History NightmareFuel / FugaMelodiesOfSteel

** As described above, Berman soldiers will usually react to the Soul Cannon with appropriate shock and horror, be they mere grunts or seasoned officers like Von Baum, Von Stollen and Flam Kish to a lesser extent. If the Soul Cannon is used to defeat Blutwurst, however, he looks upon its destructive power with ''awe'', potentially [[YourApprovalFillsMeWithShame nullifying any possible catharsis]] the player would obtain from using it:

** Here's the process of how a sacrifice happens in-game. After the child is selected, the game moves to a shot of the Soul Cannon Chamber area, before transitioning to a shot of the chamber door itself, with a plethora of indiscernible whisper-like noises being heard once it finally opens (as shown above). The camera takes a few steps forward and the door slams shut. Soon, the camera shakes as humming and whirring sounds occur, and the chamber flashes with blinding light from within as eldritch screech plays. Finally, sickly violet energy flows out of the chamber, the Soul Cannon comes to life and assembles itself, and the resulting energy blast takes up the entire height of the screen. And [[NoBodyLeftBehind nothing is left of the child]] afterwards aside from the trinket they left behind.
** A popular theory regarding the strange whisper noises is that they happen to be ''the distorted screams of past sacrifices''.

--->'''Flam:''' ''(unhinged)'' Kill me! ''[[StrikeMeDownWithAllYourHatred Kill me, like you killed my father!]]''

* The '''''entire existence''''' of the Soul Cannon. A single massive weapon grafted on the side of the Taranis, powerful enough to decimate an entire army in one shot, with only one itty-bitty catch: one of the children must ''[[PoweredByAForsakenChild give up their own life]]'' to provide it the needed energy to fire. Now fuelled and ready to fire, the cannon [[PurpleIsTheNewTrope glows a sickly violet]], and the resulting energy blast takes up the entire height of the screen. And [[NoBodyLeftBehind nothing is left of the child]] afterwards aside from the trinket they left behind.

** Here's the process of how a sacrifice happens in-game. After the child is selected, the game moves to a shot of the Soul Cannon Chamber area, before transitioning to a shot of the chamber door itself, with a plethora of indiscernible whisper-like noises being heard once it finally opens (as shown above). The camera takes a few steps forward and the door slams shut. Soon, the camera shakes as humming and whirring sounds occur, and afterwards the chamber flashed with blinding light from within as a distorted scream is heard. Finally, purple energy flows out of the chamber, and the Soul Cannon is set to fire. A popular theory regarding the strange whisper noises is that they happen to be ''the distorted screams of past sacrifices''.
** It's not made entirely clear just how powerful the Soul Cannon's blast of energy is, but Malt describes it in the tutorial as making the forest around them "messed up", and it's already an "I win" option that ends every boss fight early. Unsurprisingly, using it will prompt different dialogue from the Berman soldiers, having them express shock and horror upon seeing it. That said, take note of how the game establishes in its first chapter that Berman soldiers ''can'' escape their tanks and survive fights with the Taranis, and most boss fights normally end with the soldiers rushing to do this, with it being left ambiguous as to how often they actually succeed. If you use the Soul Cannon, on the other hand, it's made absolutely clear [[KilledOffForReal what happens to them]]:

* Flam Kish is an example of someone that happens to be ''[[MyCountryRightOrWrong completely]]'' indoctrinated into the Berman Empire's jingoistic ideology, and the result we get is a woman that absolutely detests everyone and everything outside of her home country. While she is somewhat sympathetic (or at least ''pitiful'') given that the children of the Taranis killed her father Colonel Pretzel in combat, this aspect of her is balanced out by her pure, unbridled wrath and disdain for the backwater "trash" of Gasco. And when Jin calls her out on coldly killing his father for dissent [[MoralMyopia despite her own grudge against the Taranis crew for killing Colonel Pretzel]], she makes it completely clear that she ''[[KickTheDog doesn't care]]'':

* Doktor Blutwurst is one of the key scientists of the Berman Imperial Army, and plays one of the most important roles in the Berman invasion of Gasco through rounding up Mau's spell-casting Felineko into a ''concentration camp'' and subject them to a LifeDrain to fuel "Bio-Batteries". While Hax merely treats these experiments as a means to an end for his greater plans, Blutwurst is instead a psychological tire fire of a MadScientist who ''[[{{Sadist}} relishes]]'' in the prospect of causing suffering and death among the Felineko. It's no wonder that he's the first adversary that the children [[EvenTheLovingHeroHasHatedOnes have no issue with killing outright]].
-->'''Blutwurst:''' Damn you... How DARE you interfere with my plans! I'll never hand over this laboratory or any of my materials to the likes of you!\\
'''Britz:''' You devil...! You still intend on continuing your wicked experiments!?\\
'''Blutwurst:''' Only General Hax recognizes how magnificent my plans are... Young whelps like you would never understand! The Felinekos possess an abundance of Bio-Energy, called Nono... By extracting this energy, we can create Bio-Batteries. This energy defies common sense, giving way to future progress! As such, every scientific advancement demands a sacrifice! ''(laughing hysterically)'' On the contrary, it is not a sacrifice— it is an ''honor'' for them!

--->'''The Radio Woman:''' My children, [[YouMonster this man is a monster]]! You must put an end to his experiments at any cost!
** As described above, Berman soldiers will usually react to the Soul Cannon with appropriate shock and horror, be they mere grunts or seasoned officers like Von Baum, Von Stollen or Flam Kish. If the Soul Cannon is used to defeat Blutwurst, however, he looks upon its destructive power with ''awe'', potentially [[YourApprovalFillsMeWithShame nullifying any possible catharsis]] the player would obtain from using it:
--->'''Blutwurst:''' Wh-what glorious energy…!! It even… exceeds all of my research…!?

* Flam Kish is an example of someone that happens to be ''[[MyCountryRightOrWrong completely]]'' indoctrinated into the Berman Empire's jingoistic ideology, and the result we get is a woman that absolutely detests everyone and everything outside of her home country. While she is somewhat sympathetic (or at least ''pitiful'') given that the children of the Taranis killed her father Colonel Pretzel in combat, this aspect of her is balanced out by her pure, unbridled wrath and disdain for the backwater "trash" of Gasco. It's best shown when Jin calls her out on coldly killing his father for dissent [[MoralMyopia despite her own grudge against the Taranis crew for killing Colonel Pretzel]]— her response is to metaphoically [[KickTheDog kick the Caninu down the road]]:

** Here's the process of how a sacrifice happens in-game. After the child is selected, the game moves to a shot of the Soul Cannon Chamber area, before transitioning to a shot of the chamber door itself, with a plethora of indiscernible whisper-like noises being heard once it finally opens (as shown above). The camera takes a few steps forward and the door slams shut. Soon, the camera shakes as humming and whirring sounds occur, and afterwards the chamber flashed with blinding light from within as a distorted scream is heard. Afterwards, the Soul Cannon is set to fire. A popular theory regarding the strange whisper noises is that they happen to be ''the distorted screams of past sacrifices''.

* Flam Kish is an example of someone that happens to be ''completely'' indoctrinated into the Berman Empire's jingoistic ideology, and the result we get is a woman that absolutely detests everyone and everything outside of her home country. While she is somewhat sympathetic (or at least ''pitiful'') given that the children of the Taranis killed her father Colonel Pretzel in combat, this aspect of her is balanced out by her pure, unbridled wrath.
** When Jin calls her out on killing his own father for dissent [[MoralMyopia even despite her own grudge against the Taranis crew]], her response is KickTheDog ''incarnate'':
--->'''Flam:''' It's presumptuous to compare us chosen people of Berman with worthless trash like you! ''(chuckles)'' You should rather feel honored that this filthy factory served our grand purpose...
* Doktor Blutwurst is one of the key scientists of the Berman Imperial Army, and plays one of the most important roles in Hax's greater plans. He's also a complete psychological tire fire with little in the way of self-restraint, wants the Felineko to suffer and die just because of his own inferiority complex towards them, and wastes his own soldiers like tissues to get what he wants.

** As described above, Berman soldiers will usually react to the Soul Cannon with appropriate shock and horror, be they mere grunts or seasoned officers like Von Baum, Von Stollen or Flam Kish. If the Soul Cannon is used to defeat Blutwurst, however, he looks upon its destructive power with awe, potentially [[YourApprovalFillsMeWithShame nullifying any possible catharsis]] the player would obtain from using it:

* '''''Everything''''' about the Soul Cannon. A single massive weapon grafted on the side of the Taranis, powerful enough to decimate an entire army in one shot, with only one itty-bitty catch: one of the children must ''[[PoweredByAForsakenChild give up their own life]]'' to provide it the needed energy to fire. Now fuelled and ready to fire, the cannon [[PurpleIsTheNewTrope glows a sickly violet]], and the resulting energy blast takes up the entire height of the screen. And [[NoBodyLeftBehind nothing is left of the child]] afterwards aside from the trinket they left behind…
** Here's the process of how a sacrifice happens in-game. After the child is selected, the game moves to a shot of the Soul Cannon Chamber area, before transitioning to a shot of the chamber door itself, with a plethora of indiscernible whisper-like noises being heard once it finally opens (as shown above). The camera takes a few steps forward and the door slams shut. Soon, the camera shakes as humming and whirring sounds occur, and afterwards the chamber glows with light from within as a distorted scream is heard. A popular theory regarding the whisper noises is that they happen to be ''the echoes of past sacrifices''.
** It's not made entirely clear just how powerful the Soul Cannon's blast of energy is, but Malt describes it in the tutorial as making the forest around them "messed up", and it's already an "I win" option that ends boss fights early. Unsurprisingly, using it will prompt different dialogue from the Berman soldiers, having them express shock and horror upon seeing it. Take note that the game does establish in its first chapter that Berman soldiers ''can'' escape their tanks and survive fights with the Taranis, and most boss fights normally end with the soldiers rushing to do this, with it being left ambiguous as to how often they actually succeed. If you use the Soul Cannon, on the other hand, it's made absolutely clear [[KilledOffForReal what happens to them]]:

** It's not made entirely clear just how powerful the Soul Cannon's blast of energy is, but Malt describes it in the tutorial as making the forest around them "messed up", and it's already an "I win" option that utterly ''obliterates'' bosses. Using it will prompt different dialogue from the Berman soldiers, having them express shock and horror upon seeing it, however brief it is. The game establishes in its first chapter that Berman soldiers ''can'' escape their tanks and survive fights with the Taranis, and most boss fights normally end with the soldiers rushing to do this, with it being left ambiguous as to how often they actually succeed. If you use the Soul Cannon, on the other hand, it's made absolutely clear [[KilledOffForReal what happens to them]]:
--->'''Lorelei pilot:''' W-withdraw! [[KilledMidSentence Withdr—]]

* '''''Everything''''' about the Soul Cannon. A single massive weapon grafted on the side of the Taranis, powerful enough to decimate an entire army in one shot, with only one itty-bitty catch: one of the children must ''[[PoweredByAForsakenChild give up their own life]]'' to provide it the needed energy to fire.