Wild Dog (Time Crisis)

Wild Dog is a fictional villain from the light gun arcade series Time Crisis series. He is the leader of the notorious mercenary army known as the Wild Dogs, who provide clandestine support to world-class criminals and other paramilitary organizations. Within the Time Crisis series, he is notable for being the only character, hero or villain, to appear in every Time Crisis game to date.

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. After V.S.S.E. agent Richard Miller kills Sherudo Garo, Wild Dog seizes Rachel MacPherson and challenges Miller to fight him at the top of a helipad tower. What follows is a fierce dogfight on the tower as Miller engages Wild Dog and his remaining soldiers in a final 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.

In Time Crisis: Project Titan, Wild Dog makes his second appearance. He is first seen in a helicopter flying above Ricardo Blanco's mansion. After Richard Miller wounds Ricardo, Ricardo tries to escape on Wild Dog's helicopter. However, Wild Dog uses his new left machine gun weapon-arm to shoot Blanco to death, yelling, "I'll kill you all! You're next, Miller!" and rides off. It turns out that Wild Dog is working a robot army known as "Project Titan". After a life-and-death fight between Richard and Wild Dog, Wild Dog sends an army of robots to kill Richard and takes off in his helicopter. 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.

In Time Crisis II, it is revealed that Wild Dog survived. In the introduction, Christy Ryan says, "There's some news...he's still alive!" This time, Wild Dog is working for Ernesto Diaz, who is attempting to launch a 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. After the agents defeat him, he shouts, "V.S.S.E! You fools!" before blowing himself up using his radio detonator.

Wild Dog makes a third appearance in Time Crisis 3. The intro cut describes him as "An old rival." The two V.S.S.E. agents, Alan Dunaway and Wesley Lambert, react to his appearance with exasperation; Dunaway says, "Wild Dog! 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. Wild Dog himself appears much improved, moving faster than he did in the previous three games, as well as apparently having installed several new weapons into his "machinegun hand," including rocket launchers and flamethrowers. Wild Fang appears to simply fall and die upon defeat. After the V.S.S.E. agents corner and defeat Wild Dog, he falls to the floor and utters, "Beaten by a couple of young punks!" before detonating himself a second time.

Wild Dog appears again in Time Crisis 4. The game's intro cut describes the enemy as: "Those who stand in your way...and him." By this time, veteran players of the Time Crisis series know "him" all too well. 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 newest weapon: a tractor beam. He uses this to lift and hurl crates at Giorgio and Evan until he is finally downed. His tractor beam then malfunctions and attracts a large pile of debris, burying Wild Dog. As Georgio and Evan approach the pile, they see Wild Dog's right hand rise from the rubble, holding his signature detonator, seemingly "killing" himself for a third time.

Althought Wild Dog maybe the only character in every Time Crisis games. He's still returned as a boss character in the coming soon for Time Crisis 5 to take on VSSE agents who he tried to get rid of them but defeated by them again and again.

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 is starting to grey. 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, albeit an antagonist, present in every game.

Wild Dog seems to have little connection to those he works with, other than the fact that he was paid to do so. As a hardened career criminal mercenary, Wild Dog has committed and aided numerous crimes, including arson, kidnapping, murder, terrorism, and warmongering.

Wild Dog is cold-blooded and ruthless, as evidenced by his murder of the assassin Ricardo Blanco, a one-time ally. He seems to revel in the destruction and mayhem he causes in his wake, particularly when fighting V.S.S.E. agents. It would be reasonable to assume that Wild Dog hates the V.S.S.E., given that they have defeated him several times over the years. It is also possible that Wild Dog hates Richard Miller in particular, perhaps holding him responsible for the loss of his left arm - a sign of wounded pride.

Some of the most notable events of Wild Dog's career include:


 * Involvement with a drug cartel in Sercia. This is Wild Dog's first known encounter with the V.S.S.E., specifically agent Richard Miller.
 * Participation in the abduction of Rachel MacPherson, daughter of the first president of Sercia.
 * Abduction the president of Caruba and forcing him to supply him with titanium to build a robot army.
 * Aiding the Neodyne Industries in their attempt at world domination.
 * Aiding the Zagorias Federation in their invasion and takeover of Astigos Island.
 * Aiding the Hamlin Battalion, the U.S. Bio-Weapon Special Ops, in their attempt to destroy the major cities of United States during the "Terror Bite" incident.

Despite repeated attempts by the V.S.S.E. over the years, Wild Dog has never been caught.

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 two pistols, one in each hand.

Wild Dog lost his left arm after V.S.S.E. Ace Richard Miller defeated him at the end of Time Crisis. After that incident, Wild Dog installed a cybernetic weapon-arm in place of his left arm. The weapon-arm was probably a clumsy weapon at first, which would explain his lack of speed in Time Crisis II. However, he has since learned how to use it and moves much faster in the sequels following II. The weapon-arm has since been upgraded from time to time to accommodate new weapons and equipment.

Here are the options that Wild Dog has used in his weapon-arm, in the order they were introduced:


 * Gatling gun (introduced in Time Crisis: Project Titan and Time Crisis II).
 * Flamethrower (introduced in Time Crisis 3).
 * RPG (rocket propelled grenade) launcher (introduced in Time Crisis 3).
 * Compact grappling hook (introduced in Time Crisis 4).
 * Tractor beam (introduced in Time Crisis 4). Wild Dog uses this to lift, swing, and hurl various heavy objects such as crates and forklifts.

As the Time Crisis series progresses, Wild Dog's personal combat tactics seem to change, shifting from outright frontal assault to crafty uses of weapons and tactics. Perhaps indicating his advancing age, Wild Dog fights more intelligently and relies on his weapons more heavily. Here is a comparison of Wild Dog's tactics over the course of the games:


 * In Time Crisis, Wild Dog moves and dodges very quickly, using his twin pistols with unerring accuracy. He also used martial arts when up close, revealing that he was just as deadly at close range. He displayed a relative lack of tactics, concerned only with destroying his opponent.
 * In Time Crisis: Project Titan and Time Crisis II, Wild Dog is starting to become proficient in the use of his weapon-arm.
 * In Time Crisis 3, Wild Dog begins using craftier tactics such as tag-team maneuvers with Wild Fang and surprise frontal assaults. His new-weapon arm options enable him to surprise his opponents.  He is a bit slower in combat than before and hardly uses martial arts, though he still moves fast enough to keep up with his younger peers and opponents.
 * In Time Crisis 4, Wild Dog relies on his pistol and weapon-arm options more often compared to his previous encounters. His movements seem to have slowed again somewhat, but he is still able to stay ahead of his opponents.  In a display of advanced planning, he lures his opponents into pre-arranged traps such as using cruise missiles from idle UCAVs and an elaborate three-way wall trap.
 * Somewhere in the late 2000s, Wild Dog will again appear as a bosss character in the newest installment for upcoming Time Crisis 5 as in the fifth Time Crisis games.

Trivia

 * In Time Crisis, Time Crisis: Project Titan, and Time Crisis II, Wild Dog is voiced by Scott McCulloch. In Time Crisis 4, his English voice is provided by Dave Mallow.
 * In Time Crisis, Wild Dog appeared to be around his mid-thirties, while in Time Crisis 4 he appeared to be around his mid-forties. Since Namco first released Time Crisis in 1995 and first released Time Crisis 4 in 2005, Wild Dog may be aging relative to "real time."


 * Wild Dog currently seems to work alone as an independent mercenary. It is unknown whether he still commands the Wild Dogs mercenary company.  Most of those who fight together with Wild Dog after Time Crisis and Time Crisis: Project Titan are usually soldiers of Wild Dog's current employer.
 * In Time Crisis: Project Titan, Wild Dog's attire is of a different colour. Instead of black and brown, he wears red and black, the same colors that Wild Fang wears. This may imply that Wild Dog's protégé was "inspired" by his mentor.