Ricardo Diaz's Hitmen are minor characters in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.
History[]
Background[]
The hitmen are all hired by Ricardo Diaz to disrupt drug deals in Vice City. They sport black battle dress uniforms and black tuques. As cutscene-only models, they never appear outside the introduction cutscene. Their guns are not separate models and are attached to their hand models. They are simply referred to as "Cutscene Assassin A, B and C" in the files.
Events of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories[]
While the hitmen never appear in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, set two years before Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, their appearance is foreshadowed during the mission Farewell To Arms.
During the mission, Colonel Juan Cortez's right-hand man Gonzalez has been caught by Ricardo Diaz and is forced to work for Diaz as well as leaking him information for any shipments he knows about.
Events of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City[]
Two years later, in 1986, the two remaining members of the Vance Crime Family set up a cocaine deal at the docks in Viceport with the Forelli Crime Family from Liberty City, apparently by the help of Colonel Cortez. Gonzalez heard about the deal and leaked it to Ricardo Diaz, who sent three hitmen to Viceport to ambush the deal and steal their drugs and money.
As the two parties approach each other for the deal, Diaz' hitmen start shooting at them. Victor Vance, along with two Forelli gangsters Harry and Lee are gunned down, while Victor's brother Lance Vance, the Forelli's representative Tommy Vercetti and his lawyer Ken Rosenberg escapes from the scene, leaving the drugs and money behind.
Fate[]
After Tommy takes over Ricardo Diaz' entire drug empire and Lance avenges his brother's death, Tommy decides to build his own criminal empire in Vice City. The ambushers are never mentioned again after Tommy acquires his mansion and their fates are never revealed.
Characters[]
Identities[]
The first half of the storyline of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City focuses on Tommy Vercetti looking for clues about who ambushed the deal in hope to repay Sonny Forelli's money lost in the deal.
During his investigation, Ken Rosenberg puts Tommy in contact with Colonel Cortez, the man who helped him set up the deal with the Vance brothers, and later puts him in contact with Kent Paul, a British man who is well connected in the Vice City underworld.
Tommy interrogates Kent Paul at the Malibu Club, who informs him there's a chef named Leo Teal working at a hotel in Ocean Drive who has looking really pleased with himself lately for something and that Tommy should check him out. After Tommy kills Leo in a fist fight, one of the Vance brothers, Lance Vance finds him and berates him for killing their lead to finding the men responsible for the ambushed deal.
Tommy secures Leo's phone and finds out he works as a hitman for a contact known as Mr. Black, and apparently none of them are linked to Ricardo Diaz or the deal. However, he also receives a phone call from one of Leo's contacts, telling him that he found a buyer for Diaz' merchandise, presumably referring to Victor's stolen cocaine from the deal.
- Caller: Hey Leo, I think we have buyer for Diaz's merchandise. You've gotta give them a ring man, set up the deal, you know?
- Tommy Vercetti: Where are you now?
- Caller: You okay Leo? You sound kinda different.
- Tommy Vercetti: Just tell me where you are!
- Caller: Who the hell is this? Put Leo on man!
- Tommy Vercetti: Leo's gone away for a while, he left me in charge.
- Caller: Screw you, man!
This phone call, along with the revelation that Leo is a hitman, implies that he was one of the hitmen who ambushed the deal and took their drugs, although this is never officially confirmed. It can only be assumed that Leo is simply an associate of Diaz who helps him set up his drug deals, according to the first call received on his phone, and was not involved with the ambush at all.
The official GTA Vice City website features a Vice City Bureau of Investigation crime record tree featuring several criminal files of characters seen in the game, as well as revealing the name of some characters who are never identified in-game, including Pedro Garcia, Pierre La Ponce and even Victor Vance and Mr. Black. In the crime record tree, Leo Teal's file is linked to Mr. Black, as well as two characters named Eugene and Moweesha. However, as the latter's name is a female name, they cannot be the ambushers, since all three ambushers are clearly male.
Coincidentally, two of the ambushers have the same face texture as Leo Teal with minor tweaks (different mustache or shaved), while the other one uses Tommy Vercetti's face texture.
Murders Committed by the Hitmen[]
- Victor Vance – Killed under orders of Ricardo Diaz in order to steal his drugs.
- Harry – Killed under orders of Ricardo Diaz in order to steal their money.
- Lee – Killed under orders of Ricardo Diaz in order to steal their money.
Mission Appearances[]
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City[]
Gallery[]
Weapons[]
Trivia[]
- In The Definitive Edition, the cutscene models of the MP5K and the M60 used by the hitmen are replaced with a Tec-9 and a S.P.A.S. 12 respectively. However, the sound of the original weapons are still used during the cutscene.