Characters from the Chinese Roguelite Beat 'em Up, Loopmancer
UNMARKED SPOILERS
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Heroes
Xiang Zixu
The Player Character, a rough-and-tough private detective with a troubled past and an all-round badass. Thanks to the nanotechnology implanted in his mind, Zixu's neural interphase allows him to transfer his memories to the past - or, a "loop", as the game calls it - to limited capacity.
- An Arm and a Leg: He lost his left arm and both his legs in the same accident that left his wife paralyzed and his daughter dead, where in the present his missing appendages are rebuilt with nanotech-infused enhancements.
- And This Is for...: Dishes out two pretty satisfying ones after defeating Wei Long in the following cutscene.Zixu: This one is for my wife!
[twists Wei Long's arm, complete with Sickening "Crunch!"]
Zixu: And this is for my dead daughter! [removes Wei Long's medulla oblongata with his BARE hands] - Artificial Limbs Are Stronger: His mechanical left arm is what he tends to use for kicking ass and punching enemies halfway across the levels.
- Badass in a Nice Suit: He dons a stylish tux in the Tang Hotel infiltration, the same outfit that he wears when finally defeating Wei Long's mecha and killing Wei Long. Said suit remains on him for the game's remainder until the last stage.
- Bring It: Oh yes.Zixu: [making said gesture to Big Guy using his robotic hand] Bring it on, Big Guy!
- Cool Sword: Wields an epic katana developed by his bestie, Dave. It's an Absurdly Sharp Blade capable of relieving mooks of their limbs easily.
- Dash Attack: One of the first upgrades Zixu can use, performing a charging forward slash that cuts enemies standing in a row with ease.
- Death Activated Super Power: He can perform a Mental Time Travel to a fixed point in the past, or "loop" backwards, every time he dies. A few cutscenes even sees him killing himself to repeat an investigation.
- Double Jump: He can jump in mid-air, thanks to bionic enhancements. Really useful in platforming areas.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: After all he's been through the entire game, allowing himself to be killed over and over again, Zixu's best ending have him eventually resetting the loop back enough where he averts the accident that took his family. Cut to the present, where the villains are defeated, and not only is his wife capable of walking, his deceased daughter is now alive!
- Empowered Badass Normal: He's already a highly-capable detective and fighter, with a leading position of authority in Dragon City's police department, before his bio-augmented enhancements via nanotech magnifies his asskicking skills.
- Expy: Appearance-wise, Zixu is a rather obvious clone of Spike Spiegel, from his outfit to hairstyle and backstory with the Chinese underworld.
- Good Is Not Nice: He's the game's hero, and absolutely ruthless when interrogating mooks and tearing enemies to pieces.
- Grappling-Hook Pistol: Has one as his sidearm, which allows him to swing and grab on surfaces (with onscreen indicators) and access higher points.
- Happy Flashback: After Zixu's first "death", he has a flashback to five years ago, where he's driving his wife and young daughter around moments before the accident. But then the loop seals itself and he wakes up.
- Hardboiled Detective: A tough-as-nails police investigator on the trails of a missing reporter. And digs even deeper when he uncovers the truth behind a massacre years ago which the local MegaCorp may be involved.
- The Hero: The game's protagonist and titular Loopmancer.
- Inspector Javert: He's really, really determined to catch Wei Long, the local crime boss, in his activities and uncover whatever shady dealings Wei Long's involved in, which turns out justified because Wei Long is the one behind his daughter's death.
- Lonely Bachelor Pad: His apartment in the Anle River Community is huge, and consists of a huge bed and a bookshelf. His wife's in a hospital and his daughter's dead, after all.
- Master Swordsman: Takes plenty of names with that sword he wields, and can take on fellow sword-expert Hiroyuki to a standstill.
- One-Man Army: Alone, against hordes and hordes of triad mooks, ninja, mutants, and the like. Zixu wins every time.
- Outliving One's Offspring: Zixu's daughter died five years prior to the story. The best ending sees him reverting the timeline enough to avoid the accident, where he embraces his not-dead daughter and not-paralyzed wife.
- Rugged Scar: Has a lengthy scar that runs from his forehead, pass his eye, and onto his left cheek. It's unknown if it's a holdover from the accident that killed his daughter, or from his past when fighting the triads.
- Sword and Gun: Besides his trusty sword, Zixu also carries an automatic revolver, and in gameplay tends to use them both to kick ass simultaneously.
Wenjun and Xiaowan
Zixu's wife and daughter, who pays the price when Zixu is caught in an assasination attempt where his vehicle is rammed in an "accident", staged by Zixu's arch-enemy Wei Long. Xiaowan was killed in the process, while Wenjun is a human vegetable unable to walk, having spent the last five years in a wheelchair after the accident that claimed her daughter's life.
- Death of a Child: Xiaowan is Zixu's little daughter who died in the same accident that crippled her mother and cost her father his limb and both legs. The best ending sees her Back from the Dead, thanks to the loop resetting allowing Zixu to avert the accident five years ago.
- Delicate and Sickly: Wenjun's condition of being a vegetable confined to a wheelchair is the source of many worries from her husband.
- I Have Your Wife: Wenjun is kidnapped by Hiroyuki's goons to be used to draw Zixu out into a duel.
- Nice Girl: Both of them, who cares for their husband and father and loves him with all their hearts. Their predicament throws Zixu's life into a mess for over five years.
Dave Ray
The resident weapons developer tasked with providing Zixu his equipment, including inventing the hero's sword. Also the sole prominent black character in the game, serving the token foreigner among the recurring cast.
- Abnormal Ammo: One of the weapon upgrades he provides allows Zixu to shoot axes at enemies.
- Big Eater: Implied, he's looking forward to the major feast in Dragon City's celebration where the streets are crowded with food stalls.
- Black and Nerdy: Black, and the hero's weapons supplier who designs and upgrades most of Zixu's gears.
- Dreadlock Rasta: His default hairstyle, for no reason other than to highlight him being the only major black character.
- Gadgeteer Genius: Goes hand-in-hand with being the hero's weapons specialist. Zixu's best tech comes from his research, and he'll regularly provide upgrades and new stuff.
- Gratuitous Foreign Language: Has a tattoo written in Chinese on his right biceps, but it's a meaningless phrase when translated.
- Non-Action Guy: Despite working for a security bureau, he doesn't see any action at all for his entire screentime.
- Satellite Character: All of Dave's scenes have him conversing with his bestie, Zixu, where most of his dialogue consist of him praising how badass Zixu is.
- Token Black Friend: He is Zixu's closest comrade and the only major black character in the entire game.
Villains
Wei Long
First encounter.
As the boss of Tang Dynasty Hotel
Dragon City's feared criminal warlord and Zixu's nemesis for the game's first half. He's the triad leader who tries to have Zixu killed five years ago after finding out Zixu's investigating him, leading to the death of Zixu's daughter and the hero's wife becoming a cripple - in the present, he rules Dragon City thanks to an unknown benefactor backing him up, which Zixu needs to uncover.
- Arch-Enemy: To the hero, Zixu. His attempts on Zixu's life cost the hero An Arm and a Leg, besides resulting in Zixu's wife becoming a cripple and the death of Zixu's daughter. And Wei Long shows zero signs of remorse over the incident.
- Bad Boss: Besides repeatedly abandoning his mooks for Zixu to deal with, the cutscene where he activates his Mini-Mecha for his last boss battle have him grabbing the mook who helped him activate his robot and flinging the mook to death.
- Bald of Evil: He's hairless, and the game's worst villain - especially when considering him being responsible for the abduction and massacre of Ditch Village's entire population.
- Big Bad Wannabe: Sees himself as one of Dragon City's greatest crime lords and the top of their ranks, but he bites it more than halfway into the game. The way Zixu executes him even feels more like an afterthought.
- Create Your Own Hero: Zixu would'nt become the bionically-enhanced badass if Wei Long didn't order a hit on the former's family years ago. Nor would he persist on investigating Wei Long's activities before uncovering Wei Long's dealing swith Tompson Technologies.
- Defiant to the End: Spends the last few miserable moments of his life cussing away at Zixu, including Flipping the Bird. Not that it helps him in any way.
- Disc-One Final Boss: Despite his prominence in the game's first half, his last appearance was as the Tang Hotel's boss halfway through, where he gets killed for good.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: Five years ago, he used to be a small-time triad honcho. But then he rises through the ranks, started working for Tompson Technology, and is the man responsible for the Ditch Village massacre when Wei Long had everyone rounded up and sacrificed for Tompson's illicit experiments.
- Hated by All: Literally none of his fellow conspirators in the Tompson Technology cover-up seems to miss his demise, where they're only interested in retrieving Wei Long's medulla oblongata to prevent their secrets from leaking out.
- Hate Sink: There isn't a single decent bone in his body, or any likeable factors compared to other villains or bosses. Him ruining Zixu's life and escaping scot-free thanks to his lawyers, gleefully taunting Zixu over his deceased daughter, and further carrying out the slaughter of an entire village without remorse and spending the last minutes of his miserable life threatening to make Zixu's wife suffer even more makes him the easiest villain to despise.
- Human Traffickers: What else could he be, for organizing mass abductions of Ditch Village's civilain population, having them imprisoned and harvested by Tompson Technologies' biological research department?
- Hypocrite: One of Wei Long's taunts during his penultimate boss fight have him calling Zixu, "You coward!"... and this is coming from the guy who spends most of his screentime running from battles, ditches his mooks at the first sign of danger, and refuses to get his own hands dirty until he's behind the cockpit of his robot.
- I Shall Taunt You: Tends to do this when fleeing from Zixu and throwing his mooks behind.Wei Long: Zixu, come after me and you'll regret it!
- It's Personal: Zixu's vendetta towards Wei Long is caused by the latter arranging the accident that nearly killed Zixu, leaving Zixu's wife paralyzed down the waist and killing Zixu's daughter. The revelation that Wei Long is behind the Ditch Village massacre, which Zixu found out, fuels the fire.
- Macross Missile Massacre: His mech has a missile canister attached to it's midsection. Be wary when Wei Long makes it jump, he's about to send a barrage of projectiles downwards.
- Mini-Mecha: Pilots a ten-meter tall mech in his last appearance, as the Tang Hotel's boss. It quickly turns into a Hoist by His Own Petard moment when Zixu defeats his robot, whose safety belt pins Wei Long down rendering him unable to escape.
- Never My Fault: Lampshaded when Zixu confronts him in the Tang Hotel.Wei Long: Your daughter's death, your wife's paralysis, it was all your fault!
Zixu: What did you say?
Wei Long: That car accident, I set it up! At first I only wanted to kill you. But five years ago, you just wouldn't let me go. I'm warning you, if you don't piss off right now... that paralyzed wife of yours is going to die and even more painful death! - Power Pincers: His robot have these for snatching and pummeling from close range.
- Purple Is Powerful: His default outfit is a purple overcoat that makes him stick out amongst his mooks.
- Sinister Shades: His sunglasses really highlights how evil he is.
- Smug Snake: He's all high and mighty and absolutely smug when he's flanked by mooks. Then Zixu wipes out all his minions, causing Wei Long to panic and run, tail-between-legs.
- Tattooed Crook: His entire upper torso is covered in tattoos depicting dragons and phoenixes to highlight his position as Dragon City's triad leader.
- The Triads and the Tongs: Rules the criminal underworld of Dragon City, where he's their most powerful member thanks to working in tandem with Tompson Industries, a highly-influential MegaCorp - he's the one providing Human Resources for them, after all.
- Underestimating Badassery: Displays some really poor choice of words when confronted by Zixu.Wei Long: [towards Zixu] You're just a petty detective!
- Undignified Death: His final scene have him ranting to Zixu that the hero's a dead man, because Wei Long still have underlings all over Dragon City and Zixu will pay for the defeat. Zixu promptly shuts him down by pulling out Wei Long's medulla oblongata.
- Would Hurt a Child: He ordered the hit on Zixu, the hero's family being around be damned. It leads to the death of Zixu's young daughter which Wei Long shows zero remorse over.
"Big Guy"
An unnamed, giant mutant human who serves as Wei Long's personal bodyguard. He's the first boss Zixu needs to contend with.
- Cyborg: His body is loaded with bionic implants, with tubes connecting engines grafted into his back throughout his torso.
- Dash Attack: Big Guy's Charging Tackle, which leaves behind a trail of static electricity along the way.
- Dumb Muscle: A mindless brute who only knows how to obey Wei Long's orders.
- Enhanced Punch: The engine attached on Big Guy's back allows him to deliver energized punches that sends Zixu flying to the arena's other side.
- Exactly What It Says on the Tin: He's as big as a boss called "Big Guy" would be.
- Flat Character: A mindless brute with zero actual development, natch.
- Foreshadowing: Wei Long having a giant, hulking mutated brute as his personal guard might seem completely random at first, until Zixu finds out Wei Long is supplying human captives to Tompson Technologies - the Big Guy is likely one of their products.
- Hold the Line: Wei Long sics him on Zixu to prevent the hero from giving chase. And in the chaos of the boss battle, prep a sniper nearby to take Zixu down.
- Mutant: Like every other monstrosity spawned by Tompson's experiments.
- No Name Given: Simply called "Big Guy" in the game, and supplementary materials.
- Warm-Up Boss: The game's first boss, and expectedly not a difficult one that that. Big Guy doesn't have any projectile moves, can be jumped over easily if he tries a charging tackle, have really slow response rates and a sitting duck to most of Zixu's attacks when backed into a corner.
Hiroyuki Ogata
The grandson of Kouga Industries' founder Shizue Ogata and sole heir to the company's vast wealth, when his company was discovered to be affiliated with Tompson Technologies Zixu have to pay Kouga Industries a visit. There, Hiroyuki will use everything in his power to prevent Zixu's investigations form going any further.
- Affably Evil: He's a boss and one of the many obstacles Zixu needs to contend with, but he's surprisingly polite and affable.Hiroyuki: [to Zixu's kidnapped wife] Apologies, madam, I'll order my men to take you back. Your husband will battle with me. Last time I lost, I owe him one. This time I will win.
- Bodyguard Babes: His kunoichi legion are the only female mook enemies encountered, and they appear only in stages featuring Hiroyuki.
- Badass Longcoat: Wears a long Japanese robe based off a yukata in his first confrontation, and he's one heck of a dangerous combatant. He ditches the robe in his second battle.
- Challenge Seeker: Rather than supporting Tompson Technologies' nefarious plans like his co-conspirators, Hiroyuki is more interested in finding a Worthy Opponent to do battle with.
- Cyber Ninja: A trained warrior versed in ninja skills, and upgraded with cybernetic implants throughout his body.
- Cyborg: Being a cyber-ninja and all that. It's not too evident in his first boss encounter since he's wearing long Japanese robes, but he bares it all during his rematch.
- Dash Attack: He can perform a charging tackle with his katana pointed ahead of him.
- Disturbed Doves: A flock of seagulls are in the same area where his penultimate boss fight occurs. Zixu and Hiroyuki charges at each other and the moment their blades meet, the gulls flies off.
- Flaming Sword: If he's fought as a boss in Tompson Technologies' office, his katana sprouts flames that could inflict burning slashes. Even his Sword Beam can set Zixu on fire.
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: Has a scar on his face, much like Zixu, though Hiroyuki's on the bridge of his nose and covers his left cheek.
- Hopeless Boss Fight: His first confrontation isn't a duel to the finish, but for Zixu to survive the battle for one minute. Regardless of Zixu's performance, the cutscene after said minute's up have Hiroyuki disarming Zixu automatically - only for Zixu to reveal the time is up, at which point Hiroyuki sheathes his sword.
- I Have Your Wife: Abducts Zixu's paralyzed wife to co-erce him to a second showdown, and to demand Zixu to hand over Wei Long's medulla oblongata. However he's far more noble than other villainous examples, ordering his mooks to release Zixu's wife once Zixu answers his challenge.
- In the Back: In the alternate boss ending, he kills Song Boyong, the supposed Greater-Scope Villain, by skewering him from behind in the middle of a Motive Rant. He won't do this to Zixu either ways because of his code of honor.
- Interrupted Suicide: His attempted seppuku is interrupted by his grandmother and senior, Shizue Ogata, arriving in person.
- King Mook: Appropriately enough, he fights in a manner reminiscient of the regular cyber-ninja enemies, and is often seen commanding them around.
- Mirror Boss: The closest the game has to one, being a fellow swordsman who uses blades like Zixu.
- Noble Demon: In his first battle, despite disarming Zixu, because he had run out of time Hiroyuki immediately declares himself the duel's loser and is ready to commit seppuku, if Shizue Ogata didn't appear in person and stop him. When the rematch happens, despite threatening Zixu over his wife's safety with a bit of Deadly Euphemism, it turns out Hiroyuki did kept his word and have Zixu's wife escorted back home without a scratch.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: He's rather blatantly modeled after Hiroyuki Sanada, from his first name to his appearance.
- Number Two: He's second in rank in Kouga Industries, after their founder Shizue Ogata, and currently serves as the organization's head of security.
- Recurring Boss: He's a compulsory boss in the Ogata Industries route, and is fought again in the oil rig. Depending on the choices, he might reappear in the last level, Tompson Technologies.
- Route Boss: One of the either two bosses players as Zixu needs to contend in the ending, the other being Song Boyong.
- Sword Beam: Can unleash a red one from his katana taller than himself. Zixu lose more than half his health if hit from close range.
- Sword Fight: Battles Zixu in one of these, trading blows with blades in both his boss fights.
- Tea Is Classy: In his introduction, Hiroyuki is seen sipping tea in his outdoor office, clad in traditional ornate Japanese robes, while waiting patiently for Zixu's arrival.
- Villain Respect: After seeing Zixu as a Worthy Opponent and genuinely impressed at Zixu defeating all his underlings.
- You Are Already Dead: How his final battle with Zixu concludes - after Zixu depletes his health, the succeeding cutscene sees them charging at each other, and an audible slash when both fighters collide. After holding their poses for a few seconds, Hiroyuki collapses.
Song Boyong / Tianwu
There's far more than meets the eye for him.
Tompson Technology's ex-head researcher, whose unnamed wife was the developer behind Tompson's bio-growth technology. He intends to take over Tompson after being disillusioned from the revelation of their illicit experiments, and is the greater threat in the game's latter half.
- Bald of Evil: He's bald, much like Wei Long, though it's downplayed considering he crosses into Even Evil Has Loved Ones territory.
- Beard of Evil: A rough, nasty-looking goatee with sideburns.
- Dual Boss: If he's fought as separate entities, then Song Boyong divides himself into two bosses, Song Boyong and Tianwu, each having their own health.
- Exact Words: The cutscene where he took over Tompson Technology have the robot security killing the CEO and PR Executive. Song then tells the terrified Head Clerk he's not going to kill him... before motioning one of the robots to give the Clerk a Boom, Headshot!
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: His takeover of Tompson Technologies and ordering the massacre of Tompson's Board of Directors is done in retaliation to the company killing his wife, an ex-researcher, in a cover-up. Song even mentions her (though not by name) a few times in cutscenes.
- Four Eyes, Zero Soul: Wears glasses, managed to usurp Tompson Technology, hijacks their tech and uses it to hold the lives of 1 million citizens hostage.
- Greater-Scope Villain: Turns out to be in league with Wei Long, being partners-in-crime working under Tompson Technologies. The moment Wei Long bites it, Song takes over as the new villain.
- Killed Mid-Sentence: Choosing the route to avoid fighting Hiroyuki as a boss and in the final stage, Hiroyiki will reappear and impale Dr. Song from behind while he's in his Motive Rant.
- Lightswitch Surprise: Weaponized, but when faced as a boss Boyong will remotely switch off all the lights for a few seconds. When the light comes on, Zixu is now alone, and Boyong will pounce from nowhere to ambush.
- The Lost Lenore: His unnamed wife who dies in the backstory. Song believes she's killed under Tompson's orders as part of a cover-up operation, as such wants to usurp leadership in her honor.
- One-Winged Angel: In his penultimate battle, he turns into a Tianwu, a spider-like monstrosity made with the peak of Tompson Technology's research.
- Playing with Fire: If fought in a humanoid form instead of becoming Tianwu, Song Boyong somehow gains fiery powers.
- Rolling Attack: In the form of Tianwu, he can turn into a spiked ball and ram into Zixu.
- Route Boss: One of the either two bosses players as Zixu needs to contend in the ending, the other being Hiroyuki.
- Shock and Awe: He can generate electrical sparks as a weapon to shock Zixu.
- Technopath: He integrates Tompson's bionic implants into his mind, allowing him to remotely control assorted machinery. In the final stage, he uses this method to hack into Tompson's robotic security and take over the company.
- This Cannot Be!: If defeated as a Dual Boss, Song Boyong and Tianwu, he will let out this quote.Song Boyong: Impossible! I simulated it so many times! This result is impossible! How did you do it?
Zixu: Becoming stronger is the only way to go far. This time, our feud have gone all the way to it's end.
