Santiago Aldecaldo

Santiago, commonly known as Nomad Santiago, is a nomad leader of the Aldecaldos clan. He is a reserved and quiet man, who often comes across as a slightly crude nomad stereotype. To some degree he cultivated this image, in part to fool the statics and in part because it gave him an excuse to pursue fast women and faster bikes. If his enemies underestimated him, that was their mistake. Santiago is a skilled negotiator and a hard-working man. He saw a great deal of conflict coming to America, and considered it his duty to make his nation as immune as possible to the effects.

Santiago took the name Aldecaldo out of respect for the great leader, and at the great meeting in Omaha he asked others to join him. They responded in vast numbers. The Aldecaldos is a powerful Nation, second only to the conglomerate Snake Nation in total size.

Eary life
Santiago born unceremoniously in an Army Hospital near Berlin, Germany. His family traveled often during his life, and Santiago would never stop moving, Culturally, his mother was a woman of mixed Native American and Hispanic descent. His father was a second-generation Filipino immigrant. His first family was large and diverse with many cousins and other relatives. His father served a short time with the State Department overseas (where Santiago was born), but a career doing consul work was not a safe job in those days. His family returned to the States in time for the Lawyers Purge and the family was forced underground into the early nomad community.

Santiago had his share of troubles growing up. By the time he was sixteen, his family had changed so much as to be unrecognizable; however, having been raised in a constant state of flux, the young Santiago was not fazed by these changes. He was small for his age until almost eighteen, and it caused him some hardship and rejection.

2010s
He decided to leave his half-formed clan just before his nineteenth birthday and went off doing work which was less respected in nomad culture. He worked as a soldier, a bodyguard, and a roadie for several different clients. It was on the road that he met a solo in Night City named Rogue Amendiares. They became quick business partners doing various gigs together. During a meeting with Rogue in Club Atlantis, they were interrupted by a rockerboy named Johnny Silverhand. Who explained he needed them for job to rescue his girlfriend Alt Cunningham from Arasaka. Santiago was interested and agreed with Rogue to take the job.

The true tests of Santiago as a man came through his relationship with Silverhand and other edgerunners. After the Arasaka Tower riot in 2013, these friends went underground among the nomads. It was then the other nomads were able to see what Santiago sought, and he was also able to show them what they should be fighting for. The nomads of the Aldecaldo clan liked what they saw in Santiago, and things began to change.

As he became more famous and more visible in his community, Santiago suddenly found he was a leader. He met Juan Aldecaldo shortly before the great man's death. He changed his name to Santiago Aldecado out of respect for him. He was given a mission: he had to help the Aldecaldos, so they could help others. It was not a responsibility he took lightly, or in fact easily, but he did take it.

2077
In 2077, decades after Santiago led the Aldecados his legacy remained within the core heart of the nomad nation. Many of the Aldecados see Santiago with great importance.

V has flashbacks of Santiago and Rogue meeting Johnny Silverhand and Thompson in an effort to free Alt Cunningham. They battled through Arasaka Tower and run into a deceased Alt.