Is Johnny Gat Really Dead?
Saints Row: The Third has one of the most action packed opening sequences of any game title, but it's not just a mindless blast 'em up sequence for fans of the sequel, because it is one in which a main character, one might even say the main character appears to die. Did Johnny Gat really die on the plane? Or is he still alive, waiting to make a comeback at a later date (or in a later installment of the Saints Row series.)
Let's weigh the evidence, shall we?
Johnny Gat Is Alive!
Johnny Gat dies off-screen. As everyone who's ever watched a tv serial or movie series knows, off-screen deaths basically don't count. As the most long runnning character in the Saints Row series, Johnny's death is surprisingly anti-climactic. By the time Saint's Row: The Third rolls around, he's a Saints institution, his bobble-heads are everywhere, his likeness is splashed across half the city. Then he supposedly dies and nobody notices. At all. Even the radio reporter who is constantly reporting on the shenanigans and hijinks of the Saints doesn't mention it.
Maybe she doesn't know? Maybe the Saints are keeping it a secret? Possibly. But even within the Saints there's next to no acknowledgement of Gat's demise. You get a few lines of dialog in which the protagonist mentions that s/he's not thrilled about the fact he apparently got shot and (maybe) crashed in a plane, but there's not so much as a minute's silence for the man. Come on, one of the most well known and powerful members of the internationally known Saints dies and it's a non event? Pull the other one.
Johnny Gat Is Dead!
Aside from the whole 'the game says he's dead' argument, which is full of holes for the reasons I mentioned above, there's a 'zombie Gat' unlockable achievement, where you can have a zombie Gat back you up in combat. This is pretty much the proverbial 'stone rolled away from the tomb and oh, yep, there's Jesus confirming his death right there' moment.
Inconclusive Conclusion
It looks to me as if Gat's death has been left open for a possible comeback, which better happen because he's the most charismatic and interesting character in the series and he deserved a far better end than the one he got. I started with Saints Row: The Third and worked my way back through the series because of Johhny Gat. The man was a complete badass and to have him wiped off the character roster ten minutes into the third game without so much as a moving death scene, well, that just ain't right.
