Chains
PD 3 PD 2 PD:TH Mask Paper Chains in Payday 3. Chains in Payday 2. Chains in Payday:The Heist. Chains's character icon. Chains's paper craft model.
Career information
Role	Support – (PAYDAY: The Heist) Enforcer & Armorer – (PAYDAY 2)
Affiliation(s)	United States Navy SEALs (formerly) The Payday Gang
Signature weapons
Ranged	Reinbeck Compact-5 Bronco .44 -(PAYDAY: The Heist)
Biographical information
Also known as	Nicolas (presumably) Change (mispronounce by Vlad)
Nationality	American
Language(s)	English
Age	35 - (PAYDAY: The Heist) 37 - (PAYDAY 2) 47 - (PAYDAY 3)
Physical description
Hair color	Black
Eye color	Hazel
Height	6' 3''
Build	Muscular
Ethnicity	African American
Other
Appearance(s)	PAYDAY: The Heist PAYDAY: The Web Series PAYDAY 2 PAYDAY 3
Portrayed by	Unknown (PAYDAY: The Heist) Damion Poitier: – (PAYDAY 2) – (PAYDAY 3)
Voiced by	Howard Thompson: – (PAYDAY: The Heist) Damion Poitier: – (PAYDAY 2)
Quotes	Quotation page
Room	Chains' Weapons Workshop
Internal name	spanish
v·d·e

"Don't you be tricky now! Chains hates tricky."

—Chains shouting at cops and civilians

Chains, also known as Nicolas, is a playable character in the PAYDAY franchise and member of the PAYDAY gang. A 10-year military veteran, he wears a white, blue, and pink mask. In PAYDAY 2, Chains is 37 years old.

In PAYDAY: The Heist, he is voiced by Howard Thompson, whilst in PAYDAY 2, PAYDAY 3 and the Web Series, he's portrayed and voiced by Damion Poitier.

Background

PAYDAY: The Heist

In his childhood he was in and out of foster homes and Juvenile Detention Centers.

Always eager to test his limits and challenge death, Chains went after the most extreme component within the Navy, the U.S. Navy SEALs. He got there, but his itchy trigger finger and generally unreliable personality caused him to get kicked out fairly fast.

Chains left the navy and went into the world of mercenary troops, offering his military expertise to the highest bidder. On the open market, he was paired up with all the scum of the earth and sent on missions in all four corners of the world.

Soon, the majority of Chain's acquaintances were criminals who came and went in the mercenary teams, either doing robberies and kidnappings as a change from the fighting, or vice versa. Chains, always looking for a new adrenaline fix, was quickly swept into this way of living.

Chains maintains the military lingo he was taught during his time in the SEALs. He has reached 35 years of age and has cheated death so many times now that he considers himself invincible, and he often challenges current threats to try to kill him.

PAYDAY 2

Two years later, after the entire crew have moved to Washington D.C. Chains continued his crime spree alongside Dallas and Wolf, along with a new member who joined and temporarily took over the mantle of Hoxton.

According to the CrimeFest description of the new hitman John Wick, Chains and Wick were former comrades during their time in the military. Apparently Wick has just resurfaced after a time of "going dark" to lend Chains (and his buddies) a hand.

In the John Wick introduction trailer, Chains is seen holding a blonde woman in one of his safehouses. This probably hints at Chains having a girlfriend or lover. The same woman also addresses him by name, Nicolas. ^[1]

Achievements (Payday 2)

Original Heisters In the First World Bank job, complete the heist from start on the OVERKILL difficulty or above with a full player lobby using all 4 characters from the PAYDAY: The Heist crew, Reinfeld Shotguns and Bernetti 9 Pistols.

Trivia

General

• During development, the following nicknames were scrapped: Grizzly, Deadlift, Brick Wall, and Alcatraz.^[2]
• Chains wears a white-pinstripe suit during heists, regardless of armor.
• Chains, along with Bodhi and Jacket are currently the only playable heisters in the series not to have a confirmed family or relative, as both Dallas and Hoxton have brothers, Houston is the aforementioned brother of Dallas and Clover, Wolf, John Wick, Sydney, Sokol, Dragan and Jiro all have families.
• During development, Sony's game testers believed that the name "Chains" could be considered racist because of the United State's history of slavery. Overkill contemplated changing the spelling to "Chanes" or "Chaynes", but ultimately decided that the name was being over-interpreted.^[2]
• Chains gets his nickname from the hardened military lifestyle he once occupied.
  • His Military experience does not have an effect on gameplay
• In an early concept, the first four heisters were to be of different nationalities, with Chains apparently intended to be of a Spanish or Chilean origin, as assets related to him are indexed as such in the game files.^[2]
• Chains will sometimes talk in third person.

PAYDAY: The Heist

• Chains' voice actor, Howard Thompson, also voices the Jamaican drug dealer in Panic Room.^[3]
• Chains is depicted as the "Support" in the "Upgrades" menu.
• Chains' Secret mask bears the illustration of Yggdrasil, the mythical tree connecting the nine worlds in Nordic lore. Said illustration also appears as a painting in Counterfeit and played a small role in the PAYDAY Secret ARG.

PAYDAY 2

• Chains is depicted as the "Enforcer" in PAYDAY 2.
  • Before the Skill Overhaul update, he could be seen wielding a Benelli M3 Super 90 (which is not and never was in the game) on the background of his skill tree.
    • Chains was also the only crew member to wear armor as opposed to a buttoned two-piece suit in his Skills menu background.
      • The armor Chains was wearing in his skill tree image appeared to be a Flak Jacket but with the Improved Combined Tactical Vest's forearm guards.
    • Despite his Skill tree providing benefits to shotguns, Chains always wields LMGs in every DLC trailer he is featured in, something that is specialised with the Oppressor Technician Skill subtree, which is Wolf.
      • Inversely, Wolf wields a shotgun in the Hoxton Breakout trailer.
• Chains, along with Dallas, can be seen wielding an HK416 in the first episode of the webseries. During the opening of the first episode he can be seen adjusting the rear sight while briefing on the van.
  • Strangely, his HK416 is replaced by an M4A1 when the police assaults the bank vault, although this is likely a continuity error, as it is not uncommon for film producers to mix up weapons of similar designs in-between different scenes.
• In the Web Series, Chains appears to be younger and he lacks the scar on his head.
  • Like Dallas, Chains has gone through a character re-design to fit the web series and game similarity idea, with his new voice actor, Damion Poitier, also lending his likeness to the character. Rather interestingly, Chains may sometimes speak in the voice of Howard Thompson, his actor in PAYDAY: The Heist, most likely due to his response lines being recycled from the first game.
• Chains has a notable habit of talking extremely fast, even when taking pager calls. He may reference this in several of his pager lines by giving explanations to the operator, which include him blaming his "crazy nerves", being a little jittery after drinking 10 cups of coffee, or because "it's from all the acid he dropped this morning".
• When throwing a grenade in PAYDAY 2, Chains may say "Surprise, motherfucker", a reference to James Doakes famous line from Dexter.
• Before putting on his mask in PAYDAY 2, Chains can say "Walk through the valley, shadow of death, et cetera et cetera" - referencing a modified rendition of the Psalm 23:4 of the Bible that was included in the song Gangsta's Paradise by Coolio.
• Chains, like all the heisters, appears in the Official PAYDAY Christmas Carol, and his line is on the first Day, which he says he was given a "broke dick piece of shit drill."
  • This is a reference to in-game drills and how much they frequently jam, requiring often lengthy repair times. Towards the end, poor Chains suffers a mental breakdown over the incessant jamming of the drill and its subsequent alarm beeps.
• Chains apparently hired the armored truck driver in the Hoxton Breakout heist, as Hoxton complains to him about the truckbed's uncomfortability.
• In the "Introduction Of John Wick" trailer, it is shown that Chains has a Falcon (FN FAL) rifle with a drum magazine and a Bernetti 9 (Berretta 92FS) tucked under his bed at his home. It is also revealed that he goes by the name Nicolas in civilian life, though it is unknown if this is his real name. He is also revealed to have a lover in Sweden, though the exact nature of their relationship is unknown.
  • Chains' Falcon (FN FAL) will occasionally swap to a Gewehr 3 (Heckler & Koch G3) at various points in the trailer.
• Chains is the only crew member that is not shot or injured in the Hoxton Breakout trailer.
  • Houston is shot by a prison guard at the start after stepping infront of Chains, taking several shots from said prison guard, Hoxton's leg is injured by a piece of rebar during the initial explosion, Wolf is shot by a Bulldozer at the Control Room and lightly crushed by the same Bulldozer while brawling, and Dallas is hit in his bulletproof vest by the same Bulldozer.
• During the John Wick intro trailer, when Chains' phone rings, his ringtone is a digitized version of the lyrics to "I Will Give You My All" from the Payday 2 soundtrack. This track is included and made available for users who purchased the Payday 2 Official Soundtrack, under the file name "I Will Give You My All Ringtone".
• When spoken to in the new Safe House, Chains may occasionally mention the 2016 movie Captain America: Civil War ("Have you seen the new Captain America: Civil War movie? It's got some great actors in it.") This is a nod to the opening scene of said movie where Chains' actor Damion Poitier portrays one of the mercenaries. This is also referenced in his Commando beret about the operation in West Africa as he and several other mercenaries were in Lagos and wanted to keep the embarrassment of being defeated by Black Widow a secret as well as transporting a biological weapon.
• Chains seems to be having a fear of heights evidented by his quote in Birth of Sky that sounds like fear while the other crews member's are of excitement.
• Chains seems to be a fan of the YouTube channel h3h3productions, according to one of Ethan's safehouse lines.
• Chains' Inspire line "Get the fuck up!" has reached considerable popularity among the community like Houston's "Don't act dumb", and Dallas's "I need a medic bag".

PAYDAY 3

• While the three other original heisters were given new faces, Chains' new facial appearance still greatly resembles Damion Poitier.

References

Video

PAYDAY The Heist - Chains Quotes

All Chains in-game Quotes from PAYDAY: The Heist.

Payday 2 - Chains Pager Responses

Gallery

• PAYDAY: The Heist
• PAYDAY 2
• PAYDAY: The Heist Masks
• PAYDAY 3

Payday: The Heist's Chains, masked and unmasked.

Chains as seen in-game.

Ditto-portrait

Chains as depicted in the Skills menu.

As depicted in-game without his mask.

Chains Wallpaper, carrying an Benelli M3 Super 90 (2560x1440)

Chains as played by actor Damion Poitier in the webseries.

Ditto, with mask on, during the second webisode's vault scene.

Chains sketch from the FBI Files

Payday 2 Default

Chain's mega mask.

Clown

Beeef

Alienware

Presidential

Golden

Infected

Troll

Soundtrack

Halloween

Vyse's

Secret

End of the World

Chains full body shot.