History VideoGame / SaintsRow1

* '''Vice Kings''' (yellow), African-Americans bankrolled by a [[CorruptCorporateExecutive former gangster turned record company executive]]. They specialize in the vice entertainment of prostitution, pornography, and gambling and have the police on their payroll.
* '''Los Carnales''' (red), the obligatory Hispanic gang, backed up by the obligatory [[TheCartel Colombians]]. They deal in drugs and small arms.
* '''Westside Rollerz''' (blue), Asians and Caucasian car enthusiasts from the suburbs doing illegal car sales and street racing.

* FictionalDocument: The manual for the game is framed as a clipboard notebook containing the notes made by an undercover cop, [[spoiler:later revealed to be Troy]], for DaChief Monroe, complete with authentic (and identity-revealing) misspellings.

* HyperactiveMetabolism: Food can be eaten to restore health. While it certainly works, it's slightly jarring to see the Playa wolf down a whole burger within 2 seconds in the middle of a firefight.

* LoanShark: The player can visit the First Born Loans loan office downtown for some quick cash, but if they fail to pay it back on time they'll be targeted by a hit squad.

* MeaningfulName: At the beginning of the game, Aisha works for the Kingdom Come Records company. [[spoiler: Guess exactly what happens to the label when she fakes her death.]]

* WhiteGangBangers: Troy, Tanya, the leadership of the Rollerz, and Playa by default.

The first game in the ''VideoGame/SaintsRow'' series.

You create your soon-to-be [[HeroicMime antiheroic mime]] (nicknamed "Playa" in the first game, "Boss" in the following ones), 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 UsefulNotes/{{Detroit}} and other Midwestern cities) from the other three gangs:

** Given how much effort is put into the voice options in later games (6 for the second and 7 available for the third and fourth and each have their own little personalities and different quotes during missions), it's jarring to people who started late into the series and went to check back on the first game that for the most part in the first game your character is mute. As well as the fact you can only strictly be a male in this game (for the later games in which you can be either male or female, WordOfGod states that if you play as a female, then your character was female during the events of the first game).

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[[quoteright:340:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/saintsrow.jpg]] [[caption-width-right:340:'''Saints Row. Sinners welcome.''']]

* BurgerFool: Chicken Ned is a special homie who shows up wearing his Lik-A-Chik mascot outfit. Oddly, the actual Lik-A-Chik restaurant is never seen in the game like Freckle Bitch's restaurants are (which can be found all over the city) despite them even going so far as to put out ads on the radio.

** TheSixthRanger: The Player

* GameBreakingBug: 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.

** It's even lampshaded all the way to ''VideoGame/SaintsRowIV'' when you [[spoiler: Revisit Stillwater in Ben King's simulation rescue]].

** Beating one of the Escorts in this game unlocks a homie named Samantha. She works as an actual stripper and joins the player in battle while wearing nothing but a thong and pasties. Note that since she, by default, carries a rather powerful [[{{AKA47}} K6 Krukov]], she's actually one of the more useful unique Homies around.

* '''Vice Kings''' (yellow), African-Americans bankrolled by a [[CorruptCorporateExecutive former gangster turned record company executive]]. They specialize in the vice entertainment of prostitution, pornography, and gambling and are on the police's payroll.

-->-- '''David Banner''', "Saints Row"[[note]]the theme song of the game unlocked upon [[LastLousyPoint collecting all 60 CDs]] scattered throughout the game world[[/note]]

->"That's the great thing about this city; it's there for the taking if you've got what it takes."
-->-- '''Playa''', ''Saints Row'' Trailer.

->"That's the great thing about this city; its there for the taking if you've got what it takes."

* MeaningfulName: At the beginning, Aisha works for the Kingdom Come Record company. [[spoiler: Guess exactly where they get blown to when Aisha needs to fake her death?]]

* ParkingGarage: One stronghold mission tasks the player with wiping out a group of Vice King bookies who are meeting up at the Filmore parking garage to discuss rigging hockey games. (It's implied that Julius has lost a lot of his money betting on their rigged games before.)

* RichBitch: Tanya Winters.

* '''Vice Kings''' (yellow), African-Americans bankrolled by a [[CorruptCorporateExecutive former member turned record company executive]]. They specialize in vice entertainment of prostitution, pornography, and gambling. In bed with the police.

* '''Westside Rollerz''' (blue), Asians and Caucasian car/automobile enthusiasts from the suburbs doing illegal car sales and street racing.

* AttackOfThePoliticalAd: Among the in-game radio are commercials for mayoral candidates Alderman Richard Hughes and current mayor Marshall Winslow. Hughes' ads paint Winslow as [[MayorPain incompetent in dealing with the gang violence plaguing the city]], whereas Winslow's dismisses Hughes' claims as "quick fixes" and show more of an emphasis on redeveloping the city. [[spoiler:Later on, [[ScareCampaign you're tasked with killing Winslow]].]]
** In theory, the Playa can be one in retrospect if you chose to play as a female Boss in the [[VideoGame/SaintsRow2 rest]] [[VideoGame/SaintsRowTheThird of]] [[VideoGame/SaintsRowIV the]] [[VideoGame/SaintsRowGatOutOfHell series]].

->-- '''Playa''', ''Saints Row'' Trailer.

* DragonAscendant / DragonWithAnAgenda: There's actually no storyline where the enemy gang's boss is killed last - [[spoiler: Hector Lopez is suceeded by Angelo, Benjamin King is betrayed by Warren, then Warren by Tanya and William Sharp is killed before Price]]

* InsistentTerminology: It's not "The Los Carnales", it's just "The Carnales".
** Justified, as "Los" means... aw, fuck it.

* JustAGangster: Warren of the Vice Kings has no time for his boss' plan to go legit and becomes TheStarscream after getting fed up with King's refusal to fight the Saints head on.

* LoanShark: The player can visit a loan office downtown for some quick cash, but if they fail to pay it back on time they'll be targeted by a hit squad.

* NoPeriodsPeriod: Averted. The game actually calls one of its discount clothing stores "[[RefugeInAudacity On The Rag]]" and they even make a return in the second game.

* WhiteGangBangers: Troy, Tanya, The Rollerz, and Playa if you want.

* '''Los Carnales''' (red), the obligatory Hispanic gang, backed up by the obligatory [[TheCartel Colombians]]. They do arms and drug dealing.

* BetweenMyLegs: This happens late in the Vice Kings storyline with Tanya Winters.

-->"You're probably thinking one of two things... "How can I kill someone who hasn't done anything to me?" Or, "How am I ever gonna spend all that money?" [[EvilPaysBetter Let me tell you something sweetie, the second choice will take you further in this life."]]

* FictionalDocument: The manual for the game is framed as a clipboard notebook containing the notes made by an undercover cop, [[spoiler:later revealed to be Troy]], for DaChief Munroe, complete with authentic (and identity-revealing) misspellings.

* GuideDangIt: You can take a taxi via UnexpectedlyRealisticGameplay - just look for another taxi somewhere on the streets, and call the phone number advertised on the taxi with your phone. Nothing tells you to do this, and some other phone numbers can be called for an effect of varying usefulness, like calling 911 to get an ambulance to come over which restores your health. Ironically, taking a taxi is highly unrealistic in its own way because it will always take absolutely no in-game time.

* HyperactiveMetabolism: As part of the EarlyInstallmentWeirdness, the game uses foods to restore health. While it certainly works, it's slightly jarring to see the Playa wolf down a whole burger within 2 seconds in the middle of a firefight. The system would be used again in ''Saints Row 2'' before being abandoned afterwards.

* {{Stripperiffic}}: Beating one of the Escorts in this game unlocks a homie named Samantha. She works as an actual stripper and joins the player in battle while wearing nothing but a thong and pasties. Note that since she, by default, carries a rather powerful [[{{AKA47}} K6 Krukov]], she's actually one of the more useful unique Homies around.
** Tanya also wears this as her getup. Ironically, [[AllThereInTheManual her backstory]] indicates she ''was'' once a Vice Kings prostitute herself that shot up the ranks by [[CastingCouch sleeping with all the right people]]. When she reappears in Saints Row 4, no less than two characters mistake her as one. Her costume is significant in the sense that out of all characters associated with Vice Kings, [[TheStarscream she is the only one not wearing VK colors]].

-->'''Dex''' (while he and the main character are driving to a meeting): "When we get to [[spoiler:Manuel]], just let me do all the talkin', 'aight? I'd hate for us to fuck things up [[spoiler:with the Columbians]] because you said some crazy shit that pisses him off."
** This changes sharply in the sequel - the main character not only is an Anti-heroic Mime no longer, he's ''really'' mouthy. All the time. [[spoiler: He was only quiet in the first one because he was being a good henchman. He got tired of it.]]
-->'''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.

-->'''Player Character''': This is where I got my start. I was too scared to even talk back then.
-->'''Kinzie''': [[DeadpanSnarker Must have been nice.]]

* GuideDangIt: You can take a taxi via UnexpectedRealisticGameplay - just look for another taxi somewhere on the streets, and call the phone number advertised on the taxi with your phone. Nothing tells you to do this, and some other phone numbers can be called for an effect of varying usefulness, like calling 911 to get an ambulance to come over which restores your health. Ironically, taking a taxi is highly unrealistic in its own way because it will always take absolutely no in-game time.

* AllThereInTheManual: There is a (somewhat vague) hint in the [[https://saintsrow.fandom.com/wiki/File:Saints_Row_online_manual_xbox.pdf manual]] in that the "undercover officer" states that this meeting might blow his cover. He lights a cigarette and [[spoiler: Troy's never seen without a cigarette within reach]].
** 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.
** There's another dead giveaway in the [[spoiler:gang description section of the manual. "The Los Carnales" is written, and "The" is scratched out. Troy always refers to the gang as "The Los Carnales" and is consistently corrected by Dex]].

->--Playa, ''Saints Row'' Trailer.

->--Playa, Saints Row 1 Trailer.

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 "Playa" being caught in a boat explosion - but he survives, and the resolution is revealed in [[VideoGame/SaintsRow2 the second game.]]

After over a decade without any sort of rerelease, port or remaster Saints Row was finally made backwards compatible with the Xbox One system in mid 2018, much to the rejoicing of long time fans.

* TheStarscream: [[spoiler: Warren to King, and Tanya to Warren]].