Kent Swanson

## Evil-Doer

**Kent J. Swanson** is a minor antagonist encountered by the protagonist, **Frank West** in the action-adventure horror game *Dead Rising*.

He's a minor boss and psychopath that Frank West meets during the beginning of the game at the Willamette Mall. Kent seems to find unhealthy enjoyment in his photography which shows to be almost psychopathic, which is shown when he harasses Frank.

He is voiced by Marty Belafsky.

## In-Game:

He offered to model for Frank and challenged him to take better photos than the ones he took. If Frank failed to photograph Kent as he requested, he will fail this scoop and Kent will not be encountered again.

As per their agreement, Frank met up with Kent to deliver the pictures he took. Kent demanded to see Frank's most Erotic shot. After seeing Frank's photos, he challenged Frank to a final showdown the next day.

If Frank failed to show Kent a photo with an Erotica rating higher than  750 prestige points, he will fail this scoop and Kent will walk away, laughing, and will not be encountered again.

Kent returned at noon the next day with a survivor, Tad Hawthorne. He revealed that he had the idea of taking a photo the moment a person is zombified, and throws a zombie larva at Tad. Enraged‚ Frank quickly stomps on it, saving Tad and ruining Kent's shot. This prompted Kent to attack Frank in anger and disbelief.

If Frank failed to show up before 12:05 PM, Kent will reveal that he has already shot his desired photo, showing Frank a picture of Tad with a parasite crawling into his mouth. He then pointed his gun at Frank's head and stripped him of his clothes and weapons. After declaring that a photograph of Frank being killed will bring him to the top, Kent attacked Frank.

Regardless of whether Frank showed up before 12:05 PM or not, after he is defeated, Kent requested Frank to take a picture of him as he dies, saying "It'll look great on your mantle." Frank refused and tossed Kent's camera away in disgust as the fallen photographer dies.

Defeating Kent rewards Frank with a photography book, which respawns in front of Colombian Roastmasters in Paradise Plaza.

In *Chop Till You Drop*, Kent, alongside Cliff Hudson and Jo Slade, appear as special zombies instead. He can attack Frank with his jump kick, fire his handgun, or throw a grenade.

## Appearance:

Kent's a lanky, semi-tall, human male, with somewhat of a medium height and overall is a skinny person. He has light brown hair, a soul patch and blue eyes. He wears fingerless gloves, two camera's around his neck, a camera tripod on his back, an orange vest, a blue T-shirt, black shoes and green-ish tan shorts.

## Trivia:

* Kent's loading screens have a red filter similar to the other Psychopaths, foreshadowing his hostility.
* Zombie Kent can speak in *Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop*.
* It is possible to skip the Kent storyline entirely during the initial encounter with him. If the player managed to obtain the Shotgun from the Entrance Plaza during the prologue, it can be used to kill Kent with a single headshot. Once the player begins Kent's Photography Tutorial, this will no longer be possible, as Kent's defense will be increased dramatically.
* If Frank ignores Otis's call about Cut From the Same Cloth and never receives the scoop, after 8pm upon entering Colombian Roastmasters, Kent (with no health bar) will immediately scream and drop dead.
* Kent will still be registered as a psychopath if he is photographed or killed during Cut From the Same Cloth or Photo Challenge.
* If Frank is already in Paradise Plaza at noon on the second day, the scoop will still be triggered, as Kent will spawn out of nowhere and behave as he usually does. This makes "Photo Challenge" the only unannounced scoop that can be triggered without leaving the area where it takes place.
* Kent bears a resemblance to Larry Butz from Capcom's *Ace Attorney* series, as well as real-life infomercial pitchman Vince Offer, who in turn resembles the Scout from *Team Fortress 2.*
* However, unlike Larry, Kent is very competitive while Larry is a slacker.
* Kent is similar to *Dead Rising 2's* Leon Bell and *Dead Rising 3's* Kenny Dermot as he is in the same profession as the protagonist and all are convinced that they are superior to the protagonist. Also, both Kent and Kenny were met by the protagonists in side missions before their psychopath battle.
* As a friendly survivor, he, Snowflake, and Tomomi Miyamoto are the only survivors to have unique attacks, in his case, he will use his move set as a psychopath, such as his tackle and jump kick.
* Ironically, despite calling Frank an amateur, his appearance is evocative of somebody who does photography for fun instead of doing it as work.
* If Frank hits Kent he will say:
	+ "Knock that off, I am a pacifist."
	+ "Don't touch me! I'm a pacifist. You tryin' to kill me or something?",
	+ "Dammit! What's wrong with you!? Dick!",
	+ "Wrong, Wrong, Wrong! Take a picture, dammit!"
	+ Kent will then follow Frank or shoot at Frank until he hits him once.
* Players were initially intended to be able to use photos saved from previous playthroughs of 72 Hour Mode and Overtime Mode to suffice the requirements of Photo Challenge, thus saving the players some time in subsequent playthroughs. In the final version, Photo Challenge requires an Erotica photo taken that playthrough, and the player will fail Photo Challenge if their camera viewer is full with photos saved from previous playthroughs.
* It is possible that Kent is one of four survivors who escaped the Entrance Plaza breach alive, as Kent's photos of Dana Simms and Verlene Willis took place before Lindsay Harris spotted Madonna outside. The other four to make it out are Frank, Isabela Keyes, Cheryl Jones and Dr. Russell Barnaby.
* Bears a resemblance to actor Chris Owen, who is best known for playing Chuck "The Sherminator" Sherman in the American Pie Franchise.

## Gallery:

Kent, in the mission "Cut from the same Cloth".Kent's notebook photo.Kent taking a picture.Zombie Kent, as found in *Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop*.Kent's corpse, after his boss fight.Kent's notebook description.