The Henchman is a Russian mobster and a playable character in Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number. He seems to have a personal friendship with the Son, the current boss of the Russian Mafia. He has reservations about The Son's newly started drug war with the Colombians, and wants out of the game.
His community assets can be found here.
Events of Hotline Miami 2
The Henchman sports what appears to be the same tan as the Hawaiian troops Beard fights, possibly indicating he was part of the 1985 occupation.
On November 18th, 1991, the Son informs the Henchman of his plans to start a war with the Colombians. The Henchman questions whether that's a good idea given their small numbers, and the Son replies that the Colombians are actively growing in influence and will never again be as weak as they are right now. After assaulting a local gang meeting and claiming the strip club for the Russians, the Henchman is noticeably not celebrating, and says he's going home to his girlfriend, Mary. The Son comments that she's done a number on Henchman's personality, and that a real man doesn't need to rely on women to live his life, concluding that "The minute you get attached to anyone, you know you're fucked." He also comments that Mary's too good for him and will come to her senses one day. However, he backs off and let's him go, giving him some money to get his girl something nice.
On November 21st, Henchman finally breaks his desire to get out of the business to the Son, saying that he's soft and that he feels he won't last much longer, and that he's been having "dreams." The Son immediately let's him out but gives him one last job: clearing out a Gang-controlled chop shop (the same one Andy works at), which has recently defected to the Colombians. As a parting gift the Son gives Henchman a free sample of the new product -- a psychoactive drug in purple and green pill form (similar to both the color of the Father's house and the alien plants in Hawaii) -- to "spice up this new boring lifestyle [he's] chosen."
Henchman proceeds to his Fiat past the Son's more expensive Firebird to drive to the chop shop. The entrance to the chop shop noticeably has "Die!" spray tagged onto the old husk of a car, paralleling Henchman's age and fear of death. The young "hoodlums" running it have set up skateboard ramps near the entrance, and he has the option of using a skateboard to beat them to death. The chop shop is naturally full of expensive cars all out of Henchman's price range and reach. He finishes off a worker loading a Colombian payment into a blue bag, resembling the money bag from Drive. Henchman heads out and bumps into Andy, who he decides to spare.
He heads home to Mary, who is watching TV and has made dinner, which he was late for and is now in the fridge. He says he's "out," which worries Mary, and heads upstairs to bed. Henchman's house is comfortable but not affluent. His downstairs has a pool room, and his upstairs features trophies, a few cases of expensive weapons, exercise equipment, and a second living room with a fat cat asleep on the sofa (a likely joke about his feeling soft and having dreams). A newspaper is open to a story about a Russian family of five being burned alive in a recent arson, and that this is part of a huge wave of anti-Russian hate crimes. He kicks the money bag across his tiger pelt rug and under his bed and goes to sleep.
In his dreams, he has bought a much more expensive car which he drives alone, noticeably without Mary. He listens to the radio, which is celebrating fantastic weather and says the station will later debut a new single from Perturbator (a joke about how Sexualizer plays over the next scene). It mentions that the next song is by "Mitch-" and is cut off by an emergency weather report indicating a tropical storm approaching (a joke about artist Mitch Murder). The road turns to ruins and Richard appears, telling him that without directions he'll likely end up going in circles, and that he's headed for a dead end and knows that. He ends the dream by asking Henchman if he forgot to bring his girlfriend.
On November 22nd, Henchman wakes up to find the money bag and his car both gone, with a note from Mary saying he'd do the same (which is probably true if his dream is an indication). Dejected that the Son was right, he goes to a Russian affiliated drug den and takes all of the Son's pills. He tries to call either Mary or the Son but is too high to dial the right number. The Fans' attack van screeches up to the building and they proceed to kill everyone inside, including the incapacitated Henchman (likely because Henchman is associated with the Russian mob, and because of his attack on Andy's chop shop; may be in part due to him being a Russian and the Fans being prior military). The drugs having numbed his pain, Henchman talks the entire time the Fans kill him: asking if he needs to go to a hospital, saying he wants to go to the jungle, asking them to call Mary, and finally saying that he just wants to go home. Corey delivers several clumsy blows to his head, killing him, and Ash pockets his cell phone. This serves as the game's first transition to the Hawaiian Conflict.
Playstyle
The Henchman begins a level with a silenced heavy pistol; the first screen of No Mercy is actively set up as to be completable entirely with it and only it as long as the player misses no shots. The Henchman also has a unique "starting weapon" in the form of a light green skateboard immediately by the entrance to his level, which has a moderate swing and execution speed. Weapons aside, he plays almost identically to a default Jacket. He does not wear masks and is very straight-forward in his proceedings.
List of killed victims
This is a compiled list of how many murders The Henchman has committed in the series:
- 40 gang members
- 3 dogs
- Possibly numerous hits on enemies of the Russian Mafia
Overall, The Henchman has committed 43 murders.
Trivia
- The Henchman has the least playable amount of levels in the game, with only one.
- Despite the briefness of his appearance, his intervention in the story indirectly causes the death of The Fans, and even possibly the downfall of the Russian Mafia.
- The Henchman may be based off of Rivi Ayala, an enforcer for Griselda Blanco, the godmother of the Colombian drug trade during the 1970's and 80's. Rivi was featured on the documentary Cocaine Cowboys, which greatly inspired the game.
- Henchman's house has an exercise room with a treadmill and a barbell for deadlifting.
- His being killed in several different ways at once may be a reference to Rasputin, the Russian peasant adviser to Nicolas II, the last Russian emperor.
- His death carries some resemblance to that of Tony's in Death Wish. Tony didn't get involved in killing The Henchman, and The Son didn't kill Tony; both were surrounded by their dead allies, the gang with the Henchman and Mark and Corey with Tony. Both also simply wanted to leave (their location and occupation), but were instead killed (The Fans killed The Henchman, and Manny Pardo killed Tony).
- Henchman is given the opportunity to commit to a future with Mary (the money in Seizure to get her something nice) or the Mafia, and apparently rejects both. His dream sequence notably lacks Mary (a fact Richard points out explicitly), suggesting he values his freedom more than her.
- Henchman notably didn't grab the reigns of the Mafia after the death of the Father, despite apparently having more experience and talent than most any other members; he generally doesn't seem very ambitious, especially given his sharing most of his appearances with a very ambitious Son.
- A neat fake-out occurs in No Mercy: the Son's Pontiac Firebird is nearest to the Russian HQ's exit, so most players will naturally try to enter it, only to realize that the less fancy car is the one owned by the Henchman. This is set up for the Henchman's dream sequence where he has a nicer car and is alone relaxing with his money.
Gallery
| Playable Characters in the Hotline Miami Series |
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Martin Brown · Corey · Tony · Alex · Ash · Mark · Manny Pardo · Jake · Evan Wright · The Henchman · Beard · Richter · The Son · Jacket (Editor only) · Biker (Editor only) · H.M. Hammarin (Editor only) |