Bingo's Guide to Gangs

Information by Dave Neal. Formatting by Dave Neal and Solace

Fascist Pigs: This is yer run-of-the-mill youth hateclub kinda thing, kiddies. The Pigs are affiliated with Humanis Policlub, so your members are straight Wonder Bredd human, you shiv? They tend to have buzz cuts and a paramilitary look, right? Uniform for gangland stuff includes jackboots, helmets, and pig masks. They are a rough, nasty bunch'a punks. I hate the Piggies. I've killed around 120 of 'em in my day, although that was personal, not business (long story). They aren't particularly savvy, but they got good connections where it counts, by way of Central Valley and Humanis P. The kids get their mitts on decent hardware, although nothing too off the wall; usually small arms and a periodic grenade. What they lack in intelligence, they make up for in training; many of them are ex-military or have corp links (although their race hatred does stand out; if a Piggie is working in a corp, you can be sure there's a Humanis rat in there somewhere). Wolfgang Mauer runs this gang; he's the poster boy of Young Humanis.

The Spiders: This is a freaky gang; it's all chicks; no guys allowed. They focus on information gathering, which they use for blackmail and extortion. These ladies have files on everybody, and they're everywhere. Seems like you're always running into them, or they're messing with you. Their leader is a chick named Arachne, but nobody knows much about her. Spiders run things like massage parlors, escort services, and nail boutiques, but they got operatives all over the damn place. They're broken into three wings: Legs, Fangs, and Web. Legs are your lower-echelon Spiders, who handle the scut work and data collection. Fangs are your enforcers—tough bunch of cookies, so don't get on the bad side of the Spiders, or the Fangs'll get ya. The Web is the Matrix angle of it, organizing and collecting the assembled data for use. The Spiders have a shitload of data stored away which they use to keep others off their backs and to make money. Watch yer exotic dancers – lotsa them are Spiders. You can spot a Spider Woman by a little black widow tattoo they have at the nape of their neck. Fangs tend to use more gusto – they'll have spider tattoos on the backs of their hands. Don't mess with the Fangs, because if they don't get you, the Web'll dig the dirt on you and sling it in your face. Once you're caught in their Web, you've had it!

Joyboys: The Joyboys are a bunch'a creampuffs; they dress up in fancy zoot suits and do a total retro thing. They think they're gangsters from the good old days. Their turf is pharmaceuticals, so you can bet they're pepped up enough on some of their products. They got a ton of meth labs around the city, and defend their territory pretty aggressively. Joyboys do a weird thing with colors – they got different areas, right? Well, each wing of the group, they all dress in that color – like purple, or red, or blue, or yellow; every damned member. Oh, and Joyboys are all guys; sorta the opposite of the Spiders. Dunno what the deal is with them. They like doing driveby shootings, guns blazing. Real flash, right? Their leader's some guy named Baby Huey – real fat SOB, but he knows his biz.

Young Turks: These kids cover your foreign drug market, particularly hash. This is an old group, despite their youthful name. They all dress real understated, like slicked back and what, and they all carry these curved knives, sharper than hell (and dikoted, natch). Real status thing. They'll chop a finger off ya if you cross'em. Turks got the best assassins, natch; real pros, who lend their services to corps when needed, or to anyone who can pay. Weird thing with them is their best axe men are generally real old, but man you don't want to mess with them! Some guy named Amit runs this gang; he's known as "The Butcher."

Philly Busters: These are East Coast imports, emphasizing protection rackets and fire insurance. Some say they're a Syndicate offshoot, I dunno. The Busters are a rough group, and real aggressive about turf. They dress in typical gangland street hipster style, and drive muscle cars around town. These kids are twitchy; they definitely shoot first and don't bother asking questions. They're headed by a guy they call Mr. Wizard; never dealt with him.

Thumpers: These idiots are more mob than gang; they dress in boiler suits and walk around with sledgehammers and smash shit up, particularly parking meters and vending machines. They call 'em "Quarter Pounders" and when you see them around, don't even try getting in their way. They specialize in protection rackets, and if you don't pay them, they thump your place big time. The Thumpers and the Busters are always fighting, because they cover the same turf. Their leader is a troll named Blue Lou, after this mane of blue hair the sumbitch has. He's one big-ass troll, and I personally wouldn't want to mess with him.

Gothics: The Gothics arose out of a self-protection thing for the Goth subculture; they're a bunch of skinny creampuffs who obsess about death. But don't mess with them, cuz they're full of magicians. They deal in black magic stuff, and are a good source for those kinds of things. But they are one weird bunch, and nobody messes with them. Some suspect they're in on the organ trade, although that's unconfirmed. There are some ghouls and vampires in this gang, so approach them with caution, and beware of signing deals with them, right? Their leaders are the Brothers Grimm.

The Mimes: This has come up recently; I don't know what the deal is, but these wankers are all over; yeah, they're mimes, allright. And woe to you if you try to mess with them. They deal with bottom-barrel street crime – your cons and clip jobs, right? But don't mess with them. They attack folks, and they play for keeps. I seen somebody get killed by a bunch of these weirdos – they ate the SOB, or at least chewed and clawed him to death; worst damn thing I've seen in a long time. Since they don't talk, it's hard to get information out of them, but their leader seems to be this chick named Epiphany, who you sure as hell don't want to cross. This chick is a freak; I trailed her once, back in '58, and pretty soon found her stalking me! She seemed to approve of my complexion, so she let me go – but tellya something, I watched her on thermograph, and she had a fucked up heat sig, right? Like all even, but cool at the extremities – like a corpse. The Gotchics are allied with these wackos, so watch out if you cross 'em.