|
I showed them how to scramble the records, cover their tracks. Parts of this subject's history, such as their fate or identity as a human or replicant are determined by random generation, player action, or a combination of both. Thus, this article aims to acknowledge all of the possibilities. |
"You wake up one day and find it’s all been a dream, or you wake up and discover you’ve been asleep all the time and the nightmare is real. I didn’t know what it was. I didn’t know who I was. A cop dangling on the short end of the stick or a Rep whose memory banks had run out."[src]
Ray McCoy was the newest addition to the Los Angeles Police Department Blade Runner unit in November 2019.
By 2037, he came to be regarded as a legend among the LAPD's Blade Runners and was particularly known for his brutal methods in dealing with replicants.
Biography[]
Early history[]
McCoy was potentially a replicant who fought in the Phobos wars, the Battle of the Gemini, and at the Olympus Mountains, alongside Clovis. In this case, McCoy assisted Clovis, Zuben, and other replicants in the October 2019 hijacking of a moonbus, which cost the lives of fifty people. His memory would have then been wiped by Lieutenant Edison Guzza as an experiment.[1]
He moved into 1487 Rikey Boulevard, Apartment 88F in the mid-2010s.[2]
As of November 2019, Ray McCoy was a rookie Blade Runner for the LAPD, the newest one recently promoted but still not a full-fledged Blade Runner. He lived with his dog Maggie in apartment 88F. McCoy also piloted a spinner, able to quickly navigate Los Angeles.[1]
McCoy's relationship with fellow officers ranged from amiable to competitive. McCoy was on good terms with the lab analyst Dino Klein as well as Jack Walls, the gun range officer. When it came to fellow Blade Runner Crystal Steele, McCoy had a sort of rivalry in who could close cases faster. There also was possibly a sexual tension present between them.[1]
Around Los Angeles, McCoy had a history with several inhabitants. Murray and Mia seemed to know McCoy and indicated prior meetings. The same was true for Howie Lee and his restaurant. McCoy also visited Early Q's and met with the owner at least once prior to his 2019 investigations, and was known to the establishment's bouncer Hanoi.[1]
Rookie Blade Runner[]
"I was just finishing up my twelfth hour on patrol when I got the call. Welcome relief considering that the most action I had seen all night was a schizoid grandmother doing the shimmy in her underwear in the second sector."[src]
McCoy was called the investigate an animal murder at Emil Runciter's shop. There, Runciter stated that two men had attacked him, killing all of the animals in his shop. Runciter informed McCoy that two men had been responsible, but he believed his employee Lucy Devlin to have been involved in some way. While examining the evidence, McCoy found that Lucy had indeed been present at the scene as perpetrators Clovis and Zuben arrived.[1]
With evidence leading him to Howie Lee's, he confronted Zuben, who was working as a chef there. After being shown a photo of Lucy, Zuben insisted he did not know her and pushed over a pot of soup to try and slow McCoy down. If McCoy managed to catch up to Zuben, he was ambushed in a nearby warehouse. If too slow, Zuben instead awaited McCoy at his apartment. Without an opportunity to perform a Voight-Kampff test on Zuben, McCoy either killed him or spared him. If the latter, Lucy left a message for McCoy on his Vid-Phon thanking him.[1]
The next day, McCoy was called to investigate the murder of Tyrell employee Marcus Eisenduller, finding a dragonfly earring, a Kingston Kitchen takeout container, and a dog collar at the scene. He discovered that the name on the collar, "Rikki" was the password to Eisenduller's computer and accessed data on replicant DNA sequences and incept dates. From security footage, he captured an image of the perpetrator, who had delivered the Kingston Kitchens food.[1]
McCoy meets Rachael
After being granted a meeting with Eldon Tyrell, he was first greeted by his assistant, Rachael. When he asked them why the suspect might have been interested in the replicant DNA information, he was drawn to the conclusion that the killer was a replicant seeking a way to extend his own lifespan. McCoy warned Tyrell that the replicants would come for him like they did with Eisenduller.[1]
McCoy made his way to Animoid Row, taking the dragonfly earring to a booth. The woman could provide no answers, but told McCoy she would ask a friend about it and that he should return later.[1]
A visit to Bullet Bob's Runner Surplus allowed Ray to perform a Voight-Kampff test on Bob Gorsky, who then upgraded McCoy's KIA, allowing him to choose what evidence to submit to the database, rather than all of it.[1]
While investigating the Kingston Kitchens container, he went to the restaurant and asked Isabella if she recognized the suspect. She denied that he worked for the restaurant and stated that Eisenduller had not been sent any deliveries for over a month after failing to pay off his tab.[1]
After venturing further into Hawker's Circle, he met Izo, a former member of Citizens Against Replicant Slavery and proprietor of Green Pawn. McCoy asked him about the dragonfly jewelry, but received no answer. Upon asking him about his dismissal from C.A.R.S. due to supposed violent tendencies. Izo grew more agitated as McCoy questioned him and showed him a camera, using the flash to blind him and make an escape. McCoy picked up the camera and chased Izo through the sewer, where he uncovered a cache of weapons. The pursuit led back onto the street, where fellow Blade Runner Crystal Steele either retired or arrested Izo in connection to the bombing of a Tyrell manufacturing plant.[1]
With no leads, McCoy decided to go to DNA Row, where Tyrell subcontractors worked, believing that they may be targeted by the replicants. Upon visiting Hannibal Chew, he learned that Moraji had missed his and Chew's most recent dinner meetup. McCoy headed to Moraji's lab to find him handcuffed with a bomb nearing its detonation. McCoy freed Moraji and they ran from the building as the explosion occurred. McCoy learned from the dying Moraji that two men came demanding DNA information, one of them with a description matching the Eisenduller murder suspect and asked McCoy to warn the "Twins," Luther and Lance. The Twins were absent from their apartment, but McCoy managed to find an envelope from Runciter containing hundreds of chinyen as well as an answering machine message from J.F. Sebastian.[1]
McCoy's dream
McCoy went to Sebastian's apartment, but found he was not there. In the lab, he found more replicant DNA material. He ventured up to the roof, where he was ambushed and beaten by Sadik, the Eisenduller murder suspect. Sadik and Clovis took McCoy hostage at an apartment in the Yukon Hotel, urging him to rejoin his "family." He was abandoned by them and eventually awoke after having a dream that he was in the Off-world colonies, chasing Lucy Devlin. When he came to, he was greeted by Lucy and assured her that he would not harm her. She placed a kiss on his cheek and ran, leaving him tied up.[1]
Once ha managed to free himself, he searched the apartment, finding a token for Hysteria Hall, contraband cheese, and a photo of Clovis with a moonbus. He exited the apartment to find Leon Kowalski hassling a desk clerk about policemen entering his apartment and taking his photographs with them. McCoy asked Leon if he had seen Sadik or Clovis, but Leon did not know who they were. McCoy entered Leon's apartment, where he found Dave Holden's badge and a strange scale. Outside of the Yukon Hotel, he found a car resembling one photographed at the Runciter crime scene. Inside, he found a wrapper for Mia and Murray's lichen dog stand.[1]
At the precinct, McCoy confirmed that the car was the same one seen outside of Runciter's and that it was either registered to a woman named Dektora, a man named Gavin Kelly (who had reported it stolen), or the non-existent Blake Williams. Upon using the Esper to examine the moonbus photo, he found Sadik in the picture as well as a strange reflective material and himself, faintly standing in the background. In the photo snapped by Izo, McCoy found in the background either Dektora walking or Rick Deckard showing a vendor a strange scale. In another photo on the camera, he found Clovis and a security camera at the China Bar. After receiving the camera's data disc from the barkeep, McCoy examined a photo it captured. There, he found Izo with his camera and Lieutenant Guzza speaking to a policeman.[1]
At this point, McCoy could find Sebastian at his apartment and question him with topics pertaining to his investigations. However, Sebastian soon realized that McCoy was a Blade Runner and refused to give any more answers.[1]
McCoy traveled to Hysteria Hall. He asked "Crazy Legs" Larry Hirsch about the car he sold to Dektora, but was given no useful details. He also did not recognize McCoy's photo of Lucy, but suggested he check the arcade. When McCoy went to their lichen dog stand, Mia and Murray confirmed that the lichen dog wrapper indeed came from their stand. They also happened to recognize Lucy from when they saw her leave the arcade recently. When he showed them the cheese he found, he learned that Isabella at Kingston Kitchen was likely responsible for it, as she was known to brag about a "secret ingredient."[1]
At the arcade, McCoy found Lucy playing a game and could ask her about Clovis, the man she called "father," but she did not know where he was. If he asked her about Runciter, he learned that the animals were real and that Zuben accompanied Clovis in the animal murder. He could also have warned her about Crystal Steele, allowing her to run away. Alternatively, he could have attempted to perform a Voight-Kampff test on her, causing her to flee into the Hallway of Mirrors. If McCoy followed, he had the opportunity to retire her.[1]
McCoy confronted Isabella about the cheese, learning that Gordo Frizz stole a food container in which Isabella had hidden cheese. He found Frizz at The Snake Pit and asked him about the cheese. Frizz brushed him off to go perform his standup comedy routine. After putting McCoy on the spot, he ran from the club. McCoy pursued, which either ended in Frizz's arrest, death, or escape.[1]
After learning that the dragonfly earrings were part of a set purchased for a nightclub. Arriving at Nightclub Row, McCoy went to Early Q's nightclub. Early did not recognize Lucy's photo and insisted that his set of dragonfly jewelry was only used by a performer her her act. When the performer Hecuba began her dance, the club's bouncer watched, taking his attention off of Early's office. McCoy went in, finding the receipt for the jewelry collection. He also found an incriminating data disc and was caught by Early. Early could have drugged and thrown Roy out of the club, or McCoy could have pulled out his gun before being drugged. In this case, McCoy could either take an additional disk from Early, or give back the incriminating one. Alternatively, Early could have been killed, either by McCoy or scorpions that sat upon a chair in the office.[1]
Learning that Hecuba was actually Dektora, McCoy went to her dressing room to ask her about Early Q and her dragonfly belt. After revealing himself as a policeman, he could ask her about the sedan, which she claimed to have been stolen soon after she bought it. He could then have either warn her about Crystal Steele or perform a Voight-Kampff test.[1]
Either McCoy's encounter with Dektora, Gordo Frizz, or Lucy also possibly ended in one of them summoning the police to remove McCoy. In Dektora's case, she felt that McCoy was actually a sexual deviant and summoned the police. If Frizz summoned them, it was during his standup routine. Holloway responded to the call took him to Baker to be interrogated. Before an electric chair was used on him, Steele came to his rescue. If Dektora was the one who called the police, McCoy and Steele pursued her to the club, where McCoy either retired her or let her escape. If Frizz contacted the police, McCoy and Steele chased him, prompting him to take a hostage before being retired by either Steele or McCoy.[1]
Shortly thereafter, an all point bulletin was put out for McCoy, suspected of killing Izo. As McCoy was not responsible for Izo's death, Steele allowed him to escape while she attempted to sort out the situation. Utilizing a sewer route, McCoy traveled to his apartment and encountered Rajif, insisting that neither McCoy or his dog Maggie lived there. He returned to the sewers and encountered Lucy and performed a Voight-Kampff test on her if he had not previously killed her. He then ventured further into the sewers an encountered a transient, who insisted that replicants, Guzza, Luther, and Lance had passed through. He noted that the replicants and Guzza seemingly were stockpiling weapons in the sewer.[1]
Further into the sewers, he found Luther and Lance working in a lab, seemingly expecting his arrival. The pair had set up the lab to safely continue their research into extending replicant lifespans, believing themselves to be replicant mistakes. As McCoy figured out that Guzza and Clovis had set him up, the twins offered to help him in exchange for Tyrell's replicant DNA data. If McCoy retrieved the data for them, the twins traded him files detailing Guzza's acts of corruption. If McCoy wished to subject them to a Voight-Kampff test, they refused and he had the opportunity to kill them.[1]
If he procured the Guzza file from the twins, McCoy contacted Guzza via Vid-Phon to demand his name to be cleared. Unable to discuss arrangements over the phone, Guzza agreed to meet with McCoy in the sewers. He learned that Guzza suspected McCoy of being a replicant due to claims made by Clovis. Either McCoy then killed Guzza or allowed him to be killed by Sadik.[1]
If McCoy escaped the city, he did so with either Lucy or Dektora, killing Crystal Steele along the way. If he wished to side with the replicants, he killed Steele near the crashed moonbus and escaped with any that were still alive. If he wished to side against the replicants, he helped Steele to retire those who remained. However, if he failed to notice a bomb in time, it detonated and killed Steele, leaving him to retire the replicants alone. If McCoy consistently sided against the replicants, Sadik killed Maggie, prompting Gaff to leave him an origami dog.[1]
Legendary Blade Runner[]
McCoy helped take down the last of the Nexus-6 replicants and was active in the Blade Runner Unit as of 2037[3] and had become known for his cruel methods in dealing with replicants.[2]
In 2037, McCoy was attacked in his apartment by Lilith Tyrell and Ezekiel, a replicant copy of McCoy, who overpowered him and bound him in his bedroom alongside his dog, leaving him for dead. This was part of Lilith's plan to sabotage the Wallace Corporation's production of Nexus-9s; with Ezekiel taking McCoy's place to help keep any Blade Runners from interrupting her scheme.[2]
If saved, the severely-beaten McCoy warned his rescuer that his attackers were after Niander Wallace.[2]
Personality, traits and skills[]
McCoy was sarcastic and witty; evident by his interactions with the people of Los Angeles. While veteran Blade Runners like Rick Deckard and Crystal Steele were apathetic and detached from those around them, McCoy was lively, naïve, and overall kind to those he met. He was not afraid to get tough when the situation demanded it, and could interrogate properly. He was also well-versed in administrating Voight-Kampff empathy tests.
Behind the scenes[]
"Welcome to the Blade Runner Unit, rookie–hope you're up to the job. Word is,you're a good man to have around, but you know how things are around here–actions speak louder than words. You'll get a retirement bonus for every Rep you bring down, but kill a civilian and your career is over."―Behind the Scenes booklet[src]
Ray McCoy is the player character in the 1997 Blade Runner video game. He is voiced by Mark Benninghofen.
McCoy appears as an NPC in the Blade Runner: The Roleplaying Game expansion "Fiery Angels." As he remains a Blade Runner nearly twenty years after the events of the video game and is notably brutal in dealing with replicants, it is heavily implied that the canon ending of the video game is McCoy retiring the replicants and remaining on Earth.
McCoy's identity[]
Similar to Deckard's identity in the Director's Cut and Final Cut of Blade Runner and Blade Runner 2049, it is left ambiguous whether Ray McCoy is a human or a replicant. However, there is evidence that supports both sides and a case can be made either way:
McCoy is human[]
- McCoy has history with members of the LAPD and certain people around Los Angeles (Guzza, Dino Klein, Sergeant Walls, Crystal Steele, Murray, Mia, Howie Lee, Early Q, and Hanoi), indicating he's been around longer than just the events of the game.
- McCoy has no superior strength and agility in relation to Nexus-6 models present in the game to compare.
- Whenever evidence of McCoy being a replicant is brought up in-game, McCoy (and the writing) suggest that there is the possibility of faking evidence in order to turn the LAPD against him. The background deals between Guzza and Clovis suggest something shady going on as McCoy is investigating, and is not unreasonable to think that he was being set up throughout the game.
- McCoy displays empathy towards his dog, Maggie.
- McCoy displays genuine remorse and regret when he kills Crystal Steele or 'retires' Clovis, he says "what an waste!".
McCoy is a replicant[]
- The strongest evidence to support McCoy being a replicant comes from a photo Lucy held with her at her bedside, which when further analyzed on the Esper analysis machine reveals the crashed Moonbus that Clovis (who is in the photo) hijacked, Sadik in the background and Ray McCoy apparently coming out of the Moonbus, indicating he was with the replicants the whole time.
- He does appear in the photo, but there is also a weird "reflection" point of interest. It is possible that it is because he can't actually see his reflection in that part (yet the fire barrel next to him is reflected), which would mean that the photo was manipulated.
- McCoy has a dream after being knocked unconscious by Clovis and Sadik on the roof of the Bradbury Apartments that indicates he was present on an Off-world Colonies, dressed similarly to Zuben, alongside Lucy.
- It could be just a dream related to the game events, since at that point McCoy might be doubting about his real nature.
- Clovis calls him "brother": he probably is just setting him up to take advantage of his confusion.
- Guzza claims that he saw McCoy's incept photos, indicating McCoy's true nature. Whether or not Guzza, a shady character, was lying is unknown.
- Clovis consistently calls McCoy his brother, as he does to other replicants, and claims McCoy doesn't know what he is and that it's not his fault that he is hunting down other replicants. Sadik also asks a nearly unconscious McCoy if he is "ready to give up this fruitless nightmare" and return to his "family".
- McCoy is noticeably tougher than any human character in the game, able to withstands several bullet or stab wounds and still keep going. While this could merely be a video game convention (i.e. done to make the game more forgiving to play), it could also indicate he is a replicant with superhuman toughness.
- He is not really tougher than most characters. At least in normal difficulty, it takes more or less the same amount of bullets for a cop to kill him than for him to kill a cop (around 6), less even than Crystal, who can take 7, and the replicants. That is assuming, of course, that enemies use regular bullets.
- If McCoy allows himself to be bitten by the Peruvian woman's scorpion in Animoid Row, she first expresses horror, expecting him to die as the scorpion is highly venomous. To her surprise, McCoy does not die nor doe he suffer any apparently ill effects.
- It is true that the scorpions are supposed to be highly venomous, according to the Peruvian woman. However, a scorpion will only show up to kill Early Q if McCoy does not touch them in Animoid Row, despite Dektora buying the box later on anyways. Therefore, they will only prove to be venomous if McCoy does not touch them. If he touches them, they are fake and will not kill him nor Early Q. In that case, the Peruvian woman would be lying (just as Runciter lies about all of his animals being authentic). However, if the player decides not to touch them, they may become very real in that specific gameplay and end up killing Early Q.
