Armando Mendez

Spoiler Warning: Plot details, ending details, or both are in the text which follows.

Spoiler Warning: Plot details, ending details, or both are in the text which follows.

Type	CHARACTER
Armando Mendez
Armando Mendez in GTA Vice City Stories
Appears in	Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories
Voiced by	Yul Vasquez
Biographical information
Full name	Armando Mendez
Nationality	File:Flag of Bolivia.svg.png Bolivian
Status	Deceased
Date of death	1984
Home	Mendez Mansion, Prawn Island, Vice City
Family	Diego Mendez (Brother)
Main affiliation	Victor Vance (formerly) Lance Vance (formerly) Jerry Martinez Mendez Cartel Domestobot
Weapons	Pistol Python Flamethrower
Vehicle(s)	Gray Sentinel XS
Businesses	Drug Dealing
Physical description
Gender	Male

“

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 and secondary antagonist in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories.

Description

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 Plato's work and Armando being a fan of Aristotle's work. Utilitarism 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 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.

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)

Gallery

Artwork of Armando Mendez.

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.
• Gilberto Rodriguez, who ran the Cali Cartel with his brother Miguel, 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.

See Also

• Diego Mendez - Armando's brother.

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