Playa

The player character of the Saints Row series is unnamed, this wiki refers to them as Playa.
:In Saints Row, the character is male. From Saints Row 2 onwards, default character is male, but can be customised to be female. This wiki uses either masculine or gender-neutral pronouns unless specifically describing a female voice or character.
==Overview==
Playa is the in Saints Row, Saints Row 2, Saints Row: The Third and Saints Row IV. The Saints Row series largely concerns Playa's adventures as a 3rd Street Saints gang member, starting as a nobody initiated into the gang, second-in-command, and finally leader. Throughout this journey, Playa takes the 3rd Street Saints from a small-time gang from the Row to a "household brand name" in Stilwater and then Steelport. During the events of Saints Row IV, Playa becomes President of the United States.
Playa lacks a definitive physical appearance, as Playa's appearance can be changed using the Image As Designed plastic surgeon. In Saints Row 2 onwards, Playa's gender can be changed, thus Playa's established gender as a male.
Due to the character's being completely customizable, this page refers to various versions of Playa.
===Name===
Playa does not have a given name throughout the series, and has been referred to as playa, son, and Boss throughout the games. On television, they're given various titles, including "Leader of the Saints" and "Local Psychopath". In Saints Row IV, they are referred to as "The President of the United States" or simply "The President". During "A Game of Clones", there is a clone known as "The Stilwater default player".
During development, the character was named "Mikey", but was pronounced "Mickey". In animatics for Saints Row 2, Volition used "PC" for Player Character. At E3, the banner for the player character said "Player".
During The Streets of Stilwater cutscene, the player character is addressed as "man", "baby", and "dawg" by 3 unnamed characters, before being addressed as playa by Julius in his first line, followed by "son" two lines later. Playa is the first unique name used, and no other character is referred to as Playa at any other time in the entire series.
Kinzie Kensington knows their real name, but is stopped mid-sentence before saying it, as Playa warns her that somebody else might be listening in on their radio conversation.
If the "Nolan North" voice is selected in Saints Row IV during the mission A Pleasant Day, Kinzie asks Playa to be themselves while causing destruction, and he replies "be... Nolan?". While in gameplay, the voice randomly says "that is how Nolan rolls".
==Personality==
In Saints Row, Playa is a new recruit for the Saints, remaining quiet for the majority of the game not questioning any orders given to him. Playa is too timid to speak with rival gangs or other Saints until towards the end of the game.
In Saints Row 2, Playa has 6 different personalities for the player to choose. Depending on the voice chosen, Playa may break the by randomly mentioning a few aspects of the game during gameplay. For example, Male Voice 3 sometimes says "You know I never see a dog around here? Weird." Although Playa's dialogue for the cutscenes is always the same in Saints Row 2, the in-game dialogue differs for each personality. In Saints Row 2, Playa is portrayed as extremely vicious, showing no remorse in killing and torturing enemies.
Playa has a strong friendship with Johnny Gat, having known him the longest of any of the Saints since his initiation into the gang. Playa displays exceptional strength and durability throughout the series. During the conclusion of Saints Row he was caught in a point blank explosion and only suffered minor burns, though his coma lasted five years. Neither Mayor Hughes nor his men survived. In the trailer for Saints Row Playa said his life changed after meeting Julius, desiring more and more power and money. While typically Playa reserves the bulk of their wrath for rival gang members or other foes, they still display a comical disregard for human life, not unlike most inhabitants of the Saints Row universe. Playa does have a few heroic qualities despite their sadistic nature, such as going to extreme lengths for friends, leading by example and feeling regret for several actions such the burning of Shivington or if they allow Shaundi and Viola to die during the climax of Saints Row: the Third.
Playa kills their mentor Julius in cold blood. The former leader of the Saints tries to defend his actions and claims that Playa was too power-hungry, a charge which Playa confirms. However, Julius' motives remain questionable. The social engineering by Dane Vogel left the original inhabitants of the Saints Row district homeless and destitute, and the betrayal of the Saints saw the majority of them dead or serving prison sentences while Julius lived a comfortable lifestyle. In Playas' eyes, Julius crossed the only line they never had, betraying one's friends.
In Saints Row: The Third, Playa has 7 different personalities. Playa is portrayed as being, arguably, less susceptible to random bursts of violence, due to already having the power and wealth they desired. In fact, the Saint's success in crushing the gangs of Stilwater and partnering with Ultor led to Playa's rise to celebrity status, complete with a Planet Saints franchise and movie offers. They are still psychotic killers, as they show little emotion while killing other than excitement. This is tempered by their loyalty to their fellow gang members, since Saints Row: the Third is mainly centered around them, Shaundi, and Pierce taking revenge after the death of Johnny Gat. However, it seems that Playa is not entirely as merciless as before, agreeing to spare Matt Miller's life when the Decker's leader promises to cut ties with the Syndicate, as well as abandoning his role in the gang war and leaving Steelport, which Matt honors. Despite having tendencies of a psychopath their loyalty to their friends and concern for their well being is not a trait of psychopathic killers.
==Biography==
===Background===
Playa's past life is unclear and only hinted at through dialogue, and each voice gives different details of their past.
*The character was born in Stilwater, and visited a local massage parlor since junior-high school.
*Despite already living in Stilwater, he does not have a home at the beginning of Saints Row
*Male voice 1 in Saints Row: The Third mentioned that he spent his time killing people in the fresh air when a kid, compared to modern children playing violent video games indoors.
*Playa mentions having lived in a college dorm when he is reminded of that experience during a mission on a boat importing prostitutes and sex toys.
*Female Voice 1 also admits during Three Way that she is in a coed curling team.
*The female voice 2 claims that when she was young, her father would make her fight the dogs for food.
**Female Voice 1 has a similar idle line, claiming that her father always used to say, "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em... and then betray them in a horrible murder orgy".
*In the Gangstas in Space DLC, Male Voice 3 shows his disappointment with the fake building set by stating, "This is worse than finding out the Tooth Fairy was just my drunk uncle with a pair of pliers".
* In the Saints Row IV mission "The Case of Mr. X", Playa informs Asha that they don't see the point in talking about their past after jokingly blaming their behavior on their parents, stating, "who cares what I did before I joined the Saints?" When Asha asks if they had "daddy issues", Playa replies, "Naw, just... forget it".
* Nolan North voice says during the Zin invasion of the White House "I am just an actor, how many of you are there".
* When Playa was 6 years old they were into robots.
===Saints Row===
:Main article: Saints Row''
When walking through the district of Saint's Row in the city of Stilwater, Playa ignores a watch seller and walks up to a prostitute, but soon, he is caught up in a small turf war between the city's criminal factions. Despite trying to keep his distance, a Vice Kings gang member attempts to kill him after the violent battle. Julius Little and Troy Bradshaw, from the small-time street gang the 3rd Street Saints, save him from his execution, with Troy killing the small-time hoodlum. Julius invites him to meet the gang at the church in Saint's Row if he is interested, seeing as they need all the help they can get.
At the Saints Row Church, Playa is initiated into the gang by surviving a beatdown by Saints members. Julius informs the gang that it is time to take the fight to the three rival gangs: Los Carnales, Westside Rollerz, and the Vice Kings.
Though before Playa gets to do any serious work done, he has to build up the Saint's Rep and showing they mean business, such as causing mayhem, holding-up stores, borrowing money from loan sharks, hijacking vehicles for money, collecting CDs, tagging places, assassinating people just for cash, stealing vehicles so he can take them to a chop shop, holding civilians hostage in their cars for money, killing pimps, stealing their hos, and taking them to a brothel, driving hookers around while avoiding paparazzi, IRS, significant others, and private investigators while the hooker has sex with a client, competing in illegal street races, and protecting drug dealers while they sell their product.
While trying to take the three main gangs out of commission, Playa mainly works with the 4 Saint Lieutenants: Johnny Gat, who's a shoot first ask questions never kinda guy. Dex, who usually likes to plan 3 moves ahead. Lin, who somewhat unhappily uses her feminine side to her advantage. And Troy, who makes up his lack of expertise by his enthusiasm.
During the campaign against the Carnales, Playa takes down Hector and Angelo Lopez. While fighting the Vice Kings, Playa saves Benjamin King from Anthony Green, then helps him overthrow Tanya Winters. In the campaign against the Westside Rollerz, both William Sharp and Joseph Price meet their ends at the hands of Playa.
Playa gets to know Johnny Gat, Dex, Lin and Troy while helping take down the three gangs, and is appointed by Julius as his right hand man. Julius soon thereafter ends up being arrested by the police, and Playa thus becomes the de-facto leader of the gang.
Chief Monroe, a corrupt police chief, orders Playa, Dex and Johnny to do a little "community service" or he will kill Julius. Playa steals a campaign bus with Marshall Winslow inside and parks it on the train tracks.
During Winslow's funeral, Playa kills Monroe. Richard Hughes, Winslow's rival, phoned Playa to meet him on the Yacht. Richard's plan was to redevelop the Saints Row community, and was given the go ahead after the Saints made a name for themselves. Playa was about to get killed by Hughes' men, but Julius pressed the remote setting off the explosives he planted, killing Hughes and putting Playa into a coma.
===Saints Row 2===
:Main article: Saints Row 2''
Five years after being put in a coma, Playa awakes inside a prison hospital. There he meets fellow convict Carlos Mendoza who got himself shanked to meet Playa and helps him escape the prison island. On the way, Carlos informs him that a lot of things have changed while Playa was comatose. Carlos explains that the Saints fell apart without anyone to lead them, and dropped their flags before they were killed, and the chaos allowed for new gangs to take control of the city, as well as the rise of the Ultor Corporation that practically took control of the inefficient and corrupt police force. He advises Playa to lay low for a while.
While having a beer in Tee'N'Ay, Playa watches a news broadcast about Johnny Gat, who is about to be executed for 387 murders as well as the attempted murder of Troy Bradshaw, who became chief of police. After breaking him out of his court appearance, he drops Johnny off at his girlfriend, Aisha's house, where they have a beer and plan on taking back their city once again by first taking over the condemned hotel under a mission house. Three new gangs have taken control: The Brotherhood of Stilwater controlling the south, the Sons of Samedi taking all central Stilwater, and the Ronin having a tight grip up north. Their first move is to get a new hideout. This time, it's an old underground hotel in Old Stilwater beneath an abandoned mission house. After "evicting the current tenants", they get new lieutenants and slowly take back what was once theirs, and defeat the three gangs.
During the conflict with the Ronin, Playa defeats the lieutenant Jyunichi in a sword fight for killing Aisha, helps Johnny Gat to get revenge on Shogo Akuji and leaves Kazuo Akuji to die on a burning boat.
As part of the struggle against The Brotherhood, Playa kills Carlos to put him out of his misery. He murders Matt, as well as Maeroin a final showdown in the Stilwater Arena.
While battling the Sons of Samedi, Playa murders Veteran Child, Mr. Sunshine, and The General.
====Bonus Mission====
Playa sneaks into the police station and listens to some recorded phone conversations and discovers that Julius planted the bomb on the yacht. After discovering Dex's file in Julius' file, he calls Dex, who tells him to meet him at the old church. At the church, Julius is waiting, who was also told to go there by Dex. As Playa is about to kill Julius, the Masako attack them both. After fighting waves of Masako, they escape to the Thalia Amiptheatre and fight more Masako. After defeating all of the Masako, Playa shoots Julius in the chest but it doesn't kill him. They argue about what the Saints became, before Playa shoots Julius in the head.
====Epilogue====
After taking back the city, conflict ignites between Ultor and the Saints, starting when Playa is ambushed at a nightclub by a Masako Unit, and the lieutenants are kidnapped. After escaping the ambush and rescuing Shaundi and Pierce, they all meet up with Johnny Gat and plan to assault The Pyramid, Ultor's secret facility built underneath and in the perimeter of Mount Claflin. They hope to expose Ultor's rather dastardly plans for the city, and to destroy their weapons and warheads. Playa and Johnny head there, and the assault goes well. Soon, Pierce gives Playa a hint that a luxury cruise ship in the middle of the ocean is where the Ultor executives are having a meeting. Playa goes there and kills all the executives and guards, and shoots down some attack helicopters. This all happens in front of Dane Vogel's eyes, who watches from his top floor office in the Phillips Building.
Vogel holds a press conference outside the Saints Row Church about the incident, and Playa and Johnny plan an assassination. Johnny is spotted by a guard who followed him to the rooftop, and accidentally shoots the sniper rifle in the struggle, which alerts Vogel and his bodyguards. Playa rushes towards Vogel with a pistol, while Johnny takes down any resistance after throwing the guard off the rooftop. Playa jumps onto Vogel's limo, but is shaken off, and he is forced to assault Vogel by hijacking an attack helicopter, taking out the power stations on the Phillips Building, and eventually jumping off the helicopter's fuselage, onto the top floor of the Phillips Building, where he then confronts Dane. Vogel tries to reason with Playa, who responds by shooting him in the mouth, sending him backwards through the top floor window.
After Tobias arrives in his helicopter to pick up Shaundi, Pierce, and Playa, Pierce asks "So...what do we do now?", in which Playa responds "This is our city, we can do whatever the fuck we want to do." and they fly off into the city.
====Ultor Exposed====
In Ultor Exposed former Ultor employee Tera decides to help the Saints with exposing the darker side of Ultor. Playa helps Tera dig up dead bodies used for experimentation in order to bring down Ultor. After, Playa is instructed to hijack a truck that has classified Ultor chemicals to try and persuade Jane Valderamma to run the story. However all the effort turns out to be for naught as Jane purposely claims Tera the one responsible with the reasoning that Ultor would just bury the story anyway.
====Corporate Warfare====
In Corporate Warfare New CEO of Ultor, Eric Gryphon, comes to Playa for protection from Dex, who Gryphon fears will make an attempt on his life. Playa agrees and saves him from being killed by a Masako team sent by Dex. Eric tells Playa about toxic waste that Dex is going to sell. Along with some Ultor security team members at the power plant, Playa helps Gryphon capture the shipment. Dex later flees Stilwater after getting an emergency transfer to another city. Angry and knowing he can't get Dex, Playa asks Eric for names of people that Dex was close to and then kills them. Playa swears to Eric that he will find out which city Dex fled to and kill him. Playa also assures that the hostilities between the 3rd Street Saints and Ultor are over, as long as Ultor don't try to come after them.
===Saints Row: Total Control===
:Main article: Saints Row: Total Control
Playa is stated to have disappeared, but the reason is not revealed. Playa's cousin helps to reclaim Stilwater after his disappearance.
===Saints Row: The Third===
:Main article: Saints Row: The Third''
Some years after the events in Saints Row 2, the 3rd Street Saints became a household name in Stilwater and partnered up with the Ultor Corporation. This began in Saints Row 2, with the activities Fuzz, Trail Blazing and Crowd Control introducing Playa to entertainment industry figures, and his notoriety as a gang leader is enough that Stilwater pedestrians quickly recognize him and commented on his activities.
After many years on the top Playa, Johnny Gat, Shaundi, and an actor named Josh Birk rob the Stilwater 1st National Bank as a publicity stunt. The robbery goes wrong and they are arrested by SWAT.
Unbeknownst to them, the bank is owned by Phillipe Loren, the leader of Morningstar and the chairman of The Syndicate, so the Saints are taken to meet Loren onboard his Gawalek A36 jet over Steelport. After being given a chance to give a share of their profits to the Syndicate, they refuse and break free. Johnny takes control of the plane and fights off Phillipe, being killed in the process, allowing Shaundi and Playa time to jump out the plane. After fighting more members of the Morningstar in the air, they land in Steelport where Phillipe has Matt Miller, leader of the Deckers, hack into the Saints' accounts and empty them.
Playa and Shaundi raid the local Guard Armory and call Pierce to bring the Saints to Steelport. Playa and Pierce drive to get acquainted with the Steelport, and end up in a battle with a group of Morningstar members and their Brute. Playa later parachutes into a Morningstar penthouse to take it over and hurt the Syndicate, then chases a fleeing gang member with an Oppressor in order to disarm a bomb. After taking the Penthouse, Playa and Pierce begin buying property belonging to the Morningstar using deeds recovered from their lockbox.
After multiple encounters with the Morningstar, the Saints strike at their headquarters, the Syndicate Tower, and Phillipe is indirectly killed by Playa. During this they meet a test subject named Oleg whom the Syndicate were using to clone brutes, and he joins them to fight the Syndicate.
Playa and his crew return to Stilwater to bury Johnny, but are attacked by Luchadores working for Killbane, who destroy a memorial bridge the Saints are getting chased across, causing Playa, Shaundi, Pierce and Oleg to end up in the river. Oleg reveals the Saints are not ready to fight the Syndicate and he knows people that can help. When Playa arrives back in Steelport, along with Pierce and Shaundi he finds ex-FBI agent Kinzie Kensington who is being held by the Deckers, Zimos who was being held at Safeword in the "Pony Barn" and helping ex-Luchador member Angel De LaMuerte from Killbane's Luchadores..
After recruiting the three new lieutenants, Playa gives the 3rd Street Saints a speech that the Syndicate will have to answer for what they have done. At the same time, Killbane takes over the Syndicate.
Playa is called to the Saints HQ by Shaundi when Pierce throws a party, which angers her due to Johnny's recent death and she voices displeasure, although Playa agrees with Pierce that they can't mourn Gat forever. During the party its revealed that the strippers are working for the Morningstar and try to kill the Saints, but Playa manages to fight them off and kill them. After this Playa goes to see Zimos at his crib and says its time to take down the Morningstar. Playa poses as a sex slave to be auctioned off at Safeword and once the Saints and Zimos get in, they disable the security to allow more Saints to takeover and wipe out the remaining Morningstar, and then claim Safeword as their own. After getting a tip off from Viola DeWynter, who was Loren's right hand, Playa and Zimos invade a Morningstar cargo ship to collect prostitutes being smuggled in. After getting the prostitutes Playa receives a phone call from Matt Miller offering to buy back the prostitutes, and the player has a choice to either keep them or bring them to the brothel at Saints HQ.
Playa and Oleg go to meet Viola at the park who offers to help the Saints in order to make Killbane suffer, but the meeting is interrupted by STAG who have been sent to take down the gangs of Steelport. Playa escapes back to the Saints HQ while Oleg fights off the STAG who are attacking. Playa begins fighting against STAG and starts by destroying their bases and kidnaps Josh Birk whose character Nyte Blayde is being used as a mascot for STAG. Playa attracts STAG to the Saints HQ for a massive fight, and at the end is approached by Cyrus Temple the leader of STAG who asks for them to return STAG and they will keep the attention off the Saints for the while. Whatever choice Playa makes, STAG begins destroying the Saints HQ. When Shaundi is captured by Cyrus' second-in-command, Kia to be taken for question, Playa uses Image As Designed to take on the appearance of Cyrus and takes Pierce and Viola as prisoners to the STAG's aircraft carrier the Thermopylae, where they rescue Shaundi and destroy the base. However this increases STAG presence as they declare martial law in Steelport. When Playa hijacks a plane containing new weapons that STAG is flying in, he uses Sonic Boom to try and get into the cockpit but ends up destroying it causing the plane to crash, so escapes in a Tank out the back and fights of attacking F-69 VTOLs attacking. After hijacking a second tank in midair, Playa crashes onto Arapice Island, but falling corpses and debris destroys containers in the Ultor Chemical and Waste Disposal Plant, which releases a green gas that turns the dead corpses into zombies. Playa and Viola go to see the Mayor of Steelport, who turns out to be Burt Reynolds, who asks for the Saints help in dealing with the zombie problem, which Playa happily accepts. After arriving back on Arapice Island, Playa submerges three containers in the water, and after this is told to destroy a chemical truck by Reynolds, who offers to help the Saints and also SWAT Teams to being on their side as a favour for dealing with the problem, although Oleg phones and states that he can use the chemicals to create their own zombie army to help. Whatever choice is made, Cyrus arrives along with STAG to deal with the remaining zombies.
Playa and Shaundi find out from Kinzie that Killbane has set the Saints up for the attack on the memorial bridge back in Steelport and begins badmouthing the Saints name on air. Playa and Shaundi travel around Steelport to track down where the broadcast is coming from and then chase down Killbane's car in a helicopter, but before Shaundi can take a shot at him the helicopter malfunctions and crashes, causing Killbane to escape. Playa steals a powerful computer from STAG before Matt Miller's Deckers get a hold of it and then a chair from the Deckers in order to go up against them. After this Playa enters into the Decker's usernet and faces off against Matt Miller's avatar and finally takes him down, but spares Matt's life when he offers to hack into a company to give Playa discounts, and will walk away, which Playa accepts.
Playa meets with Viola, Shaundi and Pierce, and Viola reveals the best way to defeat Killbane is to unmask him at Murderbrawl and humiliate him and decide to kill off Killbane's upcoming opponents in order for Playa to enter into Murderbrawl and face Killbane. Using a RC Possessor to control vehicles, Playa uses them on cars, boats and a helicopter containing wrestlers to kill them and make it look like an accident, which leaves Playa as a last opponent for Killbane. After getting Angel's mask back at the 3 Count casino and taking it over for the Saints Playa helps Angel defeat Killbane at Murderbrawl, humiliating him.
During Playa's remaining takeover of Steelport, he manages to take over the Downtown, New Colvin, Carver Island and Stanfield districts, finally taking control of Steelport.
====Endings====
After the Murderbrawl match and Killbane's downfall, a war spirals out between the STAG and Killbane's Luchadores, so Playa, Pierce and Oleg travel around Steelport to help contain the attacks by killing off STAG and Luchadore members. During this Playa gets a phone call from Angel saying Killbane is attempting to flee Steelport, but then gets another call from Kia that a monument will be blown up, which has fellow Saints in it along with Shaundi, Viola and Burt.
;Save Shaundi
When Playa goes to save Shaundi at the monument, he removes bombs planted around it with Sonic Boom before facing off with Kia who has Shaundi at gunpoint, but manages to kill Kia, saving Shaundi, Viola and Burt, and preventing the Saints being set up as terrorists by Stag.. After leaving the monument, Playa, Pierce and Shaundi are surrounded by photographers, and Cyrus attempts to have Playa arrested but Monica Hughes steps in declaring the Saints as heroes for saving the Monument, allowing them to walk. Cyrus warns Playa he will be back if the Saints slip up once more, and Playa leaves with Shaundi and Pierce after saying " I love you too .".
Playa is then showing leading a group of 3rd Street Saints on Mars, with a mission on going after Killbane in order to save the earth. Playa faces off with Killbane at his lair and defeats him, but slips up during a monologue, revealing the scenario to just being a movie for Gangstas in Space, and they go for another take.
This is the canon ending.
;Kill Killbane
If Playa decides to kill Killbane, he saves Angel from Luchadores and STAG members attacking before being driven to the airport where Killbane attempts to take off in his plane, which Playa shoots down and destroys. After destroying the plane, Killbane staggers out and mocks Playa for becoming a joke, which leads to the angry Playa to beat Killbane before breaking his neck and killing him. After killing Killbane, the Monument is destroyed killing Shaundi, Viola and Burt, and Pierce phones to ask Playa if going after Killbane was worth it, which Playa can't answer..
When Playa makes a farewell speech for Shaundi and Johnny, STAG begins attacking Steelport with the Daedalus in order to wipe out the Saints, after being given the go ahead by Monica. Playa gets onboard the Daedalus and plants explosives on it, and then shoots down Cyrus' F-69 VTOL killing him, and escapes the Daedalus on another VTOL as it is destroyed. Playa arrives at a TV Station along with the Saints and on air declares Steelport is its own City State and tells Monica Hughes and the remaining STAG to withdraw from the city or they will be killed. After this he appoints Pierce as the new mayor of the city, which he accepts.
====DLC====
In Genkibowl VII, Playa takes part in Genkibowl VII after being invited there by Tammy Tolliver. During Genkibowl VII, Playa takes part in many activities such as Sad Panda Skyblazing, Apocalypse Genki, Sexy Kitten Yarngasm and even escorted Professor Genki himself causing murder and mayhem to motivate Genki before he makes public appearances. After completing the activities Playa becomes the next Genkibowl Champion, and when being interviewed by Tammy Playa begins to state he honours him years of murdering, robbing, light treason and more murders and tells children to follow their dreams or they will end up just like their parents.
During Gangstas in Space, Playa gets contacted by filmmaker Andy Zhen who wants Playa to become a star for the new Gangstas in Space film and tells Playa to come by the studio to check out the script. After arriving at the studio Playa revises the script and has problems following it, and there he meets his fellow co-star Jenny Jaros who is playing Princess Kwilanna in the film and she is pleased to be starring alongside him. During the making of the film, Playa and Kwilanna fight Space Amazons in order to save the earth, and Playa stands up for Jenny due to Andy mocking her abilities as an actress. In the final scenes for the film, Playa manages to defeat the aliens, but an angry Jenny who has had enough of Zhen drives the Aegean into him, impaling and killing Zhen. Playa laughs nervously before declaring "Well then, I guess that's a wrap.".
In The Trouble With Clones, Playa is contacted by Jimmy Torbitson and asks him to meet him at Smiling Jack's. Playa and Pierce go to meet Jimmy, who reveals he has cloned Johnny Gat, who is now on the loose, so Playa goes with Pierce to look for the cloned Gat. They travel around Steelport searching for Johnny Tag who is causing chaos, and give chase to him with the help of Jimmy while evading and killing the Steelport Police who are chasing down Gat, but end up losing him. Playa and Pierce try to attract Gat by dressing Pierce up as the late Aisha to attract Gat while Pierce sings songs that Aisha had. Jimmy then reveals a cloned Aisha Brutella to calm Gat down, but then the SNG arrive and kill her, causing Tag to flee again. Pierce is later captured by Johnny Tag while visiting Jimmy, and Tag knocks out Playa. Playa then develops superpowers from an irradiated Saints Flow given by Jimmy, and goes to save Pierce and Tag from attacking SNG at a bridge, and although he loses his superpowers he manages to fight them and save Pierce and Tag. Playa then tries to reason with Tag, who states the Saints had failed him, however Playa and Pierce convinces Tag they are his friends, and Tag leaves with them.
===Saints Row IV===
:Main article: Saints Row IV''
Some time after the "Save Shaundi" ending, Playa, along with Pierce and Shaundi, go on a joint counter-terrorist operation with Asha Odekar and her handler Matt Miller to take down Cyrus Temple, who has turned terrorist. But Playa finds that his combat suit's microphone was malfunctioning, rendering him unable to speak. Playa personally fights hand-to-hand with Cyrus, managing to kill him, but not before the former STAG commander launches a nuclear missile targeted for Washington D.C. Playa boards the missile and disables it mid-flight, leaping off it as it explodes and lands right in the Oval Office in the White House.
Five years later, Playa is President of the United States of America, with Keith David as the Vice-President and members of the Saints as cabinet members. Playa had impulsively angered half of America by publicly saying, "I'm the patron Saint of America. We should probably look to changing the Pledge of Allegiance to One Nation Under Me", to the annoyance of the other Saints. Just as Playa was about to attend a press conference to deal with this PR disaster, Shaundi informs him that Asha and Matt had arrived to warn them of an impending alien invasion since MI6 refused to believe them. Playa fails to take this seriously before actual aliens attack. Their leader, Zinyak, claims that the best and brightest among humanity shall be spared. As Kinzie quickly claimed to be smarter than everyone in the press room, the alien overlord beams her up. Playa and Shaundi attempt to rescue her but Secret Service pin him to the floor while Shaundi is captured. Playa shakes them off and runs through the White House as members of the Saints are abducted. Getting outside, Playa mounts an anti-air turret and begins shooting down UFOs, ultimately shooting down Zinyak's ship. Playa goes head-to-head with Zinayk but is defeated by the alien's superhuman powers.
Playa later wakes up in what appears to be a 50s sitcom set in the city of Steelport, devoid of violence or foul language. Playa realizes this when it starts glitching. He then hears Kinzie's voice, explaining that each of the Saints are imprisoned in their own virtual nightmares. She spawns weapons for Playa to cause disruption to the simulation. This draws the attention of Zinyak, who throws Playa into a Zin-dominated version of Steelport, threatening to destroy the Earth if he tries to escape.
Nonetheless, Playa escapes with help from Kinzie and meets her and Keith as he escapes aboard a stolen Zin ship. But as they head back to Earth to gather reinforcements, Zinyak upholds his threat by destroying the planet. Determined to avenge the Earth, Playa goes back into the simulation to rescue the other Saints and find a way to get to Zinyak. After saving the other saints with the help of C.I.D., Playa learns that Johnny Gat is still alive. After being warned that rescuing Johnny will most likely reveal their location, Playa rescues Johnny from his personal nightmare of constantly losing Aisha and brings him to the ship. After rescuing Johnny, Playa and his crew are ready to overload the simulation but is ambushed by Zinyak's army with Zinyak capturing Kinzie. Playa then learns that Keith betrayed him and hid the MI6 agents in a closet to fool them in order to restore Earth. Playa chases Keith David but is cornered by zen and was about to be killed until Keith pulled a heelface turn saving Playa. With the help of Rowdy Roddy Piper, Playa saves Keith David and goes on to save Kinzie from the same 50s era nightmare he had been in before, where on the ship, she later punches him for mocking her in a poodle skirt. Around the time after Playa rescues Matt Miller and to a point after he saves Kinzie, Playa does personal missions for the crew which gains them super powers similair to Playa. With everyone rallyed, Playa leads a charge against Zinyak starting by overloading the simulation. After the simulation is overloaded, Playa races to face Zinyak with power armor stolen from the Zin armory.
After a lengthly battle against Zinyak, Playa beheads Zinyak and takes over the Zin empire for himself. Playa learns through Zinyak's servant Zinjai that the Zin have a way to time travel, allowing them to go back in time before the Earth was destroyed, as well as releasing Jane Austen.
An alternate ending plays out if the player does not complete all the loyalty missions in which Playa does not learn about the Zin's time travel and their ability to return to Earth.
===Enter the Dominatrix===
Playa is contacted by Kinzie to meet on the Ship after some 'deleted scenes' are uncovered and Jane Valderamma wants to give an interview concerning them. The scenes turn out to be that of the cancelled Saints Row: The Third DLC Enter the Dominatrix which was later merged with Saints Row IV.
In an alternative timeline to the Zin Invasion which takes place after the Kill Killbane Ending of Saints Row: The Third, Playa along with his lieutenants defend the 3 Count crib from attacking Zin invaders. After Josh Birk is killed Playa is contacted by Pierce - now Mayor of Steelport - who has managed to track down the location of the alien's leader Zinyak to the Syndicate Tower. Both of them head there and Playa easily takes down Zinyak with one shot before finishing them off with a bullet to the head.
After Zinyak's death, a computer AI known as The Dominatrix takes over the Zin and kidnaps Playa along with the Saints, placing them into a virtual version of Steelport. Teaming up with Donnie and developing the ability of super powers, Playa begins taking down the Dominatrix. During his quest, Playa rescues Shaundi and Pierce, reunites with Zimos and they later destroy the Dominatrix.
The Saints ally themselves with Raptors who where enemies of the Zin, and when their king Cirano asks for any requests, Playa asks him if they can go bowling, which Cirano accepts.
===Saints Row: Gat out of Hell===
While hosting Kinzie's birthday party, Playa participates in playing with a ouija board with Kinzie, Matt, Shaundi, and Gat, to find out whom Playa should marry. Suddenly, the starts moving on its own, spelling out "Jezebel" and Playa is sucked into a portal into Hell. As Jane Austen narrates, because Playa had caused the highest level of chaos and destruction in human history, Satan determined that the Saints leader is the ideal match for his daughter Jezebel.
For the entirety of the game, Playa is trapped in a Soul Crystal, unable to speak or move. But when Gat comes close to freeing Playa, Satan appears and holds Jezebel hostage, forcing Gat to surrender. This convinces Satan that Gat's in love with Jezebel and offered him a deal; if Johnny marries Jezebel, he would allow Kinzie to take Playa home. After Gat defeats Satan, the Devil banishes the humans and his daughter back onto their ship, where Playa introduces Jezebel as their new Homie.
==Trivia==
*Playa's appearance varies in different trailers.
** In the first released cinematic trailer for Saints Row, Playa is shown to be a bald Caucasican dressed mostly in green clothes with stylish orange shades and a hat, striking a passive resemblance to Veteran Child. In a later trailer, he appears similar but this time dressed in beige/purple clothes with a silver pendant and no hat.
** In all gameplay trailers and screenshots for Saints Row, as well as the default appearance, Playa is Caucasian, dressed in a black t-shirt with long jeans.
**In an early Saints Row 2 trailer, Playa's appearance is that of a bald Caucasian male very similar to how he appeared in a Saints Row trailer dressed in a purple dress shirt with black jeans.
**In further Saints Row 2 trailers and in game, his default appearance is that of an African-American male, also used in loading screens where he is depicted as wearing a white tank top and track pants, with the addition of a face bandana in the cover art.
**In the official guide book, Playa is shown to be an East Asian female.
**In all screenshots and trailers for Saints Row: The Third, he is again depicted as Caucasian male. When in Steelport, advertisements with the character promoting Planet Saints shows Playa as he appears in the promotional artwork for Saints Row: The Third as a Caucasian male.
**In all trailers for Saints Row IV, his default appearance is similar to the one from the third game, but with a more clean cut appearance.
* Playa's height changes in each game. In Saints Row, he is around the same height as other characters. In Saints Row 2, he is considerably taller then most characters, who have 3 defined heights, with Carlos and Shaundi both being the shortest height. In Saints Row: The Third and Saints Row IV, he is the same height as most other characters.
* Male Voice 2 is the only voice to have the same voice actor in every game from Saints Row 2 onwards.
===Saints Row===
* Playa is mostly silent during the game, with only four lines, but often appears to display moods or thoughts with facial and body language.
*The only people who hear Playa speak are Julius, Dex, Luz, Johnny, Ben, Hughes, and Hughes bodyguards.
* Julius calling Playa "Playa" may be referring to the person playing the game. "Playa" is also street gang slang, similar to "Gangsta".
===Saints Row 2===
* Pre-release screenshots as well as the loading screens show him wearing a white tank top and track pants. He is dressed in similar clothes in the cover art for the game, with the addition of a face bandana.
* He is considerably taller than most of the other characters in the game in Saints Row 2, but only of average physical size in Saints Row.
* In Snatch, Playa reveals that he grew up in Stilwater and visited a massage parlor often.
* When listening to the radio, Playa sings along to some songs, see Soprano for more details.
* Civilians and Saints members constantly comment that his clothes smell if he doesn't change them for a few in-game days.
* He wonders if he is in Benjamin King's book, Regicide.
* During the first cutscene for the Brotherhood mission, "Bank Error in Your Favor", he mentions liking a TV show called Bobby and Amber to the point where he almost didn't care about Shaundi's message while the show was on.
* Playa is labeled a sociopath by Julius Little and some civilians. Some Brotherhood members call him a "psycho". This is because he comes across as power-hungry and merciless in dealing with his enemies. He does however show great empathy and remorse for those he trusts, mainly his fellow Saints, which is most noticeable in his interactions with Carlos. He also expresses horror at the fact his actions cause an enormous fire in Shivington.
* Playa can perform multiple actions if the game is left idle.
* Playa has super-human strength, able to throw people through the air with ease and also ripping off any object out of the ground and use them as improvised weapons.
* A lot of characters make fun of Playa for getting blown up on a boat, including Pierce and Monica Hughes
* Male Voice 1 makes references about his boat explosion survival.
** When using the taunt Oh No You Di-in't, he'll exclaim, "Have you survived a boat explosion?...Didn't think so."
** Also when left idle, he may say, "To hell with boats, I'm taking a plane from now on."
* A running joke is that everyone fails to notice that Playa underwent surgery to treat his wounds, often just asking him "Did you do something with your hair?".
** When Julius begins to ask this, Playa pulls a gun and interrupts him with "I didn't do shit to my hair!".
* Playa being silent during Saints Row is mentioned repeatedly.
** Male voice 2 has an idle line, "That mute shit was getting old".
** Aisha says, "What? That you're here, or that you're talking?" when Gat brings him home.
** Some civilians randomly say "You seemed a lot smarter when you didn't talk!".
===Saints Row: Total Control===
* Winston refers to Playa as a male.
===Saints Row: The Third===
* The Initiation Station allows players to customize and upload Playas for free without owning Saints Row: The Third.
* In Saints Row, Playa holds his guns "Gangster style" (sideways). In Saints Row 2 he holds his weapons upright. In Saints Row: The Third, he equips his weapons in a professional manner.
* In Saints Row 2 and Saints Row: The Third, he is often called the "Boss" by the other Saints, referring to his status as their leader.
* A running joke is that Playa's name is never said by anyone.
** Playa asks Zimos what his real name is, Zimos counters by asking Playa what his name is. Playa replies with a different fake name depending on voice, to which Zimos replies, "That's what I thought".
* As of the end of Saints Row: The Third, there are no original members left in the Saints, and Playa is the only member who was in the gang during Saints Row.
* A recurring joke is Playa's apparent lack of technical expertise and electronics, this first appears in Saints Row 2 when Playa agrees with Shaundi's plan of hacking the traffic cameras around the city. When Playa leaves, Shaundi wants to join only to be stopped by Playa. When Shaundi asks if he is going to hack the traffic cameras, Playa doesn't immediately answer, to which Shaundi replies; "Yeah, That's what I thought". This also occurs in Saints Row: The Third in the conversations with Kinzie, hinting at an apparent lack of higher education.
** During The Ho Boat, Male Voices 1, and 2, and all female voices makes a comment about the various BDSM objects reminding them of their freshman dorm. This also hints that Playa has some form of higher education.
* Male Voice 3 jokingly says he suffers from , due to the prostitutes trying to murder him. In the quote, he refers to Zimos as Pierce.
* Depending on what voice is selected, Playa sometimes says "Gat would be proud", or "Just like Johnny would've done", and "This one is for you, Johnny" when killing someone.
** Playa may make these comments before it is confirmed that he is dead, when the player first controls Playa in the plane and has to beat the Syndicate members to death, Male voice 2 may say "Just like Johnny would've done".
*** In Saints Row IV, Playa says this even after Johnny Gat has been rescued.
* Female Voice 1 may idly talk about how she told her therapist that she wasn't responsible for the awful things she does and it's like someone is controlling her, by referring to the fact she is in a video game. This is also referenced in 3 Count Beat Down when she says that destroying Killbane's statues is better than talking to her shrink.
* Playa is quite immature, particularly regarding vehicles.
** In the mission Learning Computer, Playa's initial thought is to use the STAG Crusader with Pierce despite Kinzie's objections.
** During My Name is Cyrus Temple, both Pierce and Playa comment about the Thermopylae.
** With Male Voice 3, Playa made a reference to a customized vehicle that can be useful for a journey, which Pierce says "With a turbo-powered Bulldozer traffic won't be much of a problem".
* In the Power CG trailer, Playa holds a gun with his left hand, while in the game, he holds guns with his right.
* In both Saints Row 2 and Saints Row: The Third, Playa interacts with women in a neutral sense. In Saints Row: The Third, Female Voice 1 states "I like men" when disguised as Cyrus Temple, though the same voice frequently flirts with Shaundi.
** In cutscenes Playa interacts with female characters, even non-members of the 3rd Street Saints, as friends regardless of gender. A good example of this is in the cutscene for the mission Trojan Whores, where the male members, especially Pierce, of the Saints interact with the strippers in a sexually explicit manner, where as Playa merely chats with a stripper on an opposite couch.
** Despite this, Playa occasionally talks about wanting to place and/or already having stripper poles in their rooms.
* Playa is around 6 feet 2 inches
* Male Voice 1 and Male Voice 2 both have attractions to female members of the gang, Male Voice 1 being Kinzie in STAG Film and Male Voice 2 being Shaundi in Party Time.
** While Viola is dressed as the Bloody Canoness, Male Voice 1 says she looks "sexy. Slutty...but sexy".
* Female Voice 2 tells Pierce "I'm your first fan", and asks if she should send him sex toys with a "From your secret admirer" note attached. She also has an idle line; "Maybe if I dressed like the Bloody Canoness, Pierce would notice me", and says that she "wants to make love with Pierce in front of a live studio audience!",, and asks Kia her opinion about Pierce "If you were me, would you fuck him?".
* Although the Caucasian female and Cockney male characters have different respective voice actors in Saints Row 2 and Saints Row: The Third, they are essentially the same characters in each game.
* The only Playa characters to appear in only one game, so far, are the Black female in Saints Row 2, Russian female and Zombie in Saints Row: The Third, Southern U.S female, French female, and Nolan North in Saints Row IV.
* Images of Playa in Saints Row: The Third outside the game itself shows him to carry an Assault rifle. The weapon that resembles the rifle closest in game is the K-8 Krukov, which he uses to free Oleg in The Belgian Problem, and as his main weapon during When Good Heists Go Bad.
* As well as the K-8, Playa regularly uses the 45 Shepherd.
* Male Voice 1 may say "My cousin hasn't called me in months. Thank god." This is a reference to , in which the main character's cousin and friends often randomly call during the game.
** When Idle, the Eastern European Female Voice 2 says she hasn't heard from cousin in a while and wonders what he is up to.
* Playa is bad at acting, either on movie sets or when their life really does depend on it while they're impersonating Cyrus Temple.
===Saints Row IV===
* Playa was to appear in an expansion for Saints Row: The Third called Enter the Dominatrix, where he was to be kidnapped by an alien warlord and put into a virtual reality world of Steelport. It was later announced that expansion was being merged with "The Next Great Sequel in the Saints Row Franchise".
* While wearing the Sim Suit, Playa resembles JC Denton from , most notably by the hair and glasses along with his facial structure.
* Playa's biggest fear is a peaceful world full of order, conformity and restrictions.
* When first arriving in the Virtual Steelport, Playa is unsure of how to use a GPS, despite this being a feature since the start of the series.
** It's later confirmed by Keith David that Playa isn't all that familiar with technology at all, as he claims that Playa even "needs help setting the DVR".
* One consistent facial feature throughout all the default Playas is the lack of facial hair.
* During the first "Assassinate Rogue Program" side quest, the target program takes on the default appearance of the Saints Row 2 Playa.
* During customization, the scrollbar lists Stilwater as the birth place of Playa.
* In "King Me", Playa reveals they didn't speak in Saints Row because they were "too scared to talk back then".
* During "A Game of Clones", Playa must kill a clone of themselves that they nickname "The Stilwater default player", using the default appearance of the Saints Row Playa. They also have to kill two clones of the Saints Row 2 default Playa, one of which is the Co-op partner.
* Playa has a love for the works of Jane Austen.
* Playa's main weapons in cutscenes are the Heavy Pistol and the Dominator.
* In How the Saints Save Christmas, Playa is uninterested in holidays, refusing to help the Saints with Christmas decorations and calling Christmas "some bullshit holiday".
** By the end of The Santa Clawz and judging by their Letter to Santa, Playa embraces the Christmas holiday.
* Playa has significantly mellowed in Saints Row IV, and have become less stoic and is more emotional and caring towards others:
** Playa is visibly mortified after Zinyak destroys Earth, they are seen trying to comfort an emotional shaken Shaundi, and worries when Zinyak abducts Kinzie
* Playa has their authority as leader questioned or disrespected by their fellow Saints often.
** Kinzie refuses to sing with them at the beginning even though it was "a direct order from your president".
** Matt Miller yells at Playa to call Keith David "Mr. Keith David".
** Kinzie says that Playa not talking was a good thing.
** Kinzie calls him a "fucking asshole" when they attack Matt Miller.
** Kinzie punches Playa for mentioning Kinzie's poodle skirt
** Kinzie threatens that Playa will "be missing a few limbs when they wake up" if mentioned again.
===Saints Row: Gat out of Hell===
*The default Caucasian male in used in cutscenes. If a Saints Row IV save file is present on the same console, the customised character from the save file with the latest date is used, marking the first time in the series it has been possible to import a local character from a different save file.
*Troy Baker does not return to voice the male Playa in Gat out of Hell, with Nolan North acting as a replacement.
==Quotes==
In a trailer for Saints Row, Playa has a small monologue:
===Saints Row===
In the first game, Playa has just four lines, the voice used depends on the race chosen during Player Customization. The Caucasian and Asian lines are identical.
<tabber>
|-|Caucasian and Asian=
|-|African American=
|-|Hispanic=
</tabber>
===Saints Row 2===
In Saints Row 2, Playa's voice is chosen by the player separately from race and sex. There are six different voices to chose from; three male and three female. While many in-game lines change depending on voice selection, cutscene dialogue is essentially the same regardless of which voice is used, although as it is read by different actors, the delivery changes as well as some words being abbreviated.
===Saints Row: The Third===
In Saints Row: The Third, Playa's voice is chosen by the player separately from race and sex. There are seven voice options; three male, three female, and a zombie voice. Unlike previous games, voice selection changes cutscene dialogue as well as in-game lines, though the majority of lines have the same meaning.
===Saints Row IV===
In Saints Row IV, there are seven voices. Male Voice 1 (American), Male voice 2 (African-American), Male Voice 3 (British), Female Voice 1 (American), Female Voice 2 (French), Female Voice 3 (Southern), and Nolan North.
* When idle, Playa sometimes breaks the fourth wall by talking directly to the player. For example, Male Voice 2 may say, "Do you ever wonder if something really cool happens when you're not watching?" Female voice 1 has been observed saying "Hey, you. You there... we gonna play this game or what?" or even "Pick up the controller. Pick it up. PICK. Up the controller."
==Gallery==
 
de:Protagonist
es:Playa
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Category:Characters in Saints Row
Category:Characters in Saints Row 2
Category:Characters in Saints Row: The Third
Category:Characters in Saints Row IV
Category:Characters in Saints Row: Gat out of Hell