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The fans

The Fans' first appearance in the teaser trailer for Hotline Miami 2. The clip is taken from Down Under.

The Fans are a group of veterans (Specifically of the Hawaiian conflict theatre of The Soviet-American War, members of the D-Company) who try to recreate the conditions of the original Hotline Miami two years after the fact in an attempt to gain the attention of 50 Blessings. They serve as the main protagonists in Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number, and along with the Pig Butcher and Manny Pardo they are used to introduce the new 1991 Setting.

They are the protagonists for the majority of the first half of Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number, five of the first twelve scenes being dedicated to them. They have the second most levels of any protagonist in the series, being only beaten by Jacket in terms of level-count. The Fans are also briefly featured as minor antagonists in the Son's story.

The severely reduced Russian Mafia activities in 1991 Miami have left them to aimlessly improvise targets, and they quickly find themselves doing favors for their friends, who often have loose gang connections.

The Fans wear personalized animal masks (except for Tony, who seems to have a unique hand-me-down), and have stolen an old Phone Hom van, which they appear to have spray tagged with the 50 Blessings symbol and the word "Attack."

Community assets for the fans can be found here.

Members[]

Corey (Zebra) :-[]

CoreyRoll

Corey's Roll Dodge.

The first of the playable fans. She is extremely agile and has the ability to Roll Dodge. This allows her roll and dive, becoming temporally invulnerable, rolling under gunfire, avoiding melee attacks and knocking enemies back when entering a room. Corey wears a Miami Dolphins jacket along with khaki pants and purple knee protectors.

Tony (Tiger) :-[]

His punches are lethal, but he cannot -- or rather, doesn't want to -- use any weapons other than his fists. He is able to kill fat enemies by first knocking to the floor and then performing a ground execution, as well as being able to catch dogs mid lunge, albeit with a protracted execution animation. He wears a black t-shirt along with tan body armor, knee pads, and cowboy boots. His mask consists of nature's "danger" colors, red and orange, and may have been a pillaged mask from the first game's "Tension" chapter.

Alex (#1) and Ash (#2) (Swans):[]

Sister and brother, respectively; she uses a chainsaw while he uses firearms. The player controls Alex while Ash (ideally) follows close behind, and both characters' attacks are in complete control. They wear green football padding as body armor (with orange shoulder pads for Ash) and Alex wears an orange backpack. Alex is the only one of The Fans to be seen without a mask over the course of the game; her face is a color swap of The Henchman's girlfriend. Alex and Ash can be seen outside Jacket's trial protesting.

Mark (Bear):[]

Starts with a pair of MP5s. He is able to aim in separate directions by holding down the right mouse button (holding down just the right mouse button will spread the guns horizontally, while holding down the right mouse button and left shift will spread the guns vertically), and has a full magazine of ammo for each gun in reserve. After his ammunition is depleted, he mounts his firearms on his back and reverts to using other weapons normally, effectively giving him a quick-burnout mechanic. He wears a blue shirt and a teal kevlar vest.

Events in Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number[]

SPOILER WARNING: PLOT DETAILS BELOW

1985[]

Fans Hawaii

The Fans in Hawaii. From left to right : Alex, Ash ,Corey, Mark, and Tony.

The Fans have a history together as members of the US military during the 1985 Russian occupation of Hawaii. On March 17th, they are shown in the military bar, their Commander being interviewed outside by Evan.

On October 25th, they are alluded to as the comparatively unskilled D Company, which has apparently sieged the resort stronghold for weeks and encountered heavy losses, as is indicated by the pool full of body bags in the resort. Underground body disposal is again encountered by the Fans in their penultimate mission, where they are noticeably unsettled.

Halloween and November, 1991[]

The Fans have gathered together again in Miami by 1991 and by October 31st they have acquired a hideout and several firearms and stolen a Phone Hom van from a police impound lot. They are first seen at a Halloween party in their hideout, which it seems Corey organized and Alex invited her friends (Hotline Miami 2's soundtrack contributors) to. Alex seems to be socializing but Ash and Tony verbally hate the guests. Mark doesn't seem to mind the party but, noticing Ash and Tony hate it, asks if they're going to "do it." Mark asks if the guns are in the car, prompting an uncomfortable Corey to ask "So, we are actually doing this? ...," which unsettles the easy going Mark but doesn't dissuade Ash's enthusiasm. Alex stops socializing and starts the van. They patrol the streets and find a gang hangout full of exercise equipment, TVs and VCRs, killing everyone inside. Afterward, they pick up several pizzas and Mark pays.

The Fans are shown to be only a few degrees removed from the gangs they target, Ash having a friend named Andy at the prior-Russian now-Colombian affiliated chop shop and Alex being a regular drug user. All members have jobs except for Tony.

Alex and ash

Alex and Ash protesting Jacket's trial

On November 5th, Alex and Ash are the only Fans protesting Jacket's trial. They are also the only protesters actually holding up their signs. Ash is using both hands to steady his sign, while Alex just uses one (possibly indicating Alex is stronger than Ash).

On November 11th, the Fans appear in Hank's Bar as an easter egg. Notably, Alex seems to be comforting a heavily drinking Ash, and Tony seems to be gripping his head after also heavily drinking. Corey is backed away from the table shrugging by herself and Mark is also backed away from the table holding a large red bottle, possibly a 2-liter of soda or glass-bottled alcohol.

On November 22nd or soon after, the Fans clear out an unaffiliated drug den housing a recently retired Russian Henchman as a "house call" to Ash's friend Andy. The Henchman had cleared out the chop shop Andy worked at on November 21st and spared Andy as an act of mercy. The Henchman's tanned skin may imply he was a member of the Hawaiian occupation (and his car model can be seen in the outro to Stronghold and the first screen of Casualties). The immediate transition to "the jungle" after this mission implies the Fans are reliving their wartime days by executing Henchman.

The Henchman death involves every Fan except Tony:

  • Ash pulls Henchman off the couch and onto a coffee table and loots his cell phone
  • Corey bashes in his head with a pipe, bashing in his left eye
  • Mark steps on and crushes his right hand
  • Alex stomps and crushes his genitals
  • Corey again attacks, delivering three widely-spaced blows to his exposed brain until it stops pulsating

Early December 1991[]

On December 2nd, Mark has delivered a new shipment of guns which he is inspecting, there's a box of stolen goods next to their tech table, and a bloodied Gang hoodie is draped on the band stage mannequin. Ash has agreed to help friend Jack get his sister back from a local gang. Ash advertises the place as "full of junkies and lowlifes," to which Mark comments "kinda like this place, huh?" Alex is rolling a joint. Corey is reading a newspaper from April 4th, 1990 on the 1986 San Francisco Bombing (it would also be the one year anniversary of Jacket's first newspaper story), suggesting it has special value for her and the group. Tony is bothered that they're doing "house calls," saying he isn't into "saving women and shit," but he and Alex agree to the job for the action. Upon rescuing Jack's sister they find she was actually staying with the gang willingly, and freaks out that the Fans have murdered all her friends. They leave her behind, the first living witness to their massacres. On their way back, the van breaks down, and Tony agrees to take it to Andy to pay back their favor to him.

On December 9th, the hideout is covered with blue prints and marijuana plants. Ash is still tuning up the van from the previous week's break down. Inside it's revealed the Fans have a small amount of media notoriety (likely from Jack's sister contacting the police), which Tony wishes to grow. Alex missed the story and wonders if she could get a tape of it by calling the station and paying "big bucks" for it, which Tony berates her for.

Mark reads a newspaper about the controversy surrounding Galaxy Films' upcoming movie, and comments that if they keep doing what they're doing they'll get more news eventually, but Tony and Corey aren't so sure about that. Corey comments that they "can't go out and kill random people now," so Alex suggests they clear out a shed where some creepy weed dealers seemed to keep their stash. Tony again berates her and the suggested job, saying it's just a treasure hunt for more drugs, but Alex insists there's nothing better to do and Mark says they can always get pizza if it turns out to be nothing.

They arrive and almost immediately clear out the shed. The player-Fan hears something the other-Fan can't and inspects the sewer access, finding an underground hideout that doubles as body disposal for some small time drug war. Unsettled, the player-Fan clears it out and returns to the van.

On December 10th, Manny Pardo visits Alex's apartment (full of musical instruments, a vast assortment of clothes and tech, and a bong), and plants a Miami Mutilator victim's (possibly Jack's) wallet in her home. Her counter top has a newspaper opened to a police confirmation of new masked vigilante killers, which is of interest to both Alex and Pardo. Pardo asks for an Ash Davis, and Alex says that Ash has recently moved out. Pardo tells her to let him know to contact the Miami PD and leaves.

Late December 1991[]

On December 20th Mark delivers new masks to the Fans, all Richard masks. Corey, Tony, and Alex put them on (in the same order as their Death Wish floors) and are overtaken by Richard who gives their final walkie talkie messages to Mark in the order they'll be made. A flash back to reality reveals the box and new masks weren't real, and Alex tries to answer one of her phones only to realize the call is coming from Ash's cell phone which he pillaged from Henchman. He mentions having recently charged it up at "Dean's" place. He wonders if it's a good idea to answer, but Corey gives him the go ahead, and he trusts her judgment.

The call invites them to the newly purchased Russian mob headquarters and gives its address. Corey conducts a two hour stake out, and Ash begins working on the security door. Tony pesters him to hurry up and Ash tells him to can it. The plan of meeting on the roof and jumping over to the other buildings is reiterated; Tony wonders if Mark can make the jump and Mark tells Tony to go fuck himself. They storm the tower with Mark, Corey, Tony, and the Swans each taking separate floors. After each radios in their success, it fades to black and switches to the next floor up. Done with the top floor, the Swans radio in from the roof to no response. Ash checks the walkie talkie and it seems to be working, and they wonder if they should head back inside. Their discussion is cut short when Ash is killed with a bullet to the head. In shock, Alex shouts to the gunman what the fuck he's waiting for and is also killed.

DEAD

"See? That's what happens."

Afterward, Detective Manny Pardo finds Corey's zebra mask in blood trail (implying she either crawled or was dragged) leading to a room containing a wounded, surrendering Tony and the unmasked corpses of Mark and Corey. Pardo sees that Tony is still wearing his tiger mask and deduces that Tony is still interested in acquiring notoriety. He then kills Tony with a gunshot to the face and tells the SWAT team Tony came at him and that he had no choice. As Pardo leaves, he passes by a mangled corpse covered over by a sheet.

The events are revisited and given a proper climax at the end of the game, where it's revealed that the Son personally killed each Fan after they radioed in their successes, but merely outwitted and glanced Tony.

Bosses[]

As well as the Fans all being playable characters, they are also the final bosses in Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number, as well as the final bosses of the entire series. They appear in the final level of the game, Apocalypse, where they are all fought as monstrous, anthropomorphic beasts corresponding with each of the Fan's masks. The order in which they are all fought also directly mirrors their order of appearances in Death Wish (as both Death Wish and Apocalypse cover the same events but from different perspectives). Their monstrous forms are the hallucinogenic result of The Son's overdose on his own hallucinogenic designer drug pill product.

The Bear[]

The first of the four final bosses. Mark appears as the form of a large bear-like creature, being roughly two times the size of a thug. Upon entering the room, the Son will see Mark supposedly devouring a mobster next to a bag of golf clubs. Mark, bellowing at the Son as he enters the room, will begin to slowly advance towards the player.

If the player gets too close to Mark, he will begin charging towards the player. Immediate contact with Mark will kill the player. Mark can only be killed with a golf club if the player runs around him and grabs one from the bag.

Mark appears to have run out of ammo by the time of this fight, leaving the Son to best him with a long reaching melee object, emphasizing his lack of range after he "burns out" when playing as him.

The Zebra[]

The second of the four final bosses. After being inhaled by the Son's own dialogue-head sprite, he will appear in an empty room with several windows surrounding it and a lone Magnum in the middle of the room.

A loud, distorted whinny suddenly shatters all the windows in the room before the beast-form of Corey begins repeatedly galloping through (roll dodging) the room from each outer side, changing her entry point each time. She appears as a zebra wearing her own signature jacket with blood-red eyes. Corey can be easily dispatched by the Son with a single shot from the Magnum, where she explodes into a cloud of blood largely but not entirely covered by her Miami Dolphins jacket.

The Tiger[]

The third of the four final bosses. The Son walks into a long hallway which slowly transforms into a jungle-like environment, where a pile of mangled corpses of several of the Son's men lay with a shotgun on top. At the end of the hallway lurks the incredibly large, hulking monstrosity that is Tony, who appears as an anthropomorphic tiger with muscular human arms, a black vest and a tiger's lower torso. Tony will roar at the Son and will slowly disappear behind his lair, apparently trying to intimidate the Son.

By backing away and not charging him, the player can cause a frustrated Tony to charge and can then blast him with shotgun pellets, noticeably causing him to evaporate instead of exploding into blood, indicating Tony survived but was glanced.

Tony may also be defeated by backing away unarmed and left clicking, but it's unknown whether or not this is a bug.

The Swans[]

The fourth and last of the four final bosses. Two gargoyle-like entities fly across the screen as the Son reaches the roof with a fireaxe (in a non-hallucinogenic reality, he wields a magnum). Walking up to the helipad causes the two creatures to merge and create a huge flying swan-headed hydra, representing Alex and Ash. The creature will let out a screech before attacking the player.

The head on the left is Ash while the head on the right is Alex. Alex will lunge forward at the player and attempt to lick at the player with a what appears to be a chainsaw-esque tongue, while Ash backs up Alex by spitting out fire bolts at the player. The body itself will float around above the player. Attempting to walk beyond past the monster's body while both heads are in tact will cause Ash to bombard the player with several fire bolts, guaranteeing the death of the player. It is preferable to take out Alex first, then take out Ash, both of which only needing single swings of the fireaxe.

Destroying the two heads will cause the swan-beast's body to explode into a huge bloody mess and ray of colors. The Son will then approach what appears to be the Rainbow Bridge to Valhalla at the edge of the building, and walk across into a rainbow void, when in reality, he is falling to his death. This will trigger the end of the game and the credits.

Trivia[]

  • Each mask has its own specific owner, as opposed to one individual having all the masks at once.
  • According to Dennis Wedin, each fan has their own point of view and motivations. He has also said that the fans symbolize those who wanted Hotline Miami 2 to be the same as the original.
    • Corey represents both the players who obsess over the atmosphere, music and style of the first game, and those who idolize Jacket due to his personality and portraying his actions as heroic or serving a greater purpose -- whilst downplaying or outright ignoring his flaws. With Alex, Corey may also represent the surprisingly large fangirl community for the series present on sites such as Tumblr.
    • Corey also retroactively (as the meme first appeared three years after Wrong Number's release in 2018) fits the "Literally Me Syndrome" stereotype of people who idolize media characters who exaggerate the latter's positive qualities whilst ignoring their more obvious negative traits and failings.
      • Furthermore, the basis for Jacket being The Driver from the 2011 film Drive was also a main point of idolization for "Literally Me" meme.
    • Tony is a far more simple case. Tony represents the Players of Hotline Miami that are only in it for the thrill of the combat, and have no interest in story beats, dialogue, or objectives. His mask being that of the popular Tony Mask from the first game; due to it's ability to allow for killing punches; thus allowing quicker access to combat without having to pickup weapons is no coincidence.
    • Mark most likely represents fans of the series that are only in it because the series is popular, and involve themselves within the community to feel apart of something. Mark's only readable newspaper, appearing in Into the Pit highlights the reception to the upcoming Midnight Animal.
    • Alex and Ash are harder to analyse; whilst Alex covers similar ground to Tony - being in it for the thrill of violence, especially the gore system due to her use of the Chainsaw; it's possible she may represent players that enjoy the psychedelic elements of the series due to her drug use. Both are present at Jacket's trial suggesting Alex and Ash are stand ins for players that parrot terms such as "x character did nothing wrong" in regards to Jacket's killing sprees.
  • During the level Ambush, The Fans can be seen near the bar, suggesting a past in the military.
  • According to Dennis Wedin in a Reddit AMA, the Van the Fans own was stolen from a police evidence parking lot.
  • Mark's boss form is, ironically, the smallest of all of the Fans' boss forms in the final level despite Mark being the largest of the group.
  • The Swans may have been originally intended to be ducks, as their masks resemble that of ducks in the Hotline Miami 2 teaser trailer. The first look at the Fans may even indicate that Alex and Ash were one character, wearing a mallard mask.
  • The events of Apocalypse directly mirror and allude to the ending of the first game, where a masked vigilante (Jacket) kills the Boss of the Russian Mafia (The Father). In this case however, the Boss of the Russian Mafia (The Son) kills off several masked vigilantes (The Fans) and ultimately and indirectly avenges his father's fate.
  • The Fans have the most playable levels in Hotline Miami 2. They have the second most playable levels in the series, beaten only by Jacket, who takes up most of the game in Hotline Miami 1.

Car[]

GMC vandura, extensively modified to look like a mix of the tmnt van, and the a team van.

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