| Frank West | |
| |
| Frank West | |
| Name | Frank West |
| Gender | Male |
| Weapon/Power | Various Martial Arts and photography skills. Can use firearms and anything he can get his hands on as weapons. |
| Affiliation | Hero |
| Vitality | 49,000 (TvC:UaS) 1,050,000 (UMvC3) |
| First Appearance | Dead Rising (Aug,2006) |
| Game | Dead Rising series |
| Voiced By |
Peter Von Gomm (TvC) |
| Company | Capcom |
"What do you mean I don't belong here? I've covered wars, y'know."
—Frank's UMvC3 victory quote
Frank West is a main character from Capcom's Dead Rising' series. He appears in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3.
Backstory
An overzealous photojournalist looking for the scoop of a lifetime, Frank West went to Willamette, Colorado to report on rumored riots at the Parkview Mall. The rioters were revealed to be zombies, forcing Frank to take refuge in the mall. Deciding to help during this outbreak, Frank rescued survivors, battled psychopaths, and attempted to discover the reason this was happening. He learned that a man named Carlito Keyes had done it, angry about a mysterious zombie outbreak in his home country that the United States government ignored and covered up from the rest of the world. With Carlito's sister Isabela as his ally, Frank survived until the military arrived to kill all survivors, and even then, managed to escape and spread the story. However, he had been bitten by a zombie, causing him to become dependent on a 24-hour drug called Zombrex that would fight zombification.
Five years later, Frank West went to Fortune City as it was in the midst of a zombie outbreak. After rescuing Chuck Greene, a man who became a hero during a zombie outbreak much like Frank himself had, from a zombie, the two exchanged information they had. Phenotrans, the company that makes Zombrex, had been starting zombie outbreaks to obtain more samples for the drug. The two teamed up to infiltrate and investigate the Phenotrans facility. They learned that there was a cure for zombie infection that was being kept from the public, but were unable to get it. Frank and Chuck swore they would find the cure and stop all the suffering.
Appearance
The version of Frank present in this game resembles his appearance in the first Dead Rising, rather than the older Frank in Case West and Off the Record in Dead Rising 2. Instead of a young, beautiful protagonist present in many Japanese games, Frank was designed to look like an everyman.
Frank wears a suit jacket, a white buttoned shirt, green slacks, and brown shoes. His camera is hung around his neck.
For his DLC costume in UMvC3, Frank wears a version of Mega Man's armor as it is seen in the original Dead Rising. Unlike the original costume, he does not have a Mega Buster to wear on his right arm as he needs both hands to hold his camera.
Powers and Abilities
Although Frank himself does not possess any superhuman abilities, he is not powerless. Frank is very skilled, with abilities like:
- Can adapt many random items into weapons
- Skilled photographer
- Combat experience from covering wars.
- Knows various wrestling techniques
- His bulky build provides him with higher endurance and stamina
- Various martial arts skills learned while traveling through mall
- Proficiency with firearms due to covering wars
- Extreme determination
Personality
Frank enjoys attention, since his main motivation in the first game is to break the big story and become famous. However, he soon becomes more concerned with the people who survived the outbreak and require help. He is not a very serious person, as he has fun killing zombies in creative ways, but he still finds justice important, such as when he battles psychopaths who endanger innocent people, and when he tries to bring down Phenotrans. However, he can be a bit jealous, with the announcement video for the "What If?" story Dead Rising 2: Off the Record portaying him as a bit jealous that Chuck was the one to find out the story behind the Fortune City outbreak. In short, Frank's personality traits are very realistic, being complex enough to possess both positive and negative personality traits like a normal person would.
Gameplay (TvC)
In Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars, Frank was a slight oddball character with strong combos and setups, zoning capabilites with his zombies, having one of the best launchers, and having a strong anti air game with his original 2M/B.
Special Attacks
- Roundhouse Kick: Frank lunges forward and attacks with his foot. The Light version is a fake attack. The Medium version goes straight and knocks down, but can be blocked low or high. The Hard version also knocks down but has to be blocked low.
- Zombie Attack: Frank will look in a direction and summon a zombie from the direction he was aimed at. The direction will depend on the chosen button input.
- Light: Behind Frank.
- Medium: Behind the opponent.
- Hard: From the air, into the middle of the arena. It can hit characters on the way down, but it takes a long time to stand up and move. It will also walk towards Frank by default.
- Zombie Spree: Frank's projectile, he looks behind himself with a shocked expression, which summons a zooming shopping cart with a zombie. The speed and color will depend on the chosen button input.
- Light: Blue, slow moving.
- Medium: Yellow, medium speed.
- Hard: Red, fast, wallbounces the foe.
- Grand Slam: Frank winds up and takes a swing with his baseball bat. The Light version starts up the fastest and has the quickest recovery time, which makes it the easiest and safest to combo into. Medium does more damage but is a little trickier to combo into. The Hard version starts up the slowest and is a lot harder to combo into but it does a wallbounce letting you set up more combos.
- Giant Swing: Frank will grab his enemy and spin them around, then toss them. May also be used on his zombies.
- Barrel Roll: Frank performs a quick roll. Light version places him in front of the opponent, Medium version goes behind the opponent, and Heavy version has him roll away from the opponent. While rolling, Frank West is invulnerable to projectiles.
- Knee Drop: A midair move where Frank drops down in a damaging speed oh his knee. Taken straight from Dead Rising.
Assist Attack
- Snapshot: Frank's Partner Assist makes him whip out a camera and take a picture. The stun from this move is short but as a tradeoff it hits everywhere in front of Frank. It's great for shooting down opponents in the air or those trying to run away.
Hyper Combos
- The Real Mega Buster (Level 1): Frank does a quick pose while he suddenly transforms, revealing a Mega Man X costume as he shoots a giant beam at his foe.
- Dead Rising (Level 1): A slow command grab, but inescapable after Frank says, "It's time to rock!" He picks his opponent up, in which he spins them around several times and tosses them into the air. After wards he whips out a over-sized bat and hits them into orbit, your opponent will slam into the ground behind you.
- Zombie Charge (Level 3): An ant-air attack, Frank jumps forward and tries to put a Servbot head on his enemy, if he's successful he slams the foe into a giant crowd of zombies before finishing them off with a dramatic Face Cruncher.
- Big Bad Explosion (Level 3; only on giants): Another anti-air move, Frank West looks up while saying "Oh no, not again!", soon after a zombie will come flying down. If it connects, more zombies will suddenly rain down on the opponent, giving Frank enough time to surround them with Propane Tanks. While off in the distance, Frank shoots the tanks with a shotgun. Causing a great explosion to engulf the doomed foe.
Gameplay (UMvC3)
Frank's gameplay is radically changed from his TvC counterpart, though some moves still exist from there. He seems similar to Jill in due to the fact that both of them have been changed in UMVC3 from zombie zoners to melee types, only Frank retains the zombies compared to Jill who has changed completely. Frank has changed from an oddball zoning type defensive character to the heavy hitting melee character, with said changes making Frank very aggressive and having more tools on hand to safely rushdown than in TvC. He has fast ground mobility, he can pull a variety of combos in close range, while using his Zombie-related moves as a distraction, and possesses above average health, but he lacks air mobility and effect full screen projectiles. Your main priortiy with Frank is to level him up using his Snapshot attack, which earns his Prestige Points (or PP) based on the number of hits in a combo. After an Air Combo, Frank can use Snapshot to OTG the opponent, leaving them vulnerable to either an Assist or his Survival Techniques Hyper. However, certain Assists such as Dante's Jam Session will leave them in enough hitstun for Frank to get another Snapshot in, allow him to level up twice in one combo when performed in Level 1.
Though at a cost, most of Frank's old moves which were great in terms of power and performance (such as his Real Mega Buster) have been removed, as well as his "Servbot Head" Hyper now being a Level 1, Frank now needs to utilize a new style almost all together to deal with his foes.
Special Attacks
- Snapshot: Frank takes a picture of the opponent, causing a small hitstun. Taking enough pictures will cause Frank to level up from Prestige Points (like in the original Dead Rising) and get stronger attacks. However if used at the end of a combo every hit from the combo translates into one prestige point, leveling Frank up faster and easier. The maximum level is 5, and once Frank reaches this level, all of his medium normals utilize the paddlesaw, a plastic canoe paddle with chainsaws taped to both ends. Every Level up also recovers some of Frank's red (recoverable) health. This level system also affects Frank's Survival Techniques hyper combo. The higher the level, the higher the damage, range and invulnerability. The snapshot hits OTG and be Special/Hyper cancelled.
- Level 1: Frank starts out with a baseball bat (for his special attacks), a golf club, a fireaxe (special attacks), a pie (forward-H) and a plunger (which is sometimes used for his normal attacks).
- Level 2: Frank gains access to the Roundhouse Kick and the Rolling Dodge. Requires 5 Prestige Points.
- Level 3: The baseball bat is upgraded to a spiked bat, the plunger is upgraded to a broom, the pie to a jug of orange juice, the golf club with an axe, and the fireaxe into a sledgehammer. Requires 20 Prestige Points.
- Level 4: The broom is replaced by the paddlesaw (Paddles + Chainsaw), the Fireaxe is replaced with the "Defiler" combo weapon (Fireaxe + Sledgehammer), the orange juice is replaced with a bottle of wine, and the sledgehammer is replaced with a chainsaw. Requires 50 Prestige Points.
- Level 5: Increase in damage output. Frank gains a blue aura similar to X-Factor. Requires 100 Prestige Points.
- Bottoms Up!: Frank takes a swig of an alcoholic drink. This doubles the amount of Prestige Points gained. However, using this move will cause Frank to throw up later on, which leaves him open to attacks.
- Hammer Throw: A zombie attempts to attack Frank, but Frank pushes them off and shoves them forward. Light and Medium versions cause hits, while the Heavy version will cause the zombie to grab and gnaw at the opponent, leaving them vulnerable for a short period of time.
- Giant Swing: A variation of his Great Swing throw from TvC (where Frank could use his command throw move on an onscreen zombie), a zombie attempts to attack Frank, but Frank grabs the zombie by its legs and swings it, spinning around against the opponent before throwing it.
- Object Throw: Frank will chuck a certain food item depending on his Photography Level.
- Tools of Survival: Frank will utilize one of his many weapons.
- Light: Frank pulls out a plunger, broom, or paddlesaw for some rapid-fire jabs. Can be done in midair.
- Medium: Frank pulls out and swings a baseball bat, a spiked bat, or a chainsaw which causes a wallbounce.
- Heavy: Frank pulls out a fireaxe, a sledgehammer, or the Defiler and swings it downwards, causing a ground bounce and hits OTG. This can also be used as an Air Combo/Aerial Rave finisher.
- Barrel Roll: (Only available after Level 2) Frank performs a quick diving roll that tracks towards the opponent. While rolling, Frank West is invulnerable to all but grabs. He can perform this move once he's level 2 or higher. In TvC, this is a rather underused move. Unlike in Dead Rising and like in TvC, Frank recovers fast from this move. Can also roll backward.
- Roundhouse Kick: (Only available after Photography Level 2) Frank performs a roundhouse kick. In TvC, both Medium and Heavy versions aimed forward with the Light version being a fake(the motions resemble a traditional Tae Kwon Do roundhouse kick). In UMVC3 the motion is instead a backspin roundhouse kick. Light version is a fake-out like before, with the Medium version causing hard knockdown, Heavy Version is a low sweep that will hit OTG.
- Knee Drop: A midair command normal where Frank drops straight down in a damaging speed on his knee. Taken straight from Dead Rising.
Assist Attacks
| Name | Type | Angle | Cross-Over | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| α | Shopping Cart | Direct | Front | Blue Light Special |
| β | Tools of Survival | Direct | Front | Blue Light Special |
| γ |
Pick Me Up |
Extra | Instant | Blue Light Special |
Hyper Combos
- Blue Light Special (Level 1): Frank summons a shopping cart with four chainsaws taped to it, containing a dead zombie, along with a number of other items and weapons, including the Servbot mask. Frank then charges forward with the cart. The cart is based on Steven Chapman's cart from Dead Rising, with a few differences (i.e. chainsaws instead of just pitchforks).
- Survival Techniques (Level 1): Frank charges forward with a throwing object. When this connects, he attacks the opponent with a flurry of attacks of several weapons (which decompose during the assault), ending in a powerful bat motion swing. Weapons used depend of the level of Photography. It has start-up invincibility at Photography Level 3 and Full invincibility at any higher.
- Funny Face Crusher (Level 1): (Only available after Photography Level 3) An anti-air grab attack. Frank puts a Servbot mask onto the opponent's head so they can't see. He grabs them by the legs, spins them around and throws them. As the dizzied opponent gets up, he runs over and slams their face into the ground.
X-Factor
| X-Factor Boosts | Damage | Speed |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | 135% | 105% |
| Level 2 | 160% | 110% |
| Level 3 | 185% | 115% |
Theme Song
Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 - Theme of Frank West
Frank West's theme is a remix of Adam MacIntyre's boss theme, "Adam (Crazy Clown)" from Dead Rising.
Trailers
Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom Frank West Gameplay - TGS 2009
Frank West Character Vignette - Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3
Trivia
- Frank however, was confirmed to be the pilot in the helicopter Chun-Li was riding in too the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier in the second promotion cutscene of the original Marvel vs. Capcom 3.
- Frank is the only character with different opening animations, one as he takes a picture and another of him kicking a zombie off of him.
- In the Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars, he is voiced by Peter Von Gomm, and is the only character in that game to have an English Voice Actor only, even in the Japanese version of U-AS. In Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Frank is reprised by T.J. Rotolo (his previous voice actor from Dead Rising, Off the Record and Case West) in English and is voiced by Rikiya Koyama (who also voiced Wolverine in Marvel Anime series) in Japanese.
- Frank's Funny Face Crusher is similar to his Zombie Charge Level 3 from Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, as they both involve Servbot masks and have Frank smash the opponent's head into the ground.
Gallery
