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| “ | Never say no to a hunt.
— Jim Hossler |
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Jim Hossler is one of the twelve playable Cleaners in Back 4 Blood. He is a middle-aged Finleyville native and outdoorsman who offers his hunting and scouting skills to the team.
Official description[]
Nobody knows Finleyville and the surrounding county like Jim. From an early age, he would head out into the countryside with his father, hunting and trapping with the best of them. After a stint in the military, he returned home, only to see it ravaged by the Collapse. Now he's found his place among the most trusted cleaners. When not fighting back-to-back with his team, he's scouring the countryside of his beloved Pennsylvania routing out the Ridden infestation.[2]
Traits[]
The following traits are being granted to Jim with his Cleaners card:
CLEAN KILL
Precision kills increase Jim's damage by 2.5%, up to 10 times until he takes damage.
SEASONED HUNTER 
+ 10% Team Weakspot Damage
MILITARY TRAINING
+ 25% Reload Speed
RAZOR SNARE
Start with a Razor Wire
Appearance[]
Jim is a middle-aged man with medium-length, slicked-back hair and an unkempt beard. A white and tan baseball cap with the letters J and M and a visor image is worn by him. He has sporadically applied a Band-Aid to his right cheek. Around his neck, Jim wears an arrowhead attached to a leather strap.
He wears an orange parka with his shoulders highlighted in black. He has his right forearm taped and his right hand bandaged. Under his parka, he is wearing a gray shirt with a deer skull and the words Konowa County Rod & Gun Club.
The backpack Jim is wearing is olive green and has a climbing rope attached to the left side. There is also a yellow patch with the words "It's Huntin Time" in black. Jim has a flashlight and radio attached to each shoulder strap.
Green camouflage pants with a brown leather belt and leather shoes complete the outfit. Jim also carries a knife on his left hip.
Developer comments[]
In the video "Back 4 Blood - Breakdown of All 8 Playable Characters (Meet the Cleaners)"[3] by media news outlet IGN lead writer Simon Mackenzie and co-founder and creative director Phil Robb at Turtle Rock Studios did a breakdown of all eight playable Cleaners in Back 4 Blood.
The following quotes are shortened versions of the comments they've made about Jim's character:
| “ | Our game is set in a fictional city in western Pennsylvania where basically I grew up. Jim is an homage to a lot of the folks in Western PA: they're hunters, they're fishermen, they're outdoorsmen. |
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| “ | Yeah and he's got sort of feeling with the land and kind of scouting. One thing we didn't want to do is to reinforce a redneck stereotype. — Simon Mackenzie, Lead Writer at Turtle Rock Studios |
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| “ | We wanted it to be like he is like that but in a respectful way. Not in a mean-spirited type of way.
— Phil Robb, Co-Founder/Creative Director at Turtle Rock Studios |
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In the recent "Turtle Rock Studios Back 4 Blood Art Blast"[4] on artstation.com character concept artist Gue Yang shared information about the design of Jim's appeareance.
| “ | Jim was an early concept design that we liked early but went through some color/texture changes to get to this state.
— Gue Yang, Character Concept Artist |
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Journal entry[]
Jim's journal entry has been shared on the Back 4 Blood 𝕏 account on October 1st, 2021.[5]
| “ | Grew up here.
Hell, my family were one of the first to put down roots before there was a Finleyville. But history don't matter much to the Ridden. Not much does. I hunted and fished these lands with my father and his, as they did before. We raised our families for generations in these hills. But the Ridden took everything. Soured the soil and fouled the waters. Took blood, sweat, and tears to build something here. Took the same to tear it down. It's too late for my family, but not for others. And for those that made it out alive...I aim to make sure they stay that way. — Jim's journal |
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Notes[]
- Jim was originally called "Kev" during development.
- Based on Jim's Pre-Collapse outfit, it can be surmised that he had been a member of the United States Marine Corps up to a certain point. While Jim is wearing this outfit, a patch can be seen on his left upper arm. This patch is from the fictional 5th Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment of the United States Marine Corps.
The heraldic motto on that patch, “Silentium est Aureum”, is Latin and means “Silence is Golden”. Also, in the center of the patch is the inscription “RECON”, which is short for Reconnaissance.
Hossler's uniform uses a MARPAT Digital Desert Camo design. With his sense of marksmanship he may have been a scout-sniper or other type of marksman during his service.
Gallery[]
Sources[]
- ↑ André Sogliuzzo on IMDb.
- ↑ Official description from the official Back 4 Blood website.
- ↑ "Back 4 Blood - Breakdown of All 8 Playable Characters (Meet the Cleaners)" by IGN article and YouTube video.
- ↑ "Turtle Rock Studios Back 4 Blood Art Blast" on artstation.[1]
- ↑ Jim's journal entry release (𝕏)
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