Maria

"'Raised in the house of hard knocks, Maria has blood boiling over for you. If you step into her neighborhood, you need to be ready to take it.' - Arcade mode description"Maria is a minor character found in Midnight Club II. Her presence serves to advance the storyline within the city of Los Angeles, as well as to introduce newly discovered elements within the game. Her involvement in the game is heightened slightly through the fact that she is related to another racer, Hector. She is voiced by Melissa Delaney DeValle.

Career mode
Maria is suggested to be the third character the protagonist meets within the city of Los Angeles. She is seen circling the inner core of the Watts district, near the extensive construction site. When following her, one will notice that she comes to a complete stop before passing underneath an overpass. Upon flashing their high beams, she leads the player through most of the city, arriving at the end of Palisades Park in Santa Monica. Her driving sequence is unique in a sense that, while guiding them to her first race destination, scripted traffic is laid out to cause a brief moment of difficulty whilst in her pursuit. This occurs when driving through a parkade, which will have a series of vehicles vacating their parking spots simultaneously.

In her first race, named Freeway Rally, the player competes against five other racers. Another race designed as an introduction to additional elements brought forth in the game, it centers both on freeway checkpoints and using the game's in-air controls. A strong police presence (featuring helicopters identifying positions with a spotlight), a mimic SUV making a hard left on the freeway offramp, two semi-trucks (the first darting through the intersection between the freeway ramps, the other carrying a tanker of gas near the finish), and the reintroduction of a sole police interceptor near the finish are amongst the obstacles one will face within their duration of this contest. It finishes at a corner gas station, with some of the opponents comically ramming into the pumps as they cross the end line, therefore exploding upon arrival.

Her second race, Corner Cutter has the player in the game's second head-to-head match. It begins at the aformentioned gas station, and takes the player for a twisted ride through both the Watts district and the industrial park. With plenty of turns requiring the ability for precise maneuvering, the Citi is recommended, as its acceleration and cornering capabilities prove to be ideal. A rundown of the scripted traffic, though being quite extensive, is as follows: heavy traffic near Snapper Place (in-game reference to the Staples Center, which hosts the Los Angeles Kings), a police car and an SUV on the road to the right of the stadium, a parked SUV, another in a gas station and a parked moving truck a block from a large complex, a police vehicle attempting to apprehend the player a block south of downtown, another SUV in yet another gas station in the industrial park, a mid-size sedan passing through a four-way intersection, followed by a police barricade in the Watts district, a compact sedan leaving a convenience store, a series of idle police cars acting as a barricade leading into Santa Monica, and lastly, an SUV crossing an intersection near the promenade adjacent to the finish line. Upon completion, and amidst her state of tantrum and resent, Maria hands over the keys to her bright orange Torrida.

Races

 * Freeway Rally (ordered)
 * Corner Cutter (global time trial)

Trivia

 * Maria, being his younger sister, is related to Hector, referencing him when losing to the player for the final time. Also, both she and Hector are from Watts.
 * She is known to be streetwise and hot-tempered.
 * According to her, she has a boyfriend who is never mentioned nor shown. It might possibly be Juan, an opponent from Freeway Rally.
 * Like many of the other racers, she will either question or become angry at the player if they run over any civilians.
 * Throughout both of her races, there is a constant police presence, suggesting that she is one of the most sought after street racers, similar to Farid.
 * Her character is remniscent of Catalina, the main antagonist of Grand Theft Auto III and a minor character in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
 * She is one of the characters to be shown on the front cover art and title screen of the game, the other two characters are Dice and Moses, respectively, although Maria's appearance in the game is slightly altered.