"I hunt... and fight... and kill, until the end of my curse."
— Chakan
Chakan: The Forever Man is a comic series made by RAK Graphics that was made into a Sega Genesis video game. It tells the story of Chakan, a sorcerer and a warrior of great skill that was so unbeatable, he declared that Death himself would not be able to beat him. Death, upon hearing this made a deal with Chakan. If Chakan wins, he gets eternal life, but if Chakan loses, his soul belongs to Death for him to do with as he wishes. Chakan accepts and the two did battle. Eventually, Chakan won the fight and was granted his gift. However, this gift turned out to be a curse as Chakan's visage was made to match that of Death's, and he is in constant torment by the visions of evil. If Chakan destroys all the evil in the physical and elemental planes, only then would he be granted eternal rest.
Chakan: The Forever Man the video game is notorious for being incredibly difficult, with unforgiving platforming elements and enemies that seem to come out of nowhere. However, it has won itself a small, yet devoted, fanbase.
Tropes:
- Adaptation Expansion: Despite the Game Gear version being significantly trimmed down for a handheld experience, the final rematch with Death is changed from a simple Hopeless Boss Fight at the end, to an entire extra unique level and final encounter.
- Alchemy Is Magic: The main source of power-ups in the game, mixing potions to cast spells.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Chakan won his duel with Death, and was granted eternal life. An eternal life where he'd lose most of his powers, and be tortured by feeling the pain of the victims of supernatural evil. His only hope of release is to hunt down and kill every single monster in the world.
- The Bad Guy Wins: Death's conditions for the duel perpetuated a Heads I Win, Tails You Lose scenario; in victory he would've had Chakan's soul anyway, but in defeat, he curses Chakan in a way that essentially manipulates the immortal into being his personal little reaper on Earth for eternity. When it seems like the stipulation of killing all supernatural evil is met, Death springs the reveal that "supernatural evil" is a cosmic issue, meaning Chakan's efforts were moot and Death rigged their duel one way or another.
- Broke Your Arm Punching Out Cthulhu: Congratulations, Chakan, for defeating Death and achieving eternal life. Shame it's more of a curse that puts you in eternal torment.
- Brought Down to Badass: In being given his condition, Chakan lost all the magic that let him stand one-to-one with Death and win. Now he's "merely" the greatest warrior who ever lived.
- Color-Coded Elements: The elemental effects you can imbue your swords with are fire (orange flames), water/ice (blue flames), wind (blue electricity) and earth (green electricity).
- Deal with the Devil: The protagonist's deal with Death (who predictably turns out to be a Jerkass Genie).
- Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Chakan defeats Death and is given his reward of eternal life. The post credits boss can also be defeated.
- Driven to Suicide: Believing his curse to be broken, Chakan turns his sword on himself. It doesn’t work.
- Dual Wielding: Chakan's default weapons are a pair of swords: an Eastern ninjato and a Western cruciform blade.
- Easy-Mode Mockery: If you're playing on Practice mode, you can't get to the second half of the game except through a secret method.note
- Evil Is Petty: Death's defeat at Chakan's hands caused him to inflict the immortality he promised, only for Chakan to realize the hard away over the millennium that it's just straight up a curse that has horribly maimed his body with degradation from a lack of eternal youth to accompany it. Again, this was a condition Death offered for his loss, as Chakan merely accepted the challenge after boasting he could defeat Death. Even worse, he goes out of his way to mock Chakan when he thinks he's defeated all supernatural evil, as in both the graphic novel and the game, Death points out that the immortal is stuck on a single little planet compared to the vast cosmos that inevitably has evil that can never be cleansed; Chakan can never truly be free, ever.
- Flame Spewer Obstacle: In the first level of the video game, there are heads that shoot out flames, acting as an obstacle.
- Hearts Are Health: Played with, as Chakan's health bar is represented by skulls.
- Hopeless Boss Fight: Unless you're sufficiently equipped, the post credits boss.
- It Has Only Just Begun: Death taunts Chakan with this in the game's credits.
- Jackass Genie: Death bestows Chakan with eternal life as promised. This did not include eternal youth. He then promises to undo the curse if Chakan destroys all evil, only to reveal at the end that he meant Chakan has to destroy all evil in the UNIVERSE.
- No Ending: If you somehow do manage to beat the Hopeless Boss Fight after the credits, Chakan's immortality problem still won't be solved and you're treated to the hourglass screen for a LONG time until the small Sequel Hook stinger appears.
- One-Winged Angel: The game's intro shows Death's duel with Chakan with Death in usual Grim Reaper skeleton form. At the end of the game you face Death again, this time as a very Giger-esque monstrosity that is three times Chakan's height.
- Overly Long Gag: After defeating the post-credits boss, you're treated to an hourglass ending screen for fifteen minutes, then "NOT the end" appears.
- The Problem with Fighting Death: Chakan learns this the hard way.
- Purpose-Driven Immortality: Deconstructed; Chakan is given an astronomical task which he must complete before he can be allowed to die. This, along with his withered state, causes him great anguish.
- Scare Chord: Chakan's battle cry right there at the Sega logo.
- Sequel Hook: "NOT the end", says the hourglass ending screen. Unfortunately, the Dreamcast sequel was cancelled. Elements of the sequel would eventually be recycled in Blood Omen II.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: Even if you beat the game and defeat Death a second time, Chakan never regains his mortality.
- The Stinger: Except it's a boss fight, not a cutscene.
- Time Abyss:
- The dragonfly king has have lived for millions of years, and seeks to rebuild his primeval kingdom, assumedly from the Carboniferous era
. This would make him literally older than the dinosaurs. - Chakan himself. He's lived for "only" a thousand years in comparison, but he definitely hasn't enjoyed it.
- The dragonfly king has have lived for millions of years, and seeks to rebuild his primeval kingdom, assumedly from the Carboniferous era
- Timed Mission: You're only given so much time to complete a level before it kicks you out and you have to start it over again. Luckily, there's an alchemical spell you can use to flip the hourglass over and reset your timer.
- Who Wants to Live Forever?: The whole purpose of Chakan's mission is to be free of his immortality.
