Iron Mike

Iron Mike (real name J. Michael Wilcox) is a major character in the 2019 video game Days Gone. He is a survivor of the Freaker Outbreak, two years before the events of the game, who later became the leader of the Lost Lake Camp within Iron Butte, Oregon.
However, events in the game later cause Iron Mike to be killed by his former associate Raymond "Skizzo" Sarkozi during the militia's attack in the camp. His death was later avenged during Deacon's attack on Wizard Island.
Iron Mike was voiced by .
==Appearance==
Iron Mike is an elderly man, who has white hair and blue eyes, as well as a scruffy white beard. He is often seen wearing an outfit comprising of an olive-coloured hat, red flannel long-sleeved shirt, brown denim shorts, and boots. He has a canteen to the left of his shirt and a pistol holster containing his revolver, The Sheriff, on the right side of his shorts.
==Personality==
Iron Mike gives his settlement a lot of thought. He acknowledged to Deacon that being a Sherman's Camp survivor had left him scarred and guilty, and that he sometimes regretted making it out of the butchered town alive. Because of what happened at Sherman's Camp, Mike has made an effort to encourage a cooperative and even pacifistic attitude toward other people, declining to instigate fights when feasible and even being prepared to offer offenders a fair trial for their crimes.
However, this became Iron Mike's own downfall, when he spared Skizzo, who orchestrated the Ripper invasion of Lost Lake Camp, which later contributed to his death from the hands of the man he spared when the Deschutes County Militia attacked the same camp.
Mike is rather naive since he won't take the first swing, especially when it comes to the Rippers, whom he still thinks can be reasoned with. Despite his best intentions, this has resulted in the deaths of members of his camp. Despite not wishing to provoke confrontations, Mike is prepared to use force to defend himself from imminent dangers like marauders. He has courage and a strong determination.
==Background==
===Past===
Mike, who was born in 1941, was raised in the Hood River County region of Oregon. He spent hours discussing how the northern caverns were produced by lava when he was a boy while playing in them with his father, who thought of himself as a geologist.
He managed the wilderness in the Cascade range as a young adult for the forest service, where he had a thorough understanding of the region, including the mercury mining that took place in the early 1900s.
Additionally, Mike became friends with Jack, a young guy who would go on to become the president of the Mongrels Motorcycle Club. He once went fishing with him.
Later, he met and fell in love with a woman named Elizabeth; they were hitched and spent 30 years as a couple. Although they frequently engaged in activities they both liked, including hiking trails and mountain climbing, Mike never wanted children of his own since he considered them bothersome. This generated a significant amount of tension between him and Elizabeth for a while.
Mike was devastated when Elizabeth was tragically subsequently found to have cancer and ultimately passed away.
===Freaker Apocalypse===
Iron Mike was a member of Sherman's Camp, which included surviving members of the military and civilians, in the early days of the apocalypse. Two groups eventually emerged in the camp, resulting in an atmosphere of growing hostility.
It was decided to convene a conference between the two sides because it was thought that everyone had run out of ammo, but it was soon found that one side still had some. Mike and Nora narrowly survived the bloodbath without harm. Everyone else was slaughtered by one another. Mike was severely traumatised by this event, which led him to turn away from violence.
After the atrocity at Sherman's Camp, Mike started another group in Lost Lake with the idea of pacifism among all survivors. This group was founded when everyone was still in shock from the slaughter at Sherman's Camp. Skizzo, Rikki Patil, and Addison Walker were a few of his key members. Boozer and Deacon St. John finally joined Mike's camp and immensely aided it.
At this point, Mike and Deacon grew close. However, due to Deacon's aggressive approach to problem-solving, the two fell out, with Deacon urging Mike to "go f**k himself." Deacon and Boozer fled shortly after that and were forbidden from going back.
===Days Gone===
Iron Mike made a tenuous truce with the Rippers two years after the death of civilization, but several members of his group, particularly Skizzo, were very dubious and opposed to this arrangement.
Deacon and Boozer have been working for other communities while avoiding Iron Mike's Camp for more than a year. Deacon is ultimately compelled to take Boozer there after his arm is burned and he develops blood poisoning.
Deacon first feels apprehensive about going back, but as news of his good actions spreads, the safe zone increasingly accepts him. Eventually, Deacon tells Mike about his scheme to dramatically diminish the Freaker population by destroying their caverns. Deacon's suggestion immediately wins Mike over, and together they decide to search the area for explosives.
To obtain a map showing the locations of registered TNT owners, the two make a pit stop at Sherman's Camp. There, Mike demonstrates to Deacon how everyone murdered one another and explains how this led to the development of his core pacifist beliefs. The two are compelled to execute the Marauders as they ambush them after removing the map from the corpse of the police commissioner. When they get back to camp, it's obvious that Mike and Deacon understand one another far better than they did before.
When the Lost Lake Camp was attacked by the Rippers led by Carlos, which was later revealed to be orchestrated by Skizzo, Deacon suggested to execute him to death by being eaten to the Freaker horde outside. However, Iron Mike refused his suggestion, and instead spared him, a decision that he would later regret.
After Skizzo and the Deschutes County Militia attacked the Lost Lake Camp, under the pretence of making amends, Skizzo attempted to make amends with his former superior, only for Iron Mike to be killed by the man he spared from certain death. Iron Mike's death led to a significant blow to the Lost Lake Camp's morale after the tragic event.
===Legacy===
Before the preemptive attack on Wizard Island was orchestrated, Patil would later take Iron Mike's place as the camp's new leader, and would subsequently join with Deacon, Boozer, and the rest of the survivors to eliminate the Militia. After Deacon kills Skizzo, and with Sarah Whitaker killing Garret through hemlock poisoning, Iron Mike's death was finally avenged.
==Trivia==
*Iron Mike's signature weapon, "The Sheriff" revolver is his go-to weapon, and can be rewarded upon the main story completion.
*Iron Mike talks of surviving with a woman named Nora while strolling with Deacon in Sherman's Camp. She is never mentioned again, and their connection is left unclear.
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