#arson mention

Ok so

First, there's this: Sadism does NOT seem to be a common thing in Nevada. People value their enemies dead far more than them incapacitated or traumatized. Weapons are centered around killing as quickly as possible, there is no market for weapons that don't kill immediately so manufacturers do not sell them.

(personally, I suspect this is because of Hank, who is considered the biggest threat against Nevada at time of writing. Most people who are using weapons are doing so because they are trying to kill, or are working against, Hank. Hank has a legendary pain tolerance, so if a weapon can't kill hank, it may as well be as desirable to the population as a toothpick. This theory doesn't account for the lack of brutal weapons before Hank existed though.)

Wanting to cause pain, taking joy in inflicting misery, is not normal, even in Madness Combat. People want their enemies dead, first and foremost! Any pain that comes from the method of murder chosen is usually coincidental. A lot of terrible, unethical things happen in Nevada, but pain doesn't usually seem to be the goal. It's all either for education (experimenting on people to learn things about themselves), or eradicating threats. That's the culture here. Torture is a crime that lacks a demographic in Nevada, so one can reasonably conclude torture isn't something the people are adapted to either.

One of the most interesting things about Sanford, to me, is that it is only him specifically who has done torture and arson. And... you know... his coworkers are Hank (an honest-to-god mass murderer) and Deimos (a man with a lighter for a thumb that leaves ashes everywhere).

You'd think that HANK would be a torturer, that DEIMOS would be an arsonist (accidentally or not), but no, no! Hank and Deimos's posters don't mention any of that! It's all Sanford! When Doc needs a supply line to the AAHW destroyed, he probably calls Sanford. When Doc needs information wrung out of a priority off-the-grid target, he calls Sanford. When Doc wants people to regret trying to sabotage SQ, he calls Sanford.

According to the poster, he specializes in sabotaging supplies, destroying morale- he specializes in making his enemies' lives hell. And it's something he's apparently well-known for, too, enough for it to be on his wanted poster. It's not a secret, which means people have gone through whatever he does to them and lived - likely on purpose.

But does he want to do this?

I'd say he does.

He doesn't NEED to bring a meathook to fight with. There's PLENTY of weapons laying around that are far more effective than some random barbed hook that hurts more than it kills. It isn't like Sanford is lacking in choices here. He uses brutal methods because he prefers doing it. At best, he's neutral and only uses this brutality because of its effectiveness as a scare tactic. At worst, he actively enjoys it, and the resulting fear of him and SQ is a happy accident.

If you lived in the world of Madness Combat, seeing Sanford would strike terror into the heart of any person with a will to live. When Sanford catches you, he rips you apart, destroys your home, and he might not even do the mercy of killing you when he's done, so all your buddies can get a full view of the world of hurt that awaits them. He's SQ's fearmonger. If dying doesn't scare you away, maybe living in torment will.

There's very few characters in Madness Combat who can match this level of sadism. The Auditor, and maybe Garret Goyle... That's his competition in the "inflicting misery" department. Two people.