| Journalist | |
| |
| Game | Manhunt |
| AKA | Reporter |
| Nationality | American |
| Location | Central, Carcer City Reporter's Apartment Darkwoods Penitentiary |
| Business | CCN Headquarters |
| Weapons | Revolver (cut) |
| Allies | James Earl Cash
CCN Crew; Cameraman and Heli Pilot |
| Enemies | Lionel Starkweather Gary Schaffer CCPD |
| Status | Alive (incarcerated) |
| Voiced by | Kate Miller |
- "I can't trust anyone, least of all the police, and time's running out. I've got to get the one piece of evidence to expose Starkweather without a shadow of a doubt."
- — The Journalist
The Journalist is the deuteragonist of Manhunt. She is a news reporter who was hoping to expose Lional Starkweather's activities for personal gain.
Appearence[]
A young woman with brown hair and eyes, she is wearing red jacket with white shirt underneath, a short black skirt and black high-heels boots.
Biography[]
Events of Manhunt[]
It is unknown how prior to the events of Manhunt, but the Journalist somehow discovered James Earl Cash's execution in the Darkwoods Penitentiary (where she was present) was fake in order to use him on another of Starkweather's snuff films, who she despises and plans to expose the Director for his crimes throughout Carcer City.
After watching the death row inmate's "execution", she began searching for clues of his location, intending to have Cash as a witness to accuse Starkweather. Mysteriously, the Journalist did discover Cash's location after he is suddenly captured by Ramirez and the remaining Wardogs in the ending cutscene of Divided They Fall. Then, in the midst of gunfire, she courageously headed there in her red Blista Compact and rescued him, coincidentally, when he was already attempting to leave the place, running for his life after killing nearly all of the Wardogs.
Despite his sudden, unexpected rescue, Cash recognized the Journalist, saying she looks familiar. She tells him not to hurt her and briefly introduces herself as a news reporter who witnessed his execution, and explains her intentions about the current situation, telling Cash she now has all of the evidence needed to fully expose Starkweather but she must return to her apartment in town to collect it and leave immediately, before she herself becomes one of the main antagonist's "extras". Cash agrees to help the Journalist by safely escorting her back to her apartment.
Later, the duo headed to the Journalist's apartment to pick up the evidence material that the Journalist has already gathered against Starkweather. Before they reach the building itself, the street is surrounded by corrupt officers from the Carcer City Police Department, working for Gary Schaffer (under Starkweather's orders) to kill her and Cash, just like other Hunters, which the cops (and S.W.A.T.) seem to have ignored Gary's command, as they were told to capture both of them alive other than outright killing them.
To protect her, Cash kills all the patrolling officers, before leading the Journalist back to her apartment, and, finally, the locked room where she hid all the evidence. Cash, who wants to personally confront Starkweather for retribution by ultimately tricking him and murdering his family, demands the Journalist to leave the city immediately and thanked her for the rare assistance.
Eventually, at the same time Cash is making his way to the Starkweather's Estate, the Journalist manages to accuse Starkweather with her evidence. However, the Director himself negates the accusations.
After Starkweather was ultimately killed by Cash, the evidence found on his estate exposes the corruption of the Carcer City police completely. She is last seen on the game's final cutscene, where, in a TV broadcast, doing a news bulletin about Starkweather being found dead in his estate alongside all his security personnel (and possibly Piggsy), thus discovering the large snuff film ring. But James Earl Cash himself is nowhere to be found or heard again.
After Manhunt[]
A bonus sound file of an audio transcript from the Manhunt website reveals that, though still alive, the aftermath of the game has ultimately put the Journalist into a state of mental paranoia, unable to cope with witnessing so much violence and the whole concept of people willingly participating in such a depraved sport for the amusement of others due to Cash and Starkweather, respectively. She also mentions that she had post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), or at least, thinks she does.
She is being interviewed in a mental health facility, by a doctor who, says the Journalist was found wandering the streets in tears with a Knife in her hand. She was kept in solitary confinement and blindly believed the doctor is part of a conspiracy to somewhat keep her quiet and refused the doctor's suggestion to sedate her as part of the treatment. It is also mentioned that she is suffering from insomnia.
During this same interview, she actually reveals some information about herself. At the time of Manhunt, she had worked at a television station for three years, then a radio station two years before that. She also mentions that both her parents are dead.
Personality[]
Manhunt All Journalist Quotes
On the ending scene of Divided They Fall, the Journalist reveals her personal ambitions when informing Cash her goal of exposing Starkweather.
Also, her room in her apartment is full of shopping bags of clothing stores, meaning she may be addicted to shopping.
Gameplay[]
In Press Coverage, where she must be protected, unlike the Tramp, if she is left on her own and Cash is too far away, she will come running to find Cash, which puts them both in danger. She is required to open the door to her apartment, and after, the player must take her to the kitchen of the building in order to continue the level. If she dies, the mission will fail.
Trivia[]
- The Journalist is the first character to be introduced to the player in Manhunt.
- Her name begins with "Rob", as stated in the subtitles for the opening cutscene of Border Patrol, but the report abruptly cuts out before her full name is revealed. Her full first name is most likely any variation of "Robin" or "Roberta".
- A fact that commonly passes unnoticed by players is that the bags inside the Journalist's bedroom have the logo "GASH" on it. "GASH" is a brand of a clothes mark in the Grand Theft Auto series. The brand's name is also similar to Cash.
- According to the opening cutscene of Born Again, her goal of beginning to expose Lionel Starkweather begins five hours after Cash's execution.
- Inside the Journalist's room where she shows Cash the evidence she has for Starkweather, there are a few news articles on the wall of the Director's failures as a movie producer as well as two mugshot pictures of the death row inmate's beta model.
- On the desk besides the Journalist's bed there is a photo of Campbell-John Dick, one of Manhunt's map developers.
- The cat pictures that are in her apartment are also seen in Starkweather's Estate, and were reused in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
- The Journalist was originally going to use a Revolver to defend herself, but this was scrapped for unknown reasons.
- The Journalist's camera used to expose Starkweather is seen a few times within the storyline - the opening cutscene of Born Again, the ending cutscene of Divided They Fall, and when the Cerberus captured Cash in Trained to Kill, where, in its ending cutscene, has itself seemingly fallen from Cash before the leader destroys it. It is likely she quietly hid the camera on the death row inmate during the events when he was protecting her from the CCPD.
- Despite the Tramp being a non-enemy, the Journalist is most likely James Earl Cash's only ally in the game, as she is the only person who directly helped him anywhere in the storyline.
- Although she is well aware that Cash killed Starkweather at the end of the game, the likely reason why the Journalist keeps his identity in secret by calling him an "unknown assailant" during the news conference in the ending cutscene of Deliverance is due to the fact that Cash himself was supposedly executed and the public believes him to be dead.
- Interestingly, this cutscene is also the only time in the entire game where Starkweather's full name is heard, by the Journalist herself.
- The Journalist shares the same body type as the female members of Cash's family.
- If the player gets her to walk into a Painkiller pickup (while she is hurt), she will say some rare lines that go mostly unheard.
- "These babies should numb the pain."
- "Aahh, sweet pharmaceutical relief..."
- "I'm not usually a 'pill popper' but given the circumstances..."
Gallery[]
External links[]
[Journalist interview transcript at the fan website "Project Manhunt"|http://www.projectmanhunt.com/features/journalist_transcript.php]