The Animals: Night City's Juiced-Up Brawlers Who Skip the Chrome

Chrome is for other people#

In a city where most people reach for electronics and heavy guns, the Animals reach for muscle. They shun traditional cyberware in favor of artisanal, electronics-free implants and nanosurgery that delivers steroids and nutrients straight to the cells. The look is huge shoulders, tube-sized veins and shaved heads, with scars and rashes from the chemicals.

That muscle needs reinforcement, so endoskeletal implants and joint supports keep bones from crushing and tendons from snapping. You can see bits of metal in the flesh, but the gang is a study in how unnatural "⁠organic⁠" can look. Some members carry cosmetic animal touches like spotted skin or bestial jaws.

How they fight#

The Animals have worked out a style of street fighting built to beat people carrying guns. Close in, hit hard, and let the body do what a firearm would. Members are trained in martial arts and favor cage fights and duels, and they wear tattoos and hooligan hoods in pack colors.

That is the reason a bouncer from the gang is worth the money. Nobody wants to test whether the door staff will stop at a warning.

Packs, not a hierarchy#

The Animals have no single leader. They split into packs, each led by an alpha, male or female. Named pack leaders include Sasquatch, The Bully, The Brain and Angelica Whelan.

The gang has no defined territory. You can find them almost anywhere, though people do not go looking. Their gear and graffiti carry pack colors, and like football hooligans they will fight anyone who disrespects the crest. They spend much of their time in west Pacifica, in abandoned playgrounds.

How they make money#

Size is a business model. The Animals are in demand as bouncers and bodyguards at clubs and bars, and they are trained in various martial arts. Beyond security, they run illegal brawls, cage fights and duels, and hijack transports.

They are also hooked on Juice, a homemade hormone cocktail. A gang that sells restraint as a service and cannot control its own habits is a story waiting to happen.

Where to find them#

In 2077 the Animals' listed locations include the Tripple Extreme Gym, an unfinished NCART station in Pacifica and the Grand Imperial Mall. Their vehicles include the Yaiba Kusanagi "⁠Misfit⁠" and the Thorton Mackinaw. They feud with the Voodoo Boys, their neighbors in Pacifica.

For the district itself, see Night City districts, and for the rest of the crews, Night City gangs.

Fixer's notes#

Opinion: the Animals are the gang that gets the least love in the fiction and the most fun at the table. They have a visual identity, a clear rule (no chrome) and a ready-made rival in the Voodoo Boys. A pack of them in a club doorway is a better obstacle than any security system.

Mistake to avoid: treating them as mindless. They run a business, they hire out, and a player who needs muscle that does not ask questions can do worse. For a gang at the opposite end of the augmentation scale, look at Maelstrom.

The natural-looking monsters make a good contrast to the world of cyberware, where chrome is the default.