The Hero Unmasked! is a choice-based Interactive Fiction game, written by Christopher Huang and published by Choice of Games.
The game follows a TV show host set to marry the city's mayor when news hits that they've been kidnapped! The terrible truth is the person in the ransom video isn't them, but their identical twin. And worse yet, it turns out their twin is the person behind the mask of the city's own champion of justice, The Swashbuckler. Now they will have to take up the mask and moonlight as the Swashbuckler in order to protect the city, uncover the kidnappers, save their twin and all of that before the wedding.
The Hero Unmasked! provides examples of:
- Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder: Defied with a Mayor who has high relationship values with the protagonist, who firmly shuts down any advances the Protagonist-as-Swashbuckler makes on them if they don't know that the protagonist is the Swashbuckler. Played straight with a Mayor that the protagonist has a bad relationship with, who is pretty on board with having the Swashbuckler as a side piece.
- Can unintentionally occur with the Reporter. They start the game in a relationship with the protagonist's twin in their Swashbuckler identity. When the protagonist takes up the mantle of the Swashbuckler, they can romance the reporter without letting them know that the person under the mask has changed.
- Acquired Error at the Printer: Played straight, parodied and lampshaded when it comes to setting the MC's name: The MC double-checks the wedding's seating plan after the printer previously messed up the invitations and spelling the MC's first name wrong. After the game then notes how it was misspelled, it gives the printers credit where it's due for at least getting the last name right. Cue a list of names that not even native speakers of a language would likely spell right on first try...
- Bittersweet Ending: Comes in two varieties: One: If your twin dies at the hands of the M/Patriarch at the cathedral and you take up their mask as the Swashbuckler (possibly including pretending you are them) Two: If you and your twin merge into one being you can pick that you are fine with that, and even get an in-universe stat boost from it. See Downer Ending below.
- Brains Versus Brawn: Can apply to the player vs the villains, depending on playstyle. Also, Bloodmist and Firebrand are set up to be this to each other.
- Building Swing: What the Swashbuckler's grappling hook is for.
- Cape Snag: Averted/subverted. The text explicitly says that the Swashbuckler's cape is detachable.
- Captain Superhero: One of the possible names the player can pick for their own hero persona in the respective ending is this paired with Captain Geographic : Captain Caledon.
- Cliffhanger: All chapters end on one. The game itself can also end on one, depending what happened at the wedding. This ranges from you discovering that even from jail the M/Patriarch is pulling strings in Caledon City's underworld, to trying to find a way to un-merge you and your twin.
- Dating Catwoman: It is possible to romance both Bloodmist and Firebrand. You may also unknowingly be doing this if the mayor turns out to be the M/Patriarch.
- Developer's Foresight: Paired with One-Steve Limit, to a degree (see below). The Reporter, the Police Chief and the MC's scientist friend (also some minor characters down the line) can all have their names changed if the player picks the same name for themself. The Reporter can become Richard/Ross, respectively Regina/Rose from Robert/Rebecca (surname is always Bello), the chief would become Jamison from Robinson and your friend can be renamed Quincy or Quillon from Quentin and his surname can change to Morris from Marsh.
- Distressed Dude/Damsel in Distress: The plot kicks off after your twin is taken hostage by a mysterious villain. You yourself can also fall into the clutches of Firebrand, Bloodmist or the King of Diamond (netting an achievement if you manage to get captured by all three in the same playthrough.)
- Bloodmist abducts either the Mayor or the Reporter after the Historical Society Gala. The latter two are also held at gunpoint when either Bloodmist or Firebrands goons storm the charity auction. Being sick of constantly becoming this is partly the reason why the reporter becomes the M/Patriarch.
- Downer Ending: If your twin dies at the Cathedral and you decide to get back to your civilian life, the whole town goes to hell, with all sorts of villains now trying their luck there. Alternatively, if you and your twin merge you can go search for a way to reverse it. At the end of the game however, that search remains fruitless.
- Everyone Is Bi: You can romance all the possible romantic interests regardless of what you play as.
- Fission Mailed: Not having the right stats to escape Firebrand's deathtrap looks like this for a moment.
- Flung Clothing: Happens when the player picks paths that require getting into disguise.
- Happy Ending: In the best ending you capture the M/Patriarch and either go back to your civilian life, double with your twin as the Swashbuckler or become a hero in your own right. In either case you can hook up with your romantic interest and often a new hero pops up, too.
- Identical Twin Mistake: What kicks off the story: The MC's identical twin, the real Swashbuckler, is kidnapped and mistaken for the MC, requiring the MC to take up the mask in their twin's place.
- Identity Impersonator: Played with, in a way: Various character might inform the MC (when they think MC is the Swashbuckler) that they figured that MC has always been the real Swashbuckler and the Swashbuckler during the fight at the studio was a body-double to dispel such notions. And by extension that the person they are talking to now is said body-double. So close...
- Killed Off for Real: This can happen to Firebrand/Bloodmist and your twin.
- Loves My Alter Ego: Averted with the reporter's relationship with the original Swashbuckler, where it's highly implied that knowing their secret identity won't change their feelings (though your twin has no intention of ever revealing that to them.) Played straight if the player decides to create a new superhero identity and then romance the reporter while under that secret identity.
- Never Be a Hero: The main plot starts out like this, in a way: The public believes that the Player was fooling around in a Swashbuckler outfit when they got kidnapped.
- One-Steve Limit: In part, see Developer's Foresight above. While three of the main npcs change their name depending on what the MC's name is, other characters, including the three main villains will always have their civilian names. However, the player can't pick their aliases as their own should the player make their own hero persona in the end.
- Recruit the Muggles: Several sticky situations can be resolved by rallying bystanders to help.
- Secret Identity Apathy: The villains don't seem to care much about who is behind The Swashbuckler's mask, even when they have you in their clutches. Handwaved/lampshaded at least twice, once with you musing about how Firebrand could have unmasked you but didn't, and once by a goon telling his partner it's not worth unmasking you as they probably won't know you.
- Secret Relationship: Between the original Swashbuckler and the reporter. MC only finds out about this after the reporter gives them a passionate smooch while they're masquerading as the Swashbuckler.
- Sibling Team: A possible ending, with two different variations. Either MC debuts with their own hero persona to fight alongside their twin, or both of them moonlight as the Swashbuckler.
- Sibling Triangle: Happens if you pursue the reporter, who is already in a relationship with your twin.
- Stranger Behind the Mask: Played straight if you unmask Firebrand without discovering his identity first. Also discussed when two captors elect not to unmask MC because of this (ironically, MC is possibly one of the handful of people in the city who most will recognise at a glance).
- Twin Switch: The entire game is an extended one. If both twins decide to share the role of being the Swashbuckler in the ending, then the Twin will regularly masquerade as Caledon City's most popular television personality while MC's running about wearing the Swashbuckler mask.
- Two-Person Love Triangle: It's possible to invoke this in certain endings, where the MC(the Caledon City TV personality) are in love with the reporter, but chose to romance Bello with their hero persona (of which Bello doesn't know the true identity of).
- What You Are in the Dark: If the Protagonist hasn't revealed their secret identity to the Mayor and puts the moves on them as the Swashbuckler, a Mayor who they have a low relationship stat with happily accepts the 'Swashbuckler's' advances while making some pretty disparaging remarks about the protagonist. Considering a low relationship Mayor is highly likely to be the M/Patriarch, this scene is a very early hint towards their hidden unsavouriness.
- You Can't Thwart Stage One: Subverted. Playing your cards right can have you best and arrest the first villain you fight as The Swashbuckler.
