Characters from the Sift Heads series.
open/close all folders
Protagonists
Vinnie
The protagonist of the series. An assassin with a knack for sifting heads.
- The Ace: He's an excellent shooter, sniper, knife user, driver, and he has an extensive knowledge of the criminal underworld. He's not a man to be messed with.
- Affably Evil: He's an assassin with an absurdly high killcount, but he's a loyal and friendly guy to those he's not killing and generally leaves people alone if they don't piss him off.
- A Lighter Shade of Black: He tends to kill people more morally bankrupt than himself.
- Anti-Villain: He's a Professional Killer, but he has a clear moral code and can be reasoned with under the right circumstances. He also has plenty of Pet the Dog moments and is genuinely Affably Evil.
- Bad People Abuse Animals: His first kill was his pet cat for killing his teddy bear. Though since he was a baby when he did this, it's not a great indication of his personality.
- Battle Couple: With Shorty, his assassin girlfriend.
- Berserk Button: People who don't play by the rules. Once someone tries dirty tactics against him, the gloves come off.
- Big Good: Of the Villain Protagonist variety. He's the most prominent of his team and the most connected to the stories that unfold.
- Boom, Headshot!: His preferred method of killing. Headshots tend to be lethal, after all.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: If the need arises, he's willing to use torture to extract information from people.
- Cold Sniper: Something Vinnie is infamous for. No matter the circumstance, his targets are as good as dead once he's got his rifle in hand.
- Cool Car: He always seems to have one. It could be his, it could be stolen, it doesn't matter as long as it's fancy and expensive.
- Cop Killer: He'll kill cops as quickly as crooks, providing they get in his way.
- In 0, he kills several cops trying to stop him from drunk driving.
- Dark Is Evil: He can wear dark clothes, that accentuate his dark personality.
- Deadpan Snarker: He's quite witty and keen to engage in banter with both friends and foes.
- Drives Like Crazy: He does this in the second game, in order to get to a vantage point to kill a mobster before he can board a plane. He also has a habit of doing this, due to being preoccupied with shooting at assailants.
- Easily Forgiven: He and Kiro patched things up even though Vinnie assassinated Kiro's brother.
- Enfant Terrible: He was already a murderer by the time he was in preschool. He had killed almost a dozen people by the time he was an adult.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Shorty is his beloved girlfriend and Kiro is a platonic version of this.
- Even Evil Has Standards: He'll eagerly opt to kill terrorists, human traffickers, and domestic abusers, seeing them as too low even for him.
- Evil vs. Evil: Most of his victims are just as bad if not worse than he is.
- Glass Cannon: He's nowhere near as good at taking hits as he is at dishing them out.
- Good Smoking, Evil Smoking: He can sometimes be seen smoking and he's not that good a guy.
- Has a Type: He likes well endowed women.
- Hired Guns: As an assassin, he'll work for most people, not pledging loyalty to anyone for too long. This naturally puts him at odds with many gangs, who don't appreciate that kind of mindset.
- Improbable Aiming Skills: He could shoot a moving target with a handgun. As an infant.
- I Need a Freaking Drink: He has this in Shorty's cover, when pulling a bullet out of his arm. He recovers quickly when Shorty offers killing those who shot him as revenge as a quick remedy.
- It's Personal: He is furious with the Triads for destroying his house and has an enhanced hatred of them for this reason. He seems to be forgetting that he did murder the boss' son.
- I Work Alone: Vinnie prefers this way of doing things. He says this word for word on certain occasions, usually to unsympathetic listeners.
- Lack of Empathy: Very much so. Vinnie is a remorseless killer with an icy professionalism that could make the most hardened hitmen shudder. He'd be a textbook sociopath if he wasn't capable of forming genuine bonds with those he wasn't murdering.
- Light Is Not Good: If he's wearing white clothes, it doesn't change his decidedly evil moral scaling.
- Man of Wealth and Taste: His hedonism is a defining character trait of his. He has a particular soft spot for the Cool Car.
- Meaningful Name: Vinnie means "to conquer." A fitting name for a walking apocalypse.
- Noble Demon: He doesn't like needless violence and will generally work with people without betraying them. If they don't respond fairly, he'll repay their treachery.
- One-Man Army: Entire gangs have been eviscerated by his hand. Vinnie is not a man to be messed with.
- Pet the Dog: Vinnie spares Kiro as an apology for killing his brother and suggests taking on the Yakuza who hired Vinnie and betrayed him in the first place. Eventually Vinnie does come to Kiro's aid when the Yakuza corner him, and in turn Kiro joins him.
- Sinister Shades: He sports these in the first game.
- Slasher Smile: He gives one to the triad boss in the third game through the elevator camera.
- Start of Darkness: He crosses this by killing his pet cat. While still a baby.
- Teens Are Monsters: His age didn't stop his ruthlessness, it only made it worse.
- The Stoic: He's the human embodiment of an iceberg. Unmoving, icy, and unaffected by his surroundings.
- Took a Level in Kindness: He's a sociopathic and petty murderer before he becomes an adult. While he's still murderous later on, he's a lot more reasonable and pragmatic than his "boys will be boys" phase.
- Tranquil Fury: When angered, he tends to show it with his actions rather than his words.
- Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: He liked firearms and drawing corpses as a baby, and he also killed his cat and attacked other children. He wasn't showing red flags, he was the red flag.
- Vigilante Man: Sometimes he's a hired gun for the police, sometime's he's a traditional bounty hunter. Regardless, he fits several versions of this trope.
- Villain Protagonist: He may be badass and deadly, but he's still a cold blooded killer who frequently allies himself with criminal organisations, meaning that at the very best, he's a Noble Demon.
- Villains Out Shopping: He can play video games in between killing mobsters and civilians in Sift Heads World - Act 1.
- Wife Beater Beater: In the fifth game, he assassinates a domestic abuser for this reason.
- Would Hit a Girl: The second game has him shooting a female assassin.
- Would Hurt a Child: Though Vinnie was the same age as the kid he killed. He fortunately grew out of this as an adult.
Shorty
Vinnie's hot girlfriend.
- Affably Evil: Like every other protagonist, she's ruthless yet cordial.
- Bathing Beauty: She can be this in Sift Heads World - Act 3. If Kiro walks in on her, she'll playfully milk this trope for all it's worth. If Vinnie does the same, she'll invite him in for some X-rated fun. Sadly, Vinnie's occupied with fighting the mafia.
- Battle Couple: With Vinnie, her assassin boyfriend.
- Beauty Is Bad: She's gorgeous and an Affably Evil mass murderer just as morally bankrupt as Vinnie and Kiro are.
- Cleavage Window: Her breasts don't exactly fit inside her dress, giving her a rather egregious example of this trope.
- Cold Sniper: Like Vinnie, she's an ace with a rifle. While not as strong as he is, she can take a few more hits before going down.
- Damsel in Distress: She gets abducted by Kiro in the fifth game. Fortunately, Kiro does so only to draw out and directly confront Vinnie for killing Kienji, his brother. Vinnie defeats Kiro, and Shorty gets out of things relatively unscathed.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones:
- She is madly in love with Vinnie and the two care about each other enough that they'll risk their own lives to help one another. No matter what they are put through, they'll make it out of it together.
- She also loves her sister, so much so that she'll put her own life in danger just to ensure her sister's rescue.
- Excuse Plot: Her games are pretty much "hot stick chick shoots the shit out of dozens of other guys." There's almost no characters apart from her that aren't generic enemies.
- Hand Cannon: She's this in her spinoff games, with most of her bullets shooting off the heads of her victims.
- Intimate Healing: Her vagina apparently has healing properties that rejuvenate Vinnie when he's wounded.
- Ironic Name: She's quite tall for someone called Shorty.
- Jack of All Stats: She has no major strengths or weaknesses, she's just a solid all-rounder.
- Lady in Red: She mainly wears red, though she can switch colors based on the player's cosmetic preferences.
- Man of Wealth and Taste: She's as hedonistic as Vinnie. Hell, her starting mission is her in a luxury clothing store, the dream destination of all barbie expies.
- Master of Disguise: In world, she dresses like a police officer and an air hostess in order to infiltrate otherwise unreachable locations, succeeding both in deception and sexiness.
- Ms. Fanservice: She has big boobs and buns, especially for a stick(wo)man.
- Naughty Nurse Outfit: She can wear one if the player wishes. It's purely for fanservice.
- One-Man Army: Possibly even more than her boyfriend. She can kill an entire game's worth of enemies in half the time, all in her sexy dress. It's no wonder Vinnie's heads over heels for her.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Unless her name is actually Shorty (which is doubtful), her name is never revealed, contrasting Kiro and Vinnie who are known by their first names.
- It's eventually revealed to be Maeva, a name she had before she met Vinnie.
- Red Is Heroic: Or a really stretched definition of heroic, anyway. Still, red is her main color scheme, as shown by her eye-catching dress.
- Single Tear: She has this when she realized her sister has been kidnapped by human traffickers. Considering the circumstances, it's amazing how much emotional restraint she shows.
- The Smurfette Principle: She's the only female protagonist, and just as able to dish it out as they are.
- Stripperific: Her outfits are this most of the time. Possibly, she's going for the weightless option that they offer.
- Token Minority: She's the only female of the team.
- Villains Out Shopping: She can play video games in between killing mobsters and civilians in the first act of world.
Kiro
A former Yakuza member and eventual ally of Vinnie.
- Affably Evil: Like Vinnie, he's a reasonable, honorable, and utterly ruthless man.
- Badass Biker: He's an ace on two wheels and a badass no matter what the situation is.
- Cool Bike: He's got one, which puts him at odds with the Cool Car philosophy following Vinnie.
- Easily Forgiven: Vinnie and Shorty forgave him for kidnapping her and attempting to kill him due to realise the restraint and respect he showed the both of them. This leads to the three becoming a force to be reckoned with.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: His brother is greatly missed by him, though surprisingly, his brother's killer becomes a platonic version of this trope later too.
- Even Evil Has Standards: He kidnaps Shorty instead of just killing her even though that would have been a more apt revenge plot.
- I Have Your Wife: He kidnaps Shorty to draw out and kill Vinnie for killing his brother.
- It's Personal: He wants revenge on Vinnie for killing his brother and is willing to go to extreme lengths to get it.
- Japanese Politeness: He's Japanese and Affably Evil almost all the time, even when him and Vinnie are dueling. Doesn't stop him from being a Deadpan Snarker at points, though it's always in good spirits.
- Karmic Jackpot: Forgiving Vinnie and Shorty gave him a new start in life and the two best partners in crime he could ever ask for.
- Katanas Are Better: Fitting for a Yakuza member, he shares this belief.
- Laser-Guided Karma: He can get knocked out with the chair his hostage is being held on by the lover of said hostage.
- Man of Wealth and Taste: Like every other protagonist, he enjoys the finer things in life, as shown by his taste in vehicles and property.
- One-Man Army: Like Vinnie and Shorty, he leaves a forest of bodies behind him when he's in action. Woe to those who cross him.
- Redemption Equals Life: Sparing Shorty netted him a valuable set of allies, though he did get hit on the head with a falling chair.
- Revenge: Him kidnapping Shorty to spite Vinnie is pretty much the gangster version of tit for tat.
- Shout-Out: One of his outfits is a reference to the teenage mutant ninja turtles.
- Stone Wall: Due to his specialization in direct action, he's more durable.
- Token Minority: He's the only Asian member of the trio.
- Villains Out Shopping: He can play video games in between killing mobsters and civilians in the first act of world.
- Worthy Opponent: He's spared by Vinnie due to putting up a good fight. He becomes a loyal companion to Vinnie in later games.
Characters by series
Sift Heads World
Sift Heads World Act 1: Deadly Newcomer
Main characters
Alonzo
The evil leader of the mafia.
- An Arm and a Leg: He has his arm sliced off by a katana.
- Artificial Limbs: He has one due to having his arm sliced off.
- Badass Boast: He gives one to the player claiming they'll die if they try to topple his criminal organisation.
- Big Bad: He's the overarching antagonist of the Sift Heads World series, though he's not as big a player in some chapters, even if his actions still have an impact on them.
- Bond Villain Stupidity: He complains to Vinnie about how disruptive he is instead of simply shooting him. This almost gets him killed and costs him his arm.
- Dirty Coward: He hightails it rather than face Vinnie in the third act after his Elite Mooks are turned to swiss cheese.
- The Don: Of the mafia.
- Drugs Are Bad: Not only is he a ruthless mobster, but he also peddles drugs in the streets of Chicago. Even worse, he uses it to incapacitate and rape women and force them into being prostitutes for the Italian mob.
- Eating Pet Food: He's forced to do this while imprisoned by the heroes, due to still being a Jerkass to them.
- Evil Cripple: He's an amputee and evil as hell.
- Faux Affably Evil: He's smarmy and articulate, yet a ruthless sociopath who will stoop to new lows no matter how far down he's gone already.
- "Get Back Here!" Boss: He becomes this in the third game due to running away like a little bitch.
- Good Prosthetic, Evil Prosthetic: He got an artificial limb by the next time he reunites with the protagonist. They compliment him on it.
- Greed: He's pissed off about losing profits, which is why he has such a grudge against Vinnie and his friends.
- It's All About Me: Many of his men died and his top lieutenants were murdered. He's more concerned his profits have been decreasing, which is what is the prime focus of his Motive Rant.
- More Dakka: He uses a turret to achieve this when the player faces him down. Unfortunately for him, a police shield was dropped nearby that can withstand his bullets and he finds out the hard way that even turrets need to reload.
- Motive Rant: He complains about his loss of income when he's got Vinnie at gunpoint. Vinnie would rather attack him than listen to his problems.
- Oh, Crap!: He looks terrified when he realises his limb is about to get sliced right off.
- Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: In the remake, his mafia is shown to drug up women and force them into prostitution to make money, something he's almost certainly complicit in. It makes him just that bit more despicable.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: He boasts he'll never go to jail because of his allies. He's imprisoned by the protagonists instead.
- Smug Snake: He tries to taunt the player every chance he gets. Even when his arm was sliced off by one of them.
- Starter Villain: He's the first of many major threats the player faces and the main antagonist of the first act.
- Villain Team-Up: He works with the corrupt commisioner in the third act to try and take down the protagonists.
Darwen
An old man Vinnie is acquainted with
- Adaptational Early Appearance: He appears in the first act on the mobile remaster to give Vinnie and co some munitions.
- Affably Evil: He's knee deep in the criminal underworld, and the sweetest old man you could hope to meet.
- Bald of Evil: His hairline has almost completely receeded and he's a rather amoral dude.
- Cool Old Guy: In the fifth game, he held onto Vinnie's massive sniper rifle for him. Vinnie seems to respect him enough that he trusted him with it in the first place.
- Evil Old Folks: Affably Evil sure, but he's still a menace to society, no matter how many guns he keeps safe for Vinnie or how many sweet weapons he gives the players.
- Friend in the Black Market: He has access to weapons not usually avaliable to the public. It's illegal as hell but a boon for Vinnie and his team.
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: He's an evil, if pleasant man, and has a prominent scar running down his face.
- Nice Guy: He's a friendly old man who let Vinnie store his rifle in his backyard for safekeeping. He's also friendly during their reunion in the fifth game, looking away from his tv to greet the assassin.
The Black Fox
An enigmatic criminal the player seeks information from.
- The Ace: He's a fantastic information broker and a valuable ally to the player. He's able to locate anyone, no matter where in the world they're standing.
- Affably Evil: He's a criminal, though he can be reasoned with and isn't needlessly brutal.
- An Offer You Can't Refuse: The protagonist spares him in exchange for him becoming their informant. He jumps at the offer, though it's not like he had much of a choice.
- Arc Villain: Of the Black fox missions. He joins the players after being given An Offer You Can't Refuse.
- Beard of Evil: Sports a snazzy one.
- Character Death: He is gunned down by Alonzo's men during his vacation in Hawaii, though he does tell Vinnie one final piece of information about Alonzo's plans before he dies.
- Cool Old Guy: He's an extremely capable criminal, and an old man. Two things Vinnie and his friends seem to have a soft spot for, providing the criteria fitter doesn't betray them.
- Cool Shades: He wears them to add to his mysterious look.
- Even Evil Has Standards: He's appauled that the player would kill all his henchmen just to make a deal with him.
- This is Adapted Out in the remake, where he's just happy that Vinnie spared him, taking the money thrown at him without a fuss.
- Evil Old Folks: He's elderly and not the most upstanding citizen.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: He joins sides with the players shortly after being cornered by them. This probably has something to do with the fact that all his guards got killed by them moments earlier.
- Oh, Crap!: He freaks out after seeing his bodyguard get subjected to a nasty case of the Eye Scream.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: He's referred to as the black fox by even his own men.
- The Spook: He's this to most of the criminal underworld, though the player strips this from him after their encounter and partnership.
- Villainous Breakdown: A very minor one, but he's understandably shaking when the player closes in on him, begging for his life. Fortunately, they're not there to kill him, but rather offer him a deal.
Minor characters
Targets
Valet
Some dick that stole your car.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Think he's just a nice valet? Wrong, he's a car thief and Dirty Coward.
- Bullying a Dragon: He really chose the wrong person to steal from.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: He tries to avoid being shot by playing peekaboo behind the counter. Against a guy/gal with a gun. Oh, and he's unarmed. He's more annoying than difficult to kill.
- Dirty Coward: He ducks between the desks in the hotel reception rather than face the player head on.
- Too Dumb to Live: He stole a car in a city swarming with the mafia. While they weren't who killed him, he unfortunately chose another criminal as his victim.
Black Fox's man
One of the henchmen of the black fox.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: He's subjected to this, to force him to cough up information about his employer. It doesn't work, and the only thing he coughs up is blood.
- Uncertain Doom: It's unclear if he died from his injuries or simply was Killed Offscreen. Or maybe he simply was Not Worth Killing?
- Undying Loyalty: He refuses to disclose information about the black fox, even when beaten to a pulp.
Black Fox's man 2
Another one of the Black Fox's men.
- Improbable Weapon User: He uses a table to attack the Player Character by kicking it at them in order to make a getaway.
- Killed Offscreen: After making death threats to whoever shot him in the leg, he's finished off with a bullet as the screen fades to black. RIP.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: He'd rather haul ass than deal with the player. It doesn't end up working, and he's shot in the leg before he can properly escape.
Black Fox's man 3
Yet another men in the Black Fox's employ. This guy is a racer.
- Cool Car: He races in one. He may be one of the only npcs to not be killed in or out of a vehicle as classy as Vinnie's.
- Drives Like Crazy: His method of navigating the streets during his illegal racing boils down to this.
- I Gave My Word: He surprisingly stays true to his promise, and gives Vinnie useful intel.
Cocaine supplier/winemaker
A drug dealer in the mafia's employ who hides behind a legitimate business.
- Asshole Victim: He's killed so the player can infiltrate the Mafia HQ, though considering he was a drug dealer working with organised crime, little sympathy can be offered to him.
- Mugged for Disguise: Why he's killed. His services give him easy access to the mafia base, so the player uses his vehicle and job to speed up their infiltration process.
- Spared by the Adaptation: He's explicitly spared in the remake, with a non lethal shot being required to complete the mission. It'd still probably hurt like hell being shot though, so it's only a small mercy.
Non-targets
Cosima
A prostitute with information about the mafia.
- Adaptational Modesty: Her breasts are covered in the remake and she's wearing panties instead of a thong. Considering what she's been through, it's probably for the better she's in less revealing clothes.
- Butt-Monkey: A tragic example in the remake. It's explicitly stated that she's a sex slave who is being drugged up and raped in order for the mafia to sell her body to criminals against her wishes. It's fortunate for her that the player is there to save her.
- Fan Disservice: She's topless and in a thong when encountered, though she's next to a corpse and heavily implied to have been raped moments earlier.
- Forgetful Jones: A very dark example. She doesn't remember being raped due to the heavy drugs she's forced on, forcing the player to snap her out of it to get information about the red mafia.
- Pet the Dog: Vinnie frees her from the mafia's grasp by killing several mobsters having sex with her.
- Sex Slave: It's heavily implied that her services for the mafia are not consentual on her part.
- In the remake, it's explicitly stated that this is the case, and made even more tragic once her circumstances are fully revealed.
Old lady
An old woman looking for her cat.
- Cool Old Guy: She gives you a thousand dollars for finding her cat for her. A nice reward for a nice deed.
- Disproportionate Restitution: A thousand dollars is an awfully nice reward for rescuing a cat. Of course, the protagonist doesn't complain in the least.
- Pet the Dog: Her mission requires finding a cat and doesn't involve any violence whatsoever. It's simply a good deed for a nice old lady who just wanted to be reunited with her beloved pet.
- Quest Giver: In an unsually wholesome example for the series, hers simply involves rescuing her cat from a tree. Considering what happened to the first cat introduced in the series, it can be seen as an act of redemption if Vinnie is the one who accepts the quest.
Sift Heads World Act 2: The Treacherous Return
Main characters
Master Yuuma
The Yakuza head. He has a grudge against Kiro
- Arc Villain: Of the second act.
- Asskicking Leads to Leadership: He is a very formidable opponent, even being able to dash insane distances in a second. It's no wonder he's so respected.
- Berserk Button: He really values his urn with the spirit of a fallen samurai, going into a frenzy when it's stolen. The protagonists use this to lure the yakuza to their safehouse for a bloody confrontation.
- Bald of Evil: He has as much hair on his head as he does good in his heart.
- Character Death: His head gets sliced in half by Kiro during the climax of Sift Heads World - Ultimatum.
- Duel Boss: His style of battle. It's the question of whether his katana or your firepower is superior.
- Final Boss: Of the second chapter, he's the last foe faced.
- Fragile Speedster: He's very swift, but his attacks are predictable and easy to dodge once his movements are countered.
- It's Personal: He wants to kill Kiro for betraying the Yakuza. He doubles down on this view when his sacred urn is pilfered.
- Katanas Are Better: He holds one in his opening cinematic, as do many of his henchmen. He uses one against the protagonist.
- Logical Weakness: His attacks revolve around dashing at his foes to slice them with his katana, so shooting him in the legs opens him up to attacks from the protagonist.
- Not Quite Dead: He's able to make a hasty retreat when wounded, stopping the player from delievering the killing blow to him right there.
- Obviously Evil: He looks terrifying, with his withered face and creepy tattoos.
- Tattooed Crook: He's covered in tattoos, which is taboo in Japan and a sign of his rebellious nature.
- Wake-Up Call Boss: He's far hardier and harder than those before him, with some enhanced combat skills taken from the Elite Mooks faced before him.
- Walking Shirtless Scene: His robe covers his shoulders, allowing his torso some breathing space.
- We Will Meet Again: Says a variation of this when He's wounded in a duel. He says this word for word in the remake.
Minor characters
Targets
Information broker
A yakuza spy killed to weaken the information network.
- Death by Adaptation: Not him but everyone else on the rooftop in the remake. While a mission requirement is to spare them, they're fair game the second time around, with the ruthless protagonists making the roof less lively.
- He Knows Too Much: He dies before he can start to prepare the yakuza with information and insight about the trio's plans.
- Knowledge Broker: His trade and why he's killed. His death cripples the information network the Yakuza rely on to stay a step ahead of their foes.
- Starter Villain: He's one of the first enemies that can have his head sifted. While a few more informants come after he is slain, they're not as noteworthy as him due to retreading the benchmark he laid, even if they can do parkour like the best of them.
Rooftop information broker
Another informant who uses the rooftops to travel.
- Didn't See That Coming: He uses buildings to cover more ground without traffic to worry about. Pity he didn't anticipate being shot at.
- He Knows Too Much: Like the previous guy, he's killed to further cripple the information network the yakuza set up.
- Knowledge Broker: His trade as well. Unlike the first guy, he wasn't in the middle of a transaction to demonstrate his specialty, but rather getting to somewhere before he was hastily slain mid travel.
- Le Parkour: His method of transport, and what he was doing when he was shot to death.
- Roofhopping: How he covers ground faster. Pity it didn't save him from the protagonist's wrath.
Marketplace information broker
Another informant
- He Knows Too Much: Noticing a pattern here? He's killed to add another nail in the coffin to the already suffering information network.
- Knowledge Broker: He's yet another informant, though he's the least demonstrated example due to dying while doing nothing related to his line of work.
- Puzzle Boss: Killing him involves using the environment to reveal where he's located, then killing him when the barrier is removed.
- Villains Out Shopping: He's eating some food in a store at the time of his death.
Chicago information broker
Yet another informant
- He Knows Too Much: Probably the most blatant example out of the information brokers. He'd already started building a case against Kiro and co by the time of his death, making his death even more necessary than the brokers who came before him.
- Knowledge Broker: Yet another one, though he's killed a bit farther west than his fellow informants.
- Overt Operative: He's apparently been quite conspicuous, allowing the black fox to track him with ease.
Masseur
Some guy that did a piss poor job at a massage.
- Ambiguously Evil: Did he purposely mess up a massage, or was he really that bad at his job?
- Epic Fail: If his acts are put down to ineptitude, he may be the worst masseur in the world.
- Miserable Massage: Regardless of his moral alignment, his massage certainly wasn't a happy ending for his victim.
- Would Hit a Girl: If his acts are blamed on malice, it's made even worse that his onscreen victim is a woman.
Non-targets
Old man
Some poor guy who had his cane stolen.
- Adapted Out: He doesn't appear in the remake. Hopefully that means his cane wasn't stolen.
- Butt-Monkey: Poor guy had his cane stolen and is rendered immobile until it is returned by a good samaritan.
- Fetch Quest: His cane is stolen, and it needs to be returned, with the punks who stole it getting taught a lesson as an added bonus.
- Kick the Dog: Someone stole his cane, which he obviously needs due to his frail physique. Fortunately, the protagonist can get it back for him.
- Pet the Dog: While it's a humble mission, there's some brownie points to be made for reuniting him with his cane.
- Quest Giver: He asks for help in getting his cane back from the punks who stole it.
Thief
A guy planning a robbery. The player helps him locate the cameras.
- Adapted Out: He doesn't appear in the remake.
- Affably Evil: He's a thief with little in the way of morality, but he's polite and offers you a fair reward.
- Genre Savvy: He's smart enough to ask a professional to spot the cameras for him before he goes on his heist, making him more competent than a good chunk of bumbling thieves in fiction.
- Karma Houdini: Thanks to the player, it's highly likely his robbery goes off without a hitch.
- Quest Giver:He requests help scouting out the cameras before he plans his heist on the building they're placed at.
Massage client
A woman who is a victim of a botched massage
- Adaptational Heroism: She doesn't hire a hitman to get revenge for her botched massage in the remake, though she's sadly still a victim of it.
- Body Horror: Her body has been disgustingly contorted due to a botched massage. Even the mass murdering protagonist is unnerved by the sight.
- Fan Disservice: She's well proportioned and in skimpy clothing, though her mangled body negates any sensuality that may otherwise be derived from her.
- Miserable Massage: She's left in agony after having a massage. Fortunately 500 bucks and a nearby assassin is able to avenge her situation, even if it cannot not heal her condition.
- Quest Giver: She tasks the protagonist with killing the masseur who screwed up her back and legs.
- Revenge: What she seeks against the person that screwed up her massage and left her looking like a stringless mannequin. Fortunately, such a person is there to avenge her agony.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: It's unknown if she got medical treatment or was arrested for her involvement in the murder of the masseur. What's apparent is that she's not walking out of the parlor on her own two feet for a while.
Sift Heads World Act 3: Alonzo's Reinforcements
Main characters
Commisioner
A Corrupt Cop on Alonzo's payroll
- Cardboard Prison: What he apparently runs. Somehow, two of the protagonists were able to get the Player Character out by posing as cops and unlocking the cell. Since there is enough evidence that could be used to keep these three in prison forever, it makes you wonder just how bad the security is for less important inmates.
- Dirty Cop: He's working with Alonzo, the Big Bad red mafia don.
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: He's got a few scars near his eye.
- Greed: Works with a mafia don in order to fill his own pockets with some blood money.
- Obviously Evil: His scars make him look rather sinister, as does his scowl.
- Villain Team-Up: With Alonzo, the head of the red mafia.
The mayor
The mayor of the city, and an unlikely ally with Vinnie's crew against the mafia.
- Boom, Headshot!: How he meets his end, courtesy of some asshole from the mafia.
- Enemy Mine: Him and the protagonists team up against the mafia, despite Vinnie's gang being a destructive force in their own right.
- Killed Mid-Sentence: With a Boom, Headshot! by a mob assassin.
- Nice Guy: He may be one of the friendliest characters in the series. Even if his actions are reckless, he's extremely well intentioned and willing to see the good in even ruthless bounty hunters. This makes his death that much more heartbreaking, as he clearly didn't deserve it.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: He's an open-minded and pragmatic man who is willing to work with Vinnie for the greater good, something that sadly gets him killed.
- Refuge in Audacity: Teaming up with him involves sneaking into his office and knocking out his guards. Bonus points since the trio are all wanted criminals with a rap sheet just as large as the mafia's. No wonder the mayor is dumbfounded by this attempt.
- His thought process is also this. He eagerly accepts this partnership, despite all three protagonists potentially murdering a bunch of innocent people while roaming the streets. He must really be desperate.
- In the remake, it's even more absurd. He's the one who proposes that the protagonists and him work together, despite all the horrible shit they're guilty of. He's either naive or the most pragmatic person on the planet.
- Surprisingly Sudden Death: He's murdered by a mobster before he can give vital information to the player.
- Too Good for This Sinful Earth: He's not corrupt or evil so of course he had to die.
Minor characters
Targets
Henchman
Alonzo's henchman who is part of the raid on the cafe.
- An Arm and a Leg: He gets his limb sliced off with a chainsaw to hasten him spilling the beans. It works really well for everyone but him.
- In the remake, he gets off more "easily" by simply being stabbed in the skull with a knife and passing out from the blood loss.
- Asshole Victim: Since he was complicit in the death of the mayor, it's hard to feel too sorry for all the brutal ordeals he's subjected to
- Boom, Headshot!: A non fatal example. He somehow survives a shell to the skull from the protagonist.
- Butt-Monkey: He's brutally maimed several times in rather gruesome yet inventive ways. Not that he doesn't deserve it after all the crap he pulled.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: The protagonist subjects him to this in order to get him to cough up some information about Alonzo's whereabouts.
- In the remake, it's highly implied he was tortured offscreen, but despite the knife lodged in his head, it's likely it wasn't as brutal as the original game's torture scene.
- Defiant to the End: He doesn't initially crack under torture, even as he's sliced many times with a razor by the protagonist.
- Hero Killer: He's complicit in the murder of the mayor.
- Precision F-Strike: Lets one out while he's being tortured, to show just how thick skinned he is. Maybe it's the reason why the gashes aren't doing him in enough to get him to spill the beans.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: While it's highly likely, it's not confirmed at the end of the third act if he died of his injuries.
Sift heads world act 4: cold memories
Main characters
Claire
Shorty's sister who needs help.
- Damsel in Distress: She's been captured by a human trafficker with a penchant for violence against those trapped in his hellish conditions. In desperation, she sends a letter to her sister asking for help, kickstarting the fourth act of world.
Nico
Vinnie's friend, first heard of in the fourth game.
- Affably Evil: He's nice enough to let the heroes camp out at his home even when they're in the middle of messing with some immensely dangerous people.
- Beard of Evil: Has a small beard and isn't that upstanding of a guy.
- Epic Fail: Out of all the people he could have brought a helicopter from, he chose a scammer. Fortunately, the worst case scenario didn't happen and all it led to was Nico requesting that the helicopter be repaired.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Two of the hits he encouraged Vinnie to do were against a scientist and military general planning to genocide a large portion of Russia in order to make a profit.
- Fetch Quest: He sends the players to find the parts needed to fix his helicopter that a scammer sold to him.
- Mission Control: He gives Vinnie three missions in the Russian levels in the fourth game.
- Professional Killer: He's this like Vinnie, and the two have worked together on multiple occasions.
- Vodka Drunkenski: He's Russian and like all Russians, he loves vodka.
Minor characters
Targets
Anthony Harris
A Corrupt Cop on vacation the "heroes" seek to assassinate.
- Boom, Headshot!: How he's dispatched. If that's not enough, he's also blown off the boat to sink into the ocean, with half his head still missing.
- Corrupt Cop: Another one in a series filled with them.
- Never Found the Body: The goal of the mission is to assassinate him, hide his body, and hope that forensic evidence doesn't exist overseas.
- Starter Villain: He's swiftly assassinated at the beginning of the chapter.
- Villains Out Shopping: He's on a vacation when the protagonists go to assassinate him.
Henchman
A henchman to the human trafficking ring
- Asshole Victim: He gets the everlasting crap kicked out of him, though he deserves so much more for what he's done.
- Beard of Evil: He has a full beard and is the henchman to a ruthless human trafficking organisation.
- Blood from the Mouth: He starts spitting out blood when he gets hit a few times.
- Blood Knight: While it's unclear if the dead prostitutes were killed by him or his boss, his interactions with the heroes makes it clear he likes violence more than what is socially acceptable.
- Disposable Sex Worker: There's a lot of dead women leading up to him, either unlucky prostitutes or other women forced into sex slavery. While it's not known if he killed them, he's completely complicit in their deaths.
- Fatal Flaw: His Blood Knight tendencies. He accepts an offer for a duel rather than simply shooting Claire and the protagonists with the gun he had on him.
- Final Boss: Of the fourth chapter.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: He deservingly gets one from the player.
- Would Hit a Girl: He's introduced holding Claire at gunpoint, and he clearly would have killed her if given the chance.
Non targets
Cherry
A Russian pole dancer/nightclub performer
- Adaptational Modesty: She's a nightclub performer in the remake, meaning her clothes are a lot more conservative this time around.
- Cleavage Window: She has this in both versions, Adaptational Modesty be damned.
- Lady in Red: What she's wearing in the remake. Cherries are red, after all.
- Mr. Exposition: She gives the character some information about the whereabouts of Shorty's sister.
- Ms. Fanservice: Like most pole dancers, she has little in the way of clothing. In the remake, she's wearing much more clothing, though she still has a sizable Cleavage Window.
- Nice Girl: She gives the character some information about Claire, despite the danger she could face for divulging such information.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: She's referred to as Cherry, her stage name in the strip club.
Journalist
A woman trying to get a picture of a prominent human trafficker.
- Intrepid Reporter:She needs a picture of one of the human traffickers so she can publish an expose of them. Fortunately, the protagonist is there to lend her a helping hand.
- Nerves of Steel: While she's not brave enough to take the photo herself, risking the wrath of the human traffickers by exposing their misdeeds takes guts.
- Quest Giver:She requests a photo of the trafficker that she can publish for her expose.
