When they set their sights on bounty hunter Scarlett Martillo, they thought they had an easy target. They thought wrong. Now, she's on a rampage to settle an old score.
"And that's it for tonight's episode of Homicidal All-Stars! I have to say, these challengers are fun to watch! Tune in for tomorrow night's show to see if luck continues to be on their side. Don't miss it! For Homicidal All-Stars, I'm Joe Stern! Good night, everyone!"
—The Announcer
Showgunners is a 2023 Turn-Based Tactics game developed by Artificer and published by Good Shepherd Entertainment. You play as Scarlett Martillo, a woman who enters a Deadly Game in order to avenge her family.
Showgunners contains examples of the following tropes:
- Blood Knight: Everyone on the show is a hardened killer, but Zoe revels in the destruction that she causes.
- Cold Sniper: Phantom refuses to get close to anyone, especially after the loss of half of her and Marcus's previous team.
- Cycle of Hurting: If Freaks get within melee range, they will grab onto a contestant and stunlock them until they are targeted by an ally or kill the contestant.
- Elite Mooks: Omega Guards in the final levels. Better aim and health than the average scum, but still fairly easy to take down with good planning.
- Faceless Goons: Scum are the lowest of the low in when it comes to enemy lethality. Poor damage, poor aim and middling health means that they're often among the first enemies in a fight to hit the dirt. Especially in the late game, when most weapons will kill them in a single shot.
- From Camouflage to Criminal: Marcus used to be in the military, but was dishonourably discharged and signed up for Homicidal All-Stars so that he could hopefully leave a big payday behind for his family.
- Incurable Cough of Death: Marcus is slowly dying from something that is playing havoc on his lungs. The rejuvenation chambers have helped him last as long as he has, but he knows he doesn't have much time left.
- Killer Game Master: Mr. Ford's role as director makes him responsible for all the traps and complications that the contestants encounter. He takes it even further when he is revealed to have deliberately set Marty up to be killed in a bid to boost the ratings and attempts to increase the output of poison gas during a battle in order to kill Scarlett and her allies without giving them a chance to survive. Only the Judges intervention gets him to back down and return the gas levels to their previous manageable levels.
- Lawman Gone Bad: Scarlett (real name Maria) used to be a simple police officer with a family. Then Ulysses Derrick broke into her house and murdered her family so he could be placed on death row and sign up for Homicidal All-Stars. After seeing him become a celebrity, Maria handed in her gun and badge, had surgery to change her appearance and purchased a fake bounty hunting licence so that she could enter the show and kill Derrick and the show's director Mr. Ford.
- Mentor Occupational Hazard: Scarlett and Marty are ambushed at the start of the Abandoned Housing Block by Ulysses who takes the chance to curb stomp Marty.
- Railroad Tracks of Doom: The Old Quarter and Metro Central both have battles that take place on train tracks. Luring enemies onto the track, stunning them and leaving them to get run over will kill them instantly and nets quite a bit of fame as well.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Scarlett's entered the show with the intention of killing the reigning defender Ulysses Derrick for the murder of her husband and children just so that he could sign up for Homicidal All-Stars.
- Shoot the Medic First: The Muertas can heal wounded enemies and dish out some nasty damage with poison grenades. Taking them out early can save a lot of time and resources.
- Sir Swears-a-Lot: Zoe not only swears like a sailor, but has even been brainstorming a line of weapons named after swear words for the Eastern European market. Luckily for her marketing department, Tybalt points out the flaw in her idea.Tybalt: Look, I don't care how punk you are, you don't wanna call your product "shit-eater".Zoe: Hmm, you may have a point.
- Wrench Wench: Zoe not only knows how to use a minigun with terrifying efficiency, but she can build one as well.
