"Kill me, but don't do this! JUST KILL ME, DAMN IT!!! DON'T DO THIS!!! "
Despite the Denser and Wackier nature of Saints Row 2, it still has its darker moments.
- The Playa in the first Saints Row was pragmatic, but ultimately a pushover that was Just Following Orders, killing because they had to kill in a Stilwater just that shitty. Then the bombing that tried to assassinate them failed to do so, put them in a coma for five years, and they wake up to everything they'd done being All for Nothing. The Playa shortly ascends to The Boss afterwards, reforming the Third Street Saints — except this time, it's not about saving Stilwater from the other gangs, it's about taking it over for themselves from the start. Welcome to Saints Row 2.
- Even worse, when confronting Julius about his betrayal in the secret mission, he outright calls the Boss The Sociopath and knew this sort of thing was going to happen if they were left unchecked. While betraying his own crew was a bastardly move, he was absolutely vindicated in his concerns. He gets mercilessly killed for this out of petty vengeance, signifying the Boss's change from an Anti-Villain into a Villain Protagonist that owns Stilwater solely because they could, being no better than the crime lords they got brought on to stop.
- Shogo Akuji's death. He's brutally beaten up by Gat (including having his head punched into a tombstone), and then buried alive, all while screaming for a Mercy Kill.
- The cutscene prior to the burial is what sets this gloomy atmosphere. Johnny always got some quips or one-liners before laying a confident beatdown. This time around, Johnny's out of patience and straight up beats the living shit out of Shogo, uttering nothing more than "Get up." This is such a heavy moment that the Boss reverts to their old self for the entire time and brings Shogo to Johnny's knees and fists.
- Right before Shogo gets buried, Johnny opens the coffin of what appears to be a dead woman, whose blank, lifeless face adds more horror to the scene, accompanied with a Scare Chord for good measure. After seeing this, Shogo has a look of horror on his face when he realizes what his punishment is.
- Johnny later remarks in the next mission with:"I hope the fucker’s still screamin’…"
- To get back at Maero for wanting an 80/20 split of the profits in exchange for starting an alliance, the Boss and Carlos contaminate his tattoo ink with radioactive waste. What happens next is horrific. He screams as his face starts to sizzle and burn and he has radiation scars for the remainder of the game. This prompts Jessica to have Carlos killed in an act of vengeance.
- Carlos' death is very hard to swallow. He's tied up to the back of a truck by the Brotherhood and driven around the docks, causing the tarmac to flay some of his skin. And by the time you find him, he's in so much pain that he gladly accepts a coup-de-grâce from the Boss.
- Jessica's Karmic Death is just as brutal. She's kidnapped by the Boss, stuffed in the trunk of her own car, and then unknowingly crushed by Maero at a monster truck rally. The look of horror on Maero's face when the Boss tosses him the key to Jessica's car says it all.
- The Boss burning Matt's hand with fireworks despite him being relatively innocent is all-around disturbing, but one moment is particularly chilling: A POV shot of the Boss, with a Slasher Smile, says:Enjoy your retirement, Matt…
- The final Brotherhood mission. Maero has lost practically everything he cares about, and tells the Boss to come to the Ultor Dome. Upon entering, they only hear his voice, but it's easy to tell he is pissed. The Boss is alone, with Maero in his Altasbreaker monster truck, accompanied by several more Brotherhood thugs in trucks ready to crush them. All the games of the Brotherhood arc are over, and it's clear Maero wants his enemy dead.
- If the Boss carjacks an occupied vehicle while a pistol is equipped, they will sometimes straight up blast the driver in the face before tossing the fresh corpse out. Compare to other games in the series or other similar franchises, which usually boot or throw the driver out. That is how bloodthirsty and vengeful the Boss is in this game.
- Fun fact, this same animation can seen in the first game, back when they were little more than a taciturn henchman. Unlike the first game, where the Playa will actually fire a shot, the driver will simply die after a gun is pointed at them.
- The Zombie Uprising minigame the Boss can play at cribs is easily this.
- Unlike the Zombie Apocalypse mission in the third game, which was a somewhat humorous parody, this game takes itself much more seriously. While in the third game the mission isn't too difficult due to the player likely being a walking tank by the time it comes up Zombie Uprising is a completely straight Survival Horror with extremely limited supplies (a handful of melee weapons and some guns, with the more powerful ones hidden in the environment), ammo, health (it doesn't regenerate and the player has only a few food items), and really disturbing zombies.
- In addition to normal shambling zombies are giant corpses with their heads ripped off and hanging by a thread behind their neck, flaming zombies that can easily corner the player and burn them to death, and small, childlike, exploding zombies that can be hard to spot in crowds. All of this, plus an extremely creepy music soundtrack and even a bit of Fridge Horror if the player pays attention to their surroundings. The location all of this takes place in can actually be found in Stilwater... right outside the Saints main HQ!
- So yeah, the only plus is that, unlike the third game, this side mission is completely optional and only rewards the player with a latex zombie mask. Still, if you want 100% completion you'll have to do this sooner or later...
- A glitch fans dub "The Freezer". If you glitch out of Old Stilwater during Zombie Uprising using some grenades, the Low Gravity, Infinite Ammo, Never Die and Super Explosions cheats, a bluish shadow will (eventually) randomly show up with little to no warning, and cause your game to freeze. The creepy bastard can even brick your copy of Saints Row 2 if you're really unlucky, rendering it useless.
- The Sons of Samedi. Everything about them is nightmare fuel.
- Their signature drug, Loa Dust, turns people into psychopaths and is highly addictive over time.
- The unwashed, fidgety, and almost-emaciated drug addicts are so desperate to get their fix, it's to the point Sunshine, after blowing one of them away before the others' very eyes, easily talks them into throwing their lives away in trying to raid the Saints.
- One of their high-ranking lieutenants, DJ Veteran Child, finds and kidnaps Shaundi from the Saints' hideout, even managing to escape the Boss.
- Even the Boss gets kidnapped right off the street and drugged while in the General's limousine further through the storyline.
- The one who strikes the most terror, however, and justifiably so, is the General's right-hand man, Mr. Sunshine. A true practitioner of voodoo, this guy is seemingly immune to pain as seen when he barely flinches when the General cuts his left ear off as punishment for his failure, and has powers that could send the Boss flying across the meat processing plant their battle takes place in.
- Then there's his death: after getting up repeatedly even after the Boss turns his chest into Swiss cheese, the Boss takes his machete, decapitates him, and tosses his severed head onto a conveyor belt just to make sure he stays dead.
- The first mission of the "Ultor Exposed" DLC has the Boss drive to several unmarked gravesites for the corpses of volunteers for a chemical treatment Ultor was developing to solve respiratory problems in miners, according to their lead scientist. Upon discovering them, and seeing the results of Ultor's experiments, even they are clearly horrified. If you look closely, you can see that the corpses have the same appearance as the zombies from Zombie Uprising, which makes this even creepier.
