Desperados: Wanted Dead or Alive - Characters

Characters

• John Cooper

The leader of the gang; the player begins the game with this character. His tutorial is the first level, taking place in Opelousas, LA. He is the most important character in the gang, and is playable in every mission except in the tutorials for the other characters.

Cooper carries a Remington Army 1875 revolver, and can shoot three men within a second. He also carries a throwing knife which he can use as a weapon and cutting tool. Cooper is one of two characters who can carry unconscious or dead bodies, but he is the only character who can climb walls and mountains and saddle horses. The pocket watch which he acquires in his tutorial plays a tune after a preset time, which proves very useful for luring enemy guards into striking range.

• Samuel "Sam" Scott Lincoln

An African-American, he is picked up by Cooper at a cotton plantation in Louisiana. He's obsessed with explosives, heavy weapons and pretty women, and his jovial and wise-cracking nature often clashes with Doc McCoy's seriousness. His tutorial takes place at an Indian territory in Louisiana.

Sam's tools include dynamite, a sack with a rattlesnake in it, rope for tying unconscious people, and he can also use barrels of TNT in certain missions. His Winchester rifle has the longest range and contains the most bullets. Sam is also one of two characters that can use gatling guns, but only at fixed stations.

• Doc McCoy

A physician of Scottish ancestry, he is saved from being lynched for fraud in Jennings, LA. He is a somewhat tense person and usually speaks in a low growl. His tutorial takes place at his cabin, which is located in a swamp in Louisiana.

Doc McCoy wields a powerful Colt Buntline Special, for which he has crafted special high-precision bullets that transform the revolver into a sniper rifle. Being a man of science, McCoy also has knock-out gas vials which can be thrown or delivered by balloons filled with hydrogen gas. He can also revive unconscious characters and heal wounded allies. His massive trenchcoat can be used as a scarecrow for decoy actions, and he is an accomplished lockpick and safecracker.

• Kate O'Hara

An Irish American and a professional gambler, Kate is saved by Cooper, Sam and McCoy in Baton Rouge after being accused of cheating. She is beautiful and seductively charming but quite overconfident, a trait which gets her into trouble more than once. Just like Cooper, her tutorial takes place in Opelousas.

Kate has poker cards for luring guards, a mirror - which is used for either blinding enemies or lighting Sam's TNT barrels from a distance - and a powerful and (relatively) silent, but short-ranged, Derringer. Kate can attract men by playing with her garter belt and then can kick them; her kick is faster and stronger than Cooper's punch. A little-used ability in this game is her disguise skill. Kate is also the only character who can automatically move silently when walking on noisy surfaces.

• Pablo Sánchez

A Mexican bandit leader of Spanish descent, Sánchez is captured by the first four characters in New Mexico, thinking he is guilty of the train robberies; but when John realises Sánchez is innocent, he decides to free him from Fortezza. Sánchez is loud and brash, and more a man of brawns rather than brains, but his strength and his knowledge about El Diablo's organization prove highly useful to the team. His tutorial takes place at his fortress in New Mexico.

Sánchez has tequila, which attracts enemy guards and also makes them inebriated. Sánchez can also fake a siesta, which causes enemies to approach him curiously and thus gives him an opportunity to knock them out with a roundhouse swing. He has a sawn-off shotgun that can harm or kill multiple men with only one shot and carries two shells at a time. Like Sam, Sánchez can use gatling guns, although he can also carry them. When Sánchez enters a buildings with three or less enemies, he will throw them out a door, leaving them unconscious. Sánchez can use his strength to carry two bodies at a time, throw stones to knock out enemies, or push heavy objects aside.

• Mia Yung

A Chinese girl, she joins the gang right after her father is killed by Marshal Jackson. At 18 years, Mia is the youngest character in the gang. In her quest for revenge, she is quite courageous, though not as fool-hardy as Kate tends to be; she makes up for her lack of combat strength with wit and sneakiness, perhaps more than the others. Her tutorial takes place at a mine in New Mexico.

Mia can use her small size to hide inside barrels. She has a whistle, flash grenades, peanuts and her monkey, Mr. Leone for distracting enemies. Her blowpipe has very short range, contains only one dart at a time, and does minimal physical damage. The darts will, however, drive the victim into a psychotic shooting spree, attacking friends, foes, and civilians. If the victim is not shot dead by his own friends, he will eventually fall unconscious.

Mr. Leone the monkey is a reference to Spaghetti Western director, Sergio Leone.