Frank West (Dead Rising)

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Frank West
Frank West, as seen in the game Dead Rising. He is an "overzealous" photojournalist that goes to any lengths to get a scoop.
Game series	Dead Rising series
First game	Dead Rising (2006)
Creator(s)	Keiji Inafune
Voice actor(s)	T.J. Rotolo[1][2]

Frank West is a fictional photojournalist in the video game Dead Rising. He is the main protagonist of the game and is voiced by T.J. Rotolo. In Dead Rising, Frank finds himself in the biggest scoop of his career after hearing of a small town, Willamette, Colorado, that has been blockaded by the National Guard. Frank hires a helicopter, and flies to Willamette.

Frank enters the mall with exactly 72 hours to find out what has happen here and unravel the mystery behind the infestation, as well as help trapped mall survivors.

[edit] Story

[edit] 72 Hour Mode

The game starts with Frank heading to the city of Willamette on a hot tip. While airborne, he sees what looks like a civil riot, and interested, tells his pilot to drop him off at the mall helicopter pad located on the roof, after evading military helicopters. Frank reminds him to pick him up in exactly 3 days (72 hours) and jumps to the mall roof. Frank is immediately met by a strange man named Carlito Keyes, who seems to know more than he is letting on. Heading inside, he locates a group of survivors setting up a barricade from what is clearly a zombie infestation. While helping, he trades words with a man who believes Frank summoned to the mall. A panicked survivor quickly takes down the barricade moments later in a futile effort to save her dog, causing the zombies to flood in. A man tells everyone to get out of there and head up the stair to the security room. Once there, Frank is introduced to Brad, Jessie, and Otis, who welds the door shut. Brad leaves the security room through the ventilation duct and Frank follows a short time later. About to leave the warehouse, Frank encounters Jessie as she rushes to assist Brad and offers to take her place. Initially hesitant about allowing a "civilian" to becoming involved, she agrees and hands him a pistol after he assures her that he has experience with one. "I've covered wars, you know." (Only minutes later, however, he admits that he's never actually fired a gun "at a person".)

Upon reaching Brad in the Food Court, the attacker turns out to be Carlito, who is continuously firing at him (and now also at Frank) with a P90 submachine gun. After Brad and Frank defeat him, Carlito takes off. Frank presses Brad for information, Brad tells him nothing, until Frank shows him a picture of Dr. Barnaby (which he took in the Entrance Plaza of the mall.) Brad seems to have an interest in the photograph. Since he does, Frank makes him a deal: If Brad tells him some information, he will tell him where he took this picture. Brad agrees, and Frank soon finds out both Jessie and Brad are DHS (Department of Homeland Security) agents.

Frank and Brad eventually go to find Dr. Barnaby. When they find him, Brad desperately tries to convince him to return to the Security Room with him and Frank. Dr. Barnaby declines, saying he will only leave once he is guaranteed safe passage out of the mall and city.

[edit] The Keyes Siblings

After returning to the Security Room, Frank sees Carlito dragging Dr. Barnaby from his hiding place. Brad heads to action with Frank quickly following behind. They make their way back to the Entrance Plaza to find Carlito now using an M82 sniper rifle, and is firing at Brad and Frank from afar. While Frank and Brad take cover, Frank notices Dr. Barnaby tied up and hanging in the middle of the Entrance Plaza, with a massive group of zombies underneath him reaching for him. After some fierce combat, Frank and Brad corner Carlito after he runs out of rifle ammo. He ditches the rifle and pulls out a handgun. He and Brad have a small shootout, leaving them both wounded. Frank (carrying an unconscious Dr. Barnaby) and Brad return to the security room.

Brad is seriously wounded from his gunshot and needs medicine from a pharmacy in the North Plaza. When Frank enters the supermarket, he heads to the pharmacy. However, he's attacked by the store's owner, who has the same mysterious woman whom he saw at the entrance plaza unconscious in his cart. Frank manages to defeat the manager and tries to help the woman. However, she breaks away from him, telling him it is "your fault, not ours" for the zombie outbreak, and mentions a place called "Santa Cabeza". She runs away, and Frank uses the key from the manager to get access to the pharamacy where he can retrieve the medicine.

[edit] Santa Cabeza

After returning to the security room with the necessary first aid, Frank catches sight of the woman reappearing on the monitors in North Plaza once again, and Frank heads out to question her. Not willing to trust Frank, she attacks him on her motorcycle and Frank is forced to defend himself. He manages to make her lose control of her motorcycle and pins her to the ground. After some words from Frank, the woman calms down and she tells Frank that if he wants an interview about the zombie outbreak, then Carlito is the one to speak to. She says she can "persuade" him as after all she is his little sister. The woman then introduces herself as Isabella and walks away.

However, when Frank shows up at their designated time and meeting place. Isabela seems to be hurt and is about to be killed by a zombie. Frank rescues her and he learns that Carlito, in frustration and anger, shot her. Frank carries her on his back and heads back to the safety of the Security Room.

After Isabella awakes, she is questioned by Brad about what is happening. The group discovers that she and Carlito are survivors of a similar outbreak in a Central American town called Santa Cabeza, but the US government covered up the incident. Carlito caused the outbreak in Willamette in order to expose the truth to the world about Santa Cabeza and take revenge. They later discover that Carlito's "Last Resort" involves five time bombs that have been planted inside delivery vans in the Maintenance Tunnels beneath the mall. Carlito's plan is to send the larvae that caused the zombie outbreak into the atmosphere that would spread all over the country, leaving millions at risk.

[edit] Time Bombs

Frank and Brad go about trying to collect the bombs. Frank goes down into the Maintenance Tunnels by motorcycle and proceeds to collect the bombs stowed away inside the cars. Carlito tries to stop Frank by running him over, but Frank successfully takes out Carlito's truck. Carlito retreats to a shed in the Maintenance Tunnel. Brad tells Frank to collect the rest of the bombs and chases Carlito. Carlito and Brad have a standoff inside of the shed, and in the process Carlito becomes fatally wounded. Brad is then knocked though a door, which Carlito then locks. Brad looks around and sees that he is surrounded by a number of zombies.

Frank successfully gets rid of all the bombs and heads back into the Maintenance Tunnels to find that Brad has been seriously injured by zombies, Brad makes him promise not to tell Jessie and gives him his gun. Frank kills the zombified Brad. After returning to the Security Room he transports Isabella to Carlito's hideout to see if they can find any clues about Carilto's next plan. Jessie phones Frank and tells him to return to the security room, she shows him a recording of Carlito is being dragged by a butcher in the maintenance tunnels. Frank goes to the meat processing area and engages in battle with the Larry the butcher. After defeating Larry, Frank attempts to get the wounded Carlito to talk, but Carlito refuses, instead giving Frank a necklace for Isabella just before he dies.

[edit] Special Forces

Frank leaves the Maintenance Tunnels and returns to Carlito's hideout. Frank gives Isabella the necklace and she recalls a phrase "Pachamama" that turns out to be the computer's password. The two of them shut down the jamming device. Jessie is now able to get a line to DHS headquarters, only to find out the government has chosen to cover up this incident too. The Special Forces are on their way to "clean up" the mess. Namely, they will kill everything they find: zombie or human. As Frank is heading back to the security room, Special Forces arrive in the security room, kipnap the survivors Frank has resuced and try to convince Jessie that she could live on provided that she keeps quiet about what transpires here. She becomes a zombie and kills both of them.

The Special Forces sweep through the mall, exterminating all the zombies in their path. Frank, noticing that it's time for his scheduled pickup, goes to Carlito's Hideout and talks to Isabella, but she tells him to "save himself". Frank arrives at the helipad and is worried when the helicopter is not on time. After a short delay, the helicopter approaches, and Frank, relieved, waves for helicopter's attention. As the helicopter approaches he notices that it loses control, and uses his camera's zoom to see that Ed is being attacked by a stowaway zombie, causing the helicopter to crash. Despondent, Frank collapses as zombies spill outside, and surround him.

[edit] Overtime

Just as he's about to submit to the inevitable, Isabella arrives and finds that Frank has collapsed. Isabella carries Frank back to Carlito's Hideout and discovers he has been infected, and Isabela tells him that there is a way to stop the larva's incubation period and slow zombification, but only temporarily. Frank goes on a hunt to find the items that are scattered around the mall, which he needs to help make the serum. After also finding 10 queens, the two discuss the serum's effects, during which Isabella has a startling revelation about the rest of Carlito's plans. After an anti-zombie supressent was found and created, Carlito asked Isabella to make fifty doses which he gave to fifty children. Later, these "zombie time bombs" are adopted by parents from all over the USA, to give maximum spread of infection.

While searching the mall for an electrical generator, Frank discovers a way out through a hole within the clock tower that was created by the helicopter crash. However, the cave is filled with zombies and their only protection is a pheromone Isabella made that repels zombies. After escaping the cave and stealing a military jeep, Isabela and Frank meet Brock, the Special Forces commander. Brock chases them in a prototype tank, while Frank drives a jeep and Isabella uses the mounted gun. The tank takes a significant amount of damage but once Brock takes manual control, he manages to knock over their jeep. Brock gets out of his tank to boast, but gets distracted when a massive number of zombies approach from the horizon. Frank takes advantage of this moment and attacks Brock. The two engage in a brawl on top of the tank, and Brock is knocked off into awaiting group of zombies. Frank screams in rage on top of the tank as the zombies continue to gather.

It is known that, due to the photographs and information Frank successfully retrieved from Willamette, the US Government was forced to admit some responsibility in the failed research program and resultant cover-up at Santa Cabeza. However, no connection between Santa Cabeza and Willamette was ever acknowledged, so the zombie outbreak in Colorado was attributed to a "fringe terrorist group". Eventually, the incident faded from the public's mind. However, whether Isabella escaped with Frank (and whether Frank ultimately became a zombie) remain unknown. More importantly, nothing is known of the fifty children Carlito turned into biological time bombs - hence, the possibility of a zombie pandemic still exists.

[edit] Appearance

Frank usually, as seen in the picture, wears a black jacket with a white button-up shirt, khaki pants, and brown loafers. However, he sometimes visits various shops in the mall and changes his clothing. Dead Rising contains many references to other Capcom games such as Frank's unlockable Megaman X outfit, or Arthur's boxers from Ghosts 'n Goblins.

[edit] Personality

Although Frank is in a mall almost overflowing with zombies out for his flesh, he seems to be pretty... Relaxed in the face of this threat. This is also seen when he's faced by all the Pyschopaths, such as Adam the clown, and not doing what most would do and run away screaming in terror. He seems to be able to keep his cool a lot, possibly from past experiences out in his field of work. Frank also seems a bit headstrong, as he at first only seems to focus on getting this story of a lifetime, and only fends for himself (As seen in the cutscene when Brad comes back with supplies, and he just takes a can out like there isn't anything going on and then gets angry slightly a Brad for stopping him.)

[edit] References