Francis

Francis
Portrait
Gender	Male
Species	Human
Preferred weapon	Left 4 Dead Tier 1 — Pump Shotgun Tier 2 — Auto Shotgun Left 4 Dead 2 (PC version) Tier 1 Chrome Shotgun Pump Shotgun Tier 2 Combat Shotgun Tactical Shotgun Sidearm P220 and G26 Left 4 Dead 2 (Xbox 360 version) Tier 1 Silenced Submachine Gun Submachine Gun Tier 2 Hunting Rifle Sniper Rifle Sidearm P220 and G26
Hair color	Brown
Eye color	Brown
Skin color/Race	Caucasian
Height	195 cm
Voice actor	Vince Valenzuela
Face model	Taylor Knox
Status	Alive

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

―Jeremy Bennett, Valve

"*phew* Good thing I'm indestructible."

―Francis

Francis is one of the four playable Survivors in Left 4 Dead. He is a tough biker with tattoos covering his arms and neck. His tattoos identify him as a member of "Hells Legion", a name possibly inspired by the real-world Hells Angels Motorcycle Club. In official media, he can usually be seen wielding either the Pump Shotgun or the Auto Shotgun.

Francis, along with Zoey and Louis, appears in Left 4 Dead 2 in the downloadable campaign "The Passing" as they meet with the Left 4 Dead 2 Survivors. Nick and Francis bicker with each other a lot due to their brash natures, although Rochelle finds herself strangely attracted to him.

Francis' facial features are based on Taylor Knox and he is voiced by Vince Valenzuela.

Official Description

Francis
	Age: Unknown
	Hometown: Unknown
	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.

Background

At one point, Francis was employed by the shipping company Hersch, but was presumably fired after assaulting a man.

Francis attempted to steal a flat-screen television two days after the first Infection. When he is caught, his claim that he is a cop gathering evidence for a crime is not taken seriously. He is next shown in a bar boasting to his friends about why he is going to jail. When one of his friends reveals to him that Pennsylvania jails do not allow conjugal visits, Francis' presumed girlfriend Sandra then says "better not waste any more time" and grabs Francis' arm and pulls him into the bar's back room. Francis and Sandra begin kissing in the back room when she gets sick on his vest. He almost leaves, but she convinces him to stay and then promptly bites him. She is about to attack him when Francis's paranoid friend, Duke, shoots her. Realizing that this is no ordinary flu and that most people cannot be considered human anymore, Francis realizes the possibilities of the lawlessness the outbreak has brought, and has Duke and Danny lug a jukebox to the roof where he grabs a shotgun to begin picking off Infected one by one with Duke, Danny, and a few other barmates.

It is unknown what had happened to his friends, but it is most probable that he either left them or they weren't immune or carriers and succumbed to the flu at one point of time before Francis had joined the group. In the Sacrifice, Francis admits to Zoey that he finds his old friends more fun to be with during the apocalypse but would not have lasted two weeks if he hadn't met the group.

Relationships with other Survivors

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WARNING: The following is conjecture and may not be considered canon.

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Of the four original Survivors, Francis is the cockiest and insulting. Dream sequences and dialogue in the third and fourth episodes of The Sacrifice comic provide evidence that Francis has a well-developed alpha-male self-image. Despite this, the other Survivors may sometimes look down on Francis for his stupidity at times.

• Bill

  Francis and Bill tease each other a lot. On some occasions, he flat-out insults him and often makes sarcastic retorts to his comments. Francis also shows that he would rather live and let Bill die Bill is quick to let Francis know that the feeling is mutual, and dislikes his pessimistic and rude attitude. The arguing and teasing is likely just joking around between the two; if Bill dies, Francis is quite shaken up. It is not known whether it is because he cares for Bill or if he is disturbed at the nature of his death.

  In The Sacrifice comic, Francis defends Bill when Zoey is mad at him, (despite insulting him several times in the buildup to it) by saying that "Bill doesn't always do the right thing but does it for the right reasons." He mentions how he knew that he would have been dead if he traveled with his drinking buddies; this is most likely the reason that Francis takes orders from Bill even if he does complain about them.

  There is a noticeable change in tone when he talks about losing Bill in "The Passing", and he hated the idea of lowering the bridge when Bill was the one who gave his life to raise it, hinting that he had a large amount of respect for him.

• Louis

  Francis doesn't seem to talk to Louis much, but when he does, it is mostly in the form of sarcasm and insults. Francis dislikes Louis' optimistic outlook on the Infection and perhaps the way Louis perceives Francis himself. Francis' deep-seated alpha-male contempt for Louis is revealed during his dream sequence (refer The Sacrifice comic, Part 4) when his unconscious mind exiles Louis to a separate island from whence he vainly calls out to the beer girls to come and join him there. When Francis does throw out a sarcastic remark directed at Louis, he either doesn't get the gist of it, turns it back on Francis or breaks from his kindly attitude to give Francis a barbed rejoinder. They are also known to bicker about whether the Infected are zombies or vampires. If it comes to Louis' death, Francis is quite shaken and, while he does make a joke about his profession, he also says that Louis had started to grow on him. When Louis is incapacitated outside of the safe room, Francis doesn't seem to be above abandoning him if it was a unanimous team decision. However, his other response indicates that it could just be reluctance on his part to show that he cares for Louis.

  In The Sacrifice comic, when Louis gives up after the bridge stops and says he has a bad feeling, Francis tells Louis that they've survived worse in an attempt to convince Louis (unsuccessfully) that they will survive. This hints that, while Francis might not show it, he cares about Louis, or at least his state of mind.

• Zoey

  In beta testing, Zoey and Francis were to share some sort of affection towards each other, but this was cut. Nonetheless, Francis seems to like Zoey more than the other Survivors, and shows extreme sadness if she dies. Zoey isn't as keen on Francis as she was originally intended to be, but they still get along well. At the start of "Crash Course", Francis is fairly annoyed at Zoey for causing them to crash-land as a result of her deliberately shooting their Infected helicopter pilot in mid-flight. Thereafter, during The Alleys, he directs pointed comments to her over this incident. Nevertheless, they still crack jokes together and Francis eventually warms up and puts the episode behind him.

• Coach

  Francis doesn't have much interaction with Coach, but he does at first believe Coach to be Rochelle's father. This amuses Rochelle, but insults Coach somewhat, since he is only 15 years older than her.

• Ellis

  Francis and Ellis get along well. They both have a mutual belief that the presence of "real" zombies means that there must also be vampires, werewolves, mummies, and aliens around. Their only conflict comes over Jimmy Gibbs Junior, who Francis believes either to be a man or dog who sold tacos. Ellis will get angry with Francis over this. Francis also claims that he hates Ellis' hat, but laughs as if it was a joke.

• Nick

  Nick and Francis seem to completely hate each other. At the start of The Riverbank, if Francis is present, Nick refers to him as a "greasy vest-wearing monkey" while Francis calls him "Suit" or "Colonel Sanders" in turn. However, the line "Brother, that's what I'm trying to tell ya. We can't get this thing down ourselves. You have to get to the other side," won't lead to an argument between them. He occasionally compares Nick with a Witch because of his complaining throughout the campaign Despite their distaste for one another, Francis wishes Nick good luck and calls him a brother upon Nick's departure. This is probably because Francis and Nick share a common affiliation to a gang or group, as Nick's ring and Francis' right shoulder tattoo share the same symbol. It's hinted that they knew each other in certain dialogue, too. Also, due to their abrasive natures, it is possible their supposed hostility towards each other may have no real hatred at all.

• Rochelle

  Through the events of "The Passing", Francis becomes infatuated with Rochelle, going so far as call her his "lovely little angel" and sob at her departure. He might also cry out "I love you, Ro!" as they drive away. He compliments her taste in music when commenting on her shirt, referring to Depeche Mode as "classy". He becomes even more infatuated with her after realizing that she "hates things, too," including his vest, which then turns him off completely.

Hatred of Everything

Francis is notable for often contextually exclaiming how he hates something. Why Francis hates almost everything is unknown, but it can be assumed that it has something to do with his past of being an outlaw, or perhaps just a personality quirk added for comic relief. Among the things Francis hates:

Subject	From	Source	Notes
Airplanes	Dead Air	WorldAirport0513
The Army	Blood Harvest	dlc2armytruck01 dlc2armytruck02	Later, at the finale, he takes it back claiming "I LOVE the goddamn Army!" Or "I forgive you, Army; I love you guys!"
Ayn Rand	Dead Air	WorldAirport0416
Barns	Blood Harvest	WorldFarmHouse0420 (cut)
Bill's Plan	The Sacrifice	c6dlc3secondsaferoom15
Birds	Crash Course	dlc2birdhate01	Zoey may agree "Yeah, birds are dicks"
Boats	Death Toll The Sacrifice	c6dlc3intro26
Boat people	Death Toll	WorldSmallTown0510 (cut)
Boat lawyers	Death Toll	WorldSmallTown0511	Only the subtitles mention "boat lawyers", in-game it's just "lawyers".
Bridges	The Passing	dlc1_c6m3_finalechat16
Canada	Crash Course	dlc2canadahate01 dlc2canadahate02
Caca	Death Toll	WorldSmallTown0207 (cut)
Car alarms	Community	dlc1_communityl4d105
Churches	Death Toll	WorldSmallTown0206 (cut)
Cold	Community	dlc1_communityl4d104
Cops	No Mercy	WorldHospital0404	Despite this, Francis is not above impersonating a cop, having done so multiple times throughout the game and comic.
Different	Promo Steam for Mac		A reference to Mac's "Think Different" slogan.
Doctors	No Mercy	WorldHospital0404
Elevators	No Mercy	WorldHospital0409
Electric fences	Blood Harvest	WorldFarmHouse0321 (cut)
Ellis' hat	The Passing	dlc1_c6m3_l4d1finalebridgerun06
Falling	The Sacrifice (comic)
Fish	The Sacrifice	c6dlc3secondsaferoom20	Only hates live fish. Intentionally eats it just to prove his point to the fish.
Flying	Crash Course	dlc2intro07
Generators	Crash Course The Sacrifice	dlc2m2finalebuttonpressgen302 c6dlc3prestartlastgen01
Goodbyes	The Passing	dlc1_c6m3_l4d1finalecinematic13
Gravel hill	The Sacrifice	c6dlc3gravelhill07
Greece	Dead Air	worldairport0416	Only in the German version (replaces Ayn Rand).
Helicopters	No Mercy Crash Course	WorldHospital0501 dlc2intro19 dlc2intro32
Hospitals	No Mercy	WorldHospital0404 WorldHospital0408
Hotels	Dead Air	WorldAirport0230 (cut)
Islands	The Sacrifice	c6dlc3intro23 c6dlc3secondsaferoom28	Claims to have Insulaphobia (fear of islands).
Jumping	Dead Air	WorldAirport0232 (cut)
Latest issues	Crash Course	dlc2magazinerack01	Reply to Zoey's sarcastic "Hey Francis, they've got the latest issue of Hating Everything Magazine."
Lawyers	No Mercy Death Toll	WorldHospital0404" WorldSmallTown0511 WorldSmallTown0512
Louis's good feelings	The Sacrifice	c6dlc3secondsaferoom02
Malls	Dead Before Dawn	francis_ihatemalls_dbd
Mondays	Crash Course	dlc2bulletinboard01	The only exception is if it's lasagna Monday. A nod to the Garfield comic.
Parades	Crash Course	dlc2intro29
Photos	Promo (Steam Sale)		Can be seen in the background of "Summer Camp Sale" with a small piece of paper saying "I hate photos"
Prisons	Last Drop	communitygeneric04	In The Sacrifice comic, two days after the first infection Francis was arrested for stealing, and then the outbreak changed everything.
Riverside	Crash Course	dlc2riverside02	Thinks Riverside is in Canada, which is why he hates it.
Sewers	No Mercy	WorldHospital0308
Small towns	Death Toll	WorldSmallTown0311
Snow	The Passing	dlc1_communityl4d102 dlc1_communityl4d103
Stairs	No Mercy	WorldHospital0410	Bill may reply "Damn straight".
Steam pipes	Crash Course	dlc2steam01	Only hates the pipes, not the steam itself.
Subways	No Mercy	WorldHospital0201
Suicide Missions	The Sacrifice	c6dlc3jumpingoffbridge03
Tanks	The Passing	dlc1_killfinaltank01 dlc1_killfinaltank02 dlc1_killfinaltank03
The South	The Passing	dlc1_l4d1tank03
Trains	Blood Harvest	WorldFarmHouse0211 (cut)
Train yards	Death Toll	WorldSmallTown0204
Tunnels	Blood Harvest	WorldFarmHouse0212
Turnpikes	Death Toll	WorldSmallTown0118 (cut)
Vampires	Crash Course	dlc2canadahate02
Vans	Death Toll Dead Air	WorldAirport0425
Vomit	Death Toll	WorldSmallTown0514 (cut)
Walking	Crash Course	dlc2intro22 dlc2m2finaletruckend01
Large bodies of water	Death Toll	WorldSmallTown0509	Later he quietly admits that he can't swim.
Whispering	Generic	Generic59 (cut)
Woods	Blood Harvest	WorldFarmHouse0112
Zoey's sacrifice	The Sacrifice	c6dlc3zoeydies04
Zombies	The Sacrifice (comic)

Promotional shot of Steam's Summer Camp Sale with Francis declaring his hatred for photos.

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." In "Crash Course", Francis states that he loves lasagna, and when Zoey walks past the steam pipe and sarcastically moans, "I love steam," he mutters, "Yeah... Steam's all right, I guess."" This is a reference to Valve's game client, also called Steam. In the same level, the crash leaves him so dazed that he blurts out "I love helicopters!" raising genuine concern for his mental health before he snaps out of it. From the tone of his voice, his statement that he loves helicopters may also be sarcasm that the other Survivors don't pick up on. During "The Passing", Francis states, "I love that car!" referring to Jimmy Gibbs Jr.'s stock car. Despite the fact that he hates cops, he often claims he is one when attempting to call a Rescue Vehicle, the Church Guy (who said he didn't sound like one), or when talking to the Left 4 Dead 2 Survivors, where he claims that he, Zoey and Louis are all cops (Nick, however, sees through this ruse), even yelling to the new Survivors who are escaping from the Port that they were cops. It is also pretty obvious that he does not hate Rochelle.

Quotes and Captions

Main article: Francis/Quotes and Captions

Behind the Scenes

Francis' original beta design was quite different from his current appearance. Originally, Francis had slightly long, black hair with a beard, blue jeans, and appeared overweight. His tattoos, and clothing style remained about the same, however, except for the vest which appeared to be a denim one instead of his current leather one. The in-game Developer Commentary states that Francis is 6 foot 5 inches tall.

The concept art of Francis

Francis' appearance during initial game development

Notes

The Lambda logo.

• The name "Francis" is an English form of the Latin name Franciscus which means "Frenchman". A famous bearer of the name was Sir Francis Drake, an English explorer and admiral of the Elizabethan era. 
• 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; upon further inspection, however, it appears to be a scar.
• The quote "Groovy," which Francis says occasionally when picking up an Auto Shotgun or a Chainsaw, could be a reference to the cult horror film Evil Dead II. It may also be a reference to the Duke Nukem series, because when Duke Nukem sometimes picks up a gun, he will say "Groovy." This was put in the Duke Nukem games as a reference to Evil Dead II as well.
• One of Francis' arm tattoos appears to show The Star of Chaos, a recurring symbol in the Warhammer franchise and Chaos magic.
• Under the Star of Chaos tattoo is a visible portrait of the outlaw Jesse James.

  

  Texture files of Nick's ring and Francis' tattoo comparing the two.

• In the game files, Francis is called "biker".
• Each of the Left 4 Dead Survivors agrees with at least one thing Francis dislikes, even if it is mockingly.
• Valve's design policy decision to grant each Survivor character equal physical abilities simplifies gameplay and player-character selection but creates certain anomalies. Nowhere is this more evident than in case of Francis: he is cast as a 6-foot 5 inch bear of a man, yet his physical strength and agility match that of Zoey who weighs about half as much and is nearly 12 inches shorter.
• In "The Sacrifice", Francis may mention he has "Insulaphobia", a fear of islands. However, Insulaphobia is also attributed to a "fear of being isolated." Additionally, in The Sacrifice comic, Francis dreams about living a life of ease and gratification on a tropical island which contradicts his previous statement of fearing them.
• During "The Sacrifice", in the starting safe room of the Port Finale, Francis may state that he is against the island plan. In response, Bill says, "They're defensible, Francis. As far as we know, zombies can't swim." After that, Francis will grumble, "They're not the only ones," which hints that Francis can't swim either and Louis will offer to "...teach you how to swim..." when they make it to The Keys.
• During "The Sacrifice", in the starting safe room of the Port Finale, players will see graffiti by the safe room door, mentioning "The Angels of Death". Underneath that are drawings of 8 skulls. By looking carefully on the lower left side of Francis's neck, there is a tattoo with those same skulls. This could be a reference to the gang he used to hang out with before the infection, as shown in The Sacrifice comic.
• Vince Valenzuela's favorite Francis voicelines were about him hating on stuff in general.
• Vince Valenzuela was once asked to voice Francis in the fanmade Left 4 Dead movie, however he declined as he wouldn't be payed.
• Francis had a line cut due to ESRB ratings, being "This is the most sober I've been in an airport."

Gallery

Francis

Official avatar with Francis on Steam

Francis as he appears in-comic

Picture for the Mac version of Left 4 Dead

Francis and Rochelle seen on the Steam store browser page during Summer sale

Francis uses an empty shotgun as a bat

Jake Park as Francis from Dead by Daylight.

People

Francis' face model, Taylor Knox

Vince Valenzuela, Francis' voice actor

References

The Survivors
Left 4 Dead				Left 4 Dead 2				Others
Bill	Francis	Louis	Zoey	Coach	Ellis	Nick	Rochelle	Evacuation Personnel Church Guy Whitaker Distant Survivors Comic characters