History VideoGame / NoMoreHeroes

** Heavenly Star, the incredibly sweet [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XL2od1AF_Cs Genki Rockets song]] that plays in shops and is available in music video form (complete with [[TastesLikeDiabetes birds, sparkles, and rainbows]]) in the Japanese and European versions of the game, strikes a stark contrast with the game's content and overall theme. [[YourMileageMayVary Not that it's necessarily a bad thing]].

* BreatherLevel: Letz Shake. Destroyman, despite being a fan favorite, is a fairly easy boss to take care of and his stage is nothing special either. And it comes right in between Shinobu and Holly, considered two of the harder bosses in the game.

* DangerouslyGenreSavvy: [[spoiler:Henry, Jeane, Sylvia, and eventually Travis. Basically, everyone who [[PaintingTheFourthWall breaks the fourth wall]] at the ending(s). Travis does need to get (nearly) shot in the back, electrocuted via handshake, step on a few landmines, and fall in a pit before the savvyness sets in, though.]]

* HeyItsThatVoice: Get ready for this.... Henry, Destroyman, Dr. Shake, and Letz Shake are played by [[MetalGear Raiden, young Ocelot, the Beast modes of the B&B Corps and a Navy SEAL]] respectively. Travis himself is [[VideoGame/TeamFortress2 The Medic]] and Kaz/Miller from Metal Gear Solid: Peacewalker. Dr. Peace is [[{{Uncharted}} Victor "Goddamn" Sullivan]].

** Even moreso is [[spoiler:Jeane]], who is not only savvy about the game itself, but [[BeyondTheImpossible other games and the rating system itself!]] As shown below when Travis asks who [[spoiler:she]] is.

** Travis can survive things that would otherwise be fatal, [[CutscenePowerToTheMax especially in cutscenes]]. These particularly daring feats include [[spoiler: being tossed around with lasers, being blown up, beaten savagely, [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment being blown up]], his sister thrusting her hand into his rib cage, and [[RuleOfThree being blown up]]. This is arguably the only thing Travis has on his opponents. Several characters use beam katanas, which often are better looking and/or stronger than Travis'. In fact, after some of the more brutal beatings, some of his opponents automatically assume he's already dead. And then this is subverted with [[spoiler:Bad Girl [[OneHitKO beating Travis to death]] with a baseball bat, of all things, if you fall for her trap]].

* TheFaceless: The taller of Sylvia's cleaners never has his face shown on-camera. Most [[{{Egregious}} egregiously demonstrated when she tosses him [[spoiler: Speed Buster's severed head]] and he grabs it and holds it in front of his face for way longer than necessary.

* TheFaceless: The taller of Sylvia's cleaners never has his face shown on-camera.

* ShoutOut: ''So'' many to ''StarWars''. Reaches its peak at the 1st Rank battle--[[spoiler:after racing some Imperial troopers riding Tie-Fighter motorbikes on your own X-Wing styled scooter, you fight a Darth Vader {{Expy}} who tries to pull a LukeIAmYourFather on you]]. And the song played during the normal ending credits is TheJimmyHartVersion of the ''StarWars'' theme.
** There is a Nintendo 64-like console in Travis's room.
** Dr. Peace has [[TheManWithTheGoldenGun gold revolvers]].
** Letz Shake's visor appears to be a VirtualBoy.
** The plot sounds suspiciously like ''BrandedToKill.''
** In the Final Battle, [[spoiler:you fight, Jeane, a character who makes extensive use of duck-dodging to counter your attacks - a hallmark of the character homonym Gene from GodHand.]]
** Next to the clothing shop, Area 51, there's a shop called Clover.
** The fridge in the Rank 2 boss fight in the first game says "Chiller7," a reference to Killer7.
*** The "3...2...1...Zilch" and "Saved game beep" sound effects are references to Killer7 as well. Also ISZK Electronics and [=ZaKa TV=], said TV station being a reference to both Michigan: Report from Hell and Killer7.
** The 'To Be Continued' at the end is in the style of the ''BackToTheFuture'' title.
** [[http://nomoreheroesgame.us.ubi.com/#/internal:characters/sylvia The offical website]] for the sequel notes that Sylvia wears her SunglassesAtNight.
** One of [[spoiler: Henry's]] attacks involves shooting energy balls at you, a reference to one of the characters from DevilMayCry.
** The title "No More Heroes" is a reference to the song of the same name.
--> [[ZeroPunctuation "No, no, that's a bit too obvious." ]]
** In a further punk reference, the sword Three Girl Rhumba is named after a song by Wire (the one Elastica basically hijacked with "Connection").
** The background music in Thunder Ryu's Gym is a heavy metal [[TheJimmyHartVersion Jimmy Hart version]] of "Eye Of The Tiger".
** Travis' figurines, among them [[SailorMoon Sailor Moon]], [[{{Touhou}} Reisen]], and [[{{Disgaea}} The Lady Fighter]].
** In the original trailer for the first game, Sylvia instructs Travis to "[[{{Gunbuster}} aim for the top!]]"
** A parody of the SexPistols' album, ''Never Mind The Bollocks...'', is displayed across the street from the Beef Head video store.
** Travis' Strawberry On The Shortcake attack has [[DragonballZ his hair turn gold and gains an increase in attack and speed]].
*** And then there's the attack's [[StrawberryShortcake name]]...
** Sylvia Christel is named after actress [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvia_Kristel Sylvia Kristel]], mostly known for the role of Emmanuelle in the eponymous french softcore films.

* HeroicSociopath: Travis.

* CuteKitten: Playing with Travis' kitten Jeane doesn't actually do anything... but who could resist playing with such a cute little kitty? Also one of the part-time jobs.

* ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything: Averted; several of the assassins make reference to "outside work".
** Played straight with Travis, seeing as he never really assassinates people ala {{Hitman}}. He's just racking up kills in what appears to be [[InevitableTournament several fights to see which assassin is number one.]]
*** Although Travis can take assassination missions at K Entertainment, almost all of them consist of "kill X number of generic goons under the following conditions." The only time he is contracted to kill a specific person is when he is sent to kill the CEO of a pizza chain.

* HeyItsThatVoice: Get ready for this.... Henry, Destroyman, Dr. Shake, and Letz Shake are played by [[MetalGear Raiden, young Ocelot, the Beast modes of the B&B Corps and a Navy SEAL]] respectively. Travis himself is [[TeamFortress2 The Medic]] and Kaz/Miller from Metal Gear Solid: Peacewalker. Dr. Peace is [[{{Uncharted}} Victor "Goddamn" Sullivan]].

* MaskedLuchador: [[AuthorAppeal This]] ''[[AuthorAppeal is]]'' [[AuthorAppeal Suda]]. None make an actual appearance, though Travis learns new wrestling moves by examining Luchador masks and watching lucha libre videos.

* BossBattle: The 10 Assassins all meet certain boss tropes, and they are the real stars of the game:

*** In the remake Heroes Paradise at least five of the bosses from the sequel appear as optional fights namely [[spoiler:Skelter Helter, Nathan Copeland, Kimmy Howell, Matt Helms, Alice Twilight]] though the [[AllJustADream fights happen as dreams]].

* BossBattle: The 10 Assassins all meet certain boss tropes:
** DuelBoss: All of them

* BossGame: While there's plenty of {{Mooks}} to hack and slash, the bosses are the real stars of the show.

** BreatherBoss: Harvey Moiseiwitsch Volodarskii

One of the most niche types of games, it still managed to be a modest hit, and Suda's biggest selling game. This especially stands out when it's on the {{Wii}}, a system supposedly unfriendly to those kinds of games. While initially deemed a massive bomb after its disastrous launch in Japan, the game became a sleeper hit as it rolled out [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff overseas]]. ''No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle'', was released outside of Japan first, and was released in Japan in October 2010. [[NoExportForYou With three different collectors bonuses for the continent with the game's smallest fanbase...]] You can watch the trailer [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVN_Sbbz4Rw here]].

''NoMoreHeroes2DesperateStruggle'' is the sequel, also for the Wii. The original game was given a remake in Japan for the {{Xbox 360}} and {{Playstation 3}}, based on the belief it didn't sell well because the Wii supposedly couldn't sell those games. This belief got a dose of reality when the game opened only a little better than the first game (on both systems), and sales legs dropped off even more quickly.