Richter Berg, also known as The Rat, is a supporting character in Hotline Miami and a playable character in Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number.
He first appears to the player in the second half of Jacket's story line, washing his face in the bathroom behind the counter of the convenience store, although he cannot be interacted with. He is later seen standing next to the corpses of the nearly-identical shop and bar owners. Richter responds to Jacket's presence with disdain, generally urging the player to leave the establishment. He has a sick mother that he has to look after, because she can't do much on her own.
SPOILER WARNING: PLOT DETAILS BELOW
Hotline Miami 1
Beard has been "replaced" by Richter in Jacket's nightmares as a result. This might have to do with the fact that he was sent by the Janitors to eliminate Jacket.
He is later found in Jacket's apartment, sitting on the couch, having just killed Hooker. After a brief one-sided conversation, Richter shoots Jacket. Later on, Richter has been arrested for the murder, and Jacket confronts him in the jail cell during Chapter 13, Assault. Richter reveals he does not understand the events at play and shooting Hooker was "nothing personal". The player can shoot or punch him, then can either strangle him to death or leave him alive after injuring him. It is revealed in the second game that he is still alive, meaning that canonically Jacket spares him.
During Richter's stay in Jacket's apartment he is wearing the Richter mask. This same mask can be found and picked up on the final floor of Chapter 13. If worn, the player starts the chapter with a silenced uzi, the same weapon Richter used to kill Hooker and to shoot Jacket in his apartment.
Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number
Richter reappears in Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number as a playable character. His side of the story takes place before, during and after the events in the first game. It's said by his mother that he's a young, smart man and that he was in jail numerous times. Before the action of the first game, he was, like the other 50 Blessings agents, sent weird phone calls. The phone calls told him to draw a logo of the organization - circle with three lines in it and to send other weird callings to other people. At first he thought it was a joke, so he didn't do as he was asked to. After disobeying, he was sent messages threatening his mother (A misplaced call tells Richter that he has been invited to the funeral of Rosa Berg, his mother) and his car was burnt, prompting him to listen to the messages.
The various missions he was forced to accomplish, always focused on killing Russians, lead up to the events of the first game. After Jacket's assault on the police station, Richter was transported to another jail. There he spent some time until the other inmates managed to organize a riot in the jail. Richter, after being almost killed by one of the inmates, escapes disguised as one of the police officers. Some time after, a writer named Evan, who was writing a book about the masked vigilantes, found Richter's mother and asked her for some help regarding her son and his whereabouts. Soon after, Richter called Evan and told the whole story about his "job" in 50 Blessings. After that, he was sent money for him to buy a plane ticket for his mother to join him in Hawaii. On 28th December 1991, Richter and his mother are killed when Russia launches nuclear weapons at the United States.
Playstyle
Richter masked
Despite donning his signature rat-mask for most of his levels, the ability to start a level with his weapon of choice is absent in Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number (this may be for canonical purposes for when he obtains it to kill Hooker and unsuccessfully try to kill Jacket, or to make Richter's levels much more challenging). Aside from this, Richter essentially functions near identically to Jacket's default playstyle (while he's wearing the Richard Mask). The only minor differences being his inability to take hostages while armed with certain weapons, a slower execution speed with melee weapons and an inability to rip out the throat of any standing enemy.
Personality
Richter adopts in most situations a calm, composed and polite attitude, and is generally the warmest player character. His behavior overall could be qualified as fatalist: while every action he does aims to preserve the well-being of his mother and himself, he doesn't try to go against forces he thinks are superior to him, such as 50 Blessings, and accepts his fate in situations where he thinks he won't be able to survive no matter what, such as when Jacket faces him in the police station, or during the eventual nuclear apocalypse. Richter's experience at killing people and using firearms probably comes from his criminal past, and the murders he accomplishes in the game are done exclusively because a higher power asked him to, or for his direct self-defense, whereas operators like Jacket or Jake harbor a grudge against their Russian targets. While this fact seems to make him brighter and more mentally sound than the near entire cast of characters of the games, it also means he shows no hesitation when asked by the Janitors to kill Jacket and his innocent girlfriend (whom Jacket chose to spare), even if he is regretful about it afterwards. Otherwise, Richter is jobless (probably because of his criminal records and the time he has to spend as a 50 Blessings operator) and not a social person, choosing to spend his free time with his mother.
It is shown throughout Richter's story in Hotline Miami 2 that he cares for his mother, but has trouble doing so when 50 Blessings becomes an increasing problem, with threatening phone calls and the torching of Richter's car. It is revealed that Richter is a lone personality, (noted by his mother that he was a "bit of a loner, like his father") which is given away by the fact he lies to his mother about going out to meet "old friends", having a date, and getting a job interview - when the harsh reality is that he's going out doing 50 Blessing's dirty work.
Trivia
- Richter is (at first optionally, later canonically) the second victim that Jacket has spared so far in the first game, the first being Hooker.
- He is also the only known 50 Blessings operator to have survived the events of both Hotline Miami games through to the end of the series, apart from Jacket and Biker, the latter whose true fate is still unknown.
- Ironically, people who are figuratively referred to as 'rats' tend to be shady, disloyal, treacherous and selfish, which is contrary to Richter's own personality, as he is loyal to and selflessly risks his life to protect his mother. He is also a very warm person, even apologizing to Richard (mistaking him for Jacket), for murdering Hooker.
- Oddly, Jacket knows what Richter looks like before ever seeing his face, as Jacket only first saw Richter's face after confronting him in jail.
