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This article refers to the city in the 3D Universe.
For the city mentioned in the HD Universe, see Carcer City (HD Universe).
For other uses, see Carcer City (disambiguation).

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Manhunt Wiki has an article on Carcer City
America is full of run down, broken rust-belt towns where nobody cares and anything goes. In Carcer City, nothing matters anymore and all that's left are cheap thrills. The ultimate rush is the power to grant power and take it away, for sport.

The City of Carcer, commonly known as Carcer City or simply Carcer, is a major city in the United States mentioned in the 3D Universe of the Grand Theft Auto series, featured as the main setting of Manhunt.

The city is said to be located in the heartland, the Rust Belt area of the United States of America, and near Liberty City[4]; however, it is not confirmed if it is located in the State of Liberty.

The city's motto is "This is what the heartland is all about".

Description[]

Carcer City is the setting of Manhunt, a Rockstar North game which features mass murderer/vigilante James Earl Cash as its protagonist. Carcer City is a decayed and crime-ridden city located in close proximity to Liberty City. It is depicted as having a dysfunctional and corrupt police force and large swathes of neglected and abandoned neighborhoods that have become overrun by violent gangs.

Being an extreme caricature of a Rust Belt city, Carcer City appears to have taken inspiration from Detroit and Flint, Michigan; Camden, New Jersey; East St. Louis with Chicago, Illinois; and Gary, Indiana. It is implied that Carcer City was a booming industrial center in its past before it became crippled by crime and depression.

References are made to Carcer City in the Grand Theft Auto series, and GTA car models and prominent businesses (i.e. Sprunk, Bitch'n' Dog Food, Tarbrush Café, Maibatsu Corporation) are seen in the Manhunt games, confirming that Carcer City exists within the same continuity as GTA, with the events of Manhunt being set in the 3D Universe timeline. A few characters from the 3D Universe, including BJ Smith and Phil Cassidy, are also mentioned by the gangs of Carcer City.

A news segment from Grand Theft Auto III describes Carcer City as being "nearby" Liberty City, and briefly mentions Carcer City police chief Gary Schaffer, a character from Manhunt.

Carcer City is also mentioned to exist in the HD Universe as an alternative universe version of the city not related to the Manhunt setting.

Geography[]

Tired of all the sunshine and good weather? Looking for a real American vacation? Visit the shining jewel in a rustbelt crown - Carcer City. It's a real man's vacation. The pride of a nation is in Carcer City. It's steel, ice, and poverty. Spend a romantic evening in the beauty of the nighttime river glow of the flaming river. Watch real men who make things lose their jobs and fight on our special "Closing the Mill" guided tour. Come see what we're really made of. This is real America - drunk, proud, unemployed, and angry. Hear the eagle roar in Carcer City. This is what the heartland is all about.
— "Carcer City Vacations" radio commercial.

Although it is not specified where on the east coast it could be, it is presumed to be near Liberty City. There is a polluted river located in the city that catches on fire, a reference to the Cuyahoga River. The terrain is mostly flat aside from surrounding hills that house the wealthier neighborhoods. Not much else is known or revealed about the environment in Carcer City.

Etymology[]

"Carcer" likely derives from the Latin word carcere, meaning "prison", which was also the name of a prison in Rome in the ancient Roman empire. This is the source of terms like "incarcerate" (meaning "to imprison"), and "carceral state", a state modeled on a prison.

"Carcer" is one of the seven figures of Western Geomancy. It is the figurative outline of an enclosure or prison cell, and presumably also derives from the Latin carcere.

Residents[]

  • James Earl Cash - The protagonist of Manhunt, he is a violent criminal and death row inmate who was given a second chance at life in order to star in a snuff film centered around his brutal slaying of Carcer's gangs. He was apprehended for an unknown crime while in Carcer City and held in the deserted Darkwoods Penitentiary under the pretense of being on death row. In reality, he was hand-picked by a powerful snuff movie ring that allowed him to live as long as he took a leading role in one of their films.
  • Lionel Starkweather - A powerful and wealthy snuff porn director and Vinewood reject with many underground financial backers. He profited from Carcer City's decline by completely buying off its police force and government who, in turn, allowed him to transform the city into a playground for his sadistic movies and projects. Most of Carcer City's gangs appear to be on his payroll.
  • Gary Schaffer - The corrupt chief of the Carcer City Police Department, who was bribed by Starkweather into letting him use multiple locations in the city as the setting of his snuff movies. He was first mentioned in a Grand Theft Auto III news report on Lips 106 as being cleared of charges of corruption, an event that occurs before the events of the Manhunt storyline.
  • Piggsy - A man driven insane by Lionel Starkweather who has starred in many of his snuff movies.
  • Ken - A man who calls in to Electron Zone on LCFR and complains about his internet connection, reveals he has downloaded pornography, and says he was visited by the FBI several times.
  • Geraldine - A patriotic woman who calls in to The Wild Traveler on WCTR. She questions why anyone would travel to other countries, mentioning how there is war, famine, depression, and pollution right on her doorstep.
  • Brian Van Ginsberg - a member of the Epsilon Program.
  • Marcel Crayon - a man who supports the Citizens United Negating Technology For Life and People's Safety.
See Also: Individual gang members in Manhunt

Locations[]

Notable locations in Carcer City include:

  • Wapona Hills: A wealthy residential enclave located in the outskirts of the city, it is home to Starkweather's sprawling estate.
  • Carcer Zoo: A large, abandoned zoo that featured many exotic animals in its past. It became the hunting grounds of the sadistic paramilitary gang, the Wardogs.
  • Darkwoods Penitentiary: A massive prison complex that featured an asylum for prisoners deemed too insane for the general population. The Penitentiary has become disused and overrun by its former inmates and asylum patients.
  • Carcer Church: A deserted gothic church located in the East Los Albos district. It is connected to a graveyard and houses the base of operations for the satanic Innocentz gang.
  • Carcer City Mall: A multiple-story shopping mall that appears to be either abandoned or under construction. It is considered to be turf of the Innocentz.
  • Dentons City Junkyard: A massive scrapyard located in the industrial district of the city, it was taken over by a white supremacist gang. It features a magnetic crane and compactor along with many warehouses and piles of scrap metal.
  • Carcer Point Station: A big subway and railway station. There are many freight carriages seen here and a train depot. It is a place where Carcer City Police Department and Carcer City SWAT patrol.

Districts[]

Police Department[]

So I'm sitting here, reading the Liberty Tree, and it says 'In nearby Carcer City, a good day for law and order as police chief Gary Schaffer was cleared of corruption charges in a controversial decision by the courts. Let's hope those missing witnesses turn up safe and sound.
Andee on Lips 106, mentioning the Carcer City Police Department.

First mentioned in Grand Theft Auto III, the Carcer City Police Department plays a major role in the storyline as a group of hunters. The corrupt unit seen in-game is led by police chief Gary Schaffer, who is being bribed by film director Lionel Starkweather to use certain areas of the city as movie sets for his snuff films.

Shortly before the events of Manhunt, Schaffer enlisted some of his corrupt CCPD officers as actors for the snuff film ring while under Starkweather's payroll. They were featured as actors for the direct-to-tape snuff films CCPD Brutality Caught on Tape and In-Carcer-ation Blues, featuring real footage of police brutality.[5]

The police department also has its own Special Weapons and Tactics unit, who appear as hunters as well; however, there is no evidence of the SWAT unit being involved with the snuff film ring.

References to Carcer City in the 3D Universe[]

Grand Theft Auto III[]

  • In a news segment on Lips 106 (after the song "Bump to the Music" by Fatamarse) Andee reports that "Carcer City police chief Gary Schaffer was cleared of corruption charges in a controversial decision by the courts". This suggests that the CCPD police chief has been corrupt for two or more years before the events of Manhunt, presumably accepting money from Starkweather. The same news segment mentions Carcer City as being "nearby" to Liberty City.

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City[]

  • A mattress store has a poster that reads, "Joe's Beds: The Best Mattresses in Carcer" in Little Havana. The same sign can be found in the first mission of Manhunt.
  • There is a store in Little Haiti called Ryton Aide. The same store can also be seen in Manhunt during the first scene of the game and in the opening movie. However, it cannot be entered.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas[]

MorriceAmmunition-GTASA-RedBox Brian'sNails-Box-GTASA
A box of Morrice Ammunition.
A box of Brian's Nails.
  • In Ammu-Nation stores, ammunition used by James Earl Cash in Manhunt (like Morrice Ammunition and Brian's Nails) can be seen for sale.
  • A radio advertisement for Carcer City makes references to steel mills being closed and "dining in the glow of the Flaming River". Many steel mills in the Midwest closed during the early '90s, including those in Pittsburgh, PA, Philadelphia, PA, Cleveland, Ohio, and Detroit, MI. The "Flaming River" is a clear reference to the "Burning River", a period in the 1970s where the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, Ohio was so polluted that it caught fire.
  • There are blue propane tanks with "Carcer Gas!" printed on them.
  • The Carcer newspapers can be found inside some buildings, such as the Jefferson Motel and some police station interiors.
  • A woman named Geraldine calls into The Wild Traveler show on WCTR, mentioning that she is from Carcer City.
  • When bumped into, some pedestrians say "Hey! This isn't Carcer City, okay?"
  • On the shores of Palomino Creek, north of Los Santos, and behind the Marco's Bistro in Liberty City, there are several large, wooden, spool-shaped objects with the almost-indistinguishable words "J Arthur Cable Company", a cable company from Carcer City.
  • In Zero RC, there are action figures of the Manhunt characters James Earl Cash and Piggsy. This is an Easter egg.
  • After witnessing Carl Johnson kill somebody, some pedestrians may say "I'm moving to Carcer City".
  • In the first cutscene at the airport, the arrivals board shows the flight "MH516" incoming from Carcer City. "MH" stands for Manhunt.
  • Pedestrians in the street can be overheard saying "I studied in Carcer City".
  • The strip club dancer with a police outfit has the badge of the Carcer City Police Department on her cap and belt.

Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories[]

  • A man named Ken calls "The Electron Zone" on LCFR and states that he is "calling from Carcer City."

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories[]

  • Various pedestrians claim to have previous occupations in Carcer City; some say, "I was a plumber in Carcer City!", and others say "I was a bank teller up Carcer before I retired".

Miscellaneous[]

  • There are a few GTA vehicles seen in Carcer City in Manhunt. The Stallion makes a cameo appearance as a burnt out wreck, and the Virgo appears as a picture in Starkweather's mansion. The large police vans located throughout Manhunt, where the protagonist can pry open the back doors to find supplies, closely resemble the Boxville vans from the GTA III era games. The box trucks with lights beaming during some levels resemble the Yankee from the 3D Universe games. Hollowed-out, roofless, rusted shells of cars resembling the GTA III Idaho can be found widely around the junkyard in Manhunt, as well as being seen throughout the GTA III era. A version of the Grand Theft Auto: Vice City police cruiser except with black paint is also present.

See Also[]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Manhunt website -> Info
  2. ...This is what the heartland is all about.
    — "Carcer City Vacations" advertisement in GTA San Andreas.
  3. Lips 106 radio segment in Grand Theft Auto III.
  4. As mentioned by Andee on Lips 106, after playing the song Bump To The Music
  5. Valiant Enterprises Winter/Spring Catalogue, p. 7 (Instruction Manual)
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