- ❝ Lucky Quinn, fuckin' skeleton and his goon squad, they're old Chicago. Still ridin' the roaring 20s and shit.❞
- ―Iraq
The Chicago South Club (often shortened as The Club) is a powerful Irish-American crime syndicate in Chicago, led by Dermot "Lucky" Quinn (after he dies, his son Niall takes over.) It is featured in Watch Dogs.
Background[]
Lucky Quinn, leader of the Chicago South Club
Known as "The Club", this crime outfit is the largest and oldest in Chicago. Formed in 1919, The Club is not formally tied to the New York families (the Mafia). The Club does not follow the same rules and is not considered Mafia in the classic Italian sense. They have their roots in Ireland. They are led by Lucky Quinn, a first-generation American and aging patriarch.
Make no mistake, the club us as ruthless as any mob you'd find anywhere. You have to be when you operate in Chicago. The Club has been linked to human trafficking, extortion, and murder, as well as the more mundane white-collar crimes and municipal building contracts. It's assumed they have close ties to Chicago's municipal government, though nothing's ever been proven. And of course, it's absolutely true. The Club basically runs Chicago. Nothing gets done without their approval.
By 2013, Quinn has made a deal with the Black Viceroys leader Iraq, which made the association the most powerful crime syndicate in Chicago.
History[]
The Chicago South Club can trace its root back to the North Side Gang in Chicago, which was formed in 1919 and consisted of mainly Irish members during the Prohibition Era. The North Side Gang was a rival to the Italian-American Chicago Outfit, led by the infamous Al Capone. The North Side Gang's reign ended with the St. Valentine's Day Massacre carried out by the Outfit, and the Italian Mob had absorbed many of their territories and resources. After Capone's downfall in 1931, arrests of many high rank Outfit members in the 1940s and Capone's death in 1947, the Irish in the early 1950s had decided to reclaim power and territory from the fledgling Chicago Outfit. In 1951, Henry "Mick" O'Brien and several Irish "businessmen" had met in a small bar in Mad Mile that is now a city garage, and during the meeting they decided to pool their resources to establish a new gang. In honor of the North Side Gang, the Irish gang named themselves the Chicago South Club.
Beginning in the Mad Mile, the Club had initially moved into labor racketeering and established ties in unions. In 1958, young Commissioner J. Sallik was closing in on a union scam with the Chicago South Club when he was gunned down just outside the Raven Building in the Loop. The Club also expanded to Pawnee after its foundation. On September 3, 1955, three Pawnee sheriff deputies were killed in a shootout with five Club members at a construction site of a train station. It was also suspected that a Pawnee tackle shop was used by the Club as a front.
While expanding their influence and reclaiming the territories, the Club faced with their old rival Chicago Outfit, and erupted into a gang war. In a unknown year at Hanson Park, a shootout killed many Outfit and Club members, and only one Club member, Dermot Quinn, survived and escaped the scene, gaining him the nickname "Lucky." As the gang war developed, the South Club became increasingly brutal towards its rivals. One of the examples of such brutality was the 1960s police discovery of nearly a dozen bodies near the City Marina, which was believed to be the work of the Club. Marinas such as this also became the base of operations for the Club, as they acquired twenty million dollars from the Chicago city to put into construction of such infrastructure, after a "finantial reevaluation" by the Club.
Starting in 2003, Quinn had established an annual "auction" of female subjects abducted by a human trafficking ring, serving many high-profile and wealthy clients. Amongst complaints from these clients, Quinn gradually "improved" his "products," until consisting of all American in the tenth auction in 2013. The Club had associated with the Black Viceroys in The Wards, who distributed drugs made by the Club to addicts in Wards. In 2013, Quinn had agreed to let Iraq and Black Viceroys members take over the security detail of the human trafficking auction, which was previously guarded by Club members.
After the death of Dermot Quinn and several high ranking members in Merlaut Hotel, the club was given to Niall Quinn, Dermot's son. The Chicago South Club is openly at war with the Pawnee Militia, after they took over the vacuum of Black Viceroys' downfall in the Wards.
Known Members[]
- Dermot "Lucky" Quinn (former boss, Deceased)
- Niall Quinn (current boss and Lucky's son, Alive)
- Angelo "Angie" Tucci (Fixer, Deceased)
- Maurice Vega (street thug and hitman, Determinant)
- Robert Racine (Deceased)
- Phil Dickson (Incarcerated)
- Hank Oswald (Incarcerated)
- Ross Van Horn (Incarcerated)
- Connor Albane (Incarcerated)
- Ted Teckert (Incarcerated)
- Marc Eggers (Incarcerated)
- Connor David (Incarcerated)
- Robert Waters (Incarcerated)
- Hal Lorello (Incarcerated)
Activities[]
Just like the Viceroys, the Club's main activities are embezzlement, extortion, bribery, kidnapping, and cybercrime. The Club also leads a human trafficking ring, which consists of kidnapping young women (mostly immigrants) and selling them as sex slaves every year during a yearly auction at Brandon Docks, where special guests are chosen and invited by Quinn himself. Quinn is also close to the Blume Corporation, which introduced the CTOS in Chicago. Thanks to his ties with the company, Quinn uses the CTOS to his benefit and has, for example, used the Bellwether code to rig the mayoral election and have his "puppet" Rushmore re-elected.
Game Plot[]
The Club plays a major role in the storyline. Aiden Pearce often confronts the Club during the storyline. The Club makes their first appearance in the first act, where they task Fixer Angelo Tucci to have Viceroy soldier Raul Lionzo delivered for interrogation to find the Vigilante's identity. The Club also appears in the second act, where Aiden kills one of their clients, Nicholas Crispin, to infiltrate the 2013 auction. The Club makes a final appearance in the fourth act. Aiden subdues them at the Merlaut Hotel and kills their leader, Quinn.
Watch Dogs: Bad Blood[]
In the wake of Quinn's death, his son Niall attempts to fill his father's shoes as the new leader of the Club.
Mission appearances[]
Watch Dogs[]
- Backseat Driver
- A Wrench in the Works
- Breakable Things
- Grandma's Bulldog
- Breadcrumbs
- Stare into the Abyss
- A Risky Bid
- Role Model
- No Turning Back
- Breakthrough (DLC Mission)
- The Palace (DLC Mission)
Bad Blood[]
Organization[]
Gunman[]
Main Article: Gunman
Club Gunmen have poor weaponry, and wear urban clothing such as leather jackets with hoodies, turtlenecks and slim-fit jeans.
Veteran[]
Main Article: Veteran
Club Veterans use better weaponry, but are still armorless and easy to kill. They generally wear dress shirts, leather jackets, khaki pants and fedoras.
Marksman[]
Main Article:Marksman
Club Marksmen use long-range sniper rifles that allow them to hit targets at the longest ranges possible. Marksmen wear heavy overcoats and flat caps and are often hidden on elevated structures.
Elite[]
Main Article: Elite
Club Elites wear green shirts with military gear and body armor. They use military weaponry and tactics. They can take more bullets than Veterans or Gunmen.
Enforcer[]
Main Article: Enforcer
Club Enforcers have heavy armor and use heavy weaponry such as U100s, ATSG-12s and SG-90s. With their heavy armor, Enforcers can stand incredible numbers of bullets before dying. It will take two explosives to kill them, or one shot from the Destroyer. There're the Club's emblems on the Enforcers' shoulders.
Vehicles[]
Club vehicles can be identified by their black paintjob and tinted-green lights. Additionally, the Club's two main vehicles, the Koln 500S and the Talos, have been de-badged and have additional modifications such as custom "Celtic knot" rims.
- Koln 500S (Unique variant)
- Talos (Unique variant)
- Hailkal R
- Magnate
- Philandra
- Convoy
- Gambino ("Lucky" Quinn's personal vehicle)
Known Fronts[]
- Merlaut Hotel
- Racine Boat Restoration
- Sloan Boat Storage
- Infinite 92
- Skipsun Rentals
- JD Trumbet's
- The Four Clubs
Graffiti[]
The Club doesn't engage in tagging, though they have an unofficial mark that represents them (and sometimes appears on buildings they have a holding in). They don't need to mark territory; it is understood where The Club's strongholds are.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- The Club does not have any known base of operations, although the Merlaut appears to be a center for the Club's operations.
- The Club's logo appears to be based on the endless knot.
- The Club is probably based on the North Side Gang, a mainly Irish gang that was at war with the Italian-American Chicago Outfit during the Prohibition era and died out in the 1930s. The name of the Club, as stated in-game, was in honor of the North Side Gang.
- It's highly possible that in the Watch Dogs Universe, the mainly Irish South Club had won over the Chicago Outfit and gained control of much of their territory, given the fact that there were little or no Italian Outfit mobsters in-game, and the South Club had controlled much of the downtown Chicago. In reality, the Chicago Outfit is still active today.