Tony

Tony
"Man, this party stinks, I fucking hate these people."
Position	US Special Forces Operative (1985) Unemployed (1991) Vigilante (1991)
Status	Dead (Shot)
Eye colour	Orange
Hair colour	Shaven (ginger eyebrows)
Levels
Cutscenes

Tony's unmasked facial sprite, as seen in the Level Editor.

Tony, also known as The Tiger, is a playable character in Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number. He is a member of The Fans, and is the second playable fan and is unlocked upon completion of the level Down Under.

Along with the mask, he also wears a black t-shirt along with tan body armor and knee pads, as well as grey combat pants and cowboy boots with spurs. His hands sport black gloves and spiked knuckles.

Events in Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number

1985

Tony was a US soldier stationed in the volcanic region of Hawaii in the Soviet-American War, and on March 17th can be seen with the rest of the Fans in a tiki bar while his commander is interviewed by Evan outside. He is standing at the bar (unlike the seated Mark and Corey) drinking beer next to a cash register.

Late October, November 1991

Tony is first shown on October 31st at the Fans' Halloween party. He is sitting, but has removed the couch cushion to sit on the springs, and is again drinking beer. He is seated between Ash and Corey. He comments that he fucking hates the people at the party. When Mark suggests going for a ride, Tony says he "doesn't see why not" and that he's "sick of this shit."

On November 11th, Tony can appear in Hank's bar, clutching his head after heavily drinking several beers.

When the Fans do a favor for Andy on November 22nd or soon after, Tony watches or otherwise doesn't participate in the Fans' murder of the Henchman, possibly indicating he wants action more than killing, or that he's holding off to let the rest of the Fans get their kicks.

Early December 1991

On December 2nd, Tony is sitting at the end of the couch alone -- for the first and only time, he's seated on a cushion, perhaps his response to Henchman's murder or Mark's new shipment of guns -- again drinking beer. He seems interested that they're "going somewhere special tonight," but after hearing the job from Jack berates Ash for giving them another "house call." He further criticizes the apparent heroism in the job, saying "I didn't sign up to be no hero, rescuing women and shit... that's not my thing. I just want some action." After Alex is adamant to take the job and get out of the hideout, Tony quickly jumps in to come along as well, saying that it isn't his problem if anything happens to the girl.

Notably, Moving Up is Tony's first available mission (though its VHS art depicts the shadows of the Swans). The first two floors are fairly straightforward for both Alex and Tony, but the top floor features several blind runs with armed enemies, culminating in an armed and terrified Jack's sister forcing the player Fan to back off and leave without her. This moment is perhaps foreshadowing for Tony's meeting Manny Pardo in Death Wish.

After the job, the van breaks down and an anxious Tony in the driver's seat pushes Ash to fix it faster, worrying about cops coming by and seeing them like this. Ash says he's been telling Tony to get the van fixed, but Tony says it isn't his job or his van. Ash tells him to just fucking do it and to cash in their favor with Andy. A worried Tony says he'll get it done tomorrow if Ash gets the van moving.

On December 9th, Tony is standing by the table, leaning over blueprints, which he seems to be the most interested in. After Mark and Corey express that they're famous now and have gotten their five minutes of fame, Tony corrects them that it was "more like two." Alex wonders if Mark could call the news station for a copy, as she'd pay big bucks for one, and Tony sarcastically adds "why don't you call the police and turn yourself in while you're at it?" Mark says they'll get another news story eventually, but Tony corrects him that they'll have to off more people. After Alex gives her job suggestion, Tony again berates her as wanting to go treasure hunting for more drugs. Again, Tony has nothing better set up and they go on the job.

If the player Fan is anyone except Tony, Tony will be the one who checked the back-room and found nothing. If Tony is the player Fan, Mark will have checked the back-room and found nothing. This is possibly an indication that Tony is creeped out by Into the Pit.

Late December, 1991

On December 20th, Tony along with the rest of the Fans gets a feeling they're about to make a mistake. In the dream, Tony puts the Richard mask on third after carefully examining it (foreshadowing how he's the third Fan to fight the Son and the only one with enough awareness to survive). His line in the dream is the same as his radio message upon clearing his floor: "All clear on my end, I think. Wait... what was that? I think I just heard something!" (This parallels the the player Fan's feeling in Into the Pit.)

He wonders where Ash got a cell phone (perhaps because he wasn't part of the Henchman's execution) before Ash answers and gets an address to a mob location. Before storming the tower, Corey insists on a two hour stake out, and Ash takes a long time trying to open the security door.

Corey worries that the mob could be heading out soon, to which Ash points out she's delayed going in more than he has. Corey justifies that they had to have a plan to know where the Russians were, prompting an awkward pause from Tony, which he himself breaks with "just fucking open this thing, will ya?" Ash taunts Tony that he'll let him take over opening the security doors, causing Tony to back off and awkwardly pause.

Before heading into the tower, Tony insists to a worried Mark that it isn't that far a jump from the roof to the other buildings, but jokes that Mark might have some trouble with it "big guy."

After clearing his floor, Tony has a showdown with the Son where he tries to alert the Son into hastily running behind Tony's cover. The Son holds off, however, causing a frustrated Tony to charge him and be glanced with shotgun pellets.

Tony survives the attack and is later found by Detective Pardo, holding out in a room surrounded by SWAT, accompanied by the motionless bodies of Mark (severe head wound) and Corey (severe wound to the stomach). Tony has his right hand under Corey's head before Detective Manny Pardo bypasses police command and enters the room Tony is in. Tony stands up, surrendering, saying "Don't shoot. I give up. I'm through with this. Just arrest me and get this over with, OK? I'm done fighting. ..."

Pardo deduces from the fact that Tony's still wearing his mask that he wants his 15 minutes of fame, asking "you know what happens to thugs like you?" before shooting Tony in the head.

Playstyle

Tony's punches are lethal, but he cannot pick up any weapons at all - unlike the first game's Tony Mask and its lethal punches. Similar to The Son's technique Dirty Hands, 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 perform ground executions on dogs. His execution animation for Dogs consist of him catching them mid-lunge before pinning them to the floor and finishing them off with a punch to the head. Against Thugs, he knocks them down before finishing them off with a fatal knee to the face. With standard enemies that were knocked over by doors, he simply mounts them and then punches them in the face twice.

Tactics

Similar to Biker, Tony's lack of range means he's occasionally required to use luring tactics (spooking/peekaboo/cornering). Tony players should peek through corners and choke-points to draw enemies into the range of his fists. The order of enemy drawing is important as Thugs and lunging Dogs will yield an elongated execution animation that leaves Tony vulnerable to other attacks. Attacking charging Dogs diagonally can reduce the likelihood of the elongated animation. Combos can be strung up if Tony charges enemies that are lined up in clusters or lines, but enemy fire can still pass through these mobs and hit Tony. 

List of killed victims

This is a compiled list of how many kills Tony has performed in the series. Kills in Bold are unclear and merely up to interpretation. This assumes Tony is chosen for all Fan levels:

• Blue Lips (possibly shared with the other Fans)
• 110 gang members (including Thugs)
• At least 21 Russian Mobsters (including Thugs)
• 8 dogs
• Possibly numerous Russian Soldiers

Overall, Tony has killed 139 enemies (140 if you count Blue Lips).

Trivia

• Tony's cowboy boots were inspired by the character Llewellyn Moss from No Country For Old Men.
• According to concept art, Tony is "The leader!" and lies that his mask actually used to be Jacket's tiger mask.
• Tony has no technical skills or job and is just in it for some action, a likely jab at the players who choose him.
• Tony is the only playable character in the series the player never takes control of outside a mission.
• Tony is the only one in the group angling explicitly for action. Alex is similarly looking for action but also uses the killings to score drugs.
• He is depicted as completely bald on his overhead sprites, but his facial sprites depict him with a buzzcut.
• The tiger mask that Tony wears isn't the one formerly worn by Jacket: the "original" one can be seen during Jacket's trial, gathered with other masks as evidence.
• During the epilogue of Death Wish, Tony cradles Corey's head in his right hand, possibly suggesting that they had a close relationship.
• In the same epilogue, Tony's death mirrors that of The Henchman in Execution in a number of ways. For one, Tony was the only Fan that wasn't directly involved in the killing of Henchman, just as The Son wasn't the one who killed Tony. Both also had their dead allies nearby, the Russian-affiliated gang with the Henchman and Corey and Mark with Tony. Another similarity is the fact that both wanted to leave, Henchman asking The Fans to call Mary to come take him home, and Tony begging Manny Pardo to simply arrest him, with both dying at the hands of the one who found them.
• If you play as Tony in Into the Pit, it will be Mark who will instead come and tell you he already checked the sewers.
• Tony may be a reference to the character Tony The Tiger, the mascot for the Kellogg cereal, Frosted Flakes.