The Hoods

HUNTERS

“*The Hoods are a mixed bag of off-duty cops and local thugs. They partake in the hunt largely for the financial gain rather than the vicious brutality enjoyed by the other hunters. The Hoods are unruly for the most part; they are noisy and impulsive. They suffer from a lack of concentration during the hunt, treating it like weekend deer hunting. The Hoods dress in dark, non-descript street clothes and wear an assortment of balaclavas and ski masks.*”
―Official Strategy Guide
**The Hoods** are a hunter gang in *Manhunt*. They are the first gang the player encounters in the game.

## Background

The Hoods are a local gang composed of thugs with average Joe backgrounds, their sole territory being the decrepit Carcer Mark neighborhoods. They are presumably named after the variety of hoods they wear: executioner hoods, balaclavas, ski masks, and tied-up rubber bags. These thugs are just as violent as the other gangs who participated in Starkweather's snuff films, but they are mainly motivated to participate in the manhunt by the bounty on the runner rather than the pleasures in taking and harming a life that the rest of the gangs are motivated by, although they still enjoy the manhunt's prospects of violence nevertheless, such as human trophies and the thrill of the kill.

There's a common misconception about the Hoods being off duty policemen. It seems to have originated from the official *Manhunt Strategy Guide*. However, there's nothing in the game, or any of its related material that even implies that the Hoods have backgrounds in the police department, not to mention that the Hoods are willing to attack any police officers for their clients, which contradicts with the Hoods being cops since they'd never attack each other with no existing tensions in the gang.

According to Valiant Video's Winter / Spring Catalogue, the Hoods offer services as hitmen. They also have tags around Carcer City to define their turfs.

## Members

Names like Vince, Duke, Zed, Doug, Mike and Carl are said by the Hoods to refer to each other. It's unknown which among them do these names belong to.

The Hoods are composed of Americans that include those who sound like they're from New York or New Jersey and some African-Americans, based on the models.

## Apparel

Just like with most other gangs in the game, there are three Hoods models in the game files and three textures for each model.

The texture is found in a *Manhunt 2* episode, Ritual Cleansing. The "F" in the file name means "fat", meaning that the Hood member is an obese.

## Relationships

### With Valiant Video and the manhunt

Before the events of *Manhunt*, the Hoods starred in *The Hoods Take Carcer*, a 5 star rated snuff film from Valiant Video Enterprises. This gang has also participated in some of Starkweather's manhunts before Cash's time.

Snuff film director Lionel Starkweather hired the unfortunate Hoods as the first group of hunters that his brand new leading star James Earl Cash must snuff for the Director's pleasure. He set up multiple specific Hoods to die to Cash (or at least compromise them), plus it is implied he purposely made the Hoods underequipped and even underprepared (such as not supplying them with flashlights or dogs to help them find Cash) for the manhunt. To make matters worse for the Hoods, the Director manipulated and exploited the circumstances (filming at night, hiring hungover and sleepy Hoods to his hunt, etc.) to make Cash's debut much easier. He has a poor opinion on all of the snuff film's hunters, including the Hoods whom he calls a bunch of “shitheads” and “low-life cowards” while directing Cash.

Apparently, they were told that the manhunt for Cash was just a game, a kind of blood sport. They reveal this to Cash as an excuse for him to not take it seriously whenever he is causing them real danger or trouble. The manhunt's runner, James Earl Cash, had a bounty of an unknown amount of dollars on his head. Whatever his price was, it was enough to draw the interest of the Hoods to participate in hunting him down.

While idle and oblivious to Cash, one of the Hoods mentions the Director telling him that he is being “carried” by an unknown entity, perhaps Valiant Video Enterprises.

One of the Hoods and, by extension, his fellow Hoods are sponsors of Valiant Video Enterprises. These hoods offer their services to anyone who needs their target hospitalized and perhaps even killed in a brutal gang beating, from old teachers that still annoy their client to pesky law-abiding cops.

As one of the wielders of the Wooden Bat, individual members of the Hoods must've signed their bats to be sold by Valiant Video to their members only.

### Enemies

Remnants of their rivalry with the Innocentz can be found in the scene View of Innocence where a dead Hood can be found sitting on a toilet (in the bathrooms where the gun wielding Innocent jumps out of after Cash restores the power) with his head blown off, presumably done by said Innocent lurking in there.

## History

### Prior to Manhunt

At some point prior to 1992, the Hoods had some influence in San Andreas, particularly in the city of Las Venturas, as evidenced by wanted posters of Hoods (along with Cash) appearing in the Las Venturas police department. They do not physically appear in the game, suggesting that what little territory they once held was lost.

### Events of Manhunt

The Hoods are the first gang Cash encounters in his debut scene, Born Again. He faces these men throughout Carcer City Mark and he is told little about them by the Director, who tells him that they're nothing but “meat” for him. From Carcer Mark Shopping Mall, to Carcer City Library, many corpses of the Hoods lie strewn at Cash's wake―their final moments well recorded for the Director's snuff film―as he makes his way to the next scene.

## Scenes of Appearance

Tied with the Wardogs, the Hoods have the second most appearances in *Manhunt* when counting ‘cameos’ and bonus scenes, only edged out by the Cerberus when counting cutscenes.

***Manhunt***
* Born Again
* Doorway Into Hell
* Road to Ruin
* View of Innocence (Cameo, a headless corpse of a Hood is in the bathroom where a jumpscare Innocent leaps out of)
* Hard as Nails
* Brawl Game
* Time 2 Die

## Gallery

### Screenshots

Two Hoods chasing Cash in the Carcer Mark Mall.Three Hoods in the Hoods Warehouse.A Hood patrolling the derelict alleyways of Carcer Mark.A Hood patrolling a street in Carcer Mark.Cash carrying a dead Hood.
## Trivia

* The Hoods are named after the word “hoodlum” which refers to a gangster or a thug. Said word may be shortened to just “hood” which has the same meaning.
* The beta Hoods have quite a few visual differences from the release versions, this is an incomplete list of them:
	+ *HodB1C* is missing smaller details on his coat.
	+ *HodM1A* has a more readable white "H" on his hood instead of "HATE", less coat strapping and lower res textures.
	+ *HodM1B* has less rivets on his hood as well a more bondage/DIY stitch line where he now has a "X", and lower res textures.
	+ *HodM1C* has a less detailed mask, less readable coat markings, less strapping and lower res textures.
* *HODB1B* and *HODC1C* have "Furys" written on their jacket and sweatshirt respectively - a possible reference to the Baseball Furies in the 1979 action film *The Warriors*.
* A member of the Hoods is featured on the background of *Manhunt*’s main menu. He wields a weapon resembling a short sword that's not found in the game.
* Although the Hoods are not actually off-duty cops, they do share similarities with the CCPD, which may have led to the creation of this misconception:
	+ Both the Blackjack and the Nightstick, weapons wielded by the Hoods and the CCPD respectively, use the same execution animations.
	+ Relatively, the Hoods and the CCPD have normal backgrounds. They have no perverse cultures in their normal lives (unlike the Skinz who are white supremacists, the Wardogs being poachers of men and animals alike, the Innocentz being a mixture of many repulsive people in society, and the Smileys being mentally ill), and some of their members have families that may have children.
	+ Hood 2 and SWAT officer Alpha mention a “Finnegan” entity. Hood 2 implies his gang is associated with it, while Alpha implies that Finnegan is a bar.
	+ Both the Hoods and the CCPD have a member named “Mike” among them.
* Mugshots of some Hoods (alongside Cash's mugshots) can be found in bulletins in the Las Venturas Police Headquarters. Besides being references to *Manhunt* in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, it might imply that the Hoods are also wanted outside of Carcer City.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Special Services for Hire: Hood" section, p. 21
2. ↑ "The Hunters" section, p. 06
3. ↑ Hood 1 dialogue: *Hey, Vince! You see him your side?*
4. ↑ Hood 1 dialogue: *That you, Vince?*
5. ↑ The Crusher dialogue: *Duke? That you?*
6. ↑ Hood 4 dialogue: *Eh, Duke's an asshole, man. You should see how he treats his woman.*
7. ↑ Hood 5 dialogue: *Duke, he's over here!*
8. ↑ Hood 5 dialogue: *Aw, jeez! Duke! Duke, he's over here!*
9. ↑ Hood 6 dialogue: *Zed, I got him! Zed!*
10. ↑ Hood 5 dialogue: *If that's Doug screwing around, I swear he'll get more than a few words from me.*
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 The Crusher dialogue: *Just gonna start swingin' and ask questions later. So if that's you, Mike...*
12. ↑ Hood 6 dialogue: *Oh Carl, man! I told you to watch this guy! Shit!*
13. ↑ "SALE!!!" section, p. 7
14. ↑ Hood 5 dialogue: *Uhh, this is my fourth hunt! It's weird at first, but you'll get used to it.*
15. ↑ Hood 6 dialogue: *Oh, it was like this the last time around. One quick glimpse of the prick, then not another thing all night!*
16. ↑ The Director dialogue: *I'll be frank with you, we set that chump up to see if you had what it takes to be our leading man. A little audition, if you will. Heh heh.*
17. ↑ The Director dialogue: *From here on in we're gonna need some fighting skills to get through the action. We're talking toe-to-toe. I know you've got the balls, so just give me the best you've got and you'll deal with this pussy, no problem. The gate will open once I'm done filming here.*
18. ↑ The Director dialogue: *These guys call themselves 'The Hoods', but none of that should bother you. As far as you're concerned, they're meat. Ok, on you go...*
19. ↑ The Director dialogue: *Ok, this is what I like to call a 'set up'. This guy will fight dirty, but once you're through with him, I'll open the next door.*
20. ↑ The Director dialogue: *Now just take your time, Cash, I see a few Hoods around these vans. Sorry, I should explain.*
21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 The Director dialogue: *Ok, there are some more of these shitheads hanging around the exit. Give me some grade-A honest-to-god gore and you'll be buzzed through the door.*
22. ↑ The Director dialogue: *There's a Hood upstairs. Make some noise―hit something―that should get his attention!*
23. ↑ Hood 2 dialogue: *I'd pay a hundred dollars for a flashlight right now! Eh, screw it.*
24. ↑ Hood 6 dialogue: *This ain't fair! We should bring a bloodhound next time!*
25. ↑ Hood 6 dialogue: *If I brought my hound, he wouldn't have given us the slip like this.*
26. ↑ Hood 1 dialogue: *How are we supposed to find this bastard at night, huh?*
27. ↑ The Director dialogue: *We need this in the can by sun-up!*
28. ↑ The Director dialogue: *Sun-up's approaching. Get on with it!*
29. ↑ The Director dialogue: *Come dawn, there won't be any shadows, so get busy.*
30. ↑ Hood 1 dialogue: *Still hungover...think I'm gonna puke.*
31. ↑ Hood 4 dialogue: *(yawns) Didn't get a wink last night. Too excited. The smell of the hunt, you know?*
32. ↑ The Director dialogue: *Fucking low-life cowards...Do me a favor, kill every last one of them!*
33. ↑ Hood 1 dialogue: *Hey! Hey! It's just a game, right? Okay, hombre?*
34. ↑ Hood 2 dialogue: *This is a game, man! I—It's just a game!*
35. ↑ Hood 6 dialogue: *It's just a game, man. Don't put yourself through this shit. Show yourself!*
36. ↑ The Crusher dialogue: *I'm gonna get this asshole and claim the bounty. Buy me a new car.*
37. ↑ Hood 5 dialogue: *I'll get the bounty on this freak. That'll shut him up.*
38. ↑ Hood 6 dialogue: *What does he mean “we've all been carrying you”?*
39. ↑ Offical Hunter Weapons - Melee Weapons: Wooden Bat section, p.11
40. ↑ Dead Hood in View of Innocence
41. ↑ Hood 2 dialogue: *Oh no. He got one of the Finnegan boys!*
42. ↑ Alpha dialogue: *Bag this guy in the next twenty minutes then it's down to catch the happy hour at Finnegan's.*
43. ↑ Cop 4 dialogue: *Let's bore him to death! Mike, what'd you do last weekend? Ha ha ha!*