| Tramp | |
| |
| Game | Manhunt |
| AKA | Hobo Friend Smelly friend Chum Buddy Pal The Tramp |
| Location | Carcer City East Los Albos |
| Business | Valiant Video Enterprises (speculated) |
| Weapons | None |
| Allies | James Earl Cash Lionel Starkweather (speculated) |
| Enemies | Innocentz |
| Status | Unknown |
| Voiced by | Mark Margolis |
- "Yeah, we're a team now, me and Mr. tough nuts. A team."
- — The Tramp talking when idle
The Tramp is a minor character and the tritagonist in Manhunt. He is drunk homeless man and an "extra" in the snuff film James Earl Cash is forced to participate in, whom he must escort and protect in the Drunk Driving mission.
Description[]
Unlike most other characters, the Tramp's background was not elaborated on during the game or any other official media for Manhunt. The instruction manual, however, suggests he was already on another one of Starkweather’s snuff films as there’s a movie from Valiant Enterprises named The Tramp Who Knew Too Much. But even if this is true, it's unknown if the Tramp actually works for Lionel Starkweather or if he is just kept as a hostage like Piggsy. What is clear however, is that the Tramp seems to be just a typical drunkard who always indulges himself in alcohol, while Piggsy on the other hand is just an insane mass murderer who's formerly a successful snuff film star much like James Earl Cash.
Some in-game comments by the Tramp give a few hints about his early life up to the player’s interpretation: he appears to have a strong dislike of authority figures and resents being ordered around by Cash. Otherwise, his comments mostly indicate his love for alcoholic beverages. It is also unknown if he was always a hobo or had a job in the past.
Cash himself dislikes the Tramp, with some lines telling him to shut up while he checks ahead and even threatens to kill the Tramp himself if he makes a noise while following him. This is because by the point Cash meets the Tramp in the game's storyline, the death row inmate was furious by Starkweather's betrayal after coldly revealing his family being killed by the Innocentz after he rescues them from the Wardogs and Starkweather himself calling the Tramp his "new friend" is nothing less than a disrespectful tease. Despite this, Cash still has slight compassion by sometimes telling the Tramp to stay out of trouble when he orders him to hide.
Events of Manhunt[]
In the first moments of Drunk Driving, Lionel Starkweather goes on to tell Cash that he arranged “some company” for him because he “looked lonely” - a taunt from his side in reference to the newly-discovered fate of Cash's relatives after the death row inmate rescued them. The Director tells a now-betrayed Cash that the Innocentz locked said-person in a guarded room nearby, and orders Cash to free him.
After successfully taking out the Babyface Hunter guarding the makeshift prison, Cash, to his dismay, sees that his company is nothing more than a dirty and inebriated hobo. The Director then orders Cash to take the homeless intoxicated man with him to Carcer Church, as part of the snuff film script.
Reluctantly, Cash must hide and protect the Tramp from the Innocentz (who will attack and kill him if spotted) along the path as there are some locked gates blocking the way in certain areas, and the Director will only let Cash proceed if the Tramp is with him.
When Cash escorts the hobo to the old tomb behind the church which has an exit to a street, the scene is cut and later Cash is instantly seen in the underground entrance of the Carcer Chem Factory in the following mission. Thus, the fate of the Tramp is unknown since he is not seen or heard from again. He could have been ultimately killed as Starkweather appears to not have any mercy, even for innocent witnesses, or had his life spared as the Tramp appears to really not care for what is happening around him at all. Even if the rumors of the Tramp being a part-time actor on behalf of Starkweather are true, the Director could most likely have killed him anyway, knowing he cares little for all his actors. However, there is little to no evidence of himself actually being dead, as the game doesn't imply this at all, once again leaving the Tramp's fate completely vague after the events of the Drunk Driving scene.
Manhunt All Tramp Quotes
Gameplay[]
Much like the Journalist in Press Coverage, the Tramp will follow Cash throughout the map except he would not chase Cash if left alone for too long, making it much easier to manipulate in comparison. Unlike the Journalist, however, the Tramp doesn't remain completely idle when Cash stands still, due to his intoxication, as he walks around a little within his proximity.
When Cash tells the Tramp to stay, he will automatically hide in the nearby shadows and will only leave it when the player orders to do so.
Like the Journalist later on in the game, as he must be protected by Hunters, the Tramp has a life meter shown on the right side of the screen in a similar manner to Ramirez and Piggsy, and if he dies, the mission will fail. If the Tramp is hurt, he will also walk to a Painkiller pickup to regain lost health.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- The Tramp is believed to have been Scarecrow in early versions of the game. This would confirm him as Starkweather’s employee, but since Scarecrow was scrapped and appears to not exist at all in the game timeline, this remains unconfirmed by Rockstar Games.
- Although maybe far-fetched, it's also unknown if the Tramp and Scarecrow are even supposed to be the same person in the final release or if the Scarecrow is an actor outside of Starkweather's territory.
- If Cash gets too far away from the Tramp, Starkweather will tease Cash while reminding him to return back to him. Similarly, if the Tramp gets attacked by Hunters, he will comment that Cash has to do better at protecting him. In both cases, he will only warn him once until the Tramp dies and the player retries the level.
- In the official artwork of the Tramp, he can be seen holding a beer bottle on his right hand. However, it's not visible during gameplay, though the Tramp himself can still be seen "drinking" as he follows Cash and he can even be heard burping, implying the alcohol beverage's absence is a developer oversight or graphical limitations.
- The name of the mission where Cash encounters the Tramp, "Drunk Driving", is a pun of a crime where a person is caught driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI). In fact, this is one of the most common ways in the real-world where a person is seen intoxicated like the Tramp.
- It is unknown why the Innocentz gang attack and murder the Tramp whenever they spot him, though it's likely Starkweather ordered them to do so for the script of Cash protecting him.
- The Tramp shares the distinction with Piggsy that he is a completely homeless man.
- If the Tramp is killed by the Innocentz or dies from falling a great height, Starkweather, to once again tease Cash, often makes a short bizarre and humorous comment before the Scene Failed screen appears. One of such includes: "Cash, baby, you let them kill your friend! And you made such a lovely couple."
- However, he does express considerable concern in one line saying "Cash! You let that poor man down in the biggest possible way. I only hope you can live with yourself...". Despite this, it's unlikely he truly cares for the Tramp at all.
- According to another line, Starkweather claims the scene of Cash having to watch over the Tramp is just 10 minutes.
- In Bully, another Rockstar game, there are drunken hobos around the town of Bullworth that seem to be modified versions of the Tramp, down to the beard, hat, coat, alcohol-problem, and similar standing animation. One of those hobo's name is Handy.
- Although the Tramp can be considered an ally for Cash, as he isn't a Hunter, unlike the Journalist, he has no direct role whatsoever in Manhunt of himself aiding the main protagonist against Starkweather.
- Interestingly, in the beta version of the game, the Tramp is often used as a placeholder for Hunters, making his model appear many times throughout levels during the game's development as an enemy.
- The Tramp model is located in the GLOBAL folder of the game's files, which could mean that the Tramp was once meant to be a skin accessible with cheats, like the White Rabbit, Piggsy, and the Monkey.
- The Tramp is voiced by the late Mark Margolis, who played Hector Salamanca in the 2008 American TV crime drama Breaking Bad.