20 Things You Didn't Know About Gears Of War
19. Dom's Smoky Surname
The two main protagonists of the series are Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago, the latter being the main secondary playable character in the first three Gears campaign modes. He quickly became a fan favourite as a robust, multi-layered character of Latin descent.
However, Dominic Santiago was not the name initially pitched. Dominic Glynn was the first name suggested until Rod Fergusson noticed a cigar box on lead developer Cliff Bleszinski's desk with the inscribed name 'Santiago'.
Don't expect any more cigar-inspired names, however, as Gears 5 developer The Coalition banned all in-game smoking in all future Gears instalments after talks with anti-tobacco groups. Still, Santiago has a better ring than Glynn. And the surname inspirations don't stop there. You know what they say: where there's smoke…