The Wardogs

HUNTERS

* Members
* Logo

“*Based in the neglected Carcer City Zoo, the Wardogs are the most dangerous and efficient killers on Starkweather's payroll. They consist of ex-military Special Forces and obsessive hunters for hire. A few members stay true to their military backgrounds and often communicate in Special Forces code-phrases, but others lack actual knowledge, so they improvise. They are experts in both tactics and weaponry. Their preferred tactics are ambushes, baiting and luring, and full-on frontal assaults. Despite their training, their animal instincts sometimes take over while pursuing prey, and they become noisy and highly excitable. "Take No Prisoners" is their motto, and they hunt their prey with a viciousness matched by none.*”
―Official Strategy Guide
The **Wardogs** (sometimes shortened to **Dogs**) are the third gang of hunters the player encounters in *Manhunt*.

## Background

Led by Ramirez, the Wardogs are a criminal paramilitary gang primarily consisting of wannabe soldiers and alleged army veterans, with one of them claiming to be an ex-Navy Seal. A number of these Wardogs imply that they're also poachers when they equate their experience in the manhunt as a safari. They're referred to as alleged soldiers and faux war veterans because the Director lets in on Cash that none of them have ever participated in the Vietnam War. Regardless, they are organized like an actual army; often communicating in military slang and acronyms, using organized tactics, as well as having military protocol, such as ranks and salutes.

According to Valiant Video's Winter / Spring Catalogue, the Wardogs are known to stalk their prey in organized packs. One camouflaged Wardog lies in wait, armed with a tranq rifle, looking for any signs of their runner. When the runner crosses his sights, he hits them with a well-placed shot that incapacitates them with its dosage of an immobilizing drug. Debilitated, the runner attempts to flee, but several other Wardogs who were also anticipating their prey pounce from their hiding spots and surround this poor sap for a grisly death before skinning them for meat to be smoked and salted by “Grandma”. The catalogue also shows one of them providing bodyguard services.

Valiant Video's Winter / Spring Catalogue also describes the way the Wardogs treat their runners. It's stated they do their animal poaching ways to human prey, much like what they do to any animals. This includes harvesting their kills for meat to be salted and smoked by “Grandma” rather than stuff them like a turkey (though one of them does this method, despite the section about the Wardogs saying that human prey is ‘not quite big enough to stuff’), which implies that they might be cannibal poachers as part of this gang's survivalist lifestyle. This might explain the headless bodies hung in one of the rooms of the Wardogs' apartment base.

## Members

The Wardogs are composed of sadistic Southerners and African-Americans who are poachers and wannabe soldiers with alleged military careers. Their Vietnam War and army motif combined with their Southerner identity means they hate communists, non-soldiers (including civilians and draft dodgers), and low rank soldiers, besides the typical weaklings and cowards typically hated by most hunters. Even if they aren't any of these sorts of people, the gang still use these as insults to anyone they hate.

## Apparel

The Wardogs only have a total of eight models for them, unlike most gangs who have nine. There are three models and three textures for the first group of Wardogs wearing masks and caps, three models and textures for the second group of Wardogs wearing bandanas, and only two models and textures for the ghillie suit Wardogs. It is possible that Ramirez is meant to be the ninth model for the Wardogs.

**Hunters who use this skin:** Wardog 5, Wardog 6

## Relationships

### With Valiant Video and the manhunt

Before the events of *Manhunt*, the Wardogs collaborated with Valiant Video in their snuff films *Who Let The Wardogs Out?* and *Wardogs: The Untold Story*. Their leader Ramirez also represented them in one of Valiant Video's snuff films titled *Let's Play “Ramierez Sez”*.

Like most of the hunters Cash faces, the Wardogs were hired by the Director to participate in his manhunt as meat for Cash to chew up. Also like the rest of the hunters, the Director hates them a lot, calling them “pricks” who are “dickless gung-ho losers” when he first introduced them to Cash and also calling them stolen valors. Starkweather also regrets that he won't be able to feed the Wardogs to the animals that used to live in Carcer City Zoo.

One of these Wardogs did not follow his snuff film's script when he used a tranq rifle instead of a machete like the other hunters in Grounds for Assault, causing the Director to warn Cash about this Wardog sniper being an improvisation. Furthermore, the Wardogs were said by the Director to have deviated from his plans before they replaced these plans with their own when they took Cash's family hostage in Strapped for Cash. Assuming these acts were not in the Director's script, the Wardogs disobeying the Director implies some beef between them, possibly an extension of the beef between the Director and Ramirez.

A few Wardogs in Strapped for Cash were supplied with .38 revolvers by Starkweather, who got them from a mysterious black market supplier that got these firearms from the hijacking of a police armory convoy a year before the manhunt.

One of the Wardogs was a sponsor of Valiant Video Enterprises, allowing his bodyguard services to be advertised in their Winter / Spring catalogue.

The Wardogs were the only gang of hunters who prepped for this snuff film's manhunt. Long before the scene Grounds for Assault began filming, the Wardogs erected wooden barricades to block off certain paths in the zoo's exhibit area, unlike the other gangs who were slacking off before their respective scenes.

### With Ramirez

Ramirez is the leader of the Wardogs. Although he may be frustrated with them sometimes, these hunters still have his respect regardless, as shown in Grounds for Assault where he orders and deploys them without the frustration and disrespect that he showed to the Skinz and the Innocentz.

## History

### Events of Manhunt

#### Grounds For Assault

*Main article: Grounds For Assault*
The Wardogs are first shown prepping themselves for the manhunt in Carcer City Zoo. Several Wardogs are sharpening and brandishing their machetes, checking their tranquilizer rifles, and one of them appears to be setting up a barricade. Their leader Ramirez approaches, directing their attention to him and the Wardogs salute. He then tells them to stand at ease and gives them the order to move out and begin the manhunt, before letting out a battle cry. The Wardogs move out and get into their positions while Ramirez closely follows behind them. The Wardog who was presumably deploying the barricade finishes his work and follows after them.

Cash is deployed right at the entrance of the zoo by the Cerberus who throw him off their Securicar. He slowly gets back on his feet to find himself at the gates of the zoo and the Director briefs him on the new gang that he must face: the Wardogs. Stripped of his weapons, Cash is instructed by the Director to take his time with the hunters and find a weapon that will level him with his well-equipped enemies. He proceeds to survive the Wardogs (including one with a tranq rifle that the Director failed to warn him about) and makes it to the next area of the zoo.

#### Strapped For Cash

*Main article: Strapped For Cash*
Before he could proceed further into the zoo, Cash is briefed by the Director in his earpiece who tells him to stop before he can let him go. He informs him that the Wardogs, without the Director having a say in the matter of his own snuff film, have taken his family hostage and will shoot them dead if they spot him. Knowing this, he proceeds carefully throughout the zoo's empty exhibits with bloodthirsty Wardogs everywhere and manages to save at least one of his family members, which pleases the Director who opens the door to the marine exhibit where the exit is, allowing him to leave and proceed to the next scene.

#### Divided They Fall

*Main article: Divided They Fall*
When Cash escapes his scripted death in the Darkwoods Penitentiary, the Director contacts Ramirez to capture him. Ramirez agrees and manages to track down Cash to an abandoned apartment in the Darkwood district. Cash cautiously enters through the apartment gate, but he is ambushed by Ramirez who overpowers Cash easily. Ramirez chokes Cash against a wall with one hand before beating him up while taunting and threatening him. Beaten to the floor, Ramirez disarms Cash as he degrades his stealth tactics as hide-and-seek (which they also plan to do with him) while three Wardogs approach him. They also taunt him as he gets up and flees, and the deadly game begins.

Some time has passed, and the Wardogs have failed to find Cash around the apartment. Irritated, Ramirez barks at his men from the highest floor of the apartment to look for him. Cash manages to survive and reach the top floor where Ramirez is, but he flees to a lower floor after seeing him through the camera. Cash chases Ramirez, who has called for reinforcements, down to the yard where he successfully kills him. Cash escapes through the same he gate he entered and gunshots from the Wardogs are heard behind him, never to be seen or heard of again when he escapes in the Journalist's car.

## Scenes of Appearance

Tied with the Hoods, the Wardogs have the second most appearances when counting ‘cameos’ and appearances made by their own leader, Ramirez. They're edged out by the Cerberus who have the most appearances when counting cutscenes.

***Manhunt***
* White Trash (Intro cutscene only, solely represented by Ramirez)
* Grounds for Assault
* Strapped for Cash
* View of Innocence (Intro cutscene only, solely represented by Ramirez)
* Kill the Rabbit (Outro cutscene only, solely represented by Ramirez)
* Divided They Fall
* Monkey See, Monkey Die! (Cameo, appears in the intro cutscene with a Shotgun, only to be shot by a Monkey behind him)

## Gallery

### Bonus

The Wardogs wielding a knife, tranq rifles, and the cut silenced sniper riflesConcept art of a ghillied up Wardog wielding the cut PSG-1 sniper rifle
## Trivia

* The Wardogs are named after the gang's military motif as well as the recurring dog theme found throughout the *Manhunt* series. They share the latter with the Cerberus who are named after the three-headed dog of Hades in Greek mythology.
* The Wardogs being composed of army enthusiasts and poachers may be based on the similarities between soldiers (Vietnam War troops specifically) and poachers: they both ‘work’ in the forest (the jungle wilderness of Vietnam and the natural habitats of their quarries respectively), they both wear forest camouflage to blend in with said places, they both shoot guns to kill living things (enemy combatants and animals respectively), and they both take trophies of their kills.
* The Wardogs and the Cerberus are the only hunter groups in *Manhunt* who have their own leaders, instead of just being affiliated with The Director. The former has their leader Ramirez commanding them while the latter has an unnamed leader. Both leaders also have injuries on their left eye.
* Cash kills a total of 65 Wardogs in the three scenes they appear in: Grounds for Assault, Strapped for Cash, and Divided They Fall.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Ex-Navy Seal and Wardog" section, p. 8
2. ↑ The Killer Dog dialogue: *Dogs! Looks like this guy's got a surprise package for us! Keep it real, boys!*
3. ↑ Slack Man dialogue: *This is as easy as gunning down a water buffalo!*
4. ↑ Wardog 6 dialogue: *It's gonna be like droppin' a buck at fifty paces.*
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 The Killer Dog dialogue: *Pluck this turkey, let's stick him in the oven!*
“*None of these guys ever went to 'Nam, but you sure as hell gave them a taste tonight!*”
―The Director on Cash giving the Wardogs the real deal

- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Grounds for Assault intro cutscene
(The Wardogs are preparing for the next scene. Some are sharpening and brandishing their machetes, while some are checking their tranquilizer rifles. One of them is erecting a wooden barricade. Ramirez approaches the men)
Ramirez: *Fall in and listen up!*
(His men notice him and they quickly stop what they're doing to salute him)
Ramirez: *At ease.*
(Said order prompts them to stand at ease, hands behind their back and their feet apart)
Ramirez: *It's time to get out there and nail that bastard. WARDOGS - YEEAH!*
(The Wardogs do an about face and head out to begin the manhunt as Ramirez follows them, followed by the Wardog who has finished erecting the barricade)

- ↑ 8.0 8.1 “Signature Moves of Starkweather's Hunters: Stalk, Bag, and Stuff” section, p. 17

- ↑ The Fox dialogue: *Commie prick!*

- ↑ The Reaper dialogue: *Hang in there, buddy. Won't be long before we're roasting this commie alive.*

- ↑ A Shau Veteran dialogue: *There he is! Light that civilian up!*

- ↑ Freight Train dialogue: *Draft dodger!*

- ↑ A Shau Veteran dialogue: *Not feeling so good now are you, private?*

- ↑ The Killer Dog dialogue: *Trainee!*

- ↑ "SALE!!!" section, p. 7

- ↑ “Scenes: Strapped For Cash” section, p. 6

- ↑
“*These pricks call themselves the Wardogs―real dickless gung-ho losers.*”
―The Director briefing Cash on the Wardogs

- ↑
“*Shame we can't feed some of these bozos to the original inhabitants.*”
―The Director on what could've been a fitting end for these poachers

- ↑
“*Oh hell, that wasn't in the script! Honest Cash, they're making it up as they're going along, I swear!*”
―The Director on the first Wardog armed with a tranquilizer rifle unlike the others in Grounds for Assault

- ↑
“*It's just that I thought it would be nice to have a surprise reunion! But, these Wardogs didn't see it my way and they've taken matters into their own hands. They're using them as bait, Cash, bait. I know, I know, I can hardly believe it myself. Each time they spot you, these Wardogs are gonna execute one of your beloved family.*”
―The Director briefing Cash on the change of plans in Strapped for Cash

- ↑ Ramirez Divided They Fall dialogue: *Gonna finish you here and now...and Starkweather!*

- ↑ Starkweather Deliverance dialogue: *You want in? Okay! Ramirez was a schmuck anyway! I could do with a man like you on location!*

- ↑ Official Hunter Weapons - Firearms: .38 Revolver, p. 13

- ↑ 24.0 24.1 White Trash intro cutscene.

- ↑ 25.0 25.1 View of Innocence intro cutscene.

- ↑ Mouth of Madness intro cutscene.

- ↑ Ramirez's Divided They Fall dialogue