Frank West (Dead Rising)

“I’ve covered wars, y’know.” - Frank’s signature line.Francis Algernon West, commonly known as Frank West, is a professional freelance photojournalist, whose story began when he was notified of a tip to the scoop of a lifetime that was in a small Colorado town known as Willamette, only to discover that the town was overrun by actual zombies, caused by a terrorist, a nightmare he survived, but was infected from it. He serves as the main protagonist of Dead Rising and Dead Rising 2: Off the Record Challenge Videos.
== Biography ==
Note: This biography follows information that is canon to the actual series that this character was based in. No non-canon information will be found here.
=== History ===
Francis “Frank” Algernon West was born around 1970 in an unknown U.S. state. He eventually grew up to learn more about photojournalism and decided to pursue a career in it. However, although he earned his pro skills, he was not initially recognized by his work. Frank worked in the journalism field for many years. On one fateful day in the year 2006, his life would change forever.
=== Willamette Incident of September, 2006 ===
About a few days prior, an outbreak of actual zombies was started in a small rural town of Willamette, Colorado. After receiving a tip, Frank hired a charter helicopter and a pilot named Ed DeLuca to fly him to the town. As they flew over the town, they witnessed the military quarantining the town and the onslaught of the zombies, but failed to understand it, initially believing it to be a riot of some sort, but could not decide on it. After getting some shots of the incidents happening in town, Frank requested to be flown over to the town’s main attraction: the Willamette Parkview Mall. Although the two were narrowly attacked by government helicopters due to them being in a no-fly zone, Frank jumped from the helicopter onto the mall’s helipad, allowing Ed to escape.
On the rooftop, Frank was greeted by a suspicious Latino man, who noted that he was a reporter and he was alone. Frank began asking what was happening in town, which the man responded by asking what he saw from the sky. Frank stated the obvious facts, which is that if it were just a riot or civil disobedience, it would not be so quiet, the military would not quarantine the entire area, and that the prevention of pertinent information about the situation getting out would not be so extreme. Frank then asked again what was happening, but the man only answered that he should see the situation for himself and stated that this place was now Hell, much to Frank’s confusion. Frank proceeded to enter the mall via the rooftop and security room. On the way in, Frank watched the monitors and witnessed a woman being dragged out of her car and devoured alive, much to his confusion. He entered the Entrance Plaza, where he noticed a Latina woman who looked similar to the man from the rooftop standing afar. However, before he could have walked towards her, he was stopped by a man, who revealed to him that they were trying to keep zombies at bay, much to Frank’s surprise at that fact. While Frank tried taking pictures, the man stopped him from doing so and ordered him to go and grab something for the front door barricade of the mall. Frank had no choice but to oblige. As he grabbed something, he noticed a peculiar old man behind the closed mall gate, who attempted to whack Frank with his cane, yelling and asking why he was summoned to the mall, much to Frank’s confusion. Before he could ask more questions, the old man walked away in anger. Frank then suddenly heard screaming down the plaza.
A woman discovered that her beloved dog was outside the front doors with the zombies, who paid no mind to it. Rather try to save it than to keep herself protected, the woman frantically removed the barricades and opened the doors, despite the bystanders attempting to stop her from doing so. As a result, all of the zombies rushed into the mall, now overrunning it and killing most of the survivors inside, save for Frank. As he witnessed the chaos, a man yelled from the second floor balcony, yelling for everyone to run to the stairs. Frank took the man’s advice and ran as fast as he could, dodging the zombies, to the stairs, where he ran back into the security room. There, he saw that only three people made it, with one of them being Otis Washington, the mall’s janitor. Otis then welded the room’s door shut to prevent the zombies from getting in. Meanwhile, the man from earlier decided to use the nearby vent to get back into the mall, despite Frank’s protests. The nearby woman took notice of Frank’s camera and deduced he was a photographer. The woman asked to look at his pictures, which he allowed. Frank then noted that the woman was intrigued by one of the photos of the old man he took in the entrance plaza. As she left, Frank asked who they were, which she revealed that her name was Jessie McCarney and the man he saw earlier was Brad Garrison. Frank decided to venture back into the mall, but not before being handed a transceiver and mall map by Otis. On the way into the mall, Frank nearly attacked Jessie due to him mistaking her as a zombie, accidentally spraining her ankle. Jessie revealed that she received word that Brad was being attacked in the Food Court. As a favor for accidentally spraining her ankle, Frank offered to take her gun and go help Brad, convincing her to do so by saying “I’ve covered wars you know.”
Frank rushed all the way to the Food Court plaza where Brad was attacked, and was nearly shot seconds after entering. Frank crawled to where Brad was and after creating a plan to combat the shooter, the two rushed him, who was revealed to be the same man Frank met on the rooftop. Overwhelmed, the man quickly fled by taking a rope up into the ceiling. Although Brad was grateful for Frank’s assistance, he declared that they will no longer be working together, but Frank, who wanted answers, showed him the picture of the old man that Jessie was intrigued at before, much to Brad’s curiosity and surprise. Frank offered to show him the picture if he agreed to their deal. Brad them confessed that he and Jessie are Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents, much to Frank’s surprise and realized that the man who attacked them may have been a terrorist. The two then teamed up to rush to the Entrance Plaza to talk with the old man, whose name was revealed to be Dr. Russell Barnaby, only to find that he locked himself in a book store, vowing to not come out unless they have a sure and safe way of evacuating the town. The two returned to the security room to get their bearings and plot out their next move. After some time, Brad went out and returned with supplies for the security room survivors, as well as the people that Frank found earlier.
Frank spent a good amount of time waiting for more pertinent scoops by saving more survivors and encountering psychopathic people who either lost their minds due to the outbreak or used the outbreak to their advantage. Frank did this for several hours until he returned to the security room, where the crew sat in the security room until Jessie witnessed on the camera that the same attacking man from earlier was dragging Barnaby from the book store. Knowing that Barnaby will get killed or taken away to disappear, Brad rushes back into the mall, with Frank following suit. The two reach the Entrance Plaza once again, only to be nearly sniped by the Latino man, with Frank narrowly saved by Brad. As Frank noticed Barnaby hanged over a large gathering of zombies, another zombie nearly attacked Frank, but was narrowly shot in the head, which splattered blood all over the two. The two then rushed and attacked the man until finally, Brad and the man faced off against each other in a small pistol duel, injuring each other, with Brad taking a bullet to the leg and the man, a bullet to the arm. Frank fired at the man and missed, but scared him off. Frank went to help Brad, but per his request, went to help Barnaby as well. Frank carried Barnaby back to the security room, with Brad following behind, despite being wounded. He was eventually laid to rest by Jessie, but some time later, she told Frank that Brad was running a fever due to the wound and needed medicine, but could find some inside a grocery store.
Frank rushed to Seon’s Grocery store inside the North Plaza, where he tried getting into the pharmacy, only to be confronted by the deranged store owner, who was holding the Latina woman hostage inside his weaponized cart and declared that he would not allow vandalism in his store. Frank was then forced to fight back inside the store. After a hard fight, Frank finally fatally wounded the man, who eventually fell dead due to his wounds. Although he saved the Latina woman, she shook him off aggressively and yelled that the whole outbreak was his fault, as well as one in a town called Santa Cabeza before storming off. After grabbing the medicine, Frank rushed back to the Security Room to administer the meds to a sleeping Brad. After some time, Jessie noted that he stabilized for the time being. After Jessie took notice of some blood on Frank, who noted that it may have been from the Latina woman and after mentioning Santa Cabeza, Jessie was interested, but the two are startled by the noises made by a now-awake Barnaby, who panicked about hearing the name and was paranoid. Jessie then promised to protect him as much as possible, but only if he tells them everything they needed to know. However, before Barnaby could tell, he was distracted by Frank taking more pictures. After being forced to leave, Frank decided to try and track down the Latina woman again. After some time of waiting, Frank spotted her on the monitor returning to Seon’s on a motorcycle. Frank rushed over, where he attempted to speak with her, only for her to mount her bike and attempted to run Frank down. Frank succeeded in knocking her off the bike and attempted to restrain her and get her to listen. Despite some difficulty, he finally got her to stay and listen. Frank then asked her about the deal with Santa Cabeza, which the woman responded that he must talk to Carlito, who was the man who shot at him and Brad. The woman offered to bring Carlito to Frank if he waited for her around midnight, while also introducing herself as Isabela Keyes.
After some hours of waiting, Frank waited in one of the North Plaza stores until Isabela suddenly fell into a door and was attacked by a zombie. After saving her, Frank checked on her to see if she was bit, only for her to reveal that Carlito, who was bitter and now more paranoid about his situation, accidentally shot her in the arm, presumably in a panic or rage. Isabela then passed out due to her wound, prompting Frank to carry her to the Security Room, where Brad and Jessie are curious about the woman. He then explained that her brother, Carlito, was the one behind the outbreak. They decided to wait until she woke back up again to figure out what was going on.
After some hours of waiting, Isabela woke up again and she recovered. Brad then interrogated her with Frank in attendance. She then revealed the reason why Carlito started the outbreak - to punish Americans for destroying their hometown, Santa Cabeza, and teach the U.S. government a lesson, while also angrily suggesting for them to ask more from the head of research in Santa Cabeza - Dr. Barnaby. Just a moment after saying this, they heard loud banging noises coming from the room adjacent to the security room, and after moments, Jessie tumbled out of the room while being tackled by Barnaby himself. He then showed his face and eyes to Isabela, who worriedly alerted them that he was turning. As Barnaby attempted to bite Jessie, Frank kicked him off. Although Barnaby was turning, he still had humanity left in his mind. After coming to the realization that he was turning, he continued to claim his innocence in the Santa Cabeza incident, but revealed that wasps now carry the zombie parasite, and that it was the result of a failed attempt at mass-producing cattle. Frank then watched as Barnaby finally convulsed on the ground and died, soon to reanimate. Isabela further continued on in sadness about her town and how the wasps led to everyone's infection. Just as she finished her grief, Brad ordered Frank to move as he shot the reanimated Barnaby before he could bite anyone else. Isabela then requested for her to check Jessie for any signs of infection, which Brad was hesitant at first, but after realizing that she had defected to their side and may know more about Carlito's plans, which could smooth over their own plans, he agreed.
After some time, Carlito got back onto the loudspeaker while Frank and the rest of the Security Room survivors listened in. He then announced that he has decided to go to his "last resort" and "end it all." When Brad asked her what he meant, she revealed that Carlito intended to blow up the mall if he were cornered or compromised. She then explained that he had set up gas canisters underground in the parking lot, and rigged bombs for them to set off, while filling the underground tunnels with enough gas to set the entire mall ablaze, allowing the parasite to enter the stratosphere, spreading the parasite across all of America, and killing everyone inside the mall. After she proposed for them to collect the bombs while the gas concentration was still low, Brad quickly left while ordering Frank to help him.
With time running out until certain death, Frank rushed through the parking lot underground collecting all of the bombs from parked trucks that Carlito set up, nearly being ran over by Carlito himself with a truck. He was able to tip over the truck, prompting Carlito to fire back at Frank. Brad arrived in time to force Carlito into fleeing, then pursued him further into the tunnels after instructing Frank to get the bombs outside away from the gas.
Frank was able to collect all of the bombs, but did not have much time to reach the entrance before the charges would go off. Luckily, he discovered a shopping cart nearby, enabling him to push the bombs with the cart outside quick enough to not only stop the bombs from igniting the gas, but also to survive the explosion. After successfully planting the bombs just far enough away from the garage, Frank ran from the bombs, being nearly caught in the explosion and blown back by the blast, but surviving with minimal injuries. He was then instructed to report back to the Security Room, but he decided to return to the parking lot to find Brad.
After some time searching, Frank found Brad's discarded flashlight and called out for him, which he answered back with Frank's name, but with a pained and weak tone. Frank found Brad bloodied, but was initially unable to see him properly due to the tunnels being dark. Brad ordered him to stay back away from him for his own good, but Frank continuously got closer to help him. When he got close enough to shine enough light on him, he was shocked to see that Brad himself was disemboweled and half-eaten by zombies due to his earlier fight with Carlito having left him surrounded by zombies in the tunnels while Frank was disposing of the bombs. Brad then somberly said that he was already dead as his wounds no longer even hurt a little. He then requested for Frank to not tell Jessie about his death. As he was about to succumb to his wounds and die, he slid Frank his gun and moved to the side slightly to allow Frank to pick it up. In an act of mercy, Frank put Brad down and left his body in the tunnel.
=== Before Las Vegas Outbreak of September, 2008 ===
=== Las Vegas Outbreak of September, 2008 ===
Frank was not a major part of the Las Vegas Outbreak at the time of the incident. However, he had decided to team up with Rebecca Chang to find out more about the zombie outbreak, even further investigating Phenotrans.
=== Fortune City Outbreak of September, 2011 ===
Frank was absent throughout the entire Fortune City, Nevada outbreak of September, 2011, but he arrived hours after the military had rescued everybody from the Fortune City Emergency Shelter.
Upon arriving via his own helicopter on the rooftop of the Fortune City Emergency Shelter, he called the elevator, but it opened to see Chuck Greene, the framed criminal of the outbreak, struggling with a zombified Tyrone "T.K." King to avoid being killed. Frank quickly bashed T.K. in the head with his bat, putting him down once and for all, remarking that he never did like his show. As he helped Chuck up, he shoved him down when he recognized his face, saying that he was the one all over the TV. As Chuck further denied and claimed his innocence, Frank announced that he has a bounty on his head and vigilantes were out for him. This angered Chuck to the point where he grabbed his collar, menacingly asking if that was the reason that he came to the city, in which he calmly responded that he did not believe everything he saw on TV, calming Chuck down and letting go of his collar. Chuck further added that it was Phenotrans who killed thousands in Las Vegas and Fortune City, including his wife and Rebecca Chang, which shocked Frank upon realization and confirmation of the fact from Chuck that Rebecca had died due to an agent, Raymond Sullivan, shooting her. After Chuck noticed another helicopter, possibly belonging to Phenotrans to collect any remaining evidence left behind in the city, he decided to return to the city and find more evidence to clear his name, but Frank stopped him from going any further, announcing that the military was about to level the city with the bombing any second. He then revealed that he was about to investigate a Phenotrans facility just west of the city, although he had no idea about what kind of facility as he was about to find out with Rebecca before her untimely demise. He allowed Chuck to accompany him, but warned that he will do something if he found out that Chuck had any involvement, causing Chuck to further insult him out of frustration by mentioning him doing this to get back in the limelight. Frank corrected that there was a lot more to it for him and formally introduced his name to him.
=== Phenotrans Facility Outbreak and Conspiracy, 2011 ===
Frank and Chuck arrived at the facility, just outside of Fortune City’s limits.
=== Los Perdidos Outbreak of 2021 ===
Frank was not present, nor involved with the Los Perdidos, California outbreak of 2021, but some information was presented about him in a museum, detailing his experience in Willamette and that he works and lives in Denver, Colorado as a photographer tutor.
=== Investigating a Shady Compound in Willamette, 2021 ===
Around September, a few months after the Los Perdidos Outbreak, Frank, now cured, who worked as a photographic teacher, was tricked by his pupil, Vick Chu, into investigating a shady and illegal research compound near Willamette, despite the fact that Frank vowed to never return to Willamette.
=== The Second Willamette Outbreak of January, 2022 ===
TBA
=== Becoming a Zombie and Curing ===
After Frank’s sacrifice, he was devoured to the point where his body was reanimated by a wasp. He spent some time devouring some humans, only to be shot by Hammond, who was horrified to see what Frank had become. However, before Frank could attack her, he was knocked unconscious by Blackburne. Frank eventually came to to discover that he has control over his own body now, but still appeared to be a zombie. Hammond requested for Blackburne to put Frank down, despite the scientist attempting to convince her that Frank was still alive and her treatment for him to return his human mindset and habits had worked.
== Appearance ==
=== Physical ===
Frank has a light to pale complexion and brown hair, with an average build. On every outfit he wore, he always had a camera with him, usually on his chest, hanging from his neck.
By 2006, Frank looked like an average joe, with a slicked up hairstyle and a clean shaven face. He is considered somewhat ugly by some characters, notably Jessica McCarney in a playful manner.
By 2011, Frank was shown to have aged considerably, showing some wrinkles and no longer having the younger face he once had. His hair also changed in appearance, now more disheveled, presumably due to growing some bald spots while also having grown a stubble. It is noted that he used to have muscle in Off the Record, but this is most likely untrue in Case West.
By 2021-22, Frank no longer looked to have aged a bit, but has a five-o clock shadow stubble. He has also appeared to have gotten somewhat stronger, despite being in his 50's.
=== Clothing ===
* In 2006, Frank wore a black leather jacket with a white dress undershirt, olive slacks, and brown moccasins. He also carried a camera on him at all times. Although his outfit was subject to change, his camera would be the only thing that stayed the same.
* In 2011, Frank began to wear a casual black suit with a white dress shirt and no tie. He still carries his camera, but sports sunglasses as his accessory now.
* In 2022, Frank decided to wear a green winter jacket with a harness, blue jeans, and brown work boots, with his camera no longer hanging around his neck, but now is wrapped on his leg and holstered.
== Personality ==
Frank’s personality changed over time from every event he was part of.
Around 2006, Frank was cocky, believing that he would become world-class famous due to his work. He was also somewhat of a pestilence, as he pressed into people on giving up secrets. However, he was equally horrified upon seeing the horrors of the zombie outbreak in Willamette, but he quickly grew accustomed to his surroundings, showing his capability of adapting to harsh situations, as he suggested with his famous line, "I've covered wars, you know." Despite these negative traits, Frank was not overly stupid as he used his own wits and determination as well as his ability to adapt to his situations and he grows close to those he trusts. When Frank developed a partnership with Brad, at first he acted more of a pest towards Brad as he was withholding information from him, but he was willing to heal Brad when he got shot by Carlito, and when he watched him die, Frank was deeply saddened and would rather suppress any memory of it to avoid it getting to him. He also shows anger to those who harmed innocent people for their own gain, as shown when he confronted Brock and expressed his distaste for the government harming the people of Santa Cabeza and even punched Brock in the face in an act of retribution.
By 2011, he became more serious around Chuck, but still had confidence and determination in his actions, even if they are questionable. Although his confidence was right, it put himself and Chuck in harm’s way. He also kept calm about most of the situations they were in, at least in comparison to Chuck, who was hasty and wanted answers and evidence about his innocence. When Frank found out that Phenotrans kidnapped innocent people, such as the homeless, and turned them into zombies to develop the drug Zombrex, he developed an immense amount of anger and guilt over the fact that he was using Zombrex to keep himself from turning into a zombie, showing that although Frank still wanted his story, he cared quite a bit about human life.
By 2021-22, Frank’s personality changed dramatically from an overly confident man with some outgoing personality to a cynical, humorous, and often selfish personality, where he often became cynical due to his tragic past with zombie outbreaks, often tried to spice things up with humor to make it more interesting, and was selfish in nature as he did not fully care about the wellbeing of others, nor about the fact that people suffered due to the zombie outbreak in Willamette. However, he saw the error in his ways in the end and admitted to Vick that he was wrong and would’ve deserved a non-fatal bullet wound from her and although, Frank gave up his cynical and selfish ways, especially when it came to sacrificing himself for Vick and Brad, and keeping Hammond and her group alive, even as a half-man, half-zombie, he still kept his constant humor, much to everyone’s frustration.
It is noted that Frank's personality slightly changes or shifts every time he is forced to take a human life, such as the example of his first ever human kill, Steven Chapman. He was mostly calm due to the fact that he did what he had to do and he needed to survive. However, in some other kills, he displayed both guilt and justification. For examples, when he was forced to kill Cliff Hudson, he felt immense guilt when Cliff came to his senses and revealed to him that he snapped when he watched his granddaughter die, and when he died, he closed his eyes out of respect and took his bloodied wallet that contained a photo of his family, presumably out of respect as well as to deliver a message to his loved ones. However, there can be a vast difference. For example, when he killed Kent, he did not show much remorse, mostly due to the fact that Kent was going to insane lengths to prove that he was the best photographer, as well as the fact that he was about to infect an innocent man with a zombie parasite and kill him. When he killed Brock, he temporarily lost control of his emotions and mental capability and screamed out in anguish.
== Killed Victims ==
* Steven Chapman
* Cletus Samson (Indirectly Caused)
* Kent Swanson
* Sam Franklin
* Reginald Jenkins
* Miguel Sanchez
* Jo Slade
* Adam MacIntyre (Caused)
* Cliff Hudson
* Roger Hall
* Jack Hall
* Thomas Hall
* Sean Keanan (Indirectly Caused)
* Larry Chiang
* Brock Mason
* Harjit Singh (Alongside Chuck Greene)
* Sandra
* Captain Black Fridaybeard
* Tom Pickton
* James Cabellero
* Grim Gobbler
* Sadistic Claus
* Scare King
* Cult Leader
* Sibyle
* Calder
* Himself (Sacrifice; Revived)
=== Non-Canon ===
Note: These killed victims only occur in Off the Record, which is non-canon to the true Dead Rising timeline.
* Amber Bailey (Indirectly Caused or Direct)
* Crystal Bailey (Indirectly Caused or Direct)
* Evan MacIntyre
* Antoine Thomas
* Seymour Redding (Caused)
* Brent "Slappy" Earnst
* Randall "Randy" Tugman (Indirectly Caused)
* Earl Flaherty
* Deetz Hartman
* Derrick Duggan
* Johnny James
* Carl Schliff
* Theodore "Ted" Smith
* Reed Wallbeck (Caused)
* Roger Withers
* Brandon Whittaker
* Pearce Stephens
* Mark Bradson
* Stacey Forsythe
* Tyrone "T.K.' King
== Relationships ==
=== Isabela Keyes ===
=== Brad Garrison ===
=== Jessica McCarney ===
=== Rebecca Cheng ===
Frank and Rebecca worked together to cover some of the Las Vegas Incident to give Cheng some popularity. The two began a partnership until 2011, where Rebecca ventured into Fortune City alone. After Frank heard of Rebecca’s death at the hands of Raymond Sullivan by Chuck, he was devastated by her demise.
=== Chuck Greene ===
=== Vick Chu ===
=== Brad Park ===
=== Kylie Hammond ===
=== Dr. Blackburne ===
== Gallery ==
== Trivia ==
* Frank has the highest kill count out of all of the protagonists in the Dead Rising series, with a total count of 23 known direct kills and 3 indirect/caused kills overall throughout the series, excluding the non-canon murders in Dead Rising 2: Off the Record. Chuck Greene is behind him with 21 direct kills, and Nick Ramos being third with four direct kills.
** However, Chuck has the most amount of indirect kills with a total amount of nine.
** Furthermore, Chuck has the most amount of direct kills in a single game,
* Frank is one of four protagonists who died in the series, the others being Hunter Thibodeaux, Angel Quijano, and Adam Kane.
** However, unlike the other three, Frank was revived and therefore, his permanent death was averted.
* Frank is one of the four protagonists who became infected at some point in their lives, the others being Nick Ramos, Angel Quijano, and Brad Park.
** However, Frank and Brad were cured thanks to Nick's blood, which was immune to the virus. However, Angel died before she was cured.
** During gameplay, Chuck can get bitten, however this is not canon and is simply a gameplay element.
* Although the most popular protagonist and has the most amount of games where he is playable, Frank is the second-most appearing protagonist in the series behind Chuck Greene.
** He is absent in Dead Rising 2: Case Zero, Dead Rising 2, Dead Rising: Endgame, and Dead Rising 3. His only known presence in any of these games or media is mentions or photographs.
* Frank's signature weapon is a baseball bat.
* Frank's appearance makes slight overhauls in each of the games he appears in, appearing much younger like he was in his early 30's in Dead Rising, then appearing to be in his late 40's in Dead Rising 2, and then appearing to be in his late 30's to early 40's in Dead Rising 4.
* Strangely enough, Frank had decided to settle and live in Colorado, despite Willamette happening there. His reasoning for this is unknown, but he was clearly not set on returning to Willamette, despite the town being relatively safe again, due to his PTSD.
* Coincidentally, Frank worked with two men who were named Brad in Willamette - Brad Garrison and Brad Park. However, Brad Garrison died in Willamette in 2006 from being eaten alive by zombies and succumbing to his wounds moments after, while Brad Park survived his respective Willamette incident.