Richard

Richard is one of the three internal voices Jacket dreams of in Hotline Miami, appearing as a yellow-lit man in a rooster mask dressed in Jacket's clothes. In Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number's 1991 setting, he's the main internal voice of characters connected to the 1989 killings, but is normally lit, with blinking eyes and talking-beak animations showing off teeth; he also changes attire based on who he's talking to. His primary uses in both games are to heavily blur the line between what's really happening and what isn't, to play up the fears of characters, and to make mildly meta comments about the game and player. Cold and enigmatic, Richard's appearance, tone and music are some of the most immediately recognizable facets of the Hotline Miami series. Richard seems to be Jacket's primary call to remembering his life, who he is, and that he needs to wake up. He also assures Jacket his post-Trauma actions are fruitless and that he'll never see the full picture. The first encounter with Richard sees him telling Jacket they "met" on April 3rd, which is in reference to April 3rd, 1986 and April 3rd, 1989, major events in Jacket's life, in an effort to jar Jacket's memory. Once Jacket recalls everything between receiving his mask and rescuing Girlfriend, a second encounter with Richard takes advantage of this newly remembered information to further jog Jacket's memory by asking him four questions: "Do you like hurting other people?" "Who are leaving messages on your answering machine?" "Where are you right now?" "Why are we having this conversation?"