John West

Inspector **John West**, also known as the Policeman, is a major character appearing in *Party Hard* and *Party Hard 2*.

## *Party Hard*

John was a detective and criminal investigator for the San Francisco police department, who was the commanding officer in the investigation of the Party Hard killings of 2000. The case quickly became personal when it was discovered that his daughter Katie had attended one of the parties and presumed to be amongst the casualties, with John later recalling "the blood dripping down the bathroom tiles, [and] the body was unidentifiable". As such, he became became dead-set on capturing the Party Hard Killer himself, working nonstop towards tracking him down during his spree.

In the cutscenes, while John is questioning Darius, and vice versa, he explains his side of the story. It was revealed halfway through the investigation that Katie had actually survived and been following the Party Hard Killer's progress, eventually meeting him face to face in Miami after he brought about the end of a Boat Party. This twist only led to John becoming more driven in tracking down the Party Hard Killer, as he had correctly concluded that she was trying to follow his footsteps and kill alongside him. John was able to catch the killer in rural Kansas, but was too late: the Party Hard Killer was cradling her freshly decapitated body by this point. It was only due to his principled nature as keeper of the law that he did not fire on the man who took away his daughter twice, instead taking him into custody. To his misfortune, a blinding light led to the police car crashing, allowing the Party Hard Killer to escape.

John only briefly touches on Katie's motivation to join her would-be killer, with Darius stating that "she had always been a disturbed child" and that it had been the perfect opportunity for her to "escape an abusive father", to which John provides no denial nor confirmation, only cursing Darius for bringing up the subject.

In the end, it is revealed that John and Darius were the same, with John suffering from a dissociative personality disorder. Not only that, his alter ego was the "true name" of the Party Hard Killer, meaning he had not only commited the killings he was supposedly investigating, but was also guilty of the filicide of his own daughter. John's "interrogation" of Darius was an internal struggle for power over his actions, which Darius ultimately won. Now at the end of his wits, John puts his mask back on, as well as his policeman's cap and heads back home.

## *Party Hard 2*

Over ten years after the events of *Party Hard*, the Party Hard Killer reemerges and goes on another murder spree. The climax however reveals that this time, the killer is a former pharmaceutical plant worker named Evan Thrace, who also believes himself to be Darius. Evan's girlfriend Marena contacts John, now a homeless drifter, to reveal the truth to Evan, also discovering that John's Darius persona was caused by a prescription of Rhino, a powerful, unlicensed anti-depressant/opioid by his then-therapist Dr. McBride, who also counselled Evan with the same drug prescription. John is now largely back to normal, although now in a deep state of sorrow and regret for the loss of "someone very special", referring to Katie. Though he can't make amends with his own past, John inspires Evan to directly seek out Dr. McBride and make her pay for ruining the lives of her patients.