DRIV3R Character Preview

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The Driver series has always focused on cars. Car chases, car crashes, car theft... It's all in there. However, the upcoming third installment in the gritty driving series will focus as much on the people who propel the game's plot forward as it will on the actual vehicles that move these people. The game will feature a mixture of the driving sequences that made the series famous with on-foot sections that will let you explore interior settings in the cities of Miami, Nice, and Istanbul. You'll also be doing a fair amount of shooting at the bad guys, of course.

Prior to the upcoming release of Driver 3, we'll be taking a few looks at the dramatis personae that will populate its world. The game commands some impressive star talent, with voice acting being provided by such heavy hitters as Michael Madsen, Mickey Rourke, Michelle Rodriguez, and Ving Rhames. So read on for background info and new media on the characters of Driver 3.

Entry 1: Tanner (voiced by Michael Madsen)
Entry 2: Calita (voiced by Michelle Rodriguez)
Entry 3: Baccus (voiced by Iggy Pop)
Entry 4: Jericho (voiced by Mickey Rourke)

Tanner

Tanner was brought up by his father, who drifted from state to state with his child in tow. Little is known or recorded about Tanner's early years, and even less is revealed by Tanner himself.

At 14, Tanner began making a living off the gambling that was connected to illegal dirt bike tracks and from on- and off-road races. He continued to make a living this way--earning money and moving around the Midwest--until a few years later.

Apparently tired of this boring way of life, Tanner entered the military at 17. He quickly distinguished himself as a Navy SEAL by participating in a number of high-risk volunteer missions over a six-year period. He showed particular ability with all types of machinery, especially motorized vehicles. When he decided to resign his commission, Tanner was discharged honorably. He was not, however, highly decorated. It seems that Tanner had a knack for getting on the wrong side of his superior officers, who often cited Tanner for taking "undue risks" in his field procedures.

Then there is a missing year in Tanner's records, which he has never spoken about to anyone...

Tanner's next move was to enlist in the FBI--where he is currently working--so that he could specialize in car-related crimes and engage in highly dangerous undercover work. His superiors have mixed views on him, but his success rate is high and his commitment to his work is undeniable, even though it is categorized as being obsessive by some internal observers in the Bureau. Unfortunately, Tanner frequently shows a propensity toward operating outside the normal bounds of established FBI procedure--and it seems readily apparent that he has no inclination to change his modes anytime soon. Though Tanner is considered unruly and his methods of investigation are often ruthless and brutal, his conviction rates continue to speak for themselves. As a result, his superiors are reluctant to remove him from the field--because to remove one of the most-effective undercover FBI agents from the field could be disastrous.

Calita

This CG cutscene introduces you to Calita Martinez.

The name Calita Martinez, later just Calita, first appeared in connection with a shooting incident in Little Havana. Calita Martinez is believed to have acted in self-defense as four members of The Eights cornered her in a Little Havana bar. All four received medical treatment, and shortly afterward The Eights ceased to exist as a functioning Miami gang.

From then on, Calita's name shows up frequently in connection with various robberies, aggravated assaults, and trafficking of stolen goods as well as a series of motor vehicle-related thefts involving rare European cars.

The name South Beach emerged shortly thereafter as a gang specializing in car theft, notably high-performance cars. The gang rapidly started to shake up the balance of power among the existing Miami outfits.

If there was one incident above any other that transformed South Beach's status from wannabe to the real thing, it was the incident involving a Mexican gang. The story most widely reported is that the Mexican gang owed South Beach money, rumored to be $400,000. The Mexicans took hostages from South Beach and then threatened to shoot one an hour until Calita cancelled the debt. Calita set up a series of explosives outside the building and told them they'd all be dead in four minutes, and then she left. Only one member of South Beach, Lomaz, made it out alive. Following this, much of the realistic opposition to South Beach melted away. Since then it has been widely believed that Calita was the undisputed head of South Beach.

Following this, so many high-performance cars disappeared over an 18-month period, that the saying, "It's been South Beached" began to circulate, whether South Beach was actually responsible or not. To this day, pressure has continued to grow on both the Miami PD and the FBI to break up South Beach. However, thus far, it has been impossible for anyone to get close.

Baccus

Baccus made his name as a violent drifter and hand-for-hire on the West Coast. There seemed to be nothing his name wasn't connected to, including violent crimes, assaults, larcenies, burglaries, arson, and even a string of seemingly random murders in dives, bars, and motels along Highway 1. However, it was armed robbery and motor vehicle-related crime that Baccus turned to most often. He frequently worked alone, but sometimes he worked in gangs that he either formed or joined but then soon disbanded.

Baccus works with the notorious South Beach car theft gang.

Baccus eventually became involved with a Lorenzo Visalia and is believed to have worked for him for more than two years, featuring prominently in both the armed robbery of an armored truck carrying $3.5 million in cash and the theft of four high-performance cars from a showroom. It is believed that Baccus threatened to turn informer on Visalia unless his boss gave him a larger cut of the profits. Shortly after these rumors circulated, Baccus was known to have left California.

A man matching his description later showed up in Miami. Apparently, the man was wanted in connection with a spate of violent crimes--some seemingly premeditated and some spontaneous--that were often motiveless.

At some point during his time in Miami, Baccus began working with the carjacking outfit "South Beach" as a specialized getaway driver. Before he joined South Beach, though, the FBI had only once before had a good enough lead to work with involving the infamous hand-for-hire. However, after he became a regular member of South Beach, Baccus twice provided the FBI with leads (in a three-month period) that could have been disastrous for the carjacking outfit. On one occasion, Baccus' personal whereabouts were discovered, but he narrowly escaped authorities during a car chase. On another occasion, South Beach's plans were disrupted, and its warehouse was actually discovered.

Jericho

Little is known about Jericho's upbringing. It is also unclear as to whether Jericho is a first, second, or given name--and if it is a given name, nobody's clear as to where it comes from.

Take a look at a new cinematic scene featuring Driver 3's Jericho.

What is known is that the name Jericho first appeared on police records in connection with Pascal Lavine of Chicago. Lavine was a known gunrunner, and Jericho's name and image are known to have been linked to the shotgun shooting of 24 members of a rival crime network run by Peter Trotha. Pascal Lavine was killed shortly after this execution by Trotha, it is said, in revenge. Apparently, Lavine was tied to the back of his own car and then dragged around the streets of Chicago by Trotha.

A man fitting Jericho's description next appeared on police records in connection with the murder of Peter Trotha only two weeks later. Trotha was tied to the back of his own car, which Jericho allegedly drove, and was then taken on the same grisly "death ride" that Pascal Lavine was taken on when he was viciously murdered behind the car of Peter Trotha.

Jericho then made a series of brief appearances that were scattered across the US. He is currently wanted in connection with at least one murder, a conspiracy to commit murder, and a number of offences involving stolen goods--most notably guns and cars--in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Miami.

It is not known for sure how Jericho came to work for the Vegas- and Chicago-based gangster Solomon Caine. However, it is believed that Jericho is somehow linked to the death of Caine's one-time rival Ceasar Alvero. Alvero's decapitated body was found sitting at the wheel of a Las Vegas squad car outside one of his own casinos. To this day, his head has never been found. Shortly after this morbid discovery, Jericho was known to have come under the gainful employ of Caine.

Jericho is a brutal enforcer, yet he's a wise (if sadistic) tactician. He is deeply trusted by those he works for, though his ambition is also becoming more apparent as he takes on more and more power within Caine's expanding syndicate.