The Player, also more prominently known as "Hero" is the titular main protagonist of Need for Speed: Most Wanted and Need for Speed: Carbon.
A street racer who was once notorious in Palmont City's illegal street racing scene, as shown in Carbon's intro cutscene, he later flees to Rockport City to repair his reputation following an incident involving a police sting operation.
During the events of Most Wanted, he challenges and eventually defeats the self-proclaimed Blacklist, the top 15 street racers of Rockport, becoming the most wanted street racer, which ensues a citywide police pursuit. The player returns to Palmont City in Carbon, where he challenges rival street racing crews to gain control of the city's territories.
He is portrayed by Paul Walker in Most Wanted and Craig Sorensen in Carbon.
History[]
Past (Before Most Wanted)[]
Originally, the player was a racer for Darius' crew alongside Nikki, his former love interest. In an eventual street race that entailed a huge amount of prize money, chaos broke out when the Palmont City Police Department ambushed the event, disabled each of the participants' cars, and arrested them, except for the player, who fled the scene. Before, Nikki had given the player a duffle bag, which presumably contained the prize money; however, the player found out the bag did not contain the money.
Events of Need for Speed: Most Wanted[]
Years later, the player arrives at Rockport City on his BMW M3 GTR (E46), who then shares a welcome race with Mia Townsend. However, he is caught by Rockport City Police Department Sergeant Jonathan Cross and his partner, who blocked the player's way with his Corvette C6.R. Before he is able to apprehend the player on the grounds that his car is not street legal, however, Cross is informed of a nearby police pursuit that required his attention, to which he is forced to let go of the player, saying that he would not be so lucky the next time, before leaving a long scratch on the player's car using his keys.
A street race between the player and Ronnie McCrea introduces him to Clarence "Razor" Callahan, the number 15 of the self-proclaimed group of elite street racers, dubbed "the Blacklist." Razor immediately shows his distaste towards the new contender and disagrees to race him when Mia interjects and challenges Razor to do so, claiming that he needs to earn more reputation to challenge a Blacklist racer, to which Toru "Bull" Sato agrees to race him. Mia decides to raise the stakes by increasing the prize money, and Razor calls the RPD to inform them of the ensuing street race, also requesting an ambulance. The player manages to defeat Sato and escape the police.
On the coming days, the player keeps winning more races to build reputation and also befriends a fellow racer named Rog before Razor challenges him for a race. He also informs the player that Blacklist events are pink slip races, meaning that the loser has to give up his vehicle to the winner.
During the race, however, Mia calls the player and informs him to end the race fast, as she has seen a trail of oil leaked from the player's car before his BMW M3 GTR (E46) finally breaks down and comes to an abrupt halt. It turns out that Razor's gang had sabotaged the player's car before the race, thus allowing Razor to win the race and the player's car. The car is seen towed away for repairs as Razor and his gang mock the player before the police arrive. The player, without having a car to escape, is apprehended by Cross and his partner; however, he is later released since the police had no proof of him engaging in street racing due to having no car.
Mia picks the player up on her Mazda RX-8 before informing him that during his time in custody, Razor had managed to rise up the ranks of the Blacklist and become number 1, using the player's BMW, and that the player has to defeat each of the 15 Blacklist racers before challenging Razor to win his car back. She drives him to a safe house and lets him buy his first car, while striking a deal with him to place bets in favour of him in exchange for access to more safe houses, access to the police rap sheet to keep track of his bounty, and support.
The player, with the support of Mia and Rog, defeats each of the Blacklist members one by one after winning numerous street races and racking up bounty by engaging in high-profile police pursuits, directly involving Cross himself at times, and causing property damage, which catches Razor's attention. Throughout the game, he leaves messages to intimidate the player, sarcastically thanking him for the BMW and accusing him of working with the police. Rog himself leaves a message to the player, warning him of Mia and how she is able to bring a huge amount of cash to place bets on the player.
The player finally challenges Razor to a series of races that ended with the player winning. Razor confronts him, declaring that the player will not hold onto being number 1 on the Blacklist with him on the player's tail, and refuses to give him the keys to his BMW, which are snatched away by Mia. Razor attempts to grab at them, only to be subdued by Mia, who revealed herself as an undercover police officer of the RPD, showing her badge and service weapon to the others when they try to intervene. At that moment, police sirens and helicopter noises are heard, to which Mia tosses the car keys to the player and yells at him to go. The player quickly flees the scene in his reunited BMW.
Razor is led away by police officers when Cross and his partner arrive and ask the player's whereabouts from Mia, to which she replies that he got away and that the Blacklist is finished. Cross then orders the entire Rockport police force to pursue and apprehend the player. While on pursuit, Cross calls the player, thanking him for helping to take down the Blacklist and saying that he would consider the fact if he turned himself in. The player is hunted by every police unit in the area, including Rhino SUV's, Federal Cruisers, and the Police Helicopter. Mia calls and informs the player of how every safe house in the area is known by Cross; therefore, the only way the player can escape is by leaving Rockport, to which she directs the player to an abandoned, incomplete bridge. The player successfully jumps over the bridge, his BMW being fast enough to make the jump, while Cross and his units were left behind. The player then flees Rockport City.
In the post-credits scene, Cross adds the player's name to the national most wanted list.
Events of Need for Speed: Carbon[]
TBA
Personality[]
Gallery[]
.png "Player (Most Wanted).png (1.07 MB)")
Trivia[]
- The player is depicted as a male during several story and busted cutscenes in all game appearances. The player's face is never shown, although it is partly visible during the prologue of Need for Speed: Carbon.
- According to Rog, the player has been involved with the Underground racing scene. It is unconfirmed whether the player is the same protagonist from the Underground series.
- In Need for Speed: Most Wanted, the actor portraying the player's character in live-action cutscenes is named Paul Walker, who is not Paul William Walker IV known for the role of Brian O'Conner in The Fast and the Furious.
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 Heroes
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Underground Crew Most Wanted & Carbon Crew Lucky 7
Law Enforcements
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