John Hemlock

John Hemlock

General John Hemlock is a character from the Dead Rising series of survival horror games. He appears in Dead Rising 3 as the final psychopath and main antagonist.

Profile

Hemlock works for President Sonya Paddock as the Secretary of Defense. He is in Los Perdidos searching for an old friend of Nick's, and secretly working alongside Marian Mallon to try and use the King Zombies as a bioweapon to infect the entire population of North America.

General Hemlock's main ambition is to use the outbreak as an excuse to gain greater control and power over the American people through strict martial law and censorship. With Paddock currently missing (actually kidnapped by Hemlock's special forces), he has practically succeeded in gaining dictatorial status over the nation in her absence.

According to the Dead Rising 3 story trailer, Hemlock believes that it is just a "myth" that it is possible to completely cure someone that has been infected.

Story

General Hemlock first appears in the game delivering a televised speech about President Sonya Paddock's decision to firebomb Los Perdidos when there are no signs of organic life present in the quarantined areas. He is accompanied by his chief of security Sgt. Hilde who oversees the "safety" of survivors found within the city limits. In reality, he uses her to find and murder any potential threats to their operation, be they actual threats or not. This also permits him to continue maintaining his dictatorial status under martial law, a condition he wishes to prolong.

Hemlock is seen during Chapter 4 as he speaks to Marian Mallon. Marian wishes to have the time before the firebombing extended so that she can hunt down Diego and Nick Ramos. He grants Marian an extension, and then orders that the President be brought in and infected with the virus. It's later declared over the radio that the President has been infected and that Hemlock has declared martial law to all surrounding areas until the outbreak has been contained. Following Paddock's death, his position of power is elevated to "Temporary President of the United States". Nick becomes angry, knowing that the President's death was intentionally done by Hemlock.

In Chapter 6, Hemlock finally makes his first physical appearance. After Marian fails to stop Nick from escaping the lab, she gets buried underneath a pile of rubble. Hemlock arrives on the scene moments later and presumably frees her.

Towards the end of Chapter 7, Nick and his allies manage to piece together their getaway plane and obtain the fuel to fly it. However, the escape plan is soon delayed by Red, who lures Nick, Annie, and Isabela Keyes out into the open where a unit of Hemlock's special forces is waiting. The special forces lock Annie and Isabela into a storage container while Red boastfully claims that he's about to collect the $5 million dollar bounty that Marian and Hemlock have put out on Nick. Furious over Red's betrayal, Nick proceeds to fight him along with all the special forces, and emerges victorious.

After Annie and Isabela are freed, General Hemlock makes a call via walkie-talkie to his men, demanding an update on Nick's apprehension. Though Annie tries to dissuade him from doing it, Nick picks up the walkie-talkie and pretends to be one of the special forces, telling Hemlock that the mission is going well, but that they need more time to wrap things up. Surprisingly, Nick's impersonation attempt works, and Hemlock agrees to grant a 1-day time extension before the military firebombing, stating that Marian would probably be happy about it too.

As the group finally prepares to escape the city, they pick up on Hemlock's radio conversation ordering a collection of the substance emitted from King Zombies before they will commence firebombing. Determined to stop him, Nick leaves the plane and pursues Hemlock's aircraft to its landing pad with the help of Chuck Greene. There, Hemlock boasts to Marian that he has the power to create outbreaks on the spot that will continue to impose martial law and leave him as the ruling force. Marian rejects his offer on the grounds that she must find the orphan with the cure, but he claims that the cure is just a myth. In response to her rejection, Hemlock throws her from the landing pad to her death. Hemlock then orders the collection process to begin before the firebombing will follow.

Nick and Chuck then proceed to destroy the drones used to collect the king zombie samples. Using one of the escaping drones, Nick ascends into the aircraft and attacks the pilot, crashing it in the middle of Los Perdidos with one rotor still operating not far from where the two are thrown. Hemlock, beaten, a little bloodied and his uniform shredded, but not dead, draws a Grenade Launcher and begins to shoot at Nick before engaging in hand-to-hand combat. A boss fight ensues until Nick proves triumphant. Informing Hemlock that he does in fact contain the cure to the zombie plague that Hemlock dismisses as nonsense, Nick then kicks Hemlock into the still-spinning rotor, shredding him to pieces.

Trivia

• Hemlock is possibly named after the poisonous plant known to cause seizures and other central nervous system stimulatory effects.

• Hemlock has a cameo appearance in the film Dead Rising: Watchtower.

• Similar to the fights against Brock Mason and Raymond Sullivan, Hemlock's fight takes place on an elevated platform surrounded by zombies.

• Unlike all the other bosses fought in "Overtime Mode", Hemlock doesn't fall to his death or get eaten by the zombies once he's beaten. Also, the player won't lose anything in their inventory before fighting him.

• Hemlock's outfit can be worn by Nick after purchasing the "Operation Broken Eagle" DLC.

• Similar to Brock Mason and Sgt. Dwight Boykin from the preceding games, Hemlock continues the tradition of having a boss fight with a soldier in Overtime Mode.

• Hemlock can be hit into the rotor before the battle ends, dealing a lot of damage.

Gallery

Hemlock in-game.