Donald Pynch

Donald Pynch
Alias	"Mr. Pynch"
Games	Tropico 4
Occupations	Businessman Journalist
Affiliations	Pynch Media El Presidente The Conclave (formerly)
First appearance	War on Terror
Last appearance	1984

Donald Pynch is a character in Tropico 4's Modern Times expansion. He is an Australian media mogul with extensive sway over global opinions, thanks to his manipulative, sensationalist, and often downright false news stories.

Modern Times Campaign

Donald Pynch introduces himself in War on Terror by using his media empire to harass Tropico. After Tropico enters the global war on terror without any plan on how to combat terrorism, Pynch runs a headline ridiculing the nation. Once a strategy has actually been chosen, he prints rumors that anthrax attacks have occurred in Tropico, convincing some of the island's educated professionals to emigrate. When the island's police station is bombed, he claims the event will cause an economic disaster. All the while this is happening, his papers print out misleading and false information about the terrorist attacks, framing El Diablo for them. However, with the help of the presidente and a handsomely bribed journalist working for Pynch, El Diablo gets revenge; using a shipment of weapons and a number of greeting cards signed by Pynch, Pynch can be made to look like he's personally supplying the terrorists with weapons. Under this threat, Pynch publishes "TerrorLeaks," a stash of data that clearly shows that Tropico was falsely targeted and that his journalists were being manipulated into wrongfully harassing the nation. However, he warns that he and the presidente will cross paths again.

In the subsequent mission Presidente vs. Zombies, Pynch appears to be apologetic about defaming Tropico and says that as compensation, he'll pay for a free Power Plant for the island and will send 6 college-educated women to help run it. After that he will start asking for media buildings (namely Radio Stations and TV stations) and a Business Center to be built on the Island so that he can prove to his board that Tropico has potential to be the center of his media empire. Once the media buildings are built however, a "zombie" outbreak occurs within the city - Pynch will naturally create more sensationalist stories around this infestation, worrying the rest of the world. It is heavily implied however that the zombie outbreak is caused by Pynch's buildings (although General Igor Federov at the end states it is caused by the Conclave). Pynch isn't heard from once the outbreak is contained though it is implied in the next mission that he is annoyed at the development.

Pynch doesn't physically appear in The Earth Warriors but his influence is present as he controls an Environmentalist faction called the Earth Warriors Network using (what Federov terms) "psychic toucans" and media manipulation. This kind of influence drives the missions that the Environmentalist faction orders El Presidente to complete around the island.

In The Show Must Go On, Pynch is apparently freed from the Conclave's mind control and seeks revenge against them - to do that, he enlists the help of El Presidente to construct a telecommunications empire that will stop the Conclave's scheme of using subliminal messaging. He plays an important part in the mission by creating an international music show "The Tropican Factor" which allows a spy to infiltrate the Conclave and steal blueprints for their satellite. Although the spy becomes a turncoat later on, Donald (with the Presidente's help) is able to hack into the satellite and reveal not only the Conclave's plan to the world but also the fact that Dr Steinschneider is alive and leading the Conclave.

Pynch reappears halfway through the penultimate mission Before the Storm asking for the Presidente to construct a Space Program and export electronics to him so that he can build a network of satellites broadcasting a music channel in his continuing crusade to stop the mad scientist.

Pynch once again assumes an important role in the final mission 1984. In the beginning, after the Conclave destroys the world's economy, Pynch offers to use his media empire to jumpstart Tropico's own by promoting a key island resource (oil, gold or tourism) - naturally, this decision upsets a couple of the island's factions due to the nature of his media empire (Intellectuals will call it "corrupt", Religious will deem Pynch "the devil", Nationalists and Loyalists are naturally displeased at the call for foreign help). Once Dr Steinschneider unveils his space laser weapon, there are three options for completing the mission based on either accepting Pynch's help, Fedorov's help or having the Presidente come up with his own plan.

If you choose Donald's plan, he will ask you to construct four Solar Power Plants to reflect the laser's attack. Naturally, this attempt fails so Donald's Plan B is to construct a Babel Tower to overpower the effect of the mad scientist's hypno-ray. Once the Tower is built and the mission is complete, the ending dialogue given heavily suggests that Donald never left the Conclave and was simply looking to become its leader alongside El Presidente.

Trivia

• His nationality, personality and history are inspired by Australian-born American media tycoon Rupert Murdoch. However, his appearance appears to be based on that of American business magnate and film producer, Howard Hughes.