Armando Mendez

"Ok prove it, I mean prove it now."

- Armando

Armando Mendez is a character in the Grand Theft Auto series who appears as the secondary antagonist in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories.

He and his brother Diego Mendez are the two most powerful drug kingpins and well known philanthropists in Vice City circa 1984, and the heads of their own crime organization, The Mendez Cartel when the events of the game takes place. The brothers are of Bolivian descent.

Armando was voiced by Yul Vasquez.

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

Later, Armando and Diego have Vic and Lance brought to them, where they tell them Martinez stole the shipment, and use some pictures of Martinez with the cops and a fake license to prove this to the Mendez's. Vic and Lance keep working for the Mendez brothers until Armando decides to take over all of the Vance's businesses by dumping them in a burning oil storage and leaving them for dead.

Vic and Lance escape the burning oil storage and seek protection from Ricardo Diaz, who eventually helps them destroy Armando's bonds with a Domestobot. In revenge for the destruction of their bonds, Armando has Louise Cassidy-Williams, Victor's girlfriend kidnapped. In the process of rescuing Louise, Lance is heavily injured, and Louise is killed by Armando Mendez. A vengenceful Vic then confronts a flamethrower wielding Armando and guns him to death. Vic Vance later kills Diego as well.

Behavior
Compared to Diego, Armando is more charismatic, and he is the one with greater control of the organization. They also own a Domestobot, which was destroyed by Armando when Victor took control of it and destroyed his bonds.

Character design
Armando seems to be based on Scarface's Alejandro Sosa, as he bears a striking resemblance to him both in appearance and personality.

Murders commited

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

Trivia

 * Armando Mendez is primarily based on Alejandro Sosa, the main antagonist of the film Scarface. Furthermore, he and his brother are possibly based on the characters of the 'Diaz Brothers', a pair of fraternal drug dealers who are mentioned in the 1983 film Scarface and physically featured in its 2006 video game adaption.
 * Interestingly in the mission "Light My Pyre " if the player is to use the flamethrower against Armando he will not take any form of damage, however this may be a simple glitch.
 * According to Armando, he and his brother are utilitarians, as well as Diego being a fan of Plato's work while Armando is a fan of Aristotle's work. This is true; Utilitarism defends that mankind should always look towards finding pleasure, while both brothers have become drug dealers for personal gain.
 * In beta version of Last Stand, Vic originally also had to kill Armando Mendez, not just Jerry Martinez and Diego Mendez.

Mission appearances

 * GTA 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)