Characters / Saints Row STAG

Saints Row Main Character Index
Original Universe: The Player Character | The Third Street Saints | Saints Row Gangs | Saints Row 2 Gangs | Ultor Corporation | Saints Row: The Third Gangs | STAG | Saints Row: The Third DJs/Radio Hosts | Zin Empire | Legions Of Hell | Other Characters
Other Universes: Agents of Mayhem | Saints Row (2022)

---

The Special Tactical Anti-Gang Unit is a government agency created sometime after Saints Row 2. Its purpose is to hunt down and destroy gangs which pose a threat to the public good. They serves as antagonists in Saints Row: The Third alongside The Syndicate.

---

In General

• Airborne Aircraft Carrier: The Daedalus, which also doubles as a ultra-low orbit Kill Sat.
• Armies Are Evil: They serve as the principal antagonistic faction and all but replace conventional police in the final act.
• A Nazi by Any Other Name: Their initial invasion, complete with marching soldiers and tanks carries some fascist vibes - not helped when they declare martial law and block off half the city, once their aircraft carrier sunk.
• Cool Helmet: The remastered version have regular STAG grunts wear a full helmet with a semi-transparent visor.
• Cool Plane:
  • The F-69 VTOL, which also has elements of Space Plane.
  • The Condor, which is used as a troop transport, has elements of a jet and helicopter.
• Disproportionate Retribution: In response to the destruction of the Magarac Statue (and Kia's death at said destruction), Cyrus Temple (with Monica's approval) sends in the Daedalus to level the half Steelport City in order to eliminate the Saints. At the cost of significant amount of innocents caught in the crossfire.
• Elite Mooks: In addition to having snipers and riot troopers like the police, STAG also has their own unique elite units: the Commandos, who are distinguishable by their orange armor. Commandos are stronger, fireproof, and resistant to being taken as human shields.
• Energy Weapon: Their signature weaponry is energy-based.
  • STAG vehicles are equipped with rapid-fire laser turrets, sustained microwave beam cannons, and Plasma Cannons.
  • STAG's infantry weapons consist of a laser assault rifle and sonic shotgun. Although they never need reloading, they can overheat if fired repeatedly. There are some exceptions - snipers and riot troopers use the same sniper rifle and pistol used by other factions' sniper specialists and police officers, respectively. Several standard STAG soldiers also carry the Annihilator RPG.
• Expy: STAG is a barely concealed parody of S.H.I.E.L.D. with elements of G.I. Joe thrown in for good measure, with both Cyrus and Kia pretty clearly inspired by Nick Fury and Maria Hill.
• Fun with Acronyms: Their name stands for "Special Tactical Anti-Gang Unit".
• Gas Mask Mooks: The STAG Commandos all wear gas masks. Including the remaster (minus the two eye visors).
• Government Agency of Fiction: They're supposed to be one.
• Hover Bike: The Spectre, which is implied to be on an experimental stage given it's not yet in widespread use.
• Knight Templar: Their goal of defending people from dangerous street gangs is a noble one, but the way they do things puts more people in danger than would be otherwise.
• Militaries Are Useless: In this case, a military dedicated to combating street gangs. Despite their firepower, STAG seems to be incapable of taking on the street gangs they were created to destroy without losing a dozen personnel and equipment. The Saints easily disrupt many of their operations, the Deckers (a bunch of cyberpunk-loving teenagers) overrun their garrison at the PR center and steal their supercomputer, and the Luchadores go toe-to-toe with them and possibly would've won if not for the Saints' intervention. Ironically, they end up causing way more damage to Steelport than the four gangs combined.
• Missing White Woman Syndrome: Given the sheer number of dead bodies the Saints have left in their wake, one of which was the (Black) Mayor of Stilwater, the fact that only Jessica Parish is used an example of their brutality is simply staggering.
• Mugging the Monster: Suffice it to say that STAG severely underestimated the Saints' abilities.
• Outside-Context Problem: Sort of. We see in-universe newscasts foreshadowing their arrival, but both the Saints and the Syndicate are too preoccupied with battling each other to take much notice. This means the Saints are completely unprepared for STAG busting in and trying to take them down.
• Outside-Genre Foe: If their space-age tech is anything to go by. This is more pronounced in the remastered version.
• Recruiters Always Lie: Before STAG appears, an advertisement about them plays on the radio.
• State Sec: They are a law enforcement agency with paramilitary duties.
• Tank Goodness: The Crusader, which is equipped with a Plasma Cannon as its primary weapon.
• There Is No Kill Like Overkill: Their modus operandi, using tanks, VTOL fighter jets, and other futuristic tech to combat gang violence. Commander Temple frequently implores Senator Hughes to authorize use of the Daedalus to combat the Saints and the Syndicate.
• Villain Has a Point: Their motives, and especially their methods are way out of line, but in all fairness, the Saints' exploits, including possibly bombing a skyscraper, invading a military outpost and stealing a nuke are a bit closer to domestic terrorism than simple gang warfare.
• Villain with Good Publicity: Being a government-sanctioned agency, STAG initally has a lot of goodwill behind it, turning the majority of Steelport against the Saints, and having big names like Josh Birk do endorsements for them.
  • The "Kill Killbane" ending has them forced out of Steelport after the deaths of Temple and Kia, as well as the fall of the Daedalus. Since the Saints then declare Steelport a sovereign nation, STAG is ultimately proven right.
  • The "Save Shaundi" ending inverts this, their public image completely collapses after Kia is found responsible for bombing the Magarac statue, with Cyrus Temple forced out of Steelport by Monica Hughes, then later out of the military itself, joining a terrorist cell, further soiling the STAG name.

Commander Cyrus Temple

Commander Cyrus Temple

Played By: Tim Thomerson
Richard Epcar (Saints Row IV "Zero Saints Thirty" only)

"When we win the war on urban terror, you and your families will be safe again."

Appearances: Saints Row: The Third | Saints Row IV

The commander of STAG brought in to deal with the gang war in Steelport.

---

• Ace Custom: He owns a black colored F-69 VTOL, which he uses to fight the Boss during their showdown only if they decide to kill Killbane instead of saving Shaundi. This variant becomes available for use after the game's completion.
• Armored Villains, Unarmored Heroes: In his first appearance, he wears a full suit of body armour (minus a helmet), and he's taking extreme measures to get rid of the Saints, none of whom wear body armour (except the Boss, if you give them that as a default costume). Inverted in IV, where he's traded his body armour for terrorist fatigues, but The Boss wears full-body armour.
• Apologetic Attacker: In Zinyak's simulation, the virtual recreation of Cyrus tries to apologize to Shaundi for any ill treatment she had when STAG first captured her. She won't have any of it.
• Back from the Dead: Despite being killed at the beginning of IV, like several other deceased characters, a virtual recreation of Cyrus is created from the memories from the Boss and Kinzie. Notably, there are three recreations; one deigned for Kenzie's nightmare; one created from Kinzie's hatred for the man; and another as an unlockable homie.
• Badass Boast: "I've been a soldier longer than you've been alive!"
• Big Bad Ensemble: Forms one with Killbane.
• Cassandra Truth: When fighting him, he simply cannot believe The Boss' (true) claim that Kia was behind the terrorist attack. Though the tone of his voice during this fight indicates he was in on it, and was sarcastically taunting the Boss.
• Colonel Kilgore: He believes "shock and awe" will win the war against gangs.
  Kia: Nyte Blayde's the face of STAG? Why don't you just put someone in a fucking deer suit?
  Monica: Hearts and minds will win the war, my dear.
  -Cyrus:' Shock and awe wins wars, Senator. Authorize the Daedalus, and this will all be over.
• Enemy Mine: In one mission, he offers to turn a blind eye to the Saints if they give Josh Birk back (in a manner which allows the player to automatically "take over" a selected area on the map).
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Apparently, Cyrus has a niece who used to tune in for Veteran Child on 89.0 Gen X. In the simulation, the recreated Cyrus requests an autograph from Veteran Child because of her, despite openly admitting that he hates "hippy bullshit".
  Veteran Child: Uh, thanks?
• Evil Old Folks: Cyrus is an elderly military commando willing to commit far worse damage to Steelport than the Saints would. When STAG is effectively defeated, he ends up joining a terrorist group with the intentions of nuking Washington D.C. over the Saints' lionization. Judging by some of his dialogue in IV, he's apparently a Vietnam veteran, which would mark his age as no older than his 70s.
• Face–Heel Turn: By the time of IV, he's become a wanted Western Terrorist.
• Fallen Hero: Becomes a maniacal terrorist in the fourth game, apparently broken by the US's embrace of the Saints.
• General Failure: While he himself is perfectly competent, Cyrus' losses are ridiculous given his mission is to stop a few street gangs. It'd be safer to be posted as a mine-sweeper than work in STAG. A zombie outbreak broke out on his watch, for God's sake. The street gangs in Steelport are far more powerful and resourceful than those in Stillwater, with the Syndicate bordering onto being supervillains.
• General Ripper: He's basically willing to fly through the streets of Steelport, strafing any buildings he sees on the premise that at least one of them has the Saints hiding in it. He retains the "Ripper" part in IV- sending a nuke to Washington DC to spite the government for naming the Saints heroes- but not the "General", because at this point they've discharged him from the military.
• Green and Mean: He wears a suit of olive green body armour, and he's a Knight Templar.
• Helmets Are Hardly Heroic: Temple wears a full suit of body armour, but leaves his head uncovered. Then again, there's not much "heroic" about him. Not wearing a helmet comes back to bite him in IV, because the Boss is able to successfully shoot him through the head, while they themselves are wearing armour that includes a helmet.
• Hero Antagonist: He is aiming to defeat a street gang with a reputation for murder, drug dealing, and all sorts of other illegal activities, after all. Although the fact he was willing to use the Daedalus to raze Steelport in the "bad ending" of The Third, and wanted to full-on nuke Washington, D.C. at the start of IV, quickly took the "Hero" part away in a heartbeat.
• He Who Fights Monsters: Plans to nuke Washington, DC in IV, which would cause destruction and mayhem on a scale that could easily outdo anything the Boss did.
• Hypocrite: For all his condemnation of the Saints for being murderous gangsters, Cyrus ultimately carries out even more murder in the bad ending by strafing Steelport with The Daedalus. And in IV, he ends up becoming an actual terrorist and trying to nuke Washington DC, a far greater and more murderous atrocity than the Saints have ever carried out.
• Icarus Allusion: Cyrus' ship is called The Daedalus, who was the father of Icarus. Cyrus's flaw is that he thinks he has moral superiority over the gangs of Steelport, which allows him to justify himself as the lesser of two evils. If Killbane is killed and Shaundi is sacrificed in turn, the Daedalus is authorized and Cyrus fights you with a jet, which crashes into the sea upon his defeat.
• I Did What I Had to Do: His justification to The Boss for using the Daedalus, in an attempt that would have destroyed all of Steelport. Likewise for nuking Washington D.C.
• Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: His actions against the gangs are bad but justifiable... up to a point. He hits the slope around the time the Daedalus starts razing Steelport, and does a goddamn swan-dive off it in IV.
• Killed Off for Real: If the player decides to complete the third game with the "bad" ending. Even though the "bad ending" has since been confirmed to be non-canon, he still gets killed in the first mission of Saints Row IV. By getting shot in the face. And then falling into a pit of molten metal.
• Moral Myopia: At the start of IV, he furiously accuses the Saints of "ruining America". It doesn't seem to occur to him that he'd be ruining America even more by launching a nuke towards Washington DC.
• Not Quite Dead: Not for long, but he survives a bullet to the head and falling into a tank of liquid metal long enough to press the detonator and launch his nuke towards Washington DC.
• Offhand Backhand: At the end of a late-game mission, he calmly and effortlessly headshots several zombies while talking on the phone with Monica Hughes.
• Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: Becomes this in IV. In The Third, he and STAG take up ruthless and militant measures in Steelport, with the goal of dealing with the rampant criminal activity in Steelport. However, when STAG is exposed for a False Flag Operation following the "Save Shaundi" ending, Cyrus forfeits any good intentions he may have had. From there, Cyrus joins a terrorist organization with the plot of launching a nuclear attack on America, and rebuild the country in his own image. All to spite America for recognizing the Saints as heroes.
• Old Soldier: In his own words during his boss fight:
  "I've been a soldier longer than you've been alive!"
• Same Character, But Different: In The Third, Cyrus was a Hero Antagonist, but was also a militant extremist with little regard for human life, and the understandable goal of stomping out gang activity in Steelport. IV, we get four different takes on Cyrus, in both the the real world and Zinyak's simulations.
  • There's the real Cyrus, who lost his redeeming qualities in favour of being a self-righteous megalomaniac. When STAG is disbanded, their False Flag Operation exposed and the Saints hailed as heroes against STAG. Out of spite, Cyrus joins a terror cell, leading a plot to launch a nuclear attack and recreate America in his own image.
  • There's the first virtual simulation of Cryus, created in Kenzie’s nightmare simulation. This Cyrus is a fascist leader of a 50s community espousing extreme conservative values and is Kinzie's controlling husband.
  • There's the second virtual recreation in the simulated Steelport, that resembles his counterpart in The Third, but has the same megalomania as the real Cyrus, and the conservative and controlling nature of his first recreation. It's expressly stated this recreation of him is based off of Kinzie's memory of the man and her newfound hatred for him.
  • And finally, there's the recreation of Cyrus as an unlockable homie. He's a lot closer to his counterpart in The Third, but a lot more personable and even showing a softer side. He's apologetic to Shaundi regarding her treatment in STAG's captivity, and briefly mentions having a niece who was a fan of Veteran Child, asking the latter for an autograph for her.
• Sanity Slippage: Kinzie states that he "went off the deep end" after being discharged from the army, which is why he's now working with a terrorist organization in IV.
• Silver Fox: He looks considerably older than Kia, but he's in good shape, and Viola certainly thinks he's attractive. Apparently, he even had sex with Kia at one point.
• Straw Misogynist: The man himself isn't, being Equal-Opportunity Evil, but in IV, the version of him born from Kinzie's subconscious is this.
• Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome: He shows up in the first ten minutes in IV to reveal that he's launching a nuke towards Washington DC, whereupon The Boss shoots him. They then go to deal with his bomb next.
• Taking You with Me: After The Boss sends him toppling into a liquid metal tank with a bullet to the head, he sticks his hand out of the metal to press the detonator, ensuring that his nuke goes to Washington as he planned. Luckily, The Boss prevents it from hitting Washington.
• Tautological Templar: He seems to consider every action taken in Steelport to be worthwhile in defeating the Saints, regardless of the fact that he carries out far worse atrocities, like razing half the city, or nuking Washington in IV.
• Unreliable Narrator: During an interview, he describes Jessica Parish as an innocent victim caught in a gang war and was ruthlessly killed by the Playa in order to get public sympathy, leaving out that Jessica is just as ruthless as her gangster boyfriend.
• Villain Decay: In Saints Row IV, he apparently became so disillusioned with America treating the Saints as heroes that he joined an Al Qaeda-expy terrorist group to destroy Washington D.C.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Goes from having STAG as a presence to enforcing martial law. If Kia is allowed to go terrorist, he tries to blow up Steelport. He goes even further to a Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist in Saints Row IV, having become a terrorist who wants to blow up Washington D.C. for letting the Saints be heroes.
• Western Terrorist: In IV.

Kia

Kia

Played By: Anastacia McPherson

Appearances: Saints Row: The Third

"Permission to speak freely? It's about damn time we took off the kid gloves."

Cyrus' second-in-command. She takes on most of the missions for STAG.

---

• Action Girl: Being second-in-command to a military commander, this is a given. She's capable of fending off the Boss and kidnaps Shaundi twice.
• Call-Back: You save Shaundi from her much the same way as you killed Veteran Child in Saints Row 2.
• Boyish Short Hair: She wears her hair in a buzz cut.
• Breaking Lecture: Gives one to The Boss right before the final battle in the good ending, pointing out all of the friends who have died due to their failures.
• Cutting Off the Branches: Since saving Shaundi is the canonical ending of The Third, Kia is mentioned as if she were dead by the simulation of Cyrus in IV.
• Dirty Coward: She can't fight The Boss without Shaundi on hand as a Human Shield.
• The Dragon: She's Cyrus' second in command.
• Face–Heel Turn: Near the end, she stages a terrorist attack to blame the Saints.
• False Flag Operation: Kidnapping Shaundi, Viola, and Mayor Reynolds so their bodies would be found in a bombing she pins on the Saints, which leads to STAG destroying Steelport and nearly killing everyone in it.
• Final Boss: In the Save Shaundi ending of the third game.
• Helmets Are Hardly Heroic: Kia's body armour doesn't include a helmet. That said, there's not much "heroic" about her, especially in the ending.
• Killed Off for Real: In both endings. If the player chooses the "good" (canon) ending, she gets killed in a fight with The Boss. If they choose the bad ending instead, she gets blown up along with everyone else at the statue.
• Lady Looks Like a Dude: She has a buzz cut, a rather prominent jaw line, and is dressed in heavy armor, making her look rather masculine. She's far more masculine-appearing in the remaster.
• Not So Stoic: While normally stoic and focused on the job, when The Boss meets her disguised as Temple, Kia reveals quite a few things.
  • If The Boss uses the Hispanic female voice, she mentions a love for Aisha and how she joined STAG to go after those responsible for her death, leading The Boss to note their reasons for joining were similar.
  • Using the Caucasian female voice for the Boss, she will reveal she and Cyrus were together, and suggests rekindling the relationship. The Boss, of course, slips that Cyrus likes men, either to mess with her or just to end the incredibly awkward conversation as soon as possible. One of Cyrus' audio log in IV is recalling one of their sexual encounters.
  • The Russian voice will have them needle Kia about her feelings about Pierce, seeing as that Boss is obsessed over him. Kia gets rather flustered over Temple's\Boss' insistent questioning over her feelings for Pierce.
• Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: Goes from trying to end gang activity to actively attempting a domestic terrorist False Flag Operation to blame the Saints and give STAG reason to destroy Steelport, and perfectly willing to have the mayor killed in the bombing. Though she dies with them if the bombs goes off.
• Punny Name: KIA, as in Killed in Action.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Delivers one to The Boss if you decide to fight her at Magarac Island.
  Kia: Lin. Aisha. Carlos. Johnny. All you do is let your friends die!
• Scary Black Woman: An African-American soldier and one of Cyrus Temple's most brutal supporters.
• The Sociopath: Doesn't even flinch at turning an island to a smoking crater. An island filled with hundreds of innocent people, at that. All so the Saints would be vilified.
• The Stoic: She takes her job seriously and is nothing but loyal to Cyrus. She's completely unfazed committing domestic terrorism just to demonize the Saints and justify destroying Steelport.
• Taking You with Me: Willing to be blown up alongside Shaundi, Viola and Reynolds, to vilify the Saints.
• War Is Glorious: Mentions this to Cyrus after martial law is imposed.
• Undying Loyalty: Towards Cyrus. There's a few hints that they were in a relationship, and that they had sex a few times.
• Weaksauce Weakness: Fart bombs, used the same way as stun grenades.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Blames The Boss for the deaths of Aisha, Carlos, Gat, and Lin.