The Gramercy Riffs

“	Yeah, right!	„
	~ The Gramercy Riffs' war cry

The Gramercy Riffs, or simply The Riffs, are a fictional New York City gang in 1979. The Riffs are the biggest gang in New York.

Description[]

The Riffs are the largest and most powerful gang in all of New York City, from Gramercy Park. They are led by Masai, formerly Cyrus, until his death. Their only known business seems to be illegal gambling.

Members wear either orange, blue, white, or black robes (the warlords have their own special robes). After the death of Cyrus, they all seem to have changed their attire to black shirts and pants. They have mainly African-American members, with at least one Hispanic member. However, in the game, they were changed to an all-black gang.

History[]

The Riffs, along with Cyrus, shared a vision of the gangs of New York controlling everything instead of competing for turf. The Riffs would naturally be the controlling/enforcement arm while the rest of the gangs did the everyday work. This vision was shattered when Luther of the Rogues murdered Cyrus at the meeting. In the chaos, Luther blamed the killing on the Warriors. The Riffs responded by killing Cleon and placing the Warriors under a bounty - dead or alive.

Members[]

AJ (Soldier)
Calvin (Soldier)
Cecil (Soldier)
Cesar (Soldier)
Cleaver (Soldier)
Cliffton (Soldier)
Cyrus (Former Warlord; Deceased)
Darrius (Soldier)
Ezekiel (Soldier)
Hannibal (Lieutenant)
Huey (Soldier)
Jamal (Soldier)
Jerome (Soldier)
King (Soldier)
Kyran (Soldier)
Malachi (Soldier)
Malcolm (Soldier)
Martin (Soldier)
Masai (Warlord; Former Main Lieutenant)
Miles (Soldier)
Montel (Soldier)
Moses (Soldier)
Mumia (Lieutenant)
Screetch (Soldier)
Seal (Lieutenant)
Sheldon (Soldier)
Slim (Soldier)
Spazz (Main Lieutenant; Former Lieutenant)
Stokely (Soldier)
Unnamed Messenger

In the Film[]

The Warriors "bopped" their way back to Coney Island, with Ajax being arrested and Fox being killed, but they survived, both infuriating (and impressing) the Riffs. The Riffs were eventually convinced of the Warriors' innocence by an outside gang member who saw what really happened. The Riffs then secretly tracked the Warriors and the Rogues back to Coney Island, where they let the Warriors go and presumably killed (or severely punished) Luther and his Rogues.

In the Game[]

Earlier missions revolve around The Warriors trying to get on the Riffs' network.

Cyrus is also shown in several cutscenes explaining his idea to his Warchief, Masai.

The Warriors first encounter the Riffs in Boys In Blue, speaking to Spazz at their gambling club on how to make it to the Red Devil. The Warriors don't encounter the Riffs again until the end of Come Out To Play, which, like all the movie missions, plays out quite differently to the film.

Appearances[]

The Warriors (Film)
The Warriors (Game) - Payback (Outro Only)
The Warriors (Game) - Encore (Outro Only)
The Warriors (Game) - Boys In Blue
The Warriors (Game) - All-City (Intro Only)
The Warriors (Game) - Desperate Dudes (Intro Only)
The Warriors (Game) - No Permits, No Parley (Intro Only)
The Warriors (Game) - Come Out To Play (Outro and Credits)
The Warriors (Game) - Armies of the Night
The Warriors: Street Brawl
The Warriors: Jailbreak

Trivia[]

There is a Canadian indie rock band called Gramercy Riffs. The name is inspired by the gang.
They have the most members out of all the gangs in New York.
The members wear tucked in black shirts in Coney Island at the end of the film, likely taking off their gang colors out of respect for the Warriors. They still wear these shirts in Jailbreak, which is probably an oversight.
Two of the members Malcolm and Martin are possibly named after the two Civil rights leaders Martin Luther King and Malcolm X
Most Riffs share a mixed martial art fighting style; their fighting combos that begin with square are taken from Cochise, whilst their combos that begin with X were taken from Swan and Cleon.
- However, the four executives are the exception; Spazz uses Cleon's full fighting style, whilst Seal, Masai and Cyrus use the standard fighting style.
- Seal, Masai and Cyrus are also the only Riffs that use the cross-dive - as opposed to the flying kick - as their sprinting square-button attack.
A game trilogy called Rebuild shows a faction named "The Granville Riffs", which is a play on the Gramercy Riffs
In the film, they have at least one Hispanic member, but are mostly African-American.