The Smileys

HUNTERS

* Members
* Logo

“*Smileys are a loose throng of the insane, serial killers, psychotics, and sadists. They are truly twisted, and one of the most intense packs of hunters you'll face. The Smileys hunt wearing their trademark smiley masks, often splattered with the blood of previous victim or their own from self-mutilation rituals. They take perverse pleasure in the pain and torture they inflict upon others. Their dialogue ranges from demented animal noises to chanted nursery rhymes. Many Smileys talk to themselves or to imaginary friends... you may think one's calling you out, when all he's really doing is mumbling to himself.*”
―Official Strategy Guide
The **Smileys** are the fifth gang of hunters the player encounters in *Manhunt*.

## Background

Cut from the same cloth as James Earl Cash, the Smileys are the insane inmates of Darkwoods Penitentiary set loose by the machinations of Lionel Starkweather that he may use them for his latest snuff videos. Named after their off-putting smiley masks and facial paintings, the Smileys torture and murder their victims out of their irrational and inscrutable reasons and desires, making them all the more dangerous and nigh-unpredictable.

While idle, the Smileys' odd behavior includes acting like dogs, hitting their heads to force the voices away, and spontaneous laughter.

According to Valiant Video's Winter / Spring Catalogue, the Smileys are very good hunters. They are said to be better at hunting than even the Wardogs gang, are frighteningly intelligent (perhaps why they seem to be organized for a bunch of crazies, even having the mind to seal the tower's entrance by building a brick wall, having a strange guard routine, and sticking to the script), seem to communicate well despite speaking insanities, and move in and out of the shadows. But their most distinguished move is their post-mortem violence in which they catch their runner to relish in the act of carving flesh, scraping bones, gouging out organs, and splattering blood.

## Members

During the development stage, the Smileys used to have a leader before the idea was scrapped. His name was Kenneth Jesperson, the former head hunter of the Smileys who was stripped of his mask and rank by his own gang for being responsible for an incident known only as “The Piggsy Debacle” that could be related to the barring of his Smileys gang from the hunt for their gross disobedience. This backstory, along with almost everyone and everything tied to it, was scrapped from the final product.

***Notable Members***
* Mr. Bonez
* Smiley 2
* Fug
* Smiley 4
* Barry
* Party Host

## Apparel

Just like with most other gangs in the game, there are three Smileys models in the game files and three textures for each model. Some models may have varying heads.

His tattoos include the words “KILL” written all over his front torso, a tribal design on his right arm, and another tribal design on his back that has wings and horns, possibly an image of the devil.

Carved on his chest are the words “FILLED WITH HATE” that still pour with blood, which is juxtaposed by the peace symbol carved on his back.

## Relationships

### With Valiant Video and the manhunt

Along with the Innocentz gang, the Smileys are a recent casting done by snuff film director Lionel Starkweather for his latest productions. They have never participated in any of Starkweather's or Valiant Video's previous productions before their debut in the 4-star rated snuff film *Mouth of Madness*.

Like the rest of the gangs in his snuff film, Starkweather bailed the Smileys out so that they can take over the asylum as hunting grounds where Cash can murder them for the Director. The release of the Smileys may also be connected to the closing of their prison, possibly done to shut both the Smileys and Cash inside while keeping the snuff film shooting secret. Just like what he did to the other gangs, the Director compromised the positions and plans of the Smileys for Cash to exploit. They are the only group of hunters who actually impress Starkweather, but they are still below him as he sentences them all to die by his script.

### Enemies

Although long scrapped, the Smileys had a fierce rivalry with the Clowns. It is said that the Smileys were considered the superior group over the Clowns. Like the Smileys, they were supposed to be the final “in-hunt” gang because of them being the most high-ranked pack in the hunt and the exclusion of the Smileys from the hunt.

## History

### Events of Manhunt

The Smileys are first introduced in Mouth of Madness in what seems to be a video recording of them going insane in the decrepit confines of Darkwoods Penitentiary as an audio recording presenting the prison's “exceptional” facilities plays over the eerie footage that says otherwise. Meanwhile, Cash's body is dragged into the prison with a bag over his head by the Cerberus who drop him off and take the bag off before leaving him as he awakens. He is then briefed by the Director about the new Smiley gang and his usual script of killing hunters, but the Director has added a new objective that requires him to bring proof of the tower walkway Smiley's death to the Guard Room. Cash does so and goes to the next scene through a hole in the Guard Room floor.

Cash is Doing Time when the Director tells him to take some time in killing Smileys in a bunch of cell blocks using a Hammer and a Metal Bat. Successfully using both weapons to perform Violent and Gruesome kills, Cash is praised by the Director and instructed to head to the end of the cell block in the shower block where a “surprise” awaits him. He goes through many gun wielding Smileys (and perhaps acquires the Shotgun as a reward from the Director if he brought the tower walkway Smiley's head to the Guard Room) on his way there and leaves the decrepit cell blocks as he enters the showers where the Director ominously tells him to go down the rabbit hole.

In the next scene Kill the Rabbit, Cash meets the White Rabbit in a locker room. The Rabbit runs off as the Director tells him to play the role of a “big ugly Alice” in a sick and twisted version of *Alice in Wonderland* where he must follow the White Rabbit around the prison. He kills his way to the Rabbit until he reaches the workshop where he is left to die by the Rabbit who sics the remaining Smileys at him. As the Rabbit flees and the gate he went thru is shut, the Director acknowledges his performance before retiring him. However, he defies his second death and kills the last Smileys to go after the Rabbit, leaving their corpses to be found by the police in a news report in Deliverance.

## Scenes of Appearance

***Manhunt***
* Mouth of Madness
* Doing Time
* Kill the Rabbit
* Deliverance (Outro cutscene as corpses)

## Gallery

*Manhunt* executable icon.*Manhunt* PlayStation 2 save icon.

## Trivia

* The Smileys' name and smiley face theme were likely inspired by the real-life serial killer Keith Hunter Jesperson, who may have also inspired the name of their scrapped honcho Kenneth Jesperson. The former was also known as the “Happy Face Killer” for signing his written confessions of his murders to the media and police with smiley faces, similar to the tags written by the Smileys on the walls of Darkwoods Penitentiary.
* A Smiley mask is used as an icon for the game's executable.
	+ Additionally, a Smiley mask is used for the game's save icon in the PlayStation 2's memory card browser.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Journalist Interview Transcript
Journalist: *What about the mental health system? People are released without anyone signing the forms but somehow I ain't one of them coz no one wants me for some film! At least they didn't! Or worse, other people the system—your society—had looked after and was protecting us from? Well, it didn't protect me.*
“*The lunatics have taken over the asylum, Cash! The only way to reason with these gibbering idiots is with a stick and a gun! I want you to kill the hunter patrolling the tower walkway and bring his body to the Guard Room. There's a hunter in the next room, through the mesh door. Hack him up and I'll buzz open the next set of doors for you!*”
―The Director briefing Cash on the Smileys and his new script in Mouth of Madness

- ↑ Smileys' idle animations.

- ↑ 4.0 4.1
“*Some of these nutjobs have bricked themselves into the tower! You'll have to find a way to blast your way in!*”
―The Director telling Cash to breach the bricked up doorway of the tower

- ↑ 5.0 5.1
“*There are some more of these paranoid crazies guarding the door to the greenhouses. They see you and I guarantee they'll lock that door! When they feel safe they'll probably unlock the door again. They like their routine.*”
―The Director explaining the Smileys' strange game to Cash

- ↑
“*Who dat? Fug not playing this game...*”
―Fug when the player attempts to lure him without zapping the man in the room in Mouth of Madness

- ↑ “Signature Moves of Starkweather's Hunters: The Blank Canvas” section, p. 17

- ↑ Bonus Material: Scarecrow

- ↑ Starkweather Films Midnite Madness Specials: “Mouth of Madness”, p. 8

- ↑
“*A new meaning for death row! Get yourself up to that watch room!*”
―The Director on the fates of the Smiley horde in the cells

- ↑ The Director dialogue: *The lunatics I like! You: boring!*

- ↑ The Director dialogue: *A fitting place to bury these twisted fucks. Keep going, kid!*

- ↑ The Director dialogue: *Damn crazies could've done with your brand of therapy years ago!*

- ↑ The Director dialogue: *Don't hold back! These lunatics are a dime a dozen!*

- ↑ The Director dialogue: *I like your brand of care in the community! I really do!*

- ↑ The Director dialogue: *Just keep capping these crazies! They come out of the woodwork like thermites!*

- ↑ The Director dialogue: *That's it, Cash! Don't let a single nutjob back on the streets!*

- ↑ The Director dialogue: *This is the best kind of therapy money can buy!*

- ↑ The Director dialogue: *Do you realize just how much money you've saved the city's mental health department?*

- ↑ The Director dialogue: *You certainly cured this little collection of neurotics for good!*

- ↑ Bonus Material: The Clowns