Lionel Starkweather

Lionel Starkweather, also known as the Director is a major character and the main antagonist in Manhunt.

Life before 2003
Lionel Starkweather was once a successful Vinewood film director until his movies started to flop badly and his career was finished, before moving to Carcer City and going insane. He begun filming underground pornography and snuff films, which he sold to certain Japanese businessmen.

His new found success made him very rich, allowing him to open a company named Valiant Video Enterprises and begun hiring people to help him, like Mr. Nasty, Ramirez and soon hired a group of mercenaries known as the Cerberus to protect him. He even found those responsable for his previous failure and got his revenge by adding them into his movies where they were all killed.

Starkweather begun paying off the CCPD police chief Gary Schaffer, allowing him to control the city and all the gangs participating in his snuff films took over the streets. At some point he purchased a mansion, which was designed by the Las Venturas Planning Department and built in Wapona Hills. With all this power Starkweather then remained isolated in his mansion, watching everything through security cameras and paying people to do all the work.

Events of Manhunt
At some point, a Journalist discovered Starkweather's snuff film ring and begun gathering evidence against him. Meanwhile Starkweather found out about James Earl Cash and decided to make a movie starring him, so he bribes the police and prison officials to save him from death row.

Cash is given an earpiece so Starkweather can talk to him and he instructs him to kill many gang members, while Starkweather watches and films it through security cameras. He also has many parts of the city blocked off by electric fences which he can open once Cash has completed a task. He has the Cerberus take Cash to each location and Ramirez organize the Hunters.

He soon has Cash's Family kidnapped, for Cash to save. Once he does, Starkweather has his family members killed anyway and shows the footage to Cash. Nearing the end of the film, Cash is set to die but fights back and escapes. Starkweather informs Ramirez to stop him but fails and is killed. He then has Gary Schaffer send police after Cash and the Jounalist. Cash soon breaks into Starkweather’s Estate and kills all the guards. Cash then enters Starkweather's office and Starkweather attempts to defend himself with a Revolver, but fails and is killed by Cash with a Chainsaw.