Characters / Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes

No More Heroes character index
Travis Touchdown
No More Heroes | 2: Desperate Struggle | Travis Strikes Again | No More Heroes III

Here's the list of characters introduced in Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes.

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From The Real World

Badman

Real Name: Shigeki Birkin

Voiced by: Steve Blum (EN), Hayato Fuji (JP)

Alright, time to play ball.

The father of Bad Girl. He was a former player for the Houston Astros, but turned to the life of assassins after being banned from the major league for getting intoxicated on the field too many times. He is currently on the hunt for the Death Balls in order to resurrect his daughter, while also seeking vengeance against Travis.

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• Acrofatic: Sports a prominent beer gut, but is able to keep up with the more physically-fit Travis just fine.
• Batter Up!: Like his daughter, his main weapon is a baseball bat. Helps that he's also a former player.
• Big Damn Heroes: In the beginning of III He saves Shinobu from FU, who was just about to kill her via crushing her head.
• Break the Badass: Badman is an unhinged assassin, willing to take on Travis Touchdown - a twice-top ranked assassin who has a body count in the hundreds - without fear. But even Badman cowers in utter fear when confronted by Dan Smith.
• Bullying a Dragon: He sold out Dan Smith to Curtis Blackburn, which resulted in his death. Given Dan would later come to earn the nickname "The Hellion". after being resurrected, this was obviously not a good idea.
• Canon Character All Along: A new game intro implemented in the Day 7 patch reveals that his true identity is Shigeki Birkin, a.k.a. "The Batman" (not that one), the baseball bat-wielding assassin from the Killer7 tie-in novel, "Killer is Dead". While that story was not finished, it's heavily implied from the exchange he has with Dan Smith that its planned ending involves Badman selling out Dan's location to Curtis Blackburn to save his own skin so he could survive to hunt down the person who killed his daughter (which is later depicted in No More Heroes).
• Curb-Stomp Cushion: During FU's first confrontation with Travis and the crew, he's the only who is able to get FU to flinch slightly. Then FU repays him by crushing his head.
• Deuteragonist: Secondary lead of Travis Strikes Again and arguably more important than Travis since the primary reason they're travelling through the Games of the Death Drive is for the sake of locating the Death Balls that will allow him to revive his dead daughter. Travis' involvement is largely just to get Bad Man off his back with the bonus of being an avid gamer and having a chance to play rare, unreleased video games by a developer he deeply respects.
• Didn't See That Coming: He didn't account for Dan Smith coming back to life thanks to the Smith Syndicate, or surviving his duel with Curtis. The fact that Dan came back being an even deadlier force than Curtis doesn't help.
• Drunken Master: While Travis needs to recharge his Beam Katana to keep fighting, all Badman has to do is to drink more beer. His unique "Triple Crown" Skill Chip allows him to boost his attack power up to three times in rapid succession by chugging beer, but at the risk of temporarily incapacitating him and making him vulnerable to enemy attacks.
• Eagleland: He's a very hard Type-2 lampooning of several American clichés, one who just happens to also be Japanese, making quite the contrast to Travis's Occidental Otaku nature.
• Empowered Badass Normal: Implied. His backstory and encounter with Travis Touchdown suggest that he's not much more than a seriously strong and psychotically homicidal man with a baseball bat much like his Badass Normal daughter in the first game. With the power of the Death Glove's Skill Chips, he's able to access the same array of array of superpowered attacks as Travis does at least within the Death Drive.
• Enemy Mine: Having been given the Electric Thunder Tiger II Death Ball by Dan Smith, he planned to kill Travis and steal the Death Drive MK II for himself. When it became clear that murdering Travis wasn't going to be that simple, they came to something resembling a truce - Badman would help Travis fulfill his lifelong dream of completing all the Death Drive MK II games and, if the console's powers were real, Badman would get to use the wish they'd win to bring Bad Girl back to life. The post-credits scene and Bad Girl's playable status in the second DLC pack does hint that he and Travis are successful. In No More Heroes III, he outright joins Travis' crew.
• Evil Former Friend: While they both played for the Houston Astros, he was a beloved teammate of McAllister, the protagonist of Diabolical Pitch. While they've grown estranged over the years, McAllister still likes him enough that he's willing to just hand over a Death Ball he spent millions of dollars to purchase to Travis in the hopes that it really can restore Charlotte to life.
• Facial Horror: His face was badly mangled in a grisly attempt of his life. The face guard he wears in the game was in fact medically prescribed in order to hold it together.
• Fan Disservice: Badman is portly, hairy, disfigured, and warps into games and "saves" the same way Travis does.
• Fire-Forged Friends: Though he and Travis do wind up getting into another scuffle after Travis calls Bad Girl in her dog form a "fuckin' mutt", the fact that they go from trying to kill each other to making peace after fighting through every Death Drive game to fully bring Badman's daughter back is still noteworthy. By III, which is two years later, Travis considers him a close enough friend to be enraged when FU kills him, and in his funeral Travis even calls him his buddy.
• Fusion Dance: With the help of special Skill Chips, he and Travis can temporarily fuse into a serene, digital demigod called "Travisman".
• Gratuitous Japanese: Much like Travis, he greets and talks to Bugjirou at his ramen stands in Japanese. Unlike Travis, his accent is much more fluent. This makes sense, seeing as he is Japanese.
• Heroic Sacrifice: He stops FU from killing Shinobu at the cost of his own life.
• I Know Madden Kombat: His animations are even named after baseball players in the files.
• Impossibly Cool Weapon: The core of his bat is made of diamonds, which he paid for using money he earned during his pro baseball days. That explains why it's able to withstand being in contact with Travis' beam katana. In III, it's also strong enough to cause the Nigh-Invulnerable FU to stagger in actual pain, though FU quickly recovers and kills Badman in retaliation.
• Killed Off for Real: Dies in the third game at the hands of FU. Literally so.
• Malevolent Masked Man: During his early career as a crook, his face was heavily scarred as punishment for botching a job, resulting in him using a mask to both conceal his injuries and maintain his face's shape.
• Motivated by Fear: It's revealed that part of the reason he's unwavering in his quest of vengeance on Travis is because Dan Smith will hunt him down otherwise, a prospect that has him audibly terrified.
• Oh, Crap!: His reaction when Dan Smith breaks into his hotel room with a gunshot.
• Overshadowed by Awesome: He rivals Travis Touchdown in being an unstoppable One-Man Army killing machine but when Dan Smith manages to corner him as revenge for selling him out to Curtis he's utterly terrified.
  • While he manages to get some good hits on Fu in III to save Shinobu's life, he's ultimately overpowered and killed instead. To his credit, he gets further against Fu than Travis and Shinobu who are incapacitated before he steps in.
• Papa Wolf: Despite being a violent killer, he cares about his daughter more than anything and attempts to get lethal revenge on those who have harmed her. After she is resurrected as a dog, he tries to kill Travis again when he calls her a "fuckin' mutt", however, in the DLC he and Travis were able to fully bring back Bad Girl properly.
• Power Born of Madness: After losing a shipment of drugs to rival criminals, Badman was tortured by his superiors vis-a-vis being repeatedly shot in the face by a high-speed pitching machine. It's heavily implied that the resulting brain damage was directly responsible for his current state of homicidal mania, as he had never expressed as much willingness to take human life before this.
• The Reveal: His real name is Shigeki Birkin; a psychopathic assassin who was the focus of a Japan-only sidestory to Killer7, where he had sought help from Dan Smith, Christopher Mills and Pedro Montana, desiring protection from Curtis Blackburn. It's revealed in Travis Strikes Again that Badman was the person who sold out Dan to Curtis, resulting in his untimely demise and subsequent integration into the Killer7 as Dan Smith. He did so out of fear for his life, not wanting to die before getting his revenge on Travis Touchdown for the murder of Bad Girl. Dan allows him to live, on the condition that he kills Travis and brings Charlotte back to life, and grants him the Electro Thunder Tiger II Death Ball that will help with the latter matter.
• Sacrificial Lamb: His death in III is primarily to give Travis a stronger motivation in defeating FU.
• Sir Swears-a-Lot: Manages to rival Travis Touchdown in this regard.
• Stone Wall: His attacks have a wider range than Travis' and he has much more health than his fellow assassin, but as a trade-off, his blows do less damage.
• Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome: In No More Heroes III, he gets killed by FU via his head being crushed while trying to fight him. He gets a proper funeral from his daughter and others after FU's defeat.
• Tattooed Crook: He's completely covered in them.
• The Thing That Would Not Leave: After they escape Electric Thunder Tiger II, Badman refuses to leave Travis' hideout, going so far as to camp outside of it next to his car. Every time the player returns to the trailer, Badman can be randomly placed throughout the hub, either practicing his swings, getting drunk or sleeping on a nearby sleeping bag.
• Tiger Versus Dragon: His higher level attacks can manifest a giant energy dragon to contrast with Travis' tiger. Makes sense, as the dragon represents the East to the tiger's West.
• Unreliable Narrator: Badman's dialogue in Damned: Dark Knight implies that Bad Girl was obsessed with the original game and its lead protagonist, Garcia Hotspur. If you enter the game as Bad Girl, though, she literally does not know anything about it, and her instant response to the character being brought up is to kill them. This is likely a side effect of her initial resurrection having regressed her constitution and mind into that of a hyperactive infant with nothing but killing on her mind, a notion that's supported by her overall dialogue being much more single-minded and childish compared to her resigned and bitter psychopath personality from the original game.
• The Worf Effect: He gets some nice hits on FU, but the most they do are sting him and he crushes Badman's head in return.

Dr. Juvenile

Dr. Juvenile

Voiced by: Jennifer Hale (EN), Nozomi Yamamoto (JP)

A game developer with HAZRE and creator of the Death Drive MK II. A scientific genius painfully ahead of her time with a deep appreciation for video games.

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• Ambiguously Evil: Despite the fact that Juvenile is essentially the game's "antagonist" for having created the Death Drive and its games, she serves as the tutorial throughout the game and is also revealed to have a sordid history with several corporate and authoritative figures whom Travis holds an equal grudge against. It's later revealed that despite their similarities and mutual appreciation of one another, she never wanted Travis to beat the Death Drive games, and is forced into a tight spot once he does. Juvenile then returns in NMHIII via holograms on Travis' Death Glove as an ally and his personal Voice with an Internet Connection, due to her arguably well-intentioned goals in the prior game being fulfilled.
• Anti-Villain: She did manipulate Travis into effectively slaughtering the entirety of the CIA, but it was all to stop their plans to use her technology to breed Super Soldiers and assassins. Once that's dealt with, she's apparently become Travis's ally by the time of III.
• Author Appeal: In-universe, her humongous Daddy Issues cause her to fill many of her games with broken, incompetent, or even monstrous father figures.
• The Bad Guy Wins: She ultimately succeeds in manipulating Travis and Badman into slaughtering hundreds of CIA operatives and sabotaging the organization's plans for the Death Drive. He doesn't view her as a bad guy, though, and come III she's actively helping Travis.
• The Chessmaster: As if her looming presence in the background of the box art wasn't already ominous on its own, she is the developer of the console and all of its denizens that try ending your life. Somewhat averted however, in that she has been on the run from the government who want to pull her strings.
• Dark and Troubled Past:
• Exposition Fairy: Her tutorial appearances are essentially a parody of this, and some of her voice clips include "Guess what?" "Listen!" and "You know?", referencing video game helper characters.
• Faustian Rebellion: She was enlisted by Hazre in order to create technology that, while initially meant for space travel, was co-opted by the CIA and the Military to breed next generation assassins and super soldiers, which caused her to quit the project and go into hiding after sabotaging it. When Travis Touchdown and Badman are in the process of inadvertently reactivating it, she eventually uses it to her advantage and has the entire CIA massacred.
• Final Boss: As the White Sheepman.
• Heel–Face Turn: She manipulates Travis and Badman into doing her dirty work but eventually becomes another ally of Travis by the third game acting as his Voice with an Internet Connection.
• Long-Lost Relative: According to Word of God, Juvenile is Dr. Naomi's sister. This is never alluded to in Travis Strikes Again whatsoever. However, she does casually refer to Naomi as "sister" at the start of No More Heroes 3.
• Recruited from the Gutter: At 10 years old she was a Chernobyl survivor who was adopted by a high-ranking US government official after her prodigious intellect being noticed. She was immediately sent into the Hazre lab to work on the Death Drive.
• Samus Is a Girl: She spends most of the game using White Sheepman as her digital avatar.
• "Shaggy Dog" Story: Even if she and K had been allowed to use the Death Drive to jumpstart human colonisation of Mars through its advanced 3D printing technology, they would have ultimately been opposed by the essence of John Winters within the machine, who wants the red planet to remain unmolested by Terran gentrification.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: To the fellow sexy scientist of the series Dr. Naomi. They both assist Travis (while being very snide about it), they're both technological savants, they both have very secretive pasts, and they're both way older than they appear. It is then casually revealed in III that the two are sisters.
• You Remind Me of X: The lyrics of the song played over the credits hint that Travis finds her comparable to Joan of Arc. (Partly a reference to The Smiths.)

K (Klark)

A mysterious patriot who tries to dissuade Travis and Badman from playing the Death Drive MK. II through a series of increasingly desperate and revelatory fax messages.

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• Dead Man Writing: Late in the game, he is killed after he helps Dr. Juvenile infiltrate the CIA's headquarters, but keeps sending Travis fax messages to keep him informed.
• Eagleland: Believes it's a Type-1, signing his messages "GOD BLESS AMERICA" in spite of what the CIA has done to him and Dr. Juvenile.
• Mr. Exposition: Much of the game's greater plot details can be found in his faxes.
• Shout-Out: His codename is likely a reference to Franz Kafka, who would often name his protagonists K. (Goichi Suda is an enormous Kafka fan and much of his game design is absurdist in nature.)

Kamui Uehara / NT Kamui

Kamui Uehara / NT Kamui

Voiced by: Max Mittelman (EN), Soma Saito (JP)

A self-described "observer" and ADV-man who Travis befriends. He assists Travis in uncovering the Death Balls.

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• Big Damn Heroes: He saves Midori from being killed by Travis and he's one of Travis's allies who shows up during FU's second form.
• Big "NO!": Shouts this before Travis tries to kill Midori, his girlfriend. This makes Travis stop.
• The Cameo: A big one to The Silver Case / The 25th Ward, especially the latter.
• Creepy Shadowed Undereyes: Kamui's eyes cast a pretty deep shadow in his portrait, and several characters make a point of them. Jeane specifically calls his eyes "dead".
• The Force Is Strong with This One: Can sense the presence of "special spaces" where the Death Balls tend to be located.
• Glowing Eyes of Doom: When he turns on Travis, his silver eye lights up.
• Heel–Face Revolving Door: Kamui already had a case of this in the previous games by virtue of him actually being a succession of different people who shared the same abilities, with some becoming unhinged murderers while others were more heroic. In this game, he's an ally of Travis for much of the story, up until he tries to kill Travis near the end. Then Travis decides to spare him, having grown to see him as a friend over the course of the adventure, causing Kamui to break down and reconcile with him. When he returns in III, he is firmly an ally of Travis.
• Killing Intent: Travis points out his aura when confronted.
• The Lancer: Is essentially this during the Travis Strikes Back adventure portions.
• Obviously Evil: Zig Zagged. Anyone who's played The Silver Case should know there's more to him than meets the eye, several characters warn Travis about him, and he does eventually turn on Travis in the final scenario of Travis Strikes Back. But during their fight, Travis decides he can't go through with it because he considers him a friend, which causes Kamui to break down into tears and reconcile.
• Official Couple: As revealed in III, he's Midori Midorikawa's boyfriend.
• Psychic Nosebleed: Gets one when he senses the Death Ball is nearby.
• Relationship Reveal: In III, Kamui reveals that he and Midorikawa are in a relationship.
• Rude Hero, Nice Sidekick: While Travis is brash and crude to most people he meets, Kamui is calm and collected.
• Shout-Out: In No More Heroes III, he's officially referred to as NT Kamui, which stands for Newtype.
• Team Dad: He's forced multiple times to dissolve the tension whenever there's a heated argument, usually involving Travis or Jeane.

Buzariashvili Bishop

Voiced by: Damien Culler (EN), Kenichi Suzumura (JP)

The younger brother of Georgy Bishop, who took over his business after his death.

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• Backup Twin: Pretty much exists so there can still be a Bishop in the series after the events of Desperate Struggle.
• Hidden Depths: He watches Sylvia's online channel and thanks her for the recipes she makes.
• Occidental Otaku: Much like his brother, he's a fan of Takashi Miike.
• Leitmotif: "B's Theme" in III which is presumably named after him. A catchy yet relaxed guitar-driven beat that accompanies every single one of Travis' conversations with Bishop about movies.
• Remember the New Guy?: He was not mentioned at all in the prior games.
• Who Names Their Kid "Dude"?: His name is pretty much a Georgian last name. Made more complicated that Bishop was originally his brother's first name, with his last name being Shidux.
• You Keep Using That Word: Discussed. In III, he talks to Sylvia about diversity and mentions how everyone keeps throwing it around.

John Winter

A legendary game designer and one of the first Death Drive's chief architects. It's rumoured that he was heavily involved with the development of the second Death Drive console before his mysterious disappearance.

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• Curb-Stomp Battle: While his "opponent" didn't even try to fight him, it's notable that after Travis declines to stay with him on Mars, he decapitates him in one strike despite the fact that Travis is infamously Made of Iron, even with Clone Travises.
• Mad Scientist: He more or less created his universe's version of Polybius and by the time Travis meets him, John has effectively made himself the "guardian" of Mars, out to sabotage any human attempts to gentrify the place and stain its crimson beauty.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: Likely based on Jeff Minter.
• Parental Abandonment: Twice to Dr. Juvenile.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Peanut Butter.
• Walking Spoiler: Given how he only appears at the end of the CIA gauntlet.

Damon Ricotello

Voiced by: Max Mittelman (EN), Jun'ya Enoki (JP)

^{(MAJOR 3 endgame spoilers) Damon's real face} 

^{(MAJOR 3 endgame spoilers) Final battle form} 

The CEO of the Utopina Corporation, a company that focuses on "revitalizing cities". Holds the "Serious Moonlight" Death Ball, which puts him on the way of Travis and Badman. He's also the childhood friend of Prince FU and serves as one of the main antagonists of No More Heroes III.

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• Abusive Parents: Implied with how he tells Travis "not even my Dad has ever hit me" in his Motive Rant before his boss fight in III.
• Ascended Extra: A minor (albeit significant) backstory figure in Travis Strikes Again, part of the Big Bad Duumvirate in III.
• Bad Guys Do the Dirty Work: He's the one who finishes off FU, by destroying his escape ship.
• Berserk Button: Being disrespected actually drives him into a violent rage. He physically assaulted Dr. Juvenile and took control of Serious Moonlight away from her because he believed she didn't show him respect, and all of his actions in III are driven by his intense desire to kill Travis because Travis dared to punch him in retribution for what he did to Dr. Juvenile. He also goes from seeing FU like a friend to coldly viewing him as a tool for his revenge against Travis after FU starts treating him dismissively.
• Big Bad Duumvirate: Plays this role in III alongside FU.
• Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: To Jasper Batt Jr. from the second game. While both are powerful businessmen who gentrify Santa Destroy, Batt is openly psychotic while Damon is able to keep his composure and at least be outwardly respectable. Batt makes himself the star of the UAA rankings while Damon stays out of the Galactic Superhero Rankings. Both are also Psychopathic Manchildren, though Batt's motivation for hating Travis is at least understandable; Damon's, however, is extremely petty at best.
• Disproportionate Retribution: He reacts to Travis beating him up by swearing vengeance and going to great lengths to try and kill him, even going to the pains of taking over Santa Destroy. And yet, he had no problem beating up Juvenile to steal Serious Moonlight.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He is genuinely overjoyed when he first reunites with FU. Unfortunately, FU's generally impulsive violent actions and disrespectful attitude afterwards end up causing a strain. By the end of the game, Damon can only say that he loved FU before killing him after FU is defeated.
• Even Evil Has Standards: As much of a bastard he is, he was scared of FU's casual talk about planet genocide and Velvet Chair Girl's pet's destruction of an entire city. That being said, he still willingly goes along with FU's plans for world domination so long as it ensures Travis's death. Not to mention, he has no problems attempting to take over the planet himself after he kills FU for failing to kill Travis.
• Evil Is Hammy: Really hams it up after Travis destroys his Humongous Mecha and they end up in "The Edge of Space", speaking in a deeper, more flowery, dramatic manner like a narrator or cartoon villain. His Boss Banter in the following fight has him go back to his regular speaking voice though.
• Evil Is Petty: His deranged Motive Rant towards Travis after he kills FU reveals that he specifically only wants to kill him because Travis had the gall to punch him.
• Final Boss: The last opponent Travis faces in 3, fought right after he kills FU.
• Game Face: Right before Damon finishes FU off, Damon disables the hologram mask he was wearing, revealing his true deformed face brought on by both FU's residual power and Travis's own beatdown in Travis Strikes Again.
• Greater-Scope Villain: Of No More Heroes III, as it is revealed at the end of the game that he had orchestrated the events of the game to put FU and his generals in a position to kill Travis for beating him up in ''Travis Strikes Again''. Once this fails, he kills FU himself and decides to take Travis on himself.
• Hate Sink: He is made after Suda51's former boss from Electronic Arts, who sabotaged his creation of Shadows of the Damned and shares the same surname as Damon. Creating Damon to be a petty and insane backstabbing maniac is his Take That! against him.
• Humanoid Abomination: While it was subtly implied during parts of Travis Strikes Again and III, the finale to the latter game confirms that his bond with FU has definitely corrupted him into something that's not quite human.
• Humongous Mecha: The first post-FU gameplay sequence has him piloting Thunder Break, a mecha that absolutely dwarfs Santa Destroy and the Radiant Gleam Travis is piloting.
• It's All About Me: The reason he hit Juvenile and stole Serious Moonlight? He didn't want to lose the work he had done on the game after it was canned, his reasoning being that she was condescending to him. And the reason he took over Santa Destroy and used FU? He wanted to get back at Travis, who dared to hit him during Travis Strikes Again.
• Kid with the Leash: He's the kid, while FU is the one on the end of the leash. This trope is partially played with in that Damon isn't aware — or rather is in deep denial — of him being a manipulator of FU. The trope is inverted by the end of the game, as Damon reveals himself to be much more of a monster than FU was, and admits that he never saw FU as anything more than a pawn, while FU himself could occasionally be questioning of Damon's motives.
• Lethal Joke Character: On Death difficulty, his boss fight has just as much a chance of killing Travis in one hit as any other. He's also much more aggressive and mobile than the likes of Mr. Blackhole or Ohma, despite having attacks that are about as telegraphed.
• Let's Fight Like Gentlemen: Robbed of his allies, minions, and technology, he decides to settle things with Travis in an exotic "sumo" match — aka Super Smash Brothers — at the end of the third game.
• Let's You and Him Fight: Once it dawns on him just how powerful and uncontrollable FU is, he sets things up so that FU and Travis will inevitably face off and kill the other, something FU is able to take notice of. Once FU is finally defeated, he genuinely congratulates Travis, indicating that as much as he wanted to see Travis die, he was just as relieved to be finally rid of FU.
• Mad Artist: Became obsessed with completing the Serious Moonlight Death Ball not for money but just to finish it.
• Madness Mantra: Shouts I don't wanna die! repeatedly as he's dying.
• The Man Behind the Man: He's the one who contacts Henry to try and take out Travis, and also set up the Galactic Superhero Rankings specifically to get Travis killed.
  Damon: That crazy alien bastard was just a pawn. I'm the real king.
• Mask of Sanity: A very literal one in this case. For most of the game, he's composed and pragmatic in contrast to FU's violent flights of fancy and bombast. Then he betrays FU in the end and removes his holographic mask, revealing his deranged and deformed face. With the mask no longer on, he proceeds to manically rant and rave at Travis, showing that he was every bit as nuts as his former best friend the entire time.
• Moral Myopia: An extreme example. He had no problems with beating the hell out of Juvenile solely for the latter's attitude, and so he can hijack the development process of Serious Moonlight. Yet, when Travis beats him up in disgust over what he did, Damon goes utterly apeshit, swearing bloody vengeance, to the point that he helps set up an entire organization and contacts the then-insane Henry Cooldown just to get back at him.
• More than Mind Control: He unwittingly enacts this on FU, as the two developed a shared psychic connection to one another. Damon's deep seeded hatred for Travis and subconscious desire to control the world becomes the catalyst for FU to return to Earth with the desire to help Damon kill Travis and take over. Damon is in extreme denial about this until the very end, and only FU expresses self-awareness about it, until Damon loses his sanity over FU's failure and kills him, revealing his true intentions.
• Motive Rant: Delivers one to Travis after killing FU, which is also the only reason Travis even remembers him.
  Damon: His friend? You kidding me? That crazy alien bastard was just a pawn. I'm the real king. […] It's all you, Travis. You. You! You hit me, didn't you?! You hit me! Not even my Dad has ever hit me! […] Now it's my turn to hit you, Travis!
• Nightmare Face: It is indicated that FU leaving residues of his power in him as a boy altered him far more than it seemed. After betraying FU, he reveals that the face we've been seeing the entire time was nothing more than a mask. With it off, his face is horribly discolored and shriveled with bulging eyes resembling the aliens from They Live!, fitting for having been corrupted by an alien power. It probably wasn't helped by Travis's No-Holds-Barred Beatdown of the guy in Travis Strikes Again.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: In Travis Strikes Again, he shared a surname with ex-EA CEO John Riccitiello, a clever Foreshadowing to the truth behind Serious Moonlight.
• One-Winged Angel: Demon Damon, the form he takes during the final fight in III.
• Precision F-Strike: Goodbye, FU. Now FUCK OFF!!!
• Pre-Mortem One-Liner: Right before he kills FU:
  FU: I love you, Damon. I love you, Damon. I love you, Damon!
  Damon: I loved you too, FU.
  FU: Damon? Damon?
  Damon: Goodbye FU. Now FUCK OFF!!!
• Psychopathic Manchild: Easily rivals even his childhood friend as the biggest example of this trope in the series. He keeps it under wraps with a stiff businessman-like façade, but the right trigger will set him off in an instant. He has a serious problem letting even minor slights go, which speaks to an overall lack of emotional maturity; he BEATS THE SHIT out of Dr. Juvenile just for having a bad attitude and causing problems with a project he was involved in, and that's just one example. After he lets his quite literal Mask of Sanity drop, he starts flinging insults at Travis and making proclamations like a delusional grade-schooler.
• Shout-Out: His true appearance makes him look like the aliens from They Live!.
• The Sociopath: Just like his old childhood friend FU, though it's less overtly obvious with him. Outside of one moment of genuine joy when he's first reunited with FU, he spends the rest of the game being cold and dismissive towards everyone else at best. Despite showing some mild unease due to the scale of the destruction, he willingly goes along with FU's plans for planetary domination just to kill Travis for an absurdly petty reason. That's not taking into account the fact that he beat Dr. Juvenile, his own co-worker at the time, to near death just because he didn't like her attitude towards him and the fact that he immediately began viewing FU as nothing more than a tool that could be disposed of the moment FU began acting abrasive towards him.
• Spoiled Brat: Implied. During his Motive Rant, he lets slip the line "Not even my Dad has ever hit me!". This implies that, like FU, discipline in his family was lax, which may explain why he wanted to kill Travis over something so relatively small.
• Take That!: He shared his surname with ex.-EA CEO John Riccitiello in Travis Strikes Again, and the role he played in Serious Moonlight's development (namely taking it over by force because he disliked the direction) is analogous to the serious executive meddling Shadows of the Damned (though hopefully the real-life case didn't involve physical assault) endured. One thinks that Suda might still have some sore feelings over what was done to one of his projects. Even though Damon's last name was somewhat retconned in III, the fact that he's friends with an alien named FU brings to mind the phrase "FU (Fuck You) Riccitiello".
• Then Let Me Be Evil: While Damon has always been a nasty piece of work, he is portrayed as an ambiguous if not cowardly figure who is clearly disturbed by the chaos and bloodshed FU and his alien army is causing yet conflicted by his childhood memories of FU. However, once it becomes clear that FU is incapable of killing Travis, he appears to realize that he has nothing left to lose and kills his childhood friend, sadly saying that he once loved FU as well. He proceeds to show his true monstrous face and proceeds with his dreams of world domination unabided.
• Touched by Vorlons: FU left a piece of himself inside his head, which helped them both in building a rocket to send FU back home. It is indicated that FU has been using Damon as a proxy in his stead on Earth for quite some time, indicating that the deathmatches of the Galactic Superhero Rankings have been in the works from the very moment Damon's Utopiiland was being built.
• Unexpected Gameplay Change: His boss fight plays out like a bloodier Super Smash Bros., complete with a 2D perspective, damage percentages that tick upward, and Damon needing to be hit with a Deathblow or Full Armor to give him a Ring Out once he's at 99.9%.
• Unreliable Expositor: In No More Heroes III. While he insists he has nothing to do with FU's conquest of earth, FU suggests otherwise and that the events of the game, including FU's desire to kill Travis, was orchestrated by him. The mystery assassin he hires also suggests that Damon's memories and personality aren't his own, putting the rose-tinted flashback to him as a kid into question. After Travis defeats FU, Damon's physical appearance and personality undergoes a complete change, exposing his true ugly self that he's been hiding.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Played straight at first; his hatred of Travis and desire to control the world is what causes FU to return with the goal of taking over Earth and killing Travis, as FU and Damon hold a shared psychic connection causing Damon to impart his will onto FU. The trope is later subverted as Damon drops his façade of denial and admits that he did all this willingly.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: He seems to have been a kind child, who genuinely became close friends with FU and helped him return to his home for no other reason than out of the goodness of his heart, not knowing that FU was secretly planning to conquer Earth even back then. Several very late-game revelations in III suggest that this is a case of him being an Unreliable Expositor, and that what we saw was a rose-tinted distortion of what actually happened.
• Villainous Breakdown: Devolves from ranting in rage to panic when Travis finally kills him at the end of III.
  Damon: I don't wanna die! I don't wanna die! I don't wanna die! I don't wanna die!
• White Hair, Black Heart: It turns out his hair went completely white either as a result of FU's residual energy left in his body when he was a child or Travis's vicious beating, which is revealed after he takes off his holographic mask, revealing his deformed true face.
• Would Hurt a Child: Sort of. Damon pulls the trigger on FU right after Travis beats him so hard, he physically and mentally reverts back to being the same child-like figure that befriended Damon all those years ago.
• Would Hit a Girl: Again, he pummeled Juvenile to steal Serious Moonlight from her. Travis returned the favor so hard he permanently deformed Damon's face.

Jeane

A young girl; Travis and Sylvia's daughter.

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• Action Mom: Her future self is the mother of Scott/Native Dancer.
• Brutal Honesty: Doesn't hesitate to cheerfully tell Travis that he smells bad.
• Continuity Nod: She's hinted by Death & Drive to reside in the "Garden of Madness", referencing the location that Sylvia alluded to multiple times in the original game.
  • Her future self inherited Travis' Tsubaki/Camellia Mk-III as her main Beam Katana.
• Dead Girl Junior: Travis named her after his deceased sister Jeane, just like with his cat.
• Eyepatch After Timeskip: While Kid Jeane still has both her eyes intact, the one from the future comes sporting one on her right eye.
• Eyepatch of Power: Future Jeane wears one over her right eye.
• Future Badass: Her future self travels to the past alongside Hunter to save Travis and his friends from FU's father. Both are so powerful that they single-handedly tear him and his fleet apart.
• Good Parents: To Scott/Native Dancer. Not only does she praise him for doing a good job, but she also gives him a loving headpat.
• Mama's Baby, Papa's Maybe: Resolved. Jeane is shown with Sylvia at the end of No More Heroes I, however, due to how it's never specified when in time the scene is set, it could have taken place either in the present, where Jeane was the daughter of Henry, or in the future, where she would be Travis' daughter. It was later revealed in Travis Strikes Again that she was Travis' daughter.
• One-Way Visor: In the future, she wears one whenever she's in combat.
• The Reveal: Her appearance confirms the long-held fan theory that the Jeane that shows up in the credits of the original No More Heroes is Travis' kid as opposed to Henry's. She also has a brother named Hunter, who's with the Boy Scouts, confirming that Travis and Sylvia had two kids.
• Strong Family Resemblance: As shown in the first game's post-credits scene and in III's ending, she takes after her mother in her looks. Her future self even shares her mother's voice actress.
• Virtual Celebrity: Despite her tender age, she's an established V-Tuber, having amassed 6 million subscribers. She claims she'd get 3 million more if Travis bought her a gift.

Hunter

A young boy, and the son of Travis and Sylvia

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• Blue Is Heroic: His future self wears a blue coat.
• Continuity Nod: He inherits the Bloodberry from his dad.
• The Ghost: He's not seen in TSA as he's currently on a camping trip with the Boy Scouts. The closest thing that players get to his appearance is at the ending of III when a future version of him and his sister arrive to save their father.
• Shout-Out: A reference to Paris, Texas, Suda's favorite film, in which the main character ends up raising a son named Hunter.

The Hellion

Real Name: Dan Smith

Voiced by: Michael J. Gough

"This is your final ball."

The infamous revolver-toting Sociopathic Hero of the Killer7. He has a major bone to pick with Badman, having been fatally sold out to Curtis Blackburn by him…but curiously, he also would like to see Travis—the "champ up aboveground"—dead, if not more so than Birkin does.

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• Art Shift: His cutscene recreates the style of Killer7 right down the most minute details, from its signature cel shaded graphics to its soundtrack and awful audio mixing.
• Badass in a Nice Suit: It wouldn't be Dan without his iconic casual black suit.
• Deadly Euphemism: Just as he's about to kill Badman, he bombards him with a barrage of ironic baseball metaphors and puns, all stating how fucked he is.
• The Dreaded: Badman—a bloodthirsty psycho who has nothing but piss, vinegar and reckless abandon over confronting Travis—is terrified of Dan Smith. Then again, he should be, since he betrayed Dan to Curtis in the first place.
• Even Evil Has Standards: As a Smith, he's a full-blown Professional Killer that has no small amount of blood on his hands, but even besides his hatred for Curtis Blackburn that nearly causes Dan to murder Badman, he relents on killing the guy once he finds out about the death of the latter's daughter, and even helps set up Badman's revenge against Travis.
• Go To Hell: On his way to meet Badman, he tells the alcoholic this phrase and adds that "Curtis'll be waiting for him."
• Pet the Dog: He was seconds away from ruining Badman's shit, but the second he learns that the reason why he sold him out to Curtis was for a chance to avenge his daughter, he relents and gives him Travis's location—as well as a chance to bring his daughter back to life.
  "Your ten seconds are up. Now go to Hell. Curtis'll be waiting for ya…"
  "Vengeance! For my daughter! My little girl was murdered… I had to avenge her! That's why I had to stay alive…"
  "You hear that, Mills? Yeah. Find the asshole who killed his kid. Now."
• Small Role, Big Impact: He only shows up in the second opening intro cutscene^note added with the "Day 7 Patch", but it's his past with Badman and Curtis Blackburn that kickstarts the entire plot of Travis Strikes Back, giving Badman a Death Ball and the location of his daughter's killer.
• Villain Respect: He knows of Travis Touchdown and his accomplishments as "the champ up aboveground". For whatever reason, he began to fully support Badman avenging Charlotte the second he heard his name.
• Walking Spoiler: Mentioning him? You'll have to reveal the Canon Welding with Killer7.

Death Drive Bosses

Electro Triple Star

Real Name: Tim Ford

Voiced by: Michael J. Gough

Theme: Electro Triple Star

The protagonist of the Electric Thunder Tiger franchise, which Travis played as a kid. A scientist who loves comic books and constructs his own super hero armor to protect the city and his family.

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• Broken Pedestal: Subverted. In the demo, Electric Triple Star gets in a cheap shot on Travis, attacking him during a cutscene to lower his health preemptively. In the main game, he never does this, and Travis continues to view him as his personal hero after the fight, being fairly shaken after he kills him.
• Evil Laugh: Utters it during the fight whenever he fires out his projectiles.
• Failure Hero: Considers himself one due to his inability to protect his family.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold He is a genuinely good guy.
• Happy Ending Override: His first game ended with him quelling a robot uprising by becoming a superhero, saving his family in the process. The second? Well...
• I Was Quite the Looker: When we see him in the intro, he's revealed to have been fairly handsome underneath his costume and helmet. Contrast that with the ghoulish figure Travis fights. Clearly, the death of his family has taken a huge toll on him.
• Long-Range Fighter: Relies mostly on blasting Travis from afar with electricity in all sorts of ways. His only close-range attacks are an easily avoidable and clumsy swing and a heavily telegraphed explosion of electricity.
• Science Hero: Though he looks rather menacing, he's actually a good guy who built his suit of electric armor from scratch.
• Shock and Awe: Electricity factors into nearly all of his attacks.
• Warmup Boss: Much tougher than regular enemies and minibosses but all of his attacks are pretty telegraphed and simple to avoid.

Mr. Doppelganger

Real Name: Patrick Granada Jr.

Theme: Doppelganger

The protagonist of Life is Destroy. He is based on an in-universe humanitarian turned serial killer who is still at large.

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• Art Shift: His game begins with a live-action movie where he kills someone who got angry because they lost a video game.
• But Thou Must!: He forces some of his victims to pick out their method of execution from a deck of cards with some supernatural force compelling them to select one against their will.
• Death Dealer: He throws out enlarged versions of the cards from the aforementioned deck, but of the several he flings, only one of them will activate. The effects range from large explosions, to bullets, knives and even a rare card that actually heals the player instead.
• Demoted to Extra: His real self turns up in III, but now he's got nothing to do with the story at all and can only be found in a "hide-and-go-seek" type of side quest.
• Flanderization: Characters in the game warn the protagonists that the Doppelgänger they're going up against is crazier and much more violent than the actual one probably is. He implies that this is because his adoptive daughter, Dr. Juvenile (who he failed to kill) was part of Life is Destroy's development team.
• Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: Travis briefly ponders about him being a victim of society, but then realizes that his actions were more borne out of petty selfishness than anything else and calls him out on his aimless murdering.
• Green-Eyed Monster: A fairly layered example. While he didn't personally resent Dr. Juvenile himself, her genius and "bright future" in contrast to the lack of talent and poor prospects of those he tried to help everyday as a social worker served as constant reminders of life's inherent unfairness, which eventually caused him to snap.
• I'm a Humanitarian: He devoured one of his victims and the act (or the psychological jolt from doing so) caused him to start developing multiple personalities.
• Improbable Weapon User: Always carrying around a pair of corkscrews normally used for opening wine bottles. It's what he first used to kill his wife and when he attempted to kill his daughter afterwards. He's been using it for every following murder and he can even fight effectively with them.
• Jumped Off The Slippery Slope: The murder of his wife aside, he attempted to be a Vigilante Man who only went after "garbage" people such as those who tortured animals, murderers who got light sentences due to being considered minors at the time, and shifty cults, but his standards for what constituted a target just kept getting lower and lower until he started killing anyone he came across in the most sadistic ways possible for the thrill of it.
• Me's a Crowd: He initiates the second and third phases of his boss fight by summoning immobile copies of himself that explode when hit. The only way to properly transition into those phases is to hit the real deal.^Hint The real Mr. Doppelgänger is more often than not in a pose that has his head aimed downwards. During his final phase, he'll summon two additional versions of himself that act on their own and have health independent from his.
• Nightmare Face: Underneath his scarf is a miniature version of the ghostly blue head that's been hunting Travis throughout the level.
• Scarf of Asskicking: It covers the bottom half of his face obscuring his ghastly 2nd face.
• Serial Killer: His real-life counterpart has a kill count numbering in the thousands.
• Sequel Hook: The real Doppelganger is still out there, and from the sounds of it, his video game counterpart has seriously lagged behind in the kill count.
• Villainous Breakdown: After he's defeated, he seems to lose his composure entirely once Travis tells him he's about to die. Upon closer inspection, he's actually reciting the same exact last words of his last victim in the intro to his level, meaning it's entirely possible he's just being mocking.
• Villain of Another Story: He has almost nothing to do with the overall narrative, outside of being based on an actual serial killer who once had a connection to Dr. Juvenile as her adoptive father.
• Villain Protagonist: Of the in-universe videogame "Life Is Destroy"

Brian Buster Jr.

Brian Buster Jr.

Voiced by: Greg Ellis

Theme: Kill Your Artificial Mind

The post-apocalyptic prince of the peace-loving Scandinavian country Ulmarc, and the protagonist of Coffee & Doughnuts. When his own military perform mutiny and take over the country, his father is executed while he is blinded and exiled. He then stumbles into a hidden desert temple which hosts the "Ulvarian", an armor that is loaded with the brain of his late father. Becoming its pilot, the two vow to take back the country.

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• Always Murder: Subverted. Brian Buster Jr. was tired of living after getting his revenge and tried to commit suicide, but his pride made him attempt to make it look like foul play was involved so those that found his body wouldn't think less of him.
• Anti-Villain: Like with Electro Triple Star, Travis is absolutely not happy about having to defeat him due to sympathizing with him.
• Art Shift: His opening cinematic is is akin to an old school PlayStation CG cutscene.
• Bamboo Technology: There's a reason why he calls it a "Wood Suit" you can even hear it audibly creaking in cutscenes.
• Blind Driving: He pilots a powerful mecha despite being unable to see. He manages this due to the armor hosting the brain of his late father.
• Clipped-Wing Angel: Depleting his healthbar actually only destroys his mecha. Without it, he's nothing more than a frail blind old man swinging around a sword.
• Death or Glory Attack: When all his health is depleted, the Ulvarian will detonate in a huge explosion that can kill Brian Buster Jr.'s surrounding enemies, but if it misses, he'll be left to contend with the survivors on his lonesome as a hobbled, blind, elderly man with a sword.
• Death Seeker
• Doomsday Device: His ultimate attack is essentially this; a towering statue mounted at the top of his mansion, allowing him to fire devastating orbital strikes.
• Downer Beginning: His game apparently begins with his royal family betrayed by its own military and his father executed before his eyes. It's the last thing he sees before having his eyes sliced, roaring in anguish the whole time. He's then exiled and blindly wanders the wasteland long enough to become an old man before discovering the "Ulvarian".
• Grin of Audacity: In his game's introduction he smiles confidently with glowing red eyes upon first taking control of the "Ulvarian".
• Having a Blast: Most of his attacks either generate explosions or toss them outwards as projectiles.
• I Cannot Self-Terminate: He thought he didn't deserve to die by his own hand, so he wanted to be put down by someone else, like a rabid dog.
• Mecha: Pilots the "Ulvarian", sometimes informally referred to as "Wooden Suit".
• Platform Game: His game is the only sidescrolling title of the MK II, and involves platforming.
• Serious Business: Really likes coffee and donuts. So much so that he's unable to feign death when being presented with them.

Smoking King

Smoking King

Theme: Love Secret Desire

A former sumo wrestler and bodyguard for the mob who eventually became a drag racer (also for the mob). He's the champion of Golden Dragon GP, a Game Within a Game set in a vector-scan rendered Cyberspace that is played with a VR headset.

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• Ability Required to Proceed: You need to collect a powerful enough gearbox to stand a chance in the races. To do that, you need to power your way through "part-time jobs" where you kill enemies in a hotel.
• Boisterous Bruiser: Despite his intimidating size and decked out arsenal, he's actually humble and respects anyone who can best him in a race.
• Dark Is Not Evil: His black racing overalls make him look like a literal speed demon, complete with horns. However, while he is a bodyguard and racer who works against you for the mob, he never cheats and is a Noble Demon at worst.
• Fat Comic Relief: His game is a Breather Episode of sorts and he's very different from the suicidal stars and sadistic anti-heroes from the previous three levels to the point that he's simply defeated instead of killed after his boss fight. This also makes the intro of Serious Moonlight where Garcia Hotspur is impaled and defeated by Fleming's demons hit that much harder.
• Friendly Enemy: He actively helps Travis during his level, giving him tips and encouraging him to keep racing.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Certain Skill Chips allow either Travis or Badman to detonate Smoking King's gasoline turrets before he can, damaging him in the process.
• Lightning Bruiser: His suit allows him to dash around the arena, allowing him to exercise the full might of his sumo bulk and fighting skills to their optimum.
• Mad Bomber / Pyromaniac: While he mainly use noxious smoke attacks and sumo stomps that send shockwaves, several of his moves involve explosives and napalm.
• Perfect Play A.I.: Unlike the other bosses of the game, Smoking King does not actively pursue the plays, but instead adjusts his attacks to suit the situation. If his opponent is too close, he'll perform radial attacks to get them away. If they're too far, he has either a very fast projectile attack to maintain pressure or a swift punching manoeuvre to close the distance. At times, he'll do a quick and powerful Shockwave Stomp that hits the whole arena, and the only way for the player to anticipate it is to always have him in their field of vision.
• Punny Name: Parodied. "Smoking" is obvious but he's a former sumo wrestler who still uses the fighting style at close range, hence "Sumo King"
• Shout-Out: His entire game is one big reference to the Japan-exclusive Zero4 Champ series.
• Smoking Is Cool
• Start My Own: The Golden Dragon GP came into existence after the Japanese were more-or-less blacklisted from the global racing scene, forcing them to create their own league.
• Unexpected Gameplay Change: Up until now you've basically been hacking and slashing, but in his game you must partake in a drag racing game.

Eight Hearts

Real Name: Johnson

Voiced by: Greg Ellis

Theme: Welcome to Hell

The protagonist of Serious Moonlight, an open-world triple-A fantasy RPG, described as the "Final Fantasy of the 20th Century." Or at least that's what it says on the ball... In actuality, it's true name is Damned: Dark Knight, a Stealth Sequel to Shadows of the Damned which Dr. Juvenile made over a decade before the first game's release, due to experiencing it in a dream. In the game, demon hunter Garcia Hotspur has been killed by an unknown assailant, and in his last moments, gave what power he had to his partner Johnson, turning him into the avenger known as Eight Hearts.

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• Animation Bump: His game has by far the highest quality CG opening out of any of the games, including Travis Strikes Again's actual opening cinematic itself, as the game is framed as a triple-A budgeted epic.
• Art Shift: Like the other Death Drive games, its unique intro stands apart from the others - in this case, by the Animation Bump intro detailed above.
• Beyond the Impossible: Making a Shadows of the Damned sequel for the Death Drive MK II should theoretically not be possible given that the original title's release doesn't match up to the timeline of the story events to allow it. The game handwaves this by saying Juvenile had played the original "in a dream" when she was young.
• Call-Back: Many of his projectile attacks are named after abilities he possessed in Shadows of the Damned.
• The Cameo: The entire game is this to Shadows of the Damned and its characters. Garcia's spirit even appears halfway through the boss battle to motivate Johnson.
• Combat Parkour: Eight Hearts is a surprisingly acrobatic fighter.
• Dreaming of Things to Come: The excuse the game presents as to how Juvenile could develop a sequel to a game that hadn't even released yet. She had a "dream" where she played it in the future, and as it was her favorite game, she decided to develop a sequel for it before the original had yet to release, with Eight Hearts being its protagonist.
• Executive Meddling: An in-universe example; Serious Moonlight was the title Juvenile had intended to develop, but her staff considered the game too experimental and weird, leading to the plug being pulled from the project. This instead forced Juvenile to take a gamble and instead make a sequel to her favorite game.
• Improbable Weapon User: Fires out his own hearts at the player characters for one of his attacks.
• Leitmotif: "WELCOME TO HELL", one of the only vocal tracks in the entire game. While the song itself is a Boastful Rap in Japanese, it does contain a few nods towards Eight Hearts' true identity via Bilingual Bonus: specifically, it's about Johnson preparing to embark on the journey to rescue Garcia.
• Not So Above It All: He initially defends the decision not to have a New Game Plus in Shadows of the Damned, but acquiesces rather quickly that it would have been a nice feature to have.
• Passing the Torch: Eight Hearts is the successor of Garcia Hotspur, who seemingly dies in the opening cinematic, leaving Johnson to carry the mantle.
• Promoted to Playable: In-universe, Johnson who was previously the sidekick in Shadows of the Damned, becomes the protagonist of its sequel.
• Sequel Hook: Eight Hearts is the only boss that Travis spares, primarily because he admires him too much and desires for Johnson to save Garcia from being trapped in the "fourth dimension". Travis then muses, as Eight Hearts teleports away, that we'll likely see a sequel to Shadows of the Damned. Whether this is meant to be taken as an actual hint that Grasshopper are planning a followup is yet to be known.
• Serial Escalation: Invoked by Garcia. Since Alfred's gun can only hold a maximum of seven holy bullets before he has to reload, then Johnson needs at least Eight Hearts to stand a chance against him.
• Walking Spoiler: Despite being one of the first boss designs revealed for the game, Serious Moonlight and Eight Hearts was kept a secret from gaming press for the entire year he's been known of - and for perfectly good reason.
• Wham Episode: Not only is the game framed as a sequel to Shadows Of The Damned, it begins with the original protagonist of that game seemingly dying, and the sidekick - Johnson - assuming the Eight Hearts mantle to become the new protagonist.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Despite being such an integral part to Shadows of the Damned, Paula is never seen in the game. After defeating Eight Hearts, White Sheepman offhandedly mentions that she's been into Yoga and has considered moving to Hawaii.

Silver Face

Silver Face

Theme: On Your Mark, Get Set, Go

The mysterious boss of Killer Marathon; a game that was never finished.

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• Berserk Button: Bad Girl's presence alone manages to rile him up into a homicidal frenzy.
• Beware the Nice Ones: A double-subverted instance; Silver Face is billed as a former pro football player that snapped during his prime and killed his groupies; subsequently becoming convicted and drafted into the Killer Marathon death sport, and becoming its supreme champion. It turns out that he doesn't actually have a body count at all since his game is a pinball title, and that his real personality is that of a socially awkward loner who prefers playing instruments and is repulsed by the thought of violence. Despite this he can't go against his boss programming, and his personal rage at being excluded from the main game grants him a power boost that turns him exceptionally deadly.
• Blinded by the Light: Kicks off the second phase by creating a bright flash that covers most of the arena and stuns Travis.
• Blood Knight: Normally no, but his "Settings" force him to naturally be bloodthirsty. As the fight progresses, he also becomes a bit of a Combat Sadomasochist.
• Boss-Arena Idiocy: He's a brutal fighter, but he can be tricked into trying to attack or combo player characters through the pinball bumpers of his stage, giving his opponent some breathing room to recover.
• Bragging Theme Tune / Boastful Rap: Parodied. Silver Face's boss theme is another Villain Song in the series akin to Nathan Copeland, Eight Hearts, and Margaret Moonlight. However, rather than rapping about how bad ass he is, it's a lamentation on how much his life sucks, how he wants to make things better for himself, and how everyone assumes he's a killer when he's really not.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: He admits that he actually hates fighting and killing since he used to just be an illustration on a pinball game. However as a character in the unfinished action game Killer Marathon, all he has are his "Settings" programmed into him, granting him a murderous instinct and Blood Knight tendencies that allow him to fight very effectively. Downplayed since he seems to mostly have control over himself and gives in only because Travis insists on having a Boss Fight though it varies from character to character.
• Combat Pragmatist: He tries to trick Shinobu into either giving up or simply leaving him alone by making her question her existence as a video game character. In the final phase of his fight, he also lowers the barriers surrounding the arena revealing metal prongs on the walls that will stab at Travis if he gets too close to them. In the same phase, he can also use his Grappling-Hook Pistol to briefly leave the arena as the pinball bumpers generate damaging fields of light.
• Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: Whereas Smoking King was a Fair-Play Villain, Silver Face does whatever he can to keep his position as top dog of Killer Marathon. This is more of an Informed Attribute as the completed Killer Marathon Travis goes through turns out to be a re-purposed pinball game. Within his game world, Silver Face hasn't even claimed a single life as his game doesn't involve killing at all.
• Cool Shades: Which protect him from being blinded by his own powers.
• Dash Attack: In the final phase of his fight, he can quickly rush around the arena in damaging straight-line bursts.
• Defeat Means Friendship: After battling Bad Girl, he lets go of his resentment of being an add-on boss for her DLC and the two part on amicable terms.
• Delinquent Hair: Has a small Mohawk.
• Expy: For Garcian Smith from Killer7. Not only does he have a slight visual similarity to the man in terms of skin tone, hair style, and stature, both are not quite the badasses that their respective games initially make them out to be. Garcian prefers to let the other personae of the Smith Syndicate kill, since he himself would "never hurt a fly". Similarly, Silver Face is actually very squeamish and averse to physical exertion until he gives in to the "Settings" programmed into him as "Silver Face".
• Development Hell: An in-universe example; his game was never completed due to Creative Differences.
• Good Old Fisticuffs: Silver Face primarily fights using unarmed punches and kicks.
• Grappling-Hook Pistol: Uses one to snatch Travis from a distance and pull him in for an unavoidable tackle.
• Hidden Depths: His design and game markets him as a ruthless ruffian who would do anything to be number one, when in reality he abhors having been pigeon-holed into a role that's the complete opposite of his actual personality.
• Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs: His Infinite Death Punch.
• Martial Pacifist: Exaggerated. His true original personality is meek and nonconfrontational but his Settings make him a natural at brutalizing foes.
• Playing with Fire: His melee attacks leave behind flaming streaks.
• Shout-Out: His name is a reference to Grasshopper Manufacturer's "Silver Case" games.
• Socially Awkward Hero: By his own admission he's really meek and implied to be upset about lacking any social presence, whether it be during his adolescence or within the context of his game.
• Sword Beam: Can send out damaging waves of energy just by kicking in Travis' direction.
• True Final Boss: Silver Face is for all intents and purposes the final boss of the game itself, as the player will only be able to play Killer Marathon after having beaten the main campaign and played through the final scenario of Travis Strikes Back.
• The Unfought: In the main campaign anyway. His game was made available for the second DLC complete with a proper boss fight.
• Unstoppable Rage: Hanging a pretty overt lampshade over the fact, Silver Face points out that the difficulty increase of this portion of the game being in due part to his frustration of being relegated to DLC that a majority of players won't get to experience, making him exceptionally powered up and the strongest boss of the game.

Other Death Drive Characters

Death and Drive

Death Drive Mk.II / Death and Drive

The intelligence within the console. After their rather inept attempts at killing Travis and Badman fail, they sometimes provide the duo information about the game they are currently exploring.

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• Awesome, but Impractical: DeaDri's final form is physically imposing but also really cumbersome in combat. They can't even beat Travis in wrestling.
• Brick Joke: Most of the interactions with them throughout the course of the game involve them making empty threats against Travis' life, yet not being able to actually go through with it due to lacking the power to combine into their killer formation. Several months after the game's initial release, with the game's second DLC pack and final scenario of Travis Strikes Back, they finally amassed enough power to break out of the game and challenge Travis, only for them to get beaten in a humiliating fashion and exiled back into the game world.
• Brought to You by the Letter "S": They each have a huge letter "D" where their heads should be.
• Easy-Mode Mockery: They describe the difficulty of the real Killer Marathon as "stupid easy" when played on Sweet. Sure enough, in addition to having way fewer obstacles than the other modes, several destructible barriers you'd normally have to smash through are simply wide open or outright missing.
• Ineffectual Death Threats: The first few times you meet them, they threaten to take your life, only to not be able to follow up on the act for a contrived reason.

• Transforming Mecha: Their ultimate form is a rampaging humongous mecha, DeaDri. Travis somehow beats them in a game of Fire Pro Wrestling.

Bugs

Bugjirou

A friendly Bugman NPC dressed in a chef's outfit. He operates a ramen stall which the protagonists can eat at to restore their health.

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• Ascended Extra: Appears in the real world with little explanation in III, serving the same role.
• Supreme Chef: Judging by Travis' blogs, Bugjiro's ramen is on par with the world's best chefs. He also returns in III, inexplicably being in the real world.

Bugxtra

A friendly NPC in a Greek theatre mask. He provides "words of wisdom" that range from cynical to nonsensical.

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• Ascended Extra: Acts as a much more informative and useful sidekick in Golden Dragon GP than he does in the other games.
• Ice-Cream Koan
• Shout-Out: Multiple of his lines in Coffee & Doughnuts act as a reference to Flower, Sun and Rain.
• Vertebrate with Extra Limbs: He has four hands.

White Sheepman

A prickly, but ultimately helpful NPC who knows a lot about the bosses/protagonists of each Death Ball game and occasionally comments about how their struggles parallel those Travis and Badman are experiencing.

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• Mr. Exposition: Delivers the backstories of each game's respective boss.
• One-Winged Angel: When finally fought, he takes the form of a gangly skeletal deity.

The Sheepmen

The mid-bosses of each stage who claim to represent "Trials" the player must overcome if they want to truly conquer the Death Drive Mk. II. They're differentiated by the colours of their mask and how their equipment and attacks mirror the Death Ball they live in.

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• Colour-Coded for Your Convenience
• Mad Libs Catchphrase: “Do you know what makes a mid-boss scary?” The answer is always different.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: While extremely chatty during their initial appearances, they have nothing to say during the elongated Boss Rush during the CIA level, hinting that it's not the Sheepmen you're actually fighting.
• Real Men Wear Pink: Sheepman Pink wields powerful magic attacks and is the last of the Sheepmen the protagonists chronologically face in the game.