| Augie Blatz | |
|---|---|
 Dead to Rights character | |
|
Gender |
Male |
|
Race |
White |
|
Faction |
Bad |
|
Status |
Deceased |
|
Location |
Grant City |
|
Voiced by |
Roger Rose |
Augie Blatz is a character in the original Dead to Rights game. He was a notorious crime lord and an enemy of the Slate family, particularly Frank.
Biography[]
Blatz was one of the biggest crime bosses in Grant City. His income mostly came from drugs, but he also dabbled in racketeering. He was shrewd enough to donate a portion of his money to parks and other public works projects, cultivating an image of a kind-hearted philanthropist. Frank Slate knew otherwise, and their enmity continued even after Frank's dismissal from the Grant City Police Department.
On the night of Frank's murder, his son Jack quickly suspected Blatz of the crime, due in no small part to the suggestion of GAC head Dick Hennessey. Jack confronted Blatz at The Den of Inquity. Blatz refused to answer any questions about Frank's death and instead set his men on Jack and ran.
Jack chased Blatz to his apartment, where Patch, a high-ranking member of the assassin's guild Mayhem Inc., was waiting. He quickly subdued Blatz and used him as bait to ambush Jack. When Jack entered the apartment, he was distracted by the sight of a bound and gagged Blatz just long enough for Patch to grievously wound him with a gunshot to the head from his signature gold Luger. As Jack lay dying, Patch took the fallen officer's gun and shot Blatz in the head, killing him. The hitman/artist then planted his Luger in the hand of the dead Blatz. Just before passing out, Jack learned a startling truth from Patch: Augie Blatz did not kill his father.
After death[]
An ambulance managed to reach Jack in time and save his life, but the evidence against him was damning. The public at large believed he had killed Augie Blatz, and that Blatz shot Jack in self-defense before dying. Jack was arrested by Hennessey, convicted and sentenced to death. Seven months later, Jack Slate escaped the electric chair and set out to discover who killed his father and set him up, using Blatz's apartment as a safe house and wearing his old enemy's clothes to avoid detection. He would learn that the guilty party was none other than Dick Hennessey. Hennessey had Frank Slate murdered to keep him from exposing Mayor William Pinnacle's gold mining scheme, which the corrupt GAC leader occasionally profited from. He planned to use his influence to stymie the investigation, but Jack's arrival at the scene threatened to derail his plan, so he quickly arranged for Mayhem, Inc. to get the younger Slate out of the way. Blatz was nothing more than a scapegoat.
Blatz's death, followed by those of Fahook Ubduhl and Hennessey himself, left a power vacuum in Grant City's underworld. Jack Slate, meanwhile, had no interest in seeing the outcome or trying to stop the war for power; he faked his death and left Grant City, never to return. Due to the evidence he located however, Jack was likely cleared for Blatz's murder.
Personality and characteristics[]
Augie Blatz carefully cultivated two personas. His public image was that of a generous do-gooder who wanted to make a difference in Grant City. Away from the public eye, however, Blatz was an arrogant and ruthless crime lord who controlled a significant portion of the city's underworld. He was known to have several lawyers who could protect him from any legal threat to his power, as well as a sizable crew of thugs.
Trivia[]
- Blatz was among the many criminals being blackmailed by Dick Hennessey and a file on him can be briefly seen when Jack infiltrates the evidence locker in Hennessey's station.
- Voice actor Roger Rose based Augie Blatz's voice and inflections on those of American actor Christopher Walken.
- Given Jack's comments at the end, Blatz was likely one of the most powerful criminals in Grant City as Jack stated that his death, along with those of Fahook Ubduhl and Dick Hennessey would cause a war for power.