Ricardo Gomez

"I'm going to play you a requiem!"

- Ricardo Gomez

Ricardo Gomez is a character in the video-game Shadow Hearts: From the New World. Ricardo is mariachi working in the Four & Deuces casino for Mao. Ricardo is very much romantically involved with Edna Capone, his coworker and sister of the Casino's owner.

Chicago
Ricardo came to work for the Four & Deuces casino in Chicago after a rather extravagant past as a traveling mariachi. Ricardo had traveled from one place to another working on the street or in local establishments for money and then using it to move on. When he came to Chicago's Four & Deuces he had intended to work for a few months as a mariachi act and then move on but he soon met Edna Capone, who helped run the casino but in her spare time worked as a lounge singer. Ricardo decided to stay and he and Edna became an item. Edna was the sister of the casino's owner Al Capone, the famous mobster, while Capone was in jail his right-hand Mao, manged the casino for him and kept his businesses running for him once he got out. Mao resided in the casino managing the criminal/financial aspects of Capones business there while Edna handled the entertainment responsibilities. Though officially Mao was in-charge she deferred to Edna out of respect for her brother, however Edna was not interested in her brother's criminal life and so Mao and she never came into conflict and were quite close. Ricardo knew of the shady business Al Capone and Mao were involved in, however as no one was ever hurt unless they came to make trouble for the casino, Ricardo was content to turn a blind eye to it, instead focusing on Edna who seemed to have adopted the same philosophy.

Unfortunately over time Edna attracted the attention of Roy McManus, head of a rival crime family. Roy was an ex-lover of Edna but she had long since left him and remained under the protection of her brother. With Al Capone imprisoned for tax evasion Roy decided to makew his move against both Al Capone's territory and his sister. The game's main characters, Johnny Garland, Shania, Natan and Frank Goldfinger went to Mao, Frank's former mentor, for some information on a man called Gilbert and his connection to a woman they had simply dubbed "Lady". While Mao was listening to her guests Roy made his move an had Edna taken to a small bar he owned when she went outside. Roy was making his move against the Capone territories and wanted Edna by his side as his girl, Roy was not only enamored with her but also saw much opportunity that being linked to the sister of Al Capone could afford him. Edna refused saying her brother would never tolerate Roy's designs on her even from in prison, Roy laughed off the concerned saying he had an assassin planted on the prison staff and Edna's brother was not going to be a concern much longer. Even without her brother's protection Edna refused to be Roy's girl, saying she was already in love with Ricardo. Roy was furious and pulled a gun on Edna telling her no one refused him and that he never wanted to hear the name of her mariachi boyfriend again, Edna refused to submit and stuck to her proclamation of love for Ricardo, the act was naturally prompted Roy to make good on his threat and he shot Edna point blank.

Roy told his men to get rid of Edna's body in the back alley and quickly made his way out of Chicago before Mao got wind of what he had done. As the McManus thugs were disposing of Edna's body they were met by a silent wanderer, the mysterious and very dangerous "Lady" Johnny and his friends were looking for. Lady was accompanied by a man calling himself "Killer", whom she had brought back from the dead by kissing. Killer and the thugs watched with interest as the silent Lady casually walked up to Edna's body and kissed it quickly reviving it in the same way as Killer had been. The McManus men's interest turned to confusion and then panic as the previously dead Edna got back on her feet. In addition to reviving Edna, Lady's kiss had given her inhuman powers and she almost immediately slaughtered the McManus men without even thinking about it. Otherwise in a daze Edna remembered her brother was in danger and wandered off to save him.

Edna Capone
Johnny, Shania, Natan and Frank had been contracted by Mao to break Al Capone out of jail, though none felt good about a helping create a jailbreak they had little choice for Mao would not give them information on Gilbert unless they first helped her. The party will arrive just in time to stop the assassin but shorty afterward monsters will start appearing, being unconsciously summoned by Edna who was combing the prison for her brother. The [arty soon discovers Edna as the source of the monsters and call out to her in the prison courtyard. Edna comes to her senses when she hears her brother's voice but before they can reunite one of the larger monsters Edna had brought with her interrupts and attacks the party. While the party fights the beast Edna decides to leave in hopes of dragging the monsters with her. When the battle is over the monster vanish but so had Edna. Edna had returned to Lady to get answers, but received none from the silent and despondent Lady.

Revenge
While Mao and the others were gone the Capones had confirmed that Roy McManus was in-town and that he had shot a woman matching Edna's description, on Mao's order in case of the scenario the Capone thugs began searching for Roy but soon found he had left Chicago and gone back to California. As Roy was not out of their territory, the Capone troops decided to hold off on pursuing him until either Mao or Al Capone himself came back to give them orders, Ricardo, being in the heart of the Capone territory overheard the news and promptly packed-up his guitar and left the casino to take care of Roy McManus himself. Ricardo had a gun hidden in his guitar and some black-market contacts to modify it to be especially dangerous. Relying on his appearance as a mariachi carrying a simple guitar until the last second Ricardo mowed down dozens of McManus henchmen on his quest to get to Roy McManus himself. A single thug managed to survive one of Ricardo's shoot-outs and got back to Roy to warn him the traveling mariachi was more thn he appeared before bleeding out. Warned of his presence and the danger there of, Roy quickly organized his men to capture Ricardo. The party arrived in California, joined then by Hildegarde Valentine whom they had met in Area 51 while looking for Gilbert, Johnny and the others had come to find Roy and find out the mystery of Edna Capone and her link to Lady. By the time the party arrives Ricardo had been captured and was being interrogated by Roy, who believed Ricardo was an assassin sent by Al Capone for killing his sister. With confirmation that Edna was dead Ricardo became even more enraged. Roy was unsure if Ricardo truly was acting alone as he said, but it did not matter, Roy was convinced Ricardo either didn't know anything of Capone's plans or simply wouldn't talk and ordered his men to dispose of him slowly then toss the body out on the street as message to Capone. On their way through the casino to get to Roy's Penthouse the party will happen upon Ricardo and his captors and fight to free him. Ricardo was surprised to see Mao and her strange visitors there and said he had come to avenge Edna murder. But when Johnny mentioned that they had seen Edna alive and well, Ricardo was stunned and gripped by the hope that he had just heard wrong. Mao confirmed that something strange had happened to Edna and they were there to find Roy and get him to tell them what had happened. Ricardo insisted on going with them, Mao and Johnny agreed but told Ricardo he would need to keep his temper in check when they found Roy as they needed him to be able to answer questions.

As Ricardo was being freed some other guests arrived at the casino, Al Capone and his men, who had come to deal with Roy and the McManuses once and for all. Eventually Johnny, Mao Ricardo and the rest made it to the penthouse to find Roy celebrating a new era for the family. Roy refused to answer any questions as his men strongly outnumbered the intruders even after Al Capone and his men had charged in. But Roy was taken by surprise when Edna arrived. Edna had come like Ricardo and Al to avenge her death but was brought back to her sense when she saw Ricardo there. Roy, understandably unnerved ordered his men to turn their fire on Edna. Despite her best efforts to remain in control of herself the bullets rekindled her Malice and she blew up the penthouse. Most of McManus's men were killed and the outer wall of his penthouse was destroyed. Ricardo tried to clam Edna down but she said she could not control herself and she could feel herself turning into monster, Edna begged Ricardo to kill her before she lost herself but Ricardo naturally refused. Shania, who had been hunting Lady noted that she saw Lady watching silently on the roof outside. Despite her best efforts Edna exploded in a bur of Malice and transformed into a monster forcing Ricardo and the others to fight her and put her down.

Once defeated the Malice in Edna's body began to dissipate, however with it went her renewed life. Ricardo tried to tell Edna to hang on but she knew she was dying yet was glad she could die as herself and with Ricardo by her side she then died in Ricardo's arms. Shania noted that during the fight Lady and her bodyguard had left. Al Capone was touched by Edna's death too but far less swept up in it and did what he had come to do by promptly placing a bullet in Roy's head. After the ordeal Johnny and the others renewed their efforts to find Lady. Capone had heard that Gilbert was seen with Lady and Killer in Mexico and Mao asked for leave to find them with her new friends, Capone was happy to give Mao leave and even a arranged for a private plane to take them to Mexico. Johnny, Mao, Frank and Hilda could not find it in their hearts to leave Ricardo behind and invited him to come along with them. Ricardo had little to look forward too in Chicago and was happy to find the creature who had turned his love into a monster and so he gladly took Johnny and the others up on their offer to join them. Ricardo wanted revenge on Lady, but more than that simply had no one else to go to, so he joins as a permanent party member.

Abilities
Ricardo has above average Intelligence, Vitality and Power stats. This gives him decent Mana points for special abilities, Health and magic attack damage, making him a hard to kill spell-caster. Like all characters Ricardo can be equipped with the player's choice of magic crests for power combinations, Ricardo is well suited to use magic but still less skilled than Hilda and Mao in it's potency. Ricardo's guitar can turn into a variety of weapons to use to attack his foes, but his main function is buffer. Ricardo's guitar-gun is more useful as a guitar than gun and he an collect muses to inspire him to write new songs, Ricardo has four songs, the first three buff the stats of the entire party and the final one debuffs all enemies.

Personality
Ricardo is a romantic and enjoys beauty, passion and creativity. Even after Edna's death Ricardo frequently gets swept up in grand sights and local celebrations. Despite his jovial demeanor though Ricardo's mind never turns from Edna and he is driven primarily by sadness and vengeance. Ricardo keeps to himself unless engaged and remains discretely concerned with helping those around him.