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"We have not yet confirmed the cause of the ongoing outbreak, but it was almost certainly initiated by the turning of an illegally infected, unchipped person. Let this tragedy be a reminder to all Americans - Zombrex chipping is the law."
—Hemlock, giving a press conference concerning the outbreak in Los Perdidos.

General John Hemlock is the main antagonist and final psychopath of Dead Rising 3.

Hemlock works for President Sonya Paddock as the Secretary of Defense. He is in Los Perdidos searching for an old friend of Nick Ramos,[1] 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 final conversation between him and Marian, Hemlock believes that it is just a "myth" that it is possible to completely cure someone that has been infected.[2]

Dead Rising 3[]

John Hemlock is the Secretary of Defense of the United States of America, who was appointed by the president elect Sonya Paddock. Hemlock is the largest general of the army and air force (not the navy and other military forces of the country) and he is also the leader of the anti-zombie agency ZDC. His intention is to kill the president in the pandemic of the lost, also unemployed or kill the vice president or anyone who wants to take command, all to overtake the presidency via martial law and start a development program of biological weapons to infect or cause outbreaks to overthrow the most powerful people.

Hemlock first appears in the game delivering a televised speech about President 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 Schmittendorf 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 via rule of the sword, a condition he wishes to prolong.

General Hemlock is seen during Chapter 4 as he speaks to Marian. Marian wishes to have the time before the firebombing extended so that she can hunt down Diego Martinez and Nick. He grants Marian an extension, and then orders that the President be brought in and infected with a parasitic tapeworm. 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 concussed by a collapsing pile of rubble. Hemlock arrives on the scene moments later and presumably carries her off scene.

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 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 they can now create outbreaks on the spot that will continue to impose a suspension of civil rights and leave him as the ruling force in America. Marian rejects his offer on the grounds that she must find the orphan for the cure, but he claims that the cure is just a myth. Musing to his beloved that they shouldn't throw this opportunity away for a pipe dream, but Marian has none of that, rejecting him as weak and unreliable. In response to her vetoing his affections, Hemlock throws her from the landing pad to her death. Stating no other man would ever take her given Marian's present condition. He 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 shreaded, 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.

Battle Style[]

  • If Nick is on the other side of the platform, Hemlock can charge at him. If he grabs him, he'll toss him off, doing a block of damage.
  • Hemlocks weakness is the exposed muscle tissue on his back. If hit, he will be stunned, and will be able to be grabbed.
  • If Nick is not on the platform, Hemlock will start rapidly burst firing with a grenade launcher, and is capable of stun-locking Nick to death.
  • Hemlock will throwing grenades when Nick is in a position where his Grenade Launcher can't hit him. Hemlock might also accidentally damage himself with his own grenades.
  • After a combo, Hemlock may grab Nick and punch him off the platform. Hemlock will not change direction, so if he punches Nick into the helicopter blades, it's an insta kill.
  • Hemlock will sometimes attempt to push Nick into the blades make Nick receive massive damage.
  • At 50% health, Hemlock gains a counter attack. He goes into a wrestling stances, and if he's hit from the front, he'll take no damage and grab Nick for a german suplex that does a block of damage.
    • Hemlock will not turn towards Nick while doing this, and is a good opportunity to hit Hemlock in the back.
  • When the battle starts, Hemlock will immediately reload his grenade launcher, which is an opportunity to grab him.
  • Due to the timing of the battle, Nick will likely have lots of guns on him on platform, making the fight much more easier.
  • There's good weapons and food around the arena, so it can give Nick opportunity to create Combo Weapons.

Trivia[]

  • 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, he doesn't fall to his death or get eaten by the zombies once he's beaten. The player also doesn't lose anything in their inventory before fighting him, and thereby not forced to rely on hand-to-hand combat or scavenged items, General Hemlock is probably one of the easiest main antagonists to defeat.
  • 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 the Dead Rising series.
  • Hemlock is named after a poisonous plant of the same name known to cause seizures and other central nervous system stimulatory effects.
  • Not counting DLCs, remakes, and reimaginings, General Hemlock is also the only final boss in the main series to not get eaten by the zombies or turn into a zombie after his defeat.
  • Hemlock can be hit into the rotor before the battle ends, dealing a lot of damage.
  • Hemlock has a cameo appearance in Dead Rising: Watchtower.
  • Hemlock's shoulder bears a tattoo of the Eagle, Globe, and Anchor, the insignia of the United States Marine Corps. Curiously, his uniform doesn't resemble that of any of the uniforms of the Corps, and instead bears resemblance to the World War II-era German Waffen-SS uniform.
    • Although his uniform does have American-style badges and medals on it, suggesting that he may wear an American military style uniform underneath his trench-coat.
  • Hemlock is the only psychopath in Dead Rising 3 that Nick directly kills. Although it is unconfirmed if Dylan Fuentes was also directly killed by Nick, as his death sequence is the only one which does not point to an obvious cause of death.

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. Marion Mallon Returns siliconera.com
  2. Dead Rising 3 Story Trailer www.youtube.com
v · e · d
Major Characters
Nick Ramos - Dick Baker - Rhonda Kreske - Annie - Red - Diego Martinez - Gary Finkel - Isabela Keyes - John Hemlock - Marian Mallon - Chuck Greene
Posse Members
Adam Daley - Alejandra Garcia - Anna Hong - Carrie LeCroix - Christine Emerie - Doug Trent - Dwayne Pike - Eric Martinez - Jesse Miller - Jorge Ruiz - Jose Morales - Julia Slyde - Kandy - Kelsey Louise - Kenny Dermot - Lauren Staples - Lena Polichev - Marcus Wolfe - Ravi Uppal - Regina Thompson - Simon Merkin - Troy Glover - Warren Anderssen Jr. - Winnie Lee
Other Survivors
Alec - Alex - Allison - Big D - Bob - Brandon - Brian - Cara - Crystal - Dana - Derek - Devon - Elka - Eva - Greta - Ian - Jack - Jasmine - Jason - Jason - Jeremy - Joey - Jodie - Jordan - Kaliyan - Katarina - Keith - Kellen - Kent DeMare - Kevin - Kris - Kristin - Kyla - Lara - Liam - Linda - Madeline - Maia - Margaret - Matt - Mel - Meryl Jefferson - Mike - Mila - Nikki - Nora - Phil - Ryan - Sam - Scott - Sheldon - Stevie - Steven - Tanya - Tara - Taylor - Tracey - Trevor - Vernon - Vicki - Zach
Psychopaths
Adam Kane - Albert Contiello - Darlene Fleischermacher - Diego Martinez - Dylan Fuentes - John Hemlock - Harry "Zhi" Wong - Hunter Thibodeaux - Jherii Gallo - Kenny Dermot - Red - Sgt. Hilde Schmittendorf - Spec Ops - Theodore Lagerfeld Jr.
Victims
Angel Quijano - Cindy - Clyde - Dan - Lucas - Duncan - Emily - Hank - Mabel Louise - Mel - Nicole White - Peter Rae - Amanda Rae - Pilots - Sonya Paddock
Other
Bertha Kreske - Bogdan - Jamie Flynt
Scrapped Characters
Bernard Kinsley - Esther
Operation Broken Eagle Characters
Adam Kane - Brady - Chang - Collins - Dickson - The Dutch - Han - Hancock - Haverman - Jefferson - Rodriguez - Smith - Sunshine - Tucson - Wakowski
Fallen Angel Characters
Angel Quijano - Doug Trent - Winnie Lee
Chaos Rising Characters
Cannons - Razorface - Snake - Spider - Torque
The Last Agent Characters
Brad Park - Cora - Nelson
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