Saints Row



The first in the Saints Row series of games.

You create your soon-to-be antiheroic mime (nicknamed "Playa" in the first game, "Boss" in the second and third), who starts out as just a random Joe walking the streets before being thrust into the middle of a four-way gang war by being in the wrong place at the wrong time. When the Third Street Saints rescue him, he joins their gang and has to help them reclaim first their neighborhood, then the city of Stilwater (based on Detroit and other Midwestern cities) from the other three gangs:


 * Los Carnales, the obligatory Hispanic gang, backed up by the obligatory Colombians. (red)
 * Vice Kings, African-Americans bankrolled by a former member turned record company executive. In bed with the police. (yellow)
 * Westside Rollerz, car racers/enthusiasts being guided by an unknown hand. (blue)

However, just as you think the game is over, a short new line of missions reveal themselves, leading to a turn of events that result in, the resolution being revealed in the second game.

"Player Character: That mute shit was getting old. Player Character: being in charge is better than being a bitch who keeps his mouth shut and does what he's told."
 * Action Girl: Women appear among the ranks of the various gangs mooks and most gangs have important high ranking female members such as Luz, Tanya, and of course Lin.
 * All There in the Manual: There is a (somewhat vague) hint in the manual in that the "undercover officer" states that this meeting might blow his cover. He lights a cigarette and.
 * This is later confirmed in the hidden ending when the man in question pulls out his badge and examines it. Unless he's joined the cops while the cutscenes weren't looking (unlikely, given the drama it would involve), it confirms him as the undercover cop.
 * Bad Santa: To celebrate the holidays, a free Santa suit was made available to download from Xbox Live.
 * Between My Legs: This happens late in the Vice Kings storyline with Tanya Winters.
 * Deus Ex Machina:
 * Disney Villain Death: The end of the Vice Kings storyline, where.
 * Downer Ending: The game ends with your character being blown up on a yacht, spending five years in a coma, and undergoing major reconstructive surgery prior to the second game. On the plus side, this justifies any and all appearance changes between the two games... except for, perhaps, the possible different gender. But just pretend it was always like that.
 * Dude, She's Like, in a Coma: One of the movies advertised at the "Peep This" theater is called "Comatose Whores 4"
 * Enemy Civil War:
 * Fake Difficulty: The Player Character can't figure out how to stick his RPG launcher over a ledge when he's aiming downward, so you end up blowing yourself up. The frequency of missions where you're expected to drive competently at high speeds and do damage to an enemy car with a weapon instead of your car near the endgame goes way up. Strangely, this is helped in the sequel by two changes - cruise control and remapping of the driving controls (allowing you to steer/shoot with your left hand and accelerate/aim with your right hand, rather than having accelerate/aim/shoot all done with the right hand as in this game).
 * Game Breaking Bug: Want infinite money? Go to the Downtown Chop Shop and get a 5-star wanted level with the police. Then just keep turning in FBI vans for as long as you please at $5000 a pop.
 * Or, steal an armored car, park it in your garage, take it out again, destroy it, collect the $10,000+ that spills out, get a new armored car from your garage for $500, repeat.
 * Gangsta Style: Played straight, but averted in the sequel.
 * Goofy Print Underwear: The underwear options include heart and polka-dot boxers.
 * Grievous Harm with a Body: An Easter Egg found by calling 'Eye For An Eye'
 * Heel Face Turn:
 * Insistent Terminology: It's not The Los Carnales, it's just The Carnales.
 * Justified, as "Los" means... aw, fuck it.
 * Joke Character: Lik-A-Chik mascot Chicken Ned can be called as a homie by dialing a number "for a cluckin' good time".
 * Klingon Promotion: Warren Williams tries to do this to seize control of the Vice Kings away from Benjamin King.
 * Meaningful Name: At the beginning, Aisha works for Kingdom Come Record company.
 * Not My Driver: One late Vice Kings mission.
 * Oh Crap: When Angelo runs out of bullets in front of Playa and Dex, his face is priceless.
 * Rich Bitch: Tanya Winters.
 * Sacrificial Lion:.
 * Shoot the Shaggy Dog: See Downer Ending.
 * Silent Bob: The main character is silent, save for a few grunts and groans of pain throughout the game, but when he does speak, and he does speak, he often says the funniest things in the game. The four lines he actually gets are spoilered below:
 * Vice Kings:
 * Los Carnales:
 * Westside Rollerz:
 * Endgame:
 * This changes sharply in the sequel - the main character not only is an Antiheroic Mime no longer, he's really mouthy. All the time.

""Are you saying the immigrants sank your battleship?""
 * Smug Snake: William Sharp, uncle of Joseph Price, leader of the Westside Rollerz.
 * The Starscream:.
 * Strawman Political: Played for Laughs in the NPR-like KBOOM


 * Wham Level: "Saints and Martyrs" (usually and erroneously referred to by the cutscene name, "Salting the Earth").
 * White Gang-Bangers: Troy, Tanya, The Rollerz, and Playa if you want.