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Saints Row The Third box art

The third instalment in the Saints Row series.

It has been a few years since Saints Row 2, and the Third Street Saints have become mainstream celebrities who pose for photos during their crimes and flog their own brand-name merchandise. Everything is looking pretty sweet until a bank heist goes wrong and the Saints find themselves in the sights of the Syndicate, a legendary criminal fraternity who control the seedy metropolis of Steelport with an iron grip. Dumped into Steelport with no money or respect, the Saints vow to take revenge by seizing the city for themselves from the three Syndicate gangs that control it:

  • Morningstar: A Wicked Cultured organisation with a penchant for expensive suits and fast cars. They're the oldest gang in Steelport and the heart of the Syndicate, led by arms smuggler Phillipe Loren (red).
  • The Deckers: A group of Cyberpunk computer hackers who love their Tron Lines. Their leader is Matt Miller, a British hacker with more confidence at the keyboard than at real life (cyan).
  • The Luchadores: A bunch of Masked Luchadores who use big vehicles and even bigger guns. They are led by Eddie "Killbane" Pryor, a former professional wrestler who acts as The Heavy of the Syndicate (green).

The game is much different from its predecessor, both in appearance and features. Respect is used to unlock upgrades instead of missions, and character customization favors quality over quantity. while 2 was a decent bit sillier than the first game, Third kicks the absurdity into overdrive in a bid to give the series a different identity than its greatest point of comparison, Grand Theft Auto.

Tropes used in Saints Row: The Third include:
  • Abnormal Ammo: Bullets than explode, catch fire or conduct electricity. Chum that attracts a shark. Octopus bombs. Yeah, a lot of weapons have ammo that's not just normal bullets or explosives.
  • Absurdly Low Level Cap: The respect meter goes up to level 50, which is easily achievable well before the end of the main campaign.
  • Action Film, Quiet Drama Scene: The 'Kill Killbane' ending of Three Way, after Killbane is killed. The Magarac Island statue explodes, killing multiple allies, and Pierce rings the Boss, asking them Was It Really Worth It?, to which they cannot answer.
  • Adam Westing: Burt Reynolds voices himself, who is the mayor of Steelport.
  • Airborne Aircraft Carrier: STAG'S Daedalus, introduced in STAG Film, if Killbane was killed the the Magarac Island statue was destroyed. The Boss destroys it anyway.
  • Amazing Technicolor Population:
    • The Boss can be one of 55 different colours, including many unnatural skin tones.
    • Although most NPCs are coloured normally, if the Gangstas in Space DLC is completed, blue-colored female homies dressed as space aliens are acquired.
  • And This Is For: Female 1 Boss will give one when planting each explosive during STAG Film, saying, "One for Shaundi... One for Viola... One for my crew... And one just for me".
  • Anti-Climactic Unmasking: If the Boss unmasks Killbane during Murderbrawl XXXI, it reveals that Eddie Pryor is just an average-looking, middle-aged man with receding, buzzed-short blond hair.
  • Armies Are Evil: STAG, who declare martial law and (if Killbane is killed) blow up a statue with Saints they've kidnapped on it and frame them as terrorists, then try to level the entire city. Most of that is only in one ending, though it was all at least planned.
  • Bad Boss:
    • Zhen in the Gangstas In Space DLC treats Jenny horribly while praising the Boss despite the latter's terrible acting. When Jenny is fed up with Zhen's BS, she kills him by ramming a spaceship into his back at the end of the DLC.
    • Killbane sends his men to attack Gat's funeral procession while they're stuck on a bridge. He then blows up the bridge with rockets while his own men are on it, with just as many of them killed by the attack as Saints.
    • The Boss, if players wish to. They can do anything to their homies, though if this is done inside a crib, they will respawn.
  • Bag of Spilling: At the start of the game, the Saints are mega rich celebrities. However, after their first tussles with the Syndicate, Loren has Matt Miller hack the Saint's bank accounts to leave them broke, thereby forcing the player to start their adventure in Steelport with $0, like in every other game.
  • Big Bad: Loren in Act 1, Killbane after Act 1 and Cyrus during the second half of the game.
  • Big Damn Hero:
    • The Boss in the Save Shaundi ending of Three Way, saving their allies as well as the Magarac Island statue.
    • Some of the Survival missions involve the Boss saving innocents from the Syndicate.
  • Big Fancy House: Several cribs in the game, namely the Saints HQ and the three gang strongholds.
  • Big No:
    • Killbane if he is unmasked in Murderbrawl XXXI.
    • The Boss does it four times in Gangstas In Space, though they are only acting for the movie the mission is named after. One each is for the deaths of Pierce, Shaundi and Gat, and then a fourth when the Luke, I Am Your Father bombshell is dropped by Killbane.
  • Bigger Is Better in Bed: The only effect the sex appeal slider seems to have is increasing the size of the male character's package.
  • Bittersweet Ending: If Shaundi is saved, everyone else tied up on the Magarac statue is saved, as well as the statue itself. However, Killbane escapes. If Killbane is killed, the statue is destroyed, and every ally tied to it is killed. Canonically, IV, follows the former ending, with the only negative outcome of that ending negated when Zinyak destroys Earth.
  • Black Dude Dies First: Pierce dies first during Gangstas in Space, though it's only a film shoot, so the trope is merely parodied.
  • Boisterous Weakling: Groups of NPCs tend to hold signs calling for the Saints to leave Steelport, but they quickly disperse if the player approaches. Of course, the player can just attack them by any means.
  • Boss Arena Idiocy:
    • If fighting Kia, she leaves farts-in-a-jar for the Boss to stun her.
    • The guy playing Killbane tells the Boss that his "suit is impervious to everything save for conveniently-placed lava crystals".
  • Bottomless Magazines: There are three ways to obtain this: in certain missions, buying the relevant upgrades once level 50 is reached, and obtaining STAG's laser guns, though those can overheat.
  • Bread, Eggs, Breaded Eggs: The description for the Vehicle Theft mission involving the Stork helicopter has Rigg say that it's good for carrying smuggled goods, smuggled people or smuggled people with smuggled goods in them.
  • Bribing Your Way to Victory: Character and gun upgrades make it easier to beat missions and activities. Part of City Takeover involves buying stores and properties. Up to two one-time deals to take over an entire neighbourhood can also be obtained.
  • Brick Joke:
    • In the beginning of Live! With Killbane, the news ticker mentions a boy convincing his parents to get him an adult elephant. At the end of STAG Film, the news ticker mentions a funeral planned for a boy trampled by an elephant.
    • Early on in the game, Johnny tells Loren to go make himself a [Belgian] waffle. If playing with the Female 2 voice, the Boss says "Well, Johnny, it looks like he made himself a crepe instead" after dropping the giant metal ball on Loren. Male Voice 1 comments on how he should have made such a "Belgian pancake" joke.
  • Bring My Brown Pants: Jane Valderrama's news report on the events of The Ho Boat reports that, while the contents of the cargo container were unknown, what fell to the ground stank like urine.
  • Call Back:
    • In one of the Professor Genki's Super Ethical Reality Climax activities, one of the announcers says that he visited Stilwater once and had his car covered in sewage by a septic truck, referencing the Septic Avenger and FUZZ activities.
    • Kia's boss fight is very similar to Veteran Child from the second game, while the chase of Killbane's plane is very similar to What Goes Up... from the first game.
  • The Cameo: Burt Reynolds, the mayor of Steelport, voiced by himself.
  • Car Fu: Respect increases a little every time the player runs someone over with a vehicle. There's also a reward for running over a certain number of people.
  • The Cavalry: Up to three homies (if the necessary upgrades are purchased) can be called, including a group of redshirts or even zombies. Any friendly NPCs will also automatically join in if the Boss is attacked or begins a fight outside of a Survival wave.
  • The Cavalry Arrives Late: Saints will usually arrive after the completion of Survival mission, late for the heavy lifting.
  • Celebrity Paradox: Not returning Josh Birk to STAG at the end of STAG Party unlocks him as a homie, both as himself and as his TV character Nyte Blayde. Josh and Nyte Blayde can be homies at the same time.
  • Central Theme: Two of them. The Saints continually weigh up their brand value and commercialism against their gang identity. The other theme is how STAG approaches their war on gang violence: Hughes' 'hearts and minds' versus Temple's 'shock and awe'.
  • Choice of Two Weapons: More like two weapon types for each category of gun. There are guns that shoot more slowly and are less accurate, but can be upgraded to have explosive or incendiary rounds, and there are guns that are usually modified to shoot faster and be more precise with armor-piercing rounds.
  • Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Zimos is not seen again after the Morningstar is dismantled and New Colvin is taken over. Justified as once the Morningstar's sex operations are shut down and Viola defects after Killbane kills Kiki, Zimos is no longer needed.
  • Church Militant: The Cyprian Order in the Show Within a Show Nyte Blayde.
  • Clone Degeneration: The Brutes and Johnny Tag are far more stupid brutal than their respective original copies Oleg and Gat. In the latter case, the creator Jimmy Torbitson suggests that he just didn't have enough DNA samples to copy him properly.
  • Clown Car Base: In the free-fall shootout at the start of the game, the Boss loudly wonders how many vehicles and crates were being stored on Loren's plane, where they're falling from. The Boss blasts through or dodges well over 40.
  • Continuity Nod:
    • The Saints refusing a deal where they get the short end of the stick happened previously with the Brotherhood, and happens in this game with the Syndicate.
    • A Professor Genki commentator says that while driving a convertible in Stilwater, someone was spraying sewage with a septic truck.
    • Cyrus mentioning Jessica's death as a reason why they need to take down the gangs.
    • Jane Valderamma greets the Boss with "It's been a while", referring to her involvement with the Saints in the previous game.
    • At different points, Viola and Kia mention the Saints lieutenants that have died in the past, and Viola also mentions the Boss' coma.
    • All the Ultor references, especially the zombie virus being a callback to the Ultor Exposed DLC from 2.
    • The Boss saying they've dealt with zombies before (Lin and Carlos)
  • Cool Bike: The Estrada, Kaneda, and for completing all three Cyber Blazing levels, the Tron-inspired light cycle.
  • Cool Car: Many. Rim Jobs enables one to modify vehicles to their liking, and DLC packs have additional ones.
  • Coolest Club Ever: The Power trailer takes place in one of these, which is inside the Saints penthouse, with the Syndicate crashing the party and starting a massive firefight. In the game, it's hooker assassins who attempt to kill the Saints figureheads, not Phillipe Loren and the Morningstar.
  • Crapsaccharine World: The setting of Professor Genki.
  • Critical Annoyance: The low health alert and the alarm for high-tech vehicles if they're close to blowing up.
  • Curb Stomp Battle: The final (optional) confrontation with Killbane is a simple quick-time event where the Boss only takes seconds to beat him up and snap his neck.
  • Cut and Paste Environments:
    • The insides of each location for the respective businesses look the same. Strongholds get a bit standardised when they are taken over, instead of using the different interiors of each Stronghold when owned by the Syndicate.
    • The warehouse featured at the end of Party Time happens to become Kinzie's hideout.
    • A justified example: BDSM club Safeword is where Zimos is rescued from, and is featured later when the Saints take it over.
    • This is even lampshaded in the radio adverts for the Irish bars: "All of our interiors are exactly alike so we can pass the savings on to you!".
  • Cyberspace: The Decker User Net, featured in http://deckers.die.
  • Giant Mook: The Syndicate's Brutes, 8 foot tall and full of muscle, sometimes equipped with a minigun or flamethrower. Their origin? Being cloned from Oleg, though his brains does not translate to the Brutes.
  • Grenade Spam: The Luchador Specialists use grenade launchers that shoot out a lot of grenades in one burst, and can leave the layer stunned for a few seconds.
  • Jiggle Physics: The Penetrator in Saints Row: The Third is essentially a large rubber dildo, that "has a mind of its own, wobbling around in a disturbing display of physics." Saints Row has it all, doesn't it?
  • Sadistic Choice: The penultimate mission Three Way forces you to choose between saving multiple allies and killing Killbane.
  • State Sec: STAG, a paramilitary force tasked with eliminating gang violence in Steelport.
  • Training From Hell: To get ready to fight Killbane (both in the ring and on the gangland), Angel makes the Boss get hit by moving vehicles, drive around in a flame suit and drive a car with a tiger in the passenger seat.
  • Tron Lines: The Deckers use them in their clothing, both in the real and cyber worlds.
  • Wham Episode: Gang Bang, where the unusually non-comedic STAG invades Steelport and starts causing trouble for the Saints.