Francis

"He needed to feel huge, fit believably into the world and read well as a silhouette."

- Jeremy Bennett, Valve.

Francis is one of the four playable Survivors in Left 4 Dead. He is a large, tough biker with tattoos covering his arms and neck. His tattoos identify him as a member of "Hell's Legion", a name possibly inspired by the real-world Hell's Angels Motorcycle Club. Since his character model has changed, it has been speculated that Francis' new face was modeled after the head developer of the game, Mike Booth, and that he has the Lambda symbol from the Half-Life series cut into his hair. In official media, he can usually be seen wielding either the pump shotgun or the auto shotgun. He is voiced by Vince Valenzuela.

Official description
Cocky, loud, and pretty sure he's indestructible, Francis acts like the zombie apocalypse is the world's biggest bar fight. When the virus hit, everybody else stockpiled food and looked for a place to hide. Francis found a gun and had some fun. No cops, no laws, no order—if it wasn't for all the zombies, he could almost get used to life like this.

Hatred for everything
Francis is notable for often contextually exclaiming how he hates something. Anything, really. Among the things Francis hates:
 * The Army
 * Aeroplanes
 * Ayn Rand
 * Barns
 * Camping
 * Churches
 * Cops
 * Doctors
 * Elevators
 * Greece
 * Helicopters
 * Hospitals
 * Hotels
 * Jumping
 * Lawyers
 * Malls
 * Mazes
 * Sewers
 * Small towns
 * Stairs
 * Subways
 * Trains
 * Trainyards
 * Tunnels
 * Turnpikes
 * Vampires
 * Vans
 * Walking
 * Water
 * Woods

Despite stating that he hates the Army, he also is quoted saying sarcastically, "I LOVE the Goddamn army!" Also, when asked by Bill if there's anything he doesn't hate, he replies, "You know what I don't hate? I don't hate vests."

Valve supplied audio for the upcoming mod Dead Before Dawn in which Francis says "I hate malls!".

Quotes

 * Francis: The biggest mystery in this vampire outbreak, is which one of you jackasses just beefed?
 * Zoey: Oops, sorry!


 * [ When Bill mentions about shooting him if he turns ] "What if just your beard starts to turn? Can I shoot that?"
 * Francis: I'm not gonna let these damn vampires beat me.
 * Bill/Louis: They're zombies, Francis.
 * Francis: Whatever!


 * [ When Bill mentions he has a bad feeling about the hospital ] "Hey, look on the bright side; even if you don't make it, I'll still be really handsome!"
 * Zoey/Bill: Francis, is there anything you don't hate?
 * Francis: You know what I don't hate? I don't hate vests.


 * [ When Zoey says that the helicopter pilot had better be there ] "If he ain't, at least we die with a nice view of the city."
 * [ If two Survivors die ] "We gotta find tougher friends."
 * "Just two of us left! Shit!"


 * [ When entering the tunnel ] "Fantastic. A tunnel."
 * Bill: Don't be an ass, Francis.


 * [ Noticing a sign warning of deer crossing at The Turnpike ] "Watch out! There's *deer* around here."
 * [ To Church Guy ] "We're cops! Open up!" "...Why?" "Well, I'm Francis, that's Grandpa Bill and...there's zombies out here! Open the goddammed door!"
 * Francis: "Have a heart, we got a helpless old man with us!"
 * Bill: Hey!


 * "Man, I don't think that cop thing worked..."
 * "I'm gonna take that bell down and shove it up your ass!"
 * "Everyone but us is either a zombie or an asshole."
 * [ After Louis has stated that Riverside is a bust, and they should get to the river ]
 * Francis: That's better than my plan.
 * Bill: What was that?
 * Francis: I didn't have one.


 * [ When answering the radio in Death Toll ] "Attention boat owner! We are the cops! We command you to come pick us up."


 * "This is the most sober I've ever been in an airport."
 * "The sad thing is, this is only the second worst time I've ever had in an airport."
 * "'God is dead', huh? Well join the damn club."


 * [ Realizes radio is just a tape rather than live ] "Goddamn tape looped piece of shit, I hate the Army." or "Screw the goddamn army.", "I love the Army!", or sometimes, "I forgive you Army, I love you guys!" [ APC arrives ]
 * [When answering the radio in Blood Harvest'' ] "Attention army! This is" *clears throat* " The cops!"


 * "Someone should use their health pack."
 * "Zoey, darlin', you should heal up."
 * "Bill, can I borrow your medkit? I just want to look at it."
 * "Louis, don't bogart that health kit, man. I'm hurt!
 * "Hey, little lady, if you ain't gonna use that health kit, could I use it?"
 * [ After healing another Survivor ] "I told you I'd take care of you!"
 * "Yeah, I'm pretty awesome."
 * "Watch my back. But hey, don't stare at my ass!"
 * [ Upon being helped up after being incapacitated ] "Yeah... good thing I'm indestructible."
 * [ On low health ] "I don't mean to sound like a... sissy, but... I'm pretty hurt."
 * "Watch your ass!"
 * "Any zombie fight you can crawl away from means you won it."
 * "Dammit. Stop. Shooting. Me."
 * "Do that again, and you're gonna be firing that thing out of your ass!"
 * "Shoot me again, and I'm gonna kick your ass!"
 * "Gee, nice shot Bill, that was my ass!"
 * "That. Hurt."
 * "I'm coming Bill, keep your beard on!"
 * "Hey Louis, you look like shit!"
 * "Is anyone there? Marco!"
 * [ Upon picking up an auto shotgun ]
 * Francis: Groovy.
 * Zoey: [Imitation] Groovy.


 * Francis: Groovy.
 * Louis: [Short laugh]
 * Francis: What's so funny? It is groovy.


 * Come to papa, my sweet shotgun.
 * [ In response to a generic how long remark, generic ] "Long enough to know you have a pretty mouth."
 * [ Picking someone up ] "Get your ass up... that's what he said."
 * [ Giving pills away ] "Merry Christmas."
 * [ Responding to a nearby Witch ] "Hear that Witch? I'll give her something to cry about ..."
 * [ When a Witch growls ] "You got a death wish? Leave that Witch alone!"
 * [ Responding to a nearby Hunter ] "Yeah, you better hide! Sweatshirt wearin' little wuss..."
 * [ Responding to a nearby Hunter ] "I hear a Hunter. Come on out wussy..."
 * [ When healing himself ] "Goddamn medical tape, piece of shit!"
 * [ When healing himself ] "Watch my back! But don't stare at my ass."
 * [ If Bill dies ] "Goodbye old man..."
 * [ Upon seeing Bills body ] "Rest in peace, old man."
 * [ Upon seeing Louis body ] "The manager is down for the count."
 * "I was just starting to like that guy."
 * [ Upon seeing Zoey's body ] "Oh God, not Zoey."
 * [ If Louis is left incapacitated outside the safe room ] "We're just leaving Louis out there? I mean... I'm cool with that... if, everyone else is."
 * [ Upon seeing the first picnic table in The Woods ] "You're tellin' me people camp for fun?"
 * [ When telling the others to wait ] "I'm tired of running from these pussies."
 * [ When everyone is in the safe room ] "Lock the goddamn door!" (Note: The captions say: "goddman")

Trivia

 * Francis has the Lambda logo from the Half-Life series cut into his hair as an Easter egg which appears in almost every game that Valve has developed.
 * Originally, the developers had the idea to make Francis and Zoey show some sort of affection towards one another. However, this was found to be distracting, and was cut out of the game. Possibly because of this, Francis is often very friendly towards her.
 * The reason Francis calls the Infected "vampires" may be due to the confusion about the creatures in the film, I Am Legend. People thought the Hemocites were zombies when in the book they are confirmed to be vampires, or might be a reference to that fact that almost every chapter in Left 4 Dead is at night, or rather, early morning (Blood Harvest), so they are always traveling in the dark.
 * Francis' facial appearance was modeled after Taylor Knox.
 * A majority of Left 4 Dead fans have come to believe that Francis is a prominent "Skinhead" and/or more than likely a "Biker" due to his personality and attire. This is confirmed by the fact that Francis sound files are stored in a "Biker" folder and that it states he is in his description.
 * In the game and most pictures, Francis is seen equipped with a shotgun of some sort. But, in the concept art below, he is holding a weapon that looks quite similar to an MP5 sub-machine gun or a G3.
 * Unlike his "tough-guy" attitude, when Francis is knocked down, he will sometimes scream like a girl. Probably to show that his toughness is an act or for some comic relief. His macho attitude also breaks when one of his friends dies. Although he fights with Bill constantly throughout the game, he seems genuinely upset to see him die, (as does Bill when Francis dies). Also, sometimes when he dies, he will whisper "Mamaaaaa...".
 * Francis isn't wearing his driving gloves in any of the campaign movie posters, not even the newest ones, "The Last Stand" and "Crash Course".
 * The quote "Groovy", which Francis says occasionally when picking up an auto shotgun, is a reference to the cult horror film Evil Dead II.
 * In early beta, Francis was portrayed as being somewhat overweight. On top of this, there is an unused voice file for Louis where he states "Go on! Do it one more time fat man!" Upon being repeatedly shot by Francis. The sound file is "manager_friendlyfirefrancis07".
 * One of Francis' arm tattoos appears to show The Star of Chaos, a recurring symbol in the Warhammer franchise.