Carcer City

CITY

## City of Carcer

From top left to bottom left: View of Central, the yard at the Darkwoods Penintentiary, the yard of the Wardogs' Apartments and the Starkweather Estate.From top right to bottom right: The Carcer City Church, the entrance into the Carcer City Zoo and a street in Carcer Mark.

### Motto

*"This is what the heartland is all about."*

### State

Rust Belt region of the United States heartland;  Located near Liberty City

The **GTA Wiki** has an article on:
**Carcer City (3D Universe)**

“*America is full of run down, broken rust-belt towns where nobody cares and anything goes. In Carcer City, nothing matters anymore and all that's left are cheap thrills. The ultimate rush is the power to grant power and take it away, for sport.*”
―Official *Manhunt* website
The **City of Carcer**, commonly known as **Carcer City** or simply **Carcer**, is a major city in the United States featured in *Manhunt*.

The city is said to be located in the heartland, the Rust Belt area of the United States, and near Liberty City;  however, is not confirmed if it is located in the State of Liberty.

The city's motto is "**This is what the heartland is all about**".

## Description

Carcer City is a decayed and crime-ridden city located in close proximity to Liberty City. It is depicted as having a dysfunctional and corrupt police force and large swaths of neglected and abandoned neighborhoods that have become overrun by violent gangs.

Being an extreme caricature of a Rust Belt city, Carcer City appears to have taken inspiration from Detroit and Flint, Michigan; Camden, New Jersey; East St. Louis with Chicago, Illinois; and Gary, Indiana. It is implied that Carcer City was a booming industrial center in its past before it became crippled by crime and depression.

## *Grand Theft Auto* series

References are made to Carcer City in the *Grand Theft Auto* series, and *Grand Theft Auto* car models and businesses are seen in the *Manhunt* games, confirming that Carcer City exists within the same continuity as *Grand Theft Auto*, with the events of *Manhunt* being part of the 3D Universe. A radio segment from Lips 106 in *Grand Theft Auto III* describes Carcer City as being "nearby" Liberty City, making it possible it is located near the same geographical location as the State of Liberty.

Carcer City is also mentioned to exist in HD Universe, as an alternative universe version of the city, not related to the *Manhunt* setting.

## Geography

“*Tired of all the sunshine and good weather? Looking for a real American vacation? Visit the shining jewel in a rustbelt crown - Carcer City. It's a real man's vacation. The pride of a nation is in Carcer City. It's steel, ice, and poverty. Spend a romantic evening in the beauty of the nighttime river glow of the flaming river. Watch real men who make things lose their jobs and fight on our special "Closing the Mill" guided tour. Come see what we're really made of. This is real America - drunk, proud, unemployed, and angry. Hear the eagle roar in Carcer City. This is what the heartland is all about.*”
―"Carcer City Vacations" radio commercial in *GTA San Andreas*.

Although it is not specified where on the east coast it could be, it is presumed to be near Liberty City, as stated in a Lips 106 radio segment in *Grand Theft Auto III*. There is a polluted river located in the city that catches on fire, a reference to the Cuyahoga River. The terrain is mostly flat aside from surrounding hills that house the wealthier neighborhoods. Not much else is known or revealed about the environment in Carcer City.

### Neighborhoods

A residential district located in the city. It is the home of the rich and powerful people, located far away from the rotten crime-plagued inner city. Lionel Starkweather is a resident of this area and his estate is located in the district.

## Points of Interest

Notable locations in Carcer City include:

* **Carcer City Zoo**: A large, abandoned zoo that featured many exotic animals in its past. It became the hunting grounds of the sadistic paramilitary gang, the Wardogs.
* **Darkwoods Penitentiary**: A massive prison complex that featured an asylum for prisoners deemed too insane for the general population. The Penitentiary has become disused and overrun by its former inmates and asylum patients.
* **Carcer City Church**: A deserted gothic church located in the East Los Albos district. It is connected to a graveyard and houses the base of operations for the satanic Innocentz gang.
* **Carcer City Mall**: A multiple-story shopping mall that appears to be either abandoned or under construction. It is considered to be turf of the Innocentz.
* **Carcer Line Subway Station**: A big subway and railway station in the Central neighborhood.
* **Carcer Point Station**: A subway station in Carcer Point. There are many freight carriages seen here and a train depot. It is a place where Carcer City Police Department and Carcer City SWAT patrol.

## Etymology

"Carcer" likely derives from the Latin word *carcere*, meaning "prison"; this is the root of terms like "incarcerate" (meaning "to imprison"), and "carceral state", a state modeled on a prison.

"Carcer" is one of the seven figures of Western Geomancy. It is the figurative outline of an enclosure or prison cell, and presumably also derives from the Latin *carcere*.

"Carcer" (in Latin: Carcere) was also the name of a prison in Rome in the ancient Roman empire.

## Residents

* **James Earl Cash** - The protagonist of *Manhunt*. He is a violent criminal and death row inmate who was given a second chance at life in order to star in a snuff film centered around his brutal slaying of Carcer's gangs. He was apprehended in 2000 and held on death row for three years before getting saved from his execution by a powerful snuff ring in order to use him as an actor in their films.
* **Lionel Starkweather** - a powerful and wealthy snuff director and Vinewood reject with many underground financial backers. He profited from Carcer City's decline by completely buying off its police force and government, who in turn allowed him to transform the city into a playground for his sadistic movies and projects. Most of Carcer City's gangs appear to be on his payroll.
* **Gary Schaffer** - the corrupt chief of the Carcer City Police Department who was bribed by Starkweather into letting him use multiple locations in the city as the setting of his snuff movies. He was first mentioned in a *Grand Theft Auto III* news report on Lips 106 as being cleared of corruption charges, an event that occurs before the events of the *Manhunt* storyline.
* **Piggsy** - a man driven insane by Lionel Starkweather who has starred in many of his snuff movies.
* **Ramirez** - an actor in Starkweather's snuff films and his right-hand man.
* **The Journalist** - a young and ambitious journalist investigating Starkweather's snuff film ring.
* **The Tramp** - a homeless drunkard who used to star in Starkweather's snuff films.
* **Geraldine** - a patriotic woman who calls The Wild Traveler on WCTR in *Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas*. She questions why anyone would travel to other countries, mentioning how there is war, famine, depression, and pollution right on her doorstep.
* **Brian Van Ginsberg** - an Epsilonist in *Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas*.
* **Ken** - a called on LCFR in *Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories*
* **Marcel Crayon** - a supporter of the Citizens United Negating Technology For Life and People's Safety movement in *Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories*.

## See Also

* Cottonmouth - The setting of *Manhunt 2*.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Official *Manhunt* website
*rockstargames.com/manhunt*
“*...This is what the heartland is all about.*”
―"Carcer City Vacations" advertisement in *GTA San Andreas*.

- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lips 106 radio segment in *Grand Theft Auto III*.

- ↑ In *Grand Theft Auto IV*, "Liberty City to Carcer City" is a distance that the game can indicate in the 'Distance Traveled' statistic. It suggests that the distance between the two cities is 100 miles in the HD Universe.

- ↑
Trevor Philips: “...Mikey, bro, what was your first bank score?”
Michael De Santa: “Eighty-eight, outskirts of Carcer City. Took a small franchise for ten G. Things were easier back then.”
— A dialogue referring to Michael De Santa's first bank robbery in the HD Universe version of Carcer City.

- ↑ Joseph Johnson, William Hambrough and blogsnobs user "Darksoullock" are said to live in the HD Universe version of Carcer City