“One of Night City’s largest gangs, the Valentinos are bound by a strong moral code and century-old traditions. Controlling swathes of predominantly Latino areas of Heywood, they treat values such as honor, justice, and brotherhood with deadly seriousness.” (CD Projekt Red official forum post).
Valentinos are one of the largest in the Night City. Yet, with their code of honor and shared traditions they manage to keep things under control. They pay their dues to the local community that keeps them informed and keep several subdistricts in Heywood a safer place to be.
- Controlled Territory: Heywood: the Glen, Wellsprings, and Vista del Rey.
- Threat Level: Medium to High
(The guide to all gangs of Night City.)
Who Are the Valentinos?
If you hang out in Heywood, you are bound to meet Valentinos. They are one of the largest gangs in the city, but the level of loyalty they maintain despite that fact might surprise you. This sense of unity comes from the sense of their shared Chicano culture and heritage, and Valentinos have been cultivating these traditions for more than a century.
Sure, one doesn’t need to have Mexican blood or ethnicity to join the gang, but they will quickly find themselves adopting the culture and celebrating the important Mexican customs and holidays (Dia de los Muertos, Semana Santa, Quinceañeras, DÃa de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, and many others).
Speaking of Chicano culture — it won’t be hard to recognize Valentinos at all, since they love branding religious symbolism all over their tattoos and jewelry, Santa Muerte and Jesus Malverde being the most common icons. You might notice their street art commemorating some of their own gang members who died fighting on behalf of Valentinos. Some of these murals will be giant, depicting those who were made into saints and martyrs after their death, with songs dedicated to their glorious deeds.
Yet, making it inside the gang isn’t as easy as it might seem; members are always expected to behave according to an honor system. You might have heard some rumors, people remarking that ‘Tinos have special punishments for every crime under their code system. Let’s just say that there is a reason why the gang can keep things under control with more than 6,000 members under its wing. The act of betraying Valentinos is listed as one of the worst crimes, usually punishable by a particularly gruesome execution.
The Chicano culture that dictates customs and the gang’s code of honor also powers the bond between Valentinos and the local community. United by their shared customs, Valentinos and the Heywood district form one massive family. The gang are very protective of this family and work hard to keep the neighborhoods under their control safe. In response, the loyalty of local people becomes a large headache for any corpo or police agent trying to infiltrate the gang for personal agenda. In fact, with the sense of loyalty running strong within and without, penetrating the interior of the gang becomes practically impossible.
Valentinos keep their class, and they like to shine some silver- and gold-plated guns and cyberware, navigating their territory in pimped-out lowriders. Of course, the gang can afford this kind of a display, controlling majority of the territory in Heywood, including the Glen, Wellsprings, and Vista del Rey. They own a good number of legitimate businesses within — restaurants, motor shops, construction companies, nightclubs, and bars — places like El Coyote Coyo.
Of course, if you are familiar with their venues, you also know that they often serve as a cover for their private meetings or criminal activities: money laundering or shops for stolen vehicles. The gang has agile fingers when it comes to car theft, but they also take on more general burglaries, gun and drug trafficking, hit jobs, prostitution, and illegal modifications of weapons and vehicles. Within Heywood nobody can match Valentinos’ scale of operations.
Valentinos’ Cyberpunk 2077 Questline
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