Animal Mask Significance

[solidfact42]

Okay, so I read up on the Wiki and what different people think that specific characters represent in Jacket's rather unstable mind (particularly Richard, Don Juan, and Rasmus) but I'm curious as to what different people think that the various masks represent (if anything) to Jacket. Obviously they're important not just to the gameplay but to the story or they wouldn't have been included. In my own view, Don Juan seems to represent Jacket's self-delusion (often encouraging Jacket not to delve too deeply into the truth although I also wonder if it isn't also a subtle reference to Don Quixote as well in this way). Richard seems to be the most aware part of Jacket's brain, actually encouraging him to look and analyse what's actually happening (makes sense that it's a rooster, crowing at the dawn and thus shining a light on the situation). Finally, we have Rasmus the owl (depicted by a creature often seen as a knower of secrets) who is openly hostlie to Jacket (perhaps signifying that he knows more about Jacket than Jacket himself knows and doesn't like what he sees).

That said, there are so many others throughout, each with their own bonuses and each one either representing one aspect of the hugely versital Jacket, or perhaps representing someone he knew and perhaps learned from at one time. Also, perhaps there is a cultural influence regarding the specific masks and what they do. I'm not an expert in the mythologies of various peoples, but I do see at least a few parallells regarding Native American totem spirits and the like.

Anybody else what to weigh in here? I'm curious to know what other people think. Also, I haven't yet played Hotline Miami 2, so while I don't mind the occasional spoiler, I really don't have that info to draw on if the animal masks are explained there.

[Cajas]

Animal mask don't really have a meaning outside of Don Juan, Richard and Rasmus. The animal mask are a form to obtain anonimaty on the 50 blessings organization, in fact, if you play hotline miami 2, there is a character that can die from 2 ways (1 canon and other non-canon) on one of his deaths (the one i think is the canon) he is carried to a room and he gets killed, the thing with that is that the character is called Jake and his default mask is the viper mask, so pretty much mask are just a gameplay thingy, the mask Richard (or Jacket if you wish) wears is the rooster mask so nop, sorry buddy there ain't meaning here

[solidfact42]

I suppose I could accept that if not for the fact that Jacket has access to all variety of animal masks, not just a variety but masks which all have their own alias, clearly suggesting that they once belonged to someone else. If they were simply to protect anonimaty, then it would make sense (story-wise) for Jacket only to have access to Richard rather than the others.

That being said, since posting this topic I've come up with a theory that would not only explain the significance of the animal masks, but also hint towards Jacket's role in 50 Blessings as well as his relationship to the Biker. So, if you got a minute, give this a read.

To start off, I must establish two things (blah blah spoilers and all that). First, that for the majority of the game, Jacket is in a coma in the hospital and going through a disjointed (and often incaccurate) memory recall of what brought him there. This is suggested by a whole lot of things prior to the moment of awakening in the hospital, but I won't go into all of those here. The second thing is that one of the newspaper clippings that Jacket collects indicates that witnesses saw multiple people in animal masks fleeing a scene. What this says to me is that despite the fact Jacket seems to remember only his part in these jobs, it's entirely possible that there were more than one operative involved in each job. Jacket would have had the opportuinty to meet, work with, and possibly even get to know some of the other operatives (albeit not knowing their real faces or names, just their masks and aliases). That granted, Jacket (being ex-military) may well have considered these other operatives as friends and brothers in arms. Jacket may have, in all of the jobs he took part in, worn only the Richard mask in reality, but in this coma-dream he may wear many of them symbolizing the other operatives' involvement or possibly him using skills that they taught him. This adds new significance to those jobs in which Jacket finds corpses which have masks for him to take. They could symbolize jobs in which someone he worked with didn't make it out alive. (Jake is a possible exception here, but Jacket could still have recognized him as someone he'd worked with in the past).

Now, this theory does run into a problem when Jacket awakens from his coma, yet still has access to his masks, but to me this is one of the strongest pieces of evidence that the various masks are all in Jacket's head. Remember Jacket was in a coma for several weeks, thus giving the police time to search both him and his appartment (which they do) and any mask he may have had (including Richard) would have been confiscated as evidence (the way that Richter's mask was). In this case, the masks are symbolic given that Jacket is now on the road to revenge. Not just his own revenge by this time, but vengence for all of his comrades who were used and (in many cases) discarded by 50 Blessings. Even Richter himself could be considered someone whom Jacket is fighting for once he knows that his situation is more or less like Jacket's.

This brings me to the Biker. If Jacket was attempting to get to know the other operatives and also attempting to find out more about 50 Blessings at this point, Biker might have been someone receptive to the idea. The two may have formed an alliance at which point the Biker may have started trying to find out information about 50 Blessings while Jacket covered his back from the inside. For this reason, and the fact that Beard pretty much tells you this much, I don't think Jacket even had a confrontation with Biker. I think that Jacket was sent to kill Biker, but instead covered for him and allowed him to escape. Jacket's injured brain may have convinced itself that he actually did what he was ordered to do, but instead Beard lets him know that he didn't. This leads to Richter being sent to kill Jacket for not carrying out his orders. Naturally Jacket never did get to the bottom of the conspiracy and Biker only got slightly closer to the truth, but whatever.

Now, I don't know if any of this is confirmed or debunked by Hotline Miami 2, but after all, it's just a theory...you know the rest.

[Weaselly]

The majority of Hotline Miami 1 is in a coma, and the rest is up to interpretation.