Wild Dog (Time Crisis)

Wild Dog is a fictional character from the Time Crisis video game series.

Background
Wild Dog is the leader of a notorious mercenary or criminal syndicate known as the Wild Dogs who provide clandestine support to world-class criminals and other paramilitary antagonistic organizations. Wild Dog is primarily an villain: he is the main antagonist of the original Time Crisis game and serves as a major boss character in every subsequent installment of the series, usually being fought just prior to the final boss fight.

Wild Dog is notable for being the only character, hero or villain, to appear in every Time Crisis game to date (with the exception of the spin-off game Crisis Zone and Razing Storm). Almost all other characters in the series only appear in a single game, with the exceptions of Richard Miller and Kantaris from the first Time Crisis game, who appear in the PSX spin-off Time Crisis: Project Titan.

Wild Dog is also notable for being the only Time Crisis character with his own theme music, which plays in every game when the player is fighting him. Scott McCulloch voiced Wild Dog (Dave Mallow voiced Wild Dog in Time Crisis 4).

According to the radio drama within the CD Time Crisis - 3D Sound Ensemble, Wild Dog had fought Richard Miller, who seems to be the only person who is able to fight Wild Dog one on one, at least one time before the event in Time Crisis.

Time Crisis Appearances
In the first Time Crisis, Wild Dog is shown to have a great deal of influence within the criminal underworld of the country of Sercia; he and his mercenary army are hired by deposed Imperial dictator Sherudo Garo to help him stage a coup against the democratically elected government. After V.S.S.E. agent Richard Miller kills Sherudo Garo, Wild Dog takes the president's daughter Rachel MacPherson hostage, and escapes to a waiting helicopter on the roof of the castle while setting off explosive charges throughout the area. Miller catches up with Wild Dog just as the mercenary leader is about to make his escape. Miller battles Wild Dog and his remaining soldiers in a fierce gunfight. After Miller defeats him, Wild Dog accidentally drops his radio detonator, which activates as it falls to the ground, engulfing the tower and Wild Dog in a massive explosion.

Time Crisis II
In Time Crisis II, it is revealed that Wild Dog survived. In the introduction, Christy Ryan says, "...he's still alive?!" This time, Wild Dog is working for corporate CEO Ernesto Diaz, who is attempting to launch a nuclear military satellite into orbit. When V.S.S.E. agents Keith Martin and Robert Baxter reach the Neodyne Industries satellite launch site, Wild Dog is the first to confront them. He moves considerably slower this time around. At first, Wild Dog is assisted by enemy soldiers; later in the battle, he is joined by a rocket launcher-wielding Ernesto Diaz. Eventually, the agents defeat Wild Dog, causing him to shout, "V.S.S.E! You fools!" before detonating himself with his radio detonator (while laughing to his death).

Project Titan
In Time Crisis: Project Titan, Wild Dog makes his third appearance. After Richard Miller battles master assassin Ricardo Blanco, Wild Dog arrives on the roof of Blanco's mansion in a helicopter. A wounded Ricardo tries to escape on Wild Dog's helicopter, but Wild Dog uses his new machine gun weapon-arm to gun Blanco down, yelling "I'll kill you all! You're next, Miller!" before riding off. It turns out that Wild Dog is the mastermind behind the game's plot, and that he is building an army of titanium robot soldiers known as "Project Titan". Richard confronts Wild Dog at his headquarters and battles him once again; after an intense firefight, Wild Dog escapes in his helicopter and sends his robot army to kill Richard. However, Richard shoots at the helicopter. His shot is perfect, severely damaging the copter and causing it to fall. It crashes and destroys the robot army, apparently killing Wild Dog in the process.

Time Crisis 3
Wild Dog makes a fourth appearance in Time Crisis 3. The intro cutscene describes him as "An old rival." The two V.S.S.E. agents, Alan Dunaway and Wesley Lambert, react to his appearance with exasperation: "Don't you ever die?!" In addition to Wild Dog, a second mercenary named Wild Fang appears alongside him. Wild Fang dresses in very similar attire to that of Wild Dog; he is much younger and sports a signature "kick" attack, where he essentially kicks large objects at his foes (including steel girders and bulldozers), turning them into deadly projectiles. Although Wild Dog no longer uses martial arts as extensively, he has installed a new multi-weapon arm into his left gun-arm, which he can switch between a gatling gun, a rocket launcher, and a flamethrower; he also displays increased reflexes, speed, and reaction time. Wild Fang simply falls and dies upon defeat. After Alan and Wesley corner and defeat Wild Dog, he falls to the ground and utters, "Beaten by a couple of young punks!" before detonating himself once again.

Time Crisis 4
Wild Dog appears again in Time Crisis 4. The game's intro cutscene describes the enemy as: "Those who stand in your way... and him." He makes his entrance at the Colorado Air Force Base by using his newly-installed grappling hook to pull down the helicopter carrying V.S.S.E. agents Giorgio Bruno and Evan Bernard. Afterwards, Wild Dog retreats into a hangar, where he lures Bruno and Bernard into a series of traps, such as cruise missiles and a three-way corridor that has a closed-wall trap. When finally cornered, Wild Dog unleashes his latest gun-arm option: an object-lifting tractor beam. He uses this to lift and hurl objects at Giorgio and Evan until he is gunned down. His tractor beam then malfunctions and attracts a large pile of debris, burying Wild Dog. As Giorgio and Evan approach the pile, they see Wild Dog's right hand rise from the rubble, holding his signature detonator, seemingly "killing" himself yet again.

Time Crisis Strike
Again, Wild Dog made his appearance in Time Crisis Strike. He was the final boss of the game. He appears and battling in a Time Crisis 3-style.

Time Crisis 2nd Strike
However, he makes his return from the previous sequel. He is encountered again as final boss against Giorgio Bruno (The hero in Time Crisis 4).

Time Crisis 5
VSSE may heard the last of Wild Dog, unlike the four pervious games, he is confirmed to be the last antagonist in the end of the game alongside again with Wild Fang, he will make his return to get his revenge on VSSE which destroy him. When defeated by the 3 new agents, he'll self-destruct in an explosion, plans to try again with his new evil plans, but soon he will be defeated again and sometimes comes back for revenge on the VSSE and the agents with his new evil tricks off his sleeves in the near future.

Character
Wild Dog usually wears sunglasses with circular lens and a brown, floor-length trenchcoat, which he throws off before he fights. Underneath he wears a collared shirt and a tie, of which the designs vary with each game that Wild Dog appears in, and suspenders that hold up his brown trousers. He has black hair, which has been progressively grayed. Often when facing defeat or capture Wild Dog will often blow himself up to cheat death and evade capture. Despite appearing dead he often comes back to combat VSSE. While most of the heroes and villains of the Time Crisis series have come and gone with each game, Wild Dog is the only game character, already an antagonist, present in every Time Crisis game except Crisis Zone and Razing Storm. Because he never died, some said that he was an immortal. His Time Crisis 3 manual profile described that he rebuilt his body and returned from Hell.

Combat abilities
Wild Dog is a very dangerous combatant. He is proficient in the use of various weapons, explosives and martial arts, often using all his combat skills together in his battle with V.S.S.E. agents. He is also a fast opponent, constantly moving around the screen, which makes him hard to shoot. At the time of Time Crisis, Wild Dog used dual Mauser C96 pistols, grenades, and martial arts. During the events of Time Crisis 4 Wild Dog's age seems to catch up with him, as he is forced to employ stealthier tactics rather than resort to brute force and gunplay.

Wild Dog lost his left arm after V.S.S.E. agent Richard Miller defeated him at the end of Time Crisis. After that incident, Wild Dog had to install a cybernetic weapon-arm (first seen in Time Crisis 2, but is also seen in Time Crisis: Project Titan) called the "gun arm" and adopt new tactics to compensate for his gun-arm handicap. Wild Dog made numerous innovations to his weapon-arm from time to time to accommodate new weapons and equipment. Even with the weapon-arm handicap after Time Crisis, Wild Dog was still proficient in his Mauser C96 utilization with his right hand.

The following weapons were available in Wild Dog's cybernetic gun-arm:
 * Gatling gun (introduced in Time Crisis II).
 * Flamethrower (introduced in Time Crisis 3)
 * RPG launcher (introduced in Time Crisis 3).
 * Compact grappling hook (introduced in Time Crisis 4).
 * Tractor beam projector (introduced in Time Crisis 4). Wild Dog uses this to lift, swing, and hurl various heavy objects such as crates and forklifts.