the Russian Father's home. In the main room, the Father remarks that Jacket is one of the assholes who's been killing his men, but then commends Jacket for his senseless bloodlust and looks forward to seeing his face. Jacket beats the Father's attack panthers and ninja body guard to death with nearby trophies, and uses the dead ninja's throwing knives to maim the Father from a distance. The Father, realizing he is defeated, denies Jacket catharsis by killing himself with the boss gun.

A dejected Jacket then hears the phone on the Father's desk ring. Jacket answers, and the elderly Grandfather asks what the noise down there is. When there's no reply, the Grandfather says "Goddamn phones! I hate these things!" Jacket takes the Father's revolver and heads upstairs, following the ever more tenuous idea that the phone-hating voice is behind the calls, where he finds a wheelchair-bound and unarmed Grandfather, who briefly wonders who Jacket is before deciding it doesn't matter. He expresses regret for all the wrongs he's committed and is resigned to his fate. "Nothing really seems to matter anymore, does it?" he asks before Jacket shoots him in the face with the Father's suicide pistol, killing him.

Stepping outside onto the balcony, Jacket throws off his mask and removes from his pocket the picture alluded to in the animal room in his coma dream. He lights a cigarette and throws it to the wind as the credits roll.

General Information

Name: Unknown, referred to as Jacket, potentially Richard (The masks gifted to 50 Blessings Hitmen are usually named after them directly)

Origin: Hotline Miami

First Appearance: Hotline Miami

Latest Appearance: Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number (Canonical latest appearance), Dead Cells (Non-canonical; appears as a unlockable costume in Dead Cells)

Company: Dennaton Games

Sex: Male

Sexuality: Heterosexual

Pronouns: He/Him

Story Role: Hero/Main Protagonist (Hotline Miami), Tertiary Character (Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number)

Age: Unknown, at least mid-twenties (Given Jacket was enlisted into the military sometime before 1985, and the events of the first game takes place in 1989, this would indicate that he is at least 22-years-old in Hotline Miami, with two additional years passing by the time Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number begins)

Residence: Miami, Florida (Currently), Hawaii (Formally during the war)

Classification: Jacket, The Miami Maniac

Species: Human

State of Being: Regular

Physiology: Humanoid Physiology

Occupation: US Special Forces Operative (formally), 50 Blessings Hitman (formally, unwilling), Prisoner (currently)

Affiliations: Beard (Jacket's Comrade/Close Friend), Barnes (Jacket's Comrade), Daniels (Jacket's Comrade), Colonel (Jacket's Colonel)

Enemies: The Father (Leader of the Russian Mafia in Miami), The Biker (Fellow 50 Blessings Hitman, opposing assassin), Richter (Fellow 50 Blessings Hitman, opposing assassin)

Status: Both Alive and Deceased (After the events of Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number, nuclear war breaks out across all of America and kills off the entire cast, including Jacket. Although upon replaying the game, a sequence will began where Richard acknowledges the cast returning to relive their ultimately futile fates which strongly suggests that the events will persist so long as the characters continue their doomed paths)

Alignment: Neutral Good initially (Jacket enlisted into the military and was apart of an elite four-man special forces that fought in Hawaii against Soviet Troops. Although his initial intentions are left ambiguous, he followed orders from his colonel with good intentions), Chaotic Neutral after the death of Beard (After Beard's untimely death in Los Angeles due to the nuclear bombing in 1986, Jacket spiraled into a crazed hatred towards Russia and joined an organization called "50 Blessings" that forced him into the role of a hitman against the Russian mafia. Although he takes pleasure in killing these individuals due to justifying his actions as a conquest for revenge, he is sickened by the idea and actions of directly killing innocent lives. Went out of his way to save an innocent woman who was kidnapped by a film director within the mafia), Chaotic Evil after his surgery (Jacket went on a killing spree against dozens of police officers to get information on the mafia)

Threat Level: Metropolitan Threat (Jacket singlehandedly became a threat to the entire Russian Mafia, allowing for rival mafias to take over territory previously claimed across Miami, Florida. He was also able to take out an entire major police station in a few minutes)

Codex Statistics

Tier: At least 9-C physically, Higher with certain masks, 9-B to 9-A with weapons

Cardinality: Finite

Dimensionality: 3-D

Attack Potency: At least Bone level physically (Jacket has the raw power to split open a man's skull with a mere head bash, and crush said skulls with a single stomp. Jacket can swing open doors with enough power to knock grown adults several feet and unconscious. He is able to tear people's jaw off with ease, and snap a man's necks without little to no difficulty), Higher with certain masks (The Tony Mask allows him to physically kill opponents with a single punch, and the Don Juan mask grants Jacket the power to kill people by simply swinging a door open), Wall level (Jacket can utilize simple objects like bricks with such efficiency that he can shatter the skulls of over three adult men all at once. Jacket has experience with and indirect/direct access to various firearms and close-range weapons) to Room level with weapons (The 50 Blessings Organization can supply deadly explosive weapons such as rocket launchers to their hitmen[2] which have an explosive yield of a tenth of a ton of TNT)

Durability: At least Bone level (Jacket is shown to be able to handle the recoil of his own brutal attacks without any strain on his body whatsoever), Higher with Sheer Will (Jacket has endured major injuries through sheer grit and determination like being blasted by an elevator explosion, or shot through the skull)

Striking Strength: At least Bone Class physically (Jacket can very easily bash the skull in of foes), Higher with the Tony Mask (The Tony Mask empowers Jacket with greater physical strength), Wall level to Room level with weapons

Lifting Strength: At least Superhuman (Jacket can tear the jaw off of his opponents with relative ease. He can also throw large sledgehammers tens of meters with ease and can throw small objects like knives through massive multi-layered windows), Higher with the Jake Mask (The Jake Mask allows Jacket to throw any kind of object with lethal power)

Travel Speed: At least Athletic Human (Jacket is an incredibly agile individual capable of rampaging and slaughtering through a multi-story building in mere minutes), Superhuman with Graham and Brandon Masks (The Graham Mask increases Jacket's speed by twenty-five percent, whereas the Brandon Mask further increases it by fifty percent)

Attack Speed: Supersonic (Can kill several trained men in a matter of seconds and before they can even react. Can kill Dodger enemies who are specifically trained to avoid projectiles such as gunfire and get in close quarters), Higher with Tony Mask (The Tony Mask increases Jacket's execution speed greatly)

Reaction Speed: Supersonic (Jacket can maneuver around gunfire and avoid it with enough precision. Former soldier Corey is agile enough to roll out of gunfire and completely avoid it)

Stamina: At least Peak Human (Even after being shot in the head and undergoing life-saving surgery, Jacket was able to awake from his medically-induced coma while drugged and began his revenge by first going to the police station and raiding it for information, then following up by attacking the Father's club and getting information on his whereabouts before finally ending his revenge by killing the leader of the Russian Mafia)

Range: Standard Melee physically, Extended Melee with melee weapons, Tens of Meters when throwing any object, Hundreds of Meters with firearms

Intelligence:

Genius Intelligence (Jacket is an extremely sharp individual who can quickly pick up on his surroundings and deduce if there are any traps nearby and how to avoid them or use them to his advantage. He and his comrades were able to strategically infiltrate and flush out an entire chemical plant in mere minutes. Jacket and his squad are so skilled and proficient that they could infiltrate and take over a maximum security fort with little difficulty[1], and they took over two bases in just ten days whilst under constant attack from air strikes)
Genius Intelligence (Jacket was a former special ops who could rat out and take over entire camps of enemy soldiers with little backup and was so skilled that dozens of other men would not compare to them whatsoever. Even after retiring, Jacket retains his skill and is shown as someone vastly superior to other trained individuals in every way. He bested The Biker who is shown to be incredibly skilled in combat, and was regarded as such a threat by 50 Blessings that he needed to be killed for his unstoppable rampage by other members. Jacket was trained with many firearms in the military for missions and can use many simple items with great efficiency. Jacket went through an entire police station, while recovering from surgery, and slaughtered everyone to kill Richter and get information on where the Father was residing)

Powers and Techniques

Superhuman Physical Characteristics, Genius Intelligence, Human Achievements (Is a former special ops in the military during the war between America and Russia), Martial Arts (Jacket is highly proficient in close quarters combat and can easily overwhelm and kill several opponents at once and is vastly more skilled than trained soldiers[1] and officers), Weapon Mastery (Jacket was trained with various firearms in the military and is highly skilled with anything he can pick up off the ground), Superhuman Precision (Jacket can lodge just about anything with deadly precision several meters and can even hit targets behind multi-layered glass panels), Acrobatics (Jacket is highly agile and flexible in combat and is comparable to lesser soldiers who can dodge-evade dozens of bullets through rolling), Stealth Proficiency (Jacket can infiltrate and assassinate dozens of men before even being detected by the opponents, and managed to take over two military camps in the span of ten days whilst evading air strikes and choppers[1]), Sheer Will (Even after being shot in the head and undergoing life-saving surgery, Jacket was able to awake from his medically-induced coma while drugged and began his revenge and previously survived being blasted by an elevator explosion), Intimidation (Jacket was able to scare a major figure in the Russian mafia into giving him information without saying a word), Immortality & Time Travel (Reliance; Richard acknowledges the repetition of the events that occurred in Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number, and questions why everyone would return to relive the events of the game), minor Precognition & Dream Manipulation (Destiny Perception; Richard can directly speak to the protagonists of Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number and inform them of their fates right before their deaths. Jacket's case is more unique in that Richard directly speaks to him in his head and can inform him of information he is not directly aware of in Hotline Miami).

Enhanced Senses (The Rasmus Mask allows Jacket to spot certain thing that would normally be harder to perceive. The George Mask allows Jacket to perceive things from further away more easily), Statistics Amplification (The Tony Mask increases Jacket's physical strength and speed in combat. The Don Juan Mask boosts Jacket's strength enough to lethally slam foes through doors. The Graham Mask increases Jacket's speed by twenty-five percent, whereas the Brandon Mask further increases it by fifty percent. The Jake Mask increases Jacket's strength enough to lethally throw any weapon at foes), minor Probability Manipulation (The Aubrey Mask increases the probability of firearms being present in the immediate area, whereas the Charlie Mask increases the probability of more melee weapons), Penetration Damage (Physical Penetration; The Dennis Mask grants Jacket a knife at the start of his mission, the Carl Mask grants Jacket a drill at the start of a mission, and the Richter Mask grants Jacket a silenced Uzi at the start of his mission), minor Animal Taming (The Teo Mask allows Jacket to pacify all aggressive dogs in the area), limited Pierce Resistance (The Rufus Mask allows Jacket to survive one bullet shot. The Earl Mask allows Jacket to survive two stray bullets), Weapon Modification (The Peter Mask allows Jacket to modify any firearm with a suppressor to avoid drawing attention), Enhanced Superhuman Precision (The Rick Mask increases Jacket's accuracy with all weapons), Enhanced Stealth (The Louie Mask makes it harder to spot Jacket), minor Multilingualism (The Phil Mask can poorly translate people's English into French).
Blunt Force Damage (Physical Blunt Damage; Can use weapons such as baseball bats, frying pans, and sledge hammers), Penetration Damage (Physical Penetration; All firearms innately are designed with the purpose of piercing through targets, alongside weapons such as the knife, katana, and dart), minor Water Manipulation & Heat Manipulation (Can use boiling water to scald and kill his opponents), Fire Manipulation (Has access to a military-grade Flamethrower in the military. Jacket can use his lighter to ignite gasoline-soaked individuals), Explosion Manipulation (50 Blessings Can provide their hitmen with rocket-propelled grenade launchers for certain jobs[2]).


Equipment

  • Richard Mask: The Richard Mask is the first mask granted to Jacket on April 3rd, 1989 by the 50 Blessings Organization. The mask grants Jacket little to no direct benefits in combat other than hiding his identity when in missions, but is his most iconic mask by far.

Other

Standard Tactics: Jacket is highly aggressive and often will brutally kill his foes with his hands. If this is not possible, he will simply utilize his surroundings, such as practical objects or nearby weapons, to kill his foe as quickly as possible.

Weaknesses: Jacket is an unstable individual who often fights without thinking of the immediate consequences that follow.

Trivia

  • It is possible that Jacket's real first name is "Richard", since it is the name of the first mask received in the game (mailed to him personally by 50 Blessings), and it grants no special abilities. It is worth noting that most masks, such as Jake and Richter, are shown to be named after their original owners.
  • Jacket's family and his relationship with them is completely unknown. His parents are never mentioned or alluded to, we don't know if he was an only child or not, and he doesn't have any visible photos of them in his apartment. Given the lack of family photos in his home, it is possible Jacket is either estranged from his family, or moved away and isn't in regular contact with them. It is also possible, however, that the presence of flowers by his hospital bed in “Trauma” indicates that he does have someone out there that cares about his well-being.
  • On the Dennaton Games website, there is a picture of Jacket with the name "Fritz" embroidered onto his jacket. If not his surname, it could be the name on the jacket or a clothing brand, as there is no indication at all that the jacket originally belonged to him, nor do we know if he bought it new or not.
  • Jacket is the only playable character who doesn't have a single line of official dialogue in the games. He does talk over the phone to Beard in the outro to Casualties, but the game only expresses this by Beard regularly pausing and responding to whatever Jacket said.
    • Ironically, he is one of the only character who makes any vocal noise, he does it when vomiting.
  • Consequently, Jacket is also the only playable character without an unmasked dialogue sprite.
  • Canonically (e.g. in-game, Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number, official artwork) Jacket owns the Tony Mask, the Richard Mask, and the Aubrey Mask, and has used the Fireaxe, Baseball Bat, Pistol, Throwing Knives, Shotgun and/or Machine Gun, Double Barrel and Trophy.
  • Like Biker, Jacket is easily interpretable as a meta self insert of the player: taking the game's events fairly passively and silently going through the motions, putting much more effort into exploring a variety of violence implementation and mission completion rather than exploring the reasons behind what he's doing. Jacket is a gamer himself and regularly escapes into recreational activities to wind down from what he's just done, and these are associated with the player's high score screen.
  • Jacket has either two or three ex-girlfriends. He's being consoled on a break up by Beard in 1986, he has a stripped twin sized bed in his apartment in early 1989, and his relationship with his girlfriend is explicitly followed. The pairing of him next to Rachael Ward in Apocalypse and her role in Midnight Animal as his 1989 girlfriend could place Ward as his early 1989 ex. The Ambush intro in 1985 seems to imply a sibling bond between Jacket and Alex, both being the only ones standing away from the bar smoking and ready to leave, This is the only time Alex is shown smoking a cigarette, an animation otherwise restricted to Jacket.
  • Jacket is referenced several times in the heist game Payday 2. He is shown at the end of the Hotline Miami DLC trailer, beating an unnamed Russian mobster to death with a baseball bat after rampaging through the building, several animal masks can be purchased for the Payday 2 heisters, and a DMC DeLorean is the getaway vehicle in the Hotline Miami heist on day 1. As of the Hotline Miami 2 Update, Jacket is now a playable character and is unlocked by purchasing the Digital Special Edition of Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number. He never directly speaks, instead playing pre-recorded messages from a tape player to communicate with teammates, though he can be heard panting heavily if he sprints for too long. Jacket comes equipped with a customized Cobray M-11/9 machine pistol named "Jacket's Piece" and a claw hammer named "Carpenter's Delight". His associated Perk Deck is called "The Sociopath", for obvious reasons; the perks "No Talk", "Tension", "Clean Hit", "Overdose", and "Showdown" in his deck are all named after Hotline Miami levels. Because the Payday and Hotline Miami universes seem to be mutually incompatible, Jacket's appearance is most likely non-canon to the Hotline Miami universe.
    • There has been some debate on if the Jacket seen in Payday 2 is an impostor, due to not only the conflicting canon, but also some pieces of evidence pointing towards the character being aware he is not really Jacket, but these are often brushed off as Jacket simply dissociating.
  • Jacket's signature varsity jacket is based on the outfit of Axel Foley, the protagonist of the Beverly Hills Cop films.
  • Jacket resembles Jasper Byrne, one of the music artists for the game.
    • In Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number, his suit sprite reuses Jasper's sprite from the first game.
  • While in the game Jacket collects several masks, only Richard, Tony, and Aubrey are shown as evidence in his trial in Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number. However, this could be because these were the only three of his masks which were actually found by the police.
    • It is presumed that he canonically owns the Don Juan and Rasmus masks, as they are both seen in his dream, leaving no other conclusion as to how they are present in his mind.
  • Jacket easily has the highest body count out of any playable character in the series, in front of The Son and Richter.
  • Jacket's standing execution, where he rips out the throat of an enemy might be a reference to a scene from the movie Road House, where the protagonist, Dalton, kills one of the antagonists, Jimmy, by ripping out his trachea with his hand.
  • Jacket is the very last character shown to die in the entire series, being killed by a nuclear blast in his prison cell during the credits of Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number.
  • There are several similarities between Corey and Jacket, most notably both being messy, being very quiet, and wearing a signature varsity jacket of a distinct style, she was also referred to as the "female version of Jacket" in the Artbook.

Battle Records

7-0-0-2


  • The Producer - Fight
    • Conditions: Jacket was limited to shotguns exclusively in the building.
    • Location: Southwest 53rd Rd Place.
  • Unknown Mafia Member - Fight
    • Conditions: Jacket was limited to firearms and melee weapons exclusively in the building.
    • Location: Downtown Relaxation.
    • Note: Jacket had to fight and kill several armed guards with bulletproof vests before getting to the teal-haired individual throwing the Molotov cocktails.
  • Police Chief - Fight
    • Conditions: Jacket was limited to weaponry found exclusively in the police station.
    • Location: Miami Police Station.
    • Note: Jacket was heavily drugged and recovering from surgery whilst raiding the police station, suggesting he would've had a significantly more easy time going through the station.
  • The Father - Fight
    • Conditions: Jacket was limited to a select few items in the the room.
    • Location: Ne 114th Place.
    • Note: Jacket likely would have won significantly more quickly if he fought the Father one-on-one, but he ultimately killed his bodyguards as well.

  • Soviet Camp - Fight
    • Conditions: Jacket had his unit to help infiltrate the camp.
    • Location: Hawaii, America
    • Note: Jacket and his squad had weaponry and supplies from the US Military to aid them in their mission.
    • Soviet resort Base - Fight
      • Conditions: Jacket had his unit to help infiltrate the base.
      • Location: Hawaii, America
      • Note: Jacket and his squad had weaponry and supplies from the US Military to aid them in their mission.
    • Soviet Power Plant - Fight
      • Conditions: Jacket had his unit to help infiltrate the power plant.
      • Location: Hawaii, America
      • Note: Jacket and his squad had weaponry and supplies from the US Military to aid them in their mission.

    None.

    None.

    None.

    None.


  • Soviet Paradise Resort Base - Fight[1]
    • Conditions: Jacket had his unit to help infiltrate the base.
    • Location: Paradise Resort.
    • Note: The conditions of this particular event are left ambiguous due to the date listed being incorrect, with no word being given on whether the comic is canon with incorrect dates, or entirely wrong.
    • The Biker - Fight
      • Conditions: Jacket was only equipped with a golf club, whereas The Biker had his knives.
      • Location: Phone Hom
      • Note: The actual results of the fight are left ambiguous, with the only information being given was that both individuals ultimately survived, though it's strongly implied that Jacket was ultimately superior due to having no notable physical damage, unlike the Biker.

    References

    1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number; Episode 5: A Terrible Day Job
    2. 2.0 2.1 Hotline Miami: Wildlife, Issue Eight