Armando Mendez

"So, Victor, Lance, who has been ripping us off? All of us, because now we are partners. A team, as it were. Four brothers."

- Armando trying to discover who stole his coke shipment

Armando Mendez is a character in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories. Armando and his brother Diego serve as the secondary antagonists.

Role
In 1984, Armando and his brother, Diego, are the two most powerful drug kingpins in Vice City, but are also well known for their philanthropist views. The brothers, who are of Bolivian descent, also control their own crime organisation.

In GTA Vice City Stories, Armando and Diego are first mentioned by Jerry Martinez in Brawn of the Dead, when he informs Victor Vance that the cocaine shipment that he and his brother Lance had stolen from Martinez actually belonged to the Mendez Brothers.

Because of this, Lance and Victor are summoned by the Mendez brothers to explain the disappearance of their cocaine. The Vance brothers pin the theft on Martinez, and provide fake evidence to prove this. Victor and Lance continue to work for the brothers, including taking over a local biker empire site and killing rival drug dealers. Eventually, the Vance brothers outlive their usefulness to Armando and Diego, who order the Vance brothers to surrender their businesses to the Mendezs and leave the city in exchange for their own safety. Victor refuses to do so, so the Mendez brothers attack the Vance brothers and leave them at a fuel depot in Viceport. A Mendez hitman accidentally starts a fire at the depot, but the Vance brothers manage to escape.

With their ties severed, some Mendez Cartel members unsuccessfully try to take over Victor's businesses. Victor, with the help of Ricardo Diaz, hacks a Domestobot owned by the brothers and uses it to destroy the contents of their safe. In retaliation, the Mendez Cartel kidnap Victor's girlfriend Louise. The Vance brothers chase some Cartel members through the city to the Mendez Mansion. Victor forces his way inside, where he confronts and kills a flamethrower-wielding Armando. Following this, Victor finds that both Lance and Louise have been injured by Armando. Lance survives but Louise later dies. Victor would later kill Diego, wiping out the Mendez Cartel in the city.

Personality
Of the two brothers, Armando is the more "charismatic" of the two. According to Armando, both he and his brother are utilitarians, with Diego being a fan of 's work and Armando being a fan of 's work. is the theory that mankind should always look towards finding pleasure, which is highlighted by both brothers becoming drug dealers for personal gain.

Character design
Armando seems to be based on 's, as he bears a striking resemblance to him both in appearance and personality. What differs is that Armando did have a brother while Alejandro Sosa never had any siblings.

Murders Committed

 * Louise Cassidy-Williams - Kidnapped and killed to lure Lance and Vic to a trap.

Prominent Appearances in Missions

 * Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories
 * Blitzkrieg (Post-mission pager message)
 * The Mugshot Longshot (Boss)
 * Hostile Takeover (Boss)
 * Taking the Fall (Post-mission pager message)
 * Unfriendly Competition (Boss)
 * High Wire (Boss)
 * Farewell to Arms (Post-mission pager message)
 * Burning Bridges (Boss/Betrayal)
 * Domo Arigato Domestoboto
 * Light My Pyre (Killed)

Trivia

 * Interestingly, if the player uses the flamethrower against Armando in the mission "Light My Pyre", he will not take any form of damage; this may simply be a glitch.
 * In the beta version of Last Stand, Vic originally also had to kill Armando, not just Diego Mendez and Jerry Martinez.
 * , who ran the with his brother, may have been a source of inspiration for Armando Mendez. Both Gilberto and Armando were leaders of their respective cartels, both were charismatic, both were the brains behind their cartels and both had brothers who they ran their businesses with.

Navigation
Mendez-Brüder Hermanos Méndez Mendez Cartel Diego et Armando Mendez Mendez Cartel Mendez Армандо Мендес