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Can you dig it?!
~ Cyrus' famous line

Cyrus was the president of the Gramercy Riffs. He was played by Roger Hill. He was the Warlord of the Gramercy Riffs, with Masai as his Main Lieutenant. He is well-spoken and adept at public speaking, and considers himself a spiritual leader to the street criminals of New York City. He sees the possibility of uniting the gangs under a general truce, believing that, if the gangs were not fighting each other, they could intimidate and extort protection money and privileges from law enforcement and organized crime in the city by the advantage of numbers alone, with the Gramercy Riffs all acting as his delegates and lieutenants to keep order among the gangs, while he personally oversees the profits and power that would surely come from such a vast operation.

In The Film[]

Cyrus is the president of the Gramercy Riffs, and the man responsible for calling the meeting in Van Cortlandt Park. However, this vision was shattered when he was shot and killed by Luther while giving his speech at the summit.

In The Game[]

Cyrus is seen several times explaining his plan to Masai. He is talked about often by the radio DJ, who sometimes refers to him as "Magic Man".

Jailbreak[]

After the prison break, Swan talks to Masai about continuing the plan of a unified gang, but Masai said Cyrus' dreams died with Cyrus.

Fighting Ability[]

Cyrus, like most characters, shares the 2-hit combos as standard grapple moves, with Ajax's rage grapple moves. Like most characters, he uses the roundhouse and tornado kicks as power moves. Unlike most Riffs, he uses the fighting style of Ajax and Snow, as well as the standard cross-dive, not the flying kick.

Quotes[]

  • "We need to spread the word. We must reach out into every corner, cross every border, and convince. Convey our message, our motive; and it must be with respect, not force, that they accept our invitation. As this word spreads, and possibility enters the minds of all the city's gangs, then this message, this wisdom, will begin to make sense. There is no other way. This is our destiny, and this is our will. Now, go let all the gangs know about the truce, forget no one under our network. No more than nine delegates may attend from any given gang, and on this day, I want no action. No soldier will carry a shank, a bat, a brick, a stick, or a gun. Now go, Masai, and let our troops know what must be done." - To Masai, on the meeting
  • "Can you count, SUCKAS?! I say the future is ours! If you can count... Now LOOK, what we have here before us; we've got The Saracens sitting next to The Jones Street Boys... We've got The Moonrunners, right by The Van Cortlandt Rangers! Nobody, is wasting nobody. THAT... is a miracle. And MIRACLES... is the way things ought to be... You are standing, right now, with nine delegates, from a hundred gangs! And there's over a hundred more. That's 20,000 hardcore members. 40,000 counting affiliates... and 20,000 more, not organized, but ready to fight... 60,000 soldiers. Now, there ain't but 20,000 police in the whole town - can you dig it?! Can you dig it?! CAN YOU DIG IT!... *Crowd applauds* Now, here's the sum total; ONE GANG could run this city... one gang! Nothing would move, without us allowing it to happen! We could tax the crime syndicates, the police, because WE got the streets, suckas! CAN YOU DIG IT!... *Crowd applauds* The problem in the past, has been 'the man' turning us against one-another. We have been unable to see the truth, because we have been fighting for ten square feet of ground. Our turf, our little piece of 'turf'. That's crap, brothas! The turf is ours by right, because it's our turn! All we have to do, is keep up the general truce. We take over ONE borough at a time! Secure our territory! Secure our turf! Because it's ALL OUR TURF!" - His speech, and final words (the lines in bold were not in the game)

Trivia[]

  • The name 'Cyrus' is an allusion to Cyrus the Younger, from Anabasis.
  • According to executive producer Frank Marshall, they originally hired a real gang member for the role of Cyrus, but could not find him on the day of filming, and never heard from him again. However, Michael Beck believes Roger Hill was always supposed to play Cyrus, as he executed the speech so perfectly, the real gang leader couldn't top Hill's performance.
  • Roger Hill sued Take-Two for using his likeness in the game. He won the suit for $250,000.
  • Sam Jackson as Cyrus

    Samuel L. Jackson parodying Cyrus at the 2005 Spike TV video Game Awards

    At the 2005 Spike TV Video Game Awards, The Gang meeting scene was parodied with video game characters and Cyrus himself was parodied by Samuel L. Jackson, who was hosting that year. Instead of getting shot, Jackson explodes after the character Tak from Tak and the power of Juju aims a controller at him and even parodies Luther's famous line by saying Wario come out and play-aaa.[1]
  • Pro Wrestling Legend Booker T would often say Can You Dig it/That Sucka during promos, he once said he was fan of the warriors
    • Although in recent years he has said that his catchphrase came from Shaft (Played by Richard Roundtree)

Gallery[]

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