History VideoGame / DynamiteHeaddy

* FauxActionGirl: Heather appears to be an ActionGirl at first, going as far as to defeat one of the Keymasters before Headdy shows up, but later on in the game, she gets captured and must be rescued. Twice. Some may say that she deserves a break for some of this: The first time she was blindsided by the Nasty Gatekeeper, who showed up out of frickin' ''nowhere'', and the Japanese version explains the second one: [[spoiler:She was trying to [[IKnowYouAreInThereSomewhereFight reach out to Smiley]], and he attacked her in response]]. Still though...

* NoFourthWall: Played with, in that the characters are well aware that they're puppets in a puppet show, but aren't as obviously aware that they're characters in a video game.
** At one point, while you're passing through a fairly normal area, Trouble Bruin ''punches through the backdrop'' and drags you backstage.
*** This is also how he makes his entrance -- by pushing the backdrop ONTO Headdy, signaling the first boss fight.
** Oh, and the Secret boss? [[spoiler:[[VisualPun The Boss]] of Konami]].

* SchmuckBait: DON'T SHOOT.
** One of them is a [[GuideDangIt Secret Bonus Point]], too.
*** This one's crafty; if you're standing on the ground, you can only see the "SHOOT" part of the block (but you still see the DON'T upon jumping, so it's certainly not obvious).

* TheStinger: Played with in that it's a boss fight, not a cutscene.

* UnintentionallyUnwinnable: If you're on the top-right corner of the screen after Baby Face, and you skip the tally screens as fast as possible, Headdy will not have enough time to go to his spot, and will stop midway, locking the game. You can also kill Clothes Encounters off-screen by landing the final blow with the Super Head. This would almost make the game unwinnable, if it weren't for the fact that, around 4 minutes later, everything returns to normal. Videos here: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ar7f8bkVCyE]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElviLLHDY_Y]]

* AmericanKirbyIsHardcore: Trouble Bruin in the original Japanese version was called Maruyama, was purple and had wide round eyes and a goofy smile. The international version colored him brown and turned him into a PerpetualFrowner. Also, the American game cover compared to the European and Japanese ones. Many of the bosses within the game receive a similar change.
** The color change might just have been so you could tell he's supposed to be a bear and not a cat, though a lot of people just thought he was a brown cat, Especially as he seemed to a lot of people to say "m-m-meow" when he turned up. (It's actually saying "Ma-Ma-Ma-Ma-Maruyama.")

* ClippedWingAngel: Baby Face's final form. He only has one attack, a grab, and if he connects with it, he ''dies of old age'' before doing any harm.
** The secret boss will get really angry after you've hit him enough times, but at that point one more hit will defeat him for good.

* FauxActionGirl: Heather appears to be an ActionGirl at first, going as far as to defeat one of the Keymasters before Headdy shows up, but later on in the game, she gets captured and must be rescued. Twice.
** Some may say that she deserves a break for some of this: The first time she was blindsided by the Nasty Gatekeeper, who showed up out of frickin' ''nowhere'', and the Japanese version explains the second one: [[spoiler:She was trying to [[IKnowYouAreInThereSomewhereFight reach out to Smiley]], and he attacked her in response]]. Still though...

* ItsAllUpstairsFromHere: Act 5, which consists of one really tall tower.

* LargeHam: Trouble Bruin in the Japanese version. Full stop.

* LethalLavaLand: Act 3, Scene 1. Subverted in that it ends with Trouble Bruin bursting through the background and pulling Headdy backstage, where the rest of Act 3 takes place.
** Also subverted in that the lava, like everything else in the game, is fake.

* RecurringBoss: Trouble Bruin, a bear (although he looks more like a cat, really) who also has a detachable head but instead uses it to control a wide variety of strange attack vehicles, [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog Eggman-style]]. He is TheDragon to BigBad Dark Demon.

* ShoutOut: In addition to the many SciFi-related puns the international version gave to level names (e.g. "Mad Mechs", "Terminate Her Too", etc.), the bosses are called ''Keymasters'', and one of them as seen below is the ''Gatekeeper''. [[Film/{{Ghostbusters 1984}} Who ya gonna call?]]

* WidgetSeries: It's a game set in a puppet show, starring a puppet with a detachable head. The Widgetiness is especially high in the Japanese version, which contains robot kabuki performers, a gigantic doll firing EyeBeams, a bright purple bear with a fixed grin (referred to as Maruyama in that version, international versions call him Trouble Bruin), and bizarre dialogue.

* MoodWhiplash: Hey, it's a [[CloudCuckooland weird]] but friendly level full of cows and birds. And the boss is kinda easy and [[ActionGirl Heather]] is helping me out while they play happy music. Could this be a BreatherLevel?
** "HELP ME!" [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic Cue]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnwunBUlPFk metal]].

* PowerupLetdown: Vacuum Head is great for clearing away enemies and sucking up items but must be discarded if you need to do anything involving shooting your head to proceed, which is most of the time. Pig Head fires homing projectiles and is therefore similar to Vacuum Head but you can't get items either. Super Head's enhanced mobility will often send you flying into enemies or other hazards. Bomb Head makes you unable to do much of anything except avoid stuff while you're waiting for it to explode. War Head will sometimes lead to certain things being hit before you want them to.
* ProductPlacement: For itself. "Dynamite Headdy: Now on sale!"

* RiseToTheChallenge: Hangman's first appearance in stage 2-1, and the tower of Scene 5-2

* AdvancingBossOfDoom: Twin Freaks, known as Rever Face or Funny Angry in Japanese, is this.
* AlreadyDoneForYou: The Act 4 boss.

* AttackItsWeakPoint: Complete with onscreen '''TARGET''' notice and synthesized voice clip.

* CutsceneIncompetence: The Robo-Collector captures Headdy at the start but is no threat at all during gameplay. Also a rare unintentional example: Headdy jumps on the first few steps of the tower level on his own, but about 1 in 10 times, the programming omits something and he falls off, causing minor damage.

* HoldTheLine: The penultimate level has Trouble Bruin's [[HumongousMecha robot]] go out of control and chase ''both'' of you down a very long hallway. The robot is invincible, and Trouble Bruin himself may only be [[{{Determinator}} stunned]]. Trouble Bruin spends the whole sequence tackling and clinging on to you because he needs somebody to hug during the stressful experience, while you desperately TryNotToDie (and you can't let him touch you if you want the bonus point). ''For about four minutes.''

* HostageSpiritLink: In the second boss fight of Act 7.

* JustForPun: Most of the levels in the international version are puns of popular movies (e.g. [[StarWars Stair Wars]]), and TheDragon that looks like a cat but is really a bear is called "Trouble Bruin".

* AttackItsWeakPoint: Complete with onscreen '''TARGET''' notice and synthetized voice clip.

* BearsAreBadNews: [[PunnyName Trouble Bruin]] (Maruyama in japanese) and his Kuma Body, although he is [[InformedSpecies referred to as a cat-bear (who looks more feline than bears).]]

* ChainReactionDestruction: Bosses, minibosses and some pieces of scenery seem to have invisible explosive charges planted on them which activate when the object they're attached to is damaged enough.

** A rare non-GameShow example: when you get a final GameOver, you get the "confirm selection" sound, followed by an electronic groan sound (so a Type A, then).

* MadeOfExplodium: Most enemies make an explosion with a distinctive high-pitched sound. End-of-act bosses shower debris upon defeat, and collecting most of the debris earns a continue.

* UnwinnableByMistake: If you're on the top-right corner of the screen after Baby Face, and you skip the tally screens as fast as possible, Headdy will not have enough time to go to his spot, and will stop midway, locking the game. You can also kill Clothes Encounters off-screen by landing the final blow with the Super Head. This would almost make the game unwinnable, if it weren't for the fact that, around 4 minutes later, everything returns to normal. Videos here: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ar7f8bkVCyE]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElviLLHDY_Y]]
* UseYourHead: For combat, picking up objects, grabbing ledges, climbing walls, operating machinery, flying... pretty much everything that's not walking and jumping, really.

** A rare non-GameShow example: when you get a [[FinalDeath final]] GameOver, you get the "confirm selection" sound, followed by an electronic groan sound (so a Type A, then).

** The color change might just have been so you could tell he's supposed to be a bear and not a cat, though a lot of people just thought he was a brown cat, [[{{Mondegreen}} Especially as he seemed to a lot of people to say "m-m-meow" when he turned up]]. (It's actually saying "Ma-Ma-Ma-Ma-Maruyama.")

* BearsAreBadNews: [[PunnyName Trouble Bruin]] (Maruyama in japanese) and his Kuma Body.

* BonusStage: Most stages have one Liberty Head, which leads to an "intermission" MiniGame where machines spit out a continuous stream of basketballs (and the occasional bomb) and you must knock them into the two moving tiers of hoops above. There are three special hoops that do something different from awarding you a point if you dunk a basketball in them: a hoop with a basketball symbol that doubles the rate of basketball fire, a hoop with a "slow play" symbol that reduces the speed at which the hoops move, and a hoop with a Keymaster symbol that destroys one of the ball machines. There is no time limit for getting the requisite score to win; you lose by getting hit by too many bombs, getting both machines destroyed, or forfeiting by canceling the head. The reward for completing the bonus game is one digit of a four-digit password to be used at the end of game after the credits roll. With each digit you get, the number of baskets you need to make increases by five (from a starting value of five) and the frequency of bombs increases slightly. Once you have gotten all four digits, the Liberty Head icon will no longer appear on Headcase. One perk of entering the bonus game is that when you leave, whether you win or lose, your health is returned to maximum.

* {{Chickification}}: Heather appears to be an ActionGirl at first, going as far as to defeat one of the Keymasters before Headdy shows up, but later on in the game, she gets captured and must be rescued. Twice.
** Some may say that she deserves a break for some of this: The first time she was blindsided by the Nasty Gatekeeper, who showed up out of frickin' ''nowhere'', and the Japanese version explains the second one: [[spoiler:She was trying to [[IKnowYouAreInThereSomewhereFight reach out to Smiley]], and he attacked her in response]]. Still though...

* FrickinLaserBeams:
** Rocket Head fires lasers straight forward. Can penetrate certain barriers that the other shmup heads' projectiles cannot.
** Baby Face's third form fires lots of lasers at Headdy.
** When King Dark Demon's crystal ball flashes all colors, he will fire a massive beam that only Pin Head can avoid.

* ThisCannotBe: "[[LargeHam I CANNOT BELIEVE IT]]" (said by Dark Demon after beating most Keymasters)

** Oh, and the Secret boss? [[spoiler:[[VisualPun The Boss]] of Treasure]].

* IntangibleMan: Empty Head, which reduces Headdy to a white outline with no color inside. Rather one-sided, as you can still attack enemies but their attacks go right through you. Still vulnerable to NonLethalBottomlessPits and [[spoiler:damage from hitting Heather in fight with the Nasty Gatekeeper]].

* HoldTheLine: The penultimate level has Trouble Bruin's [[HumongousMecha robot]] go out of control and chase ''both'' of you down a very long hallway. The robot is invincible, and Trouble Bruin himself may only be [[{{Determinator}} stunned]]. Trouble Bruin spends the whole sequence tackling and clinging on to you because he needs somebody to hug during the stressful experience, while you desperately TryNotToDie. ''For about four minutes.''

* HealThyself: Sleepy Head. Headdy goes to sleep and gradually regains health until he is fully revitalized. Can be dangerous to use if you're currently under attack, although it can be canceled like most heads. There is also a non-head healing item, the [[HyperactiveMetabolism Banana]], which restores half of your maximum health.

* HyperactiveMetabolism: Bananas. "Yum yum!"

* AlwaysIdenticalTwins: Gatekeeper and Nasty Gatekeeper, known as Yayoi and Izayoi in Japanese, respectively, look identical with the exception of the claws and [[NightmareFuel more wicked looking face on the Nasty Gatekeeper]].

* BitchInSheepsClothing: The Gatekeeper offers false praise and thanks to Headdy for all of his hard work once he reaches her and implores him to leave as the location they are in [[BlatantLies is not King Dark Demon's castle and dawdling here would put everyone in danger]]. Heather promptly shows up and calls the Gatekeeper on her lying beginning the battle.

''Dynamite Headdy'' is a PlatformGame by Creator/{{Treasure}} with the unique feature of taking place in and behind the scenes of a puppet show. You control Headdy, a puppet with a [[LosingYourHead detachable head]] that can be used as a projectile, on a mission to confront King Dark Demon, a BigBad who has, quite literally, stolen the show. On your way you meet helpers such as Hangman, an animate handhold; Headcase, a walking box with a rotating selection of power-up heads inside; Beau, a visitor from FluffyCloudHeaven who points out [[AttackItsWeakPoint bosses' weak points]]; and Fingy, a mysterious woman with detachable hands.

* AdvancingBossOfDoom: Rever Face, also known as Twin Freaks or Funny Angry, is this.

* AlwaysIdenticalTwins: Yayoi and Izayoi, also known as the Gatekeeper and Nasty Gatekeeper respectively, look identical with the exception of the claws and [[NightmareFuel more wicked looking face on Izayoi]].
* AIRoulette: Bosses that notably use this include Maruyama's Flying Scythe and FinalBoss King Dark Demon.

* AmericanKirbyIsHardcore: Trouble Bruin in the original Japanese version was called Maruyama, was purple and had wide round eyes and a goofy smile. The USA version colored him brown and turned him into a PerpetualFrowner. Also, the USA game cover compared to the EU and JP ones. Many of the bosses within the game receive a similar change.

* BackgroundBoss: Motor Head, also known as Spinderella, is a very notable example, as he can switch the camera's perspective to make it so Headdy is in the background, and the camera faces his back.
* BaitAndSwitchBoss: At the end of the second world it seems that Headdy is going against Maruyama's Octopus Trap machine, but as soon as he starts moving, Bounty Boundy, the real boss, falls from the sky and crushes Maruya, who gets stuck under Bounty Boundy for the entirety of the fight!

* BearsAreBadNews: Maruyama and his Kuma Body / [[PunnyName Trouble Bruin]].

* BitchInSheepsClothing: Yayoi offers false praise and thanks to Headdy for all of his hard work once he reaches her and implores him to leave as the location they are in [[BlatantLies is not King Dark Demon's castle and dawdling here would put everyone in danger]]. Fingy promptly shows up and calls Yayoi on her lying beginning the battle.

* BossOnlyLevel: All end-of-act bosses and most Maruyama battles get their own scene. There are two entire acts where all the danger takes place in boss fights: Act 7 against Yayoi & Izayoi, and Act 9 against Maruyama's Super Finagler (which has other obstacles to worry about as well).
* BountyHunter: Bounty Boundy, also known as Mad Dog, is this. Being only the Keymaster to have been hired by King Dark Demon to kill Headdy.
* BreatherLevel: Invoked and then subverted in Stage 7, which is very short with two easy bonus points and a Liberty Head (bonus stage), and no enemies until reaching a geisha-looking robot called [[BreatherBoss Yayoi]]. Then you get punished gruesomely for your naive belief that the game would be so kind by having to face her sister, Izayoi, and the rest of the game past this point is [[NintendoHard no better]].

* {{Chickification}}: Fingy appears to be an ActionGirl at first, going as far as to defeat one of the Keymasters before Headdy shows up, but later on in the game, she gets captured and must be rescued. Twice.
** Some may say that she deserves a break for some of this: The first time she was blindsided by Yayoi, who showed up out of frickin' ''nowhere'', and the Japanese version explains the second one: [[spoiler:She was trying to [[IKnowYouAreInThereSomewhereFight reach out to Smiley]], and he attacked her in response]]. Still though...
* ClimaxBoss: The end-of-act bosses are Keymasters (well, at least from act 2 through 6), but Yayoi (end of act 7) is certainly one. If the Keymasters count, Twin Freaks (end of Act 8) does too.

* CorruptCorporateExecutive: The BonusBoss is the incredibly greedy boss of the theater, and his two henchmen. In the Japanese Version, he is actually supposed to be [[TakeThat the President of Konami]].

* CulturalTranslation: There are several. The Level names in western releases are parodies of Movie/Music names while in the Japanese version, they just give the general level idea in a simple phrase. The Geisha in Scene 7 is replaced by a robot who is far less threatening when they change forms, as the original had sharper claws than the robot. In stage 4 of the Japanese version, Mons Meg was a large doll named Rebecca. Maruyama was changed from Purple to Brown in the western version. The Heavy head's icon was changed from the Japanese characters to a large onion of some type. Even the ending has some minor differences. [[spoiler:In the Japanese version, Smiley latches onto Headdy's head and he tries pulling it off humorously, while in the Western releases Fingy hugs Headdy, though this may be because there was no dialogue in the Western release.]]

* DidntNeedThoseAnyway: The Dresser and Baby Face, in different ways. Dresser is vulnerable after losing everything, but quickly brings in new stuff afterwards. Baby Face slowly loses faces until he runs out.

* EvilIsHammy: King Dark Demon's voice samples in both versions. In the Japanese version, most of the boss characters, especially Maruyama (Trouble Bruin), serve up some [[AffablyEvil oft-affable]] ham in their text-only speeches.

* {{Geisha}}: Yayoi and Izayoi both appear to be designed after one.
* GimmickLevel: Besides Act 6's UnexpectedShmupLevel, Act 3 starts with an area that has depth, so Headdy can move up and down as would be ordinarily seen in a BeatEmUp. Then Maruyama pulls Headdy backstage, ending the gimmick.

* HoldTheLine: The penultimate level has Maruyama's [[HumongousMecha robot]] go out of control and chase ''both'' of you down a very long hallway. The robot is invincible, and Maruyama himself may only be [[{{Determinator}} stunned]]. Maruyama spends the whole sequence tackling and clinging on to you because he needs somebody to hug during the stressful experience, while you desperately TryNotToDie. ''For about four minutes.''

* HostileShowTakeover: The event that kicks off the plot, with King Dark Demon forcibly derailing the puppet show from whatever it was originally going to be about. Also referenced in the Japanese version before the fight with Maruyama in Act 3, Scene 2, which helps explain his motive:
-->'''Maruyama:''' Let's begin the next scene right now! It's time for Dynamite Maruyama's entrance!
* HumanShield: Yayoi spends most of her fight using Fingy to shield her weak spot.

* IntangibleMan: Empty Head, which reduces Headdy to a white outline with no color inside. Rather one-sided, as you can still attack enemies but their attacks go right through you. Still vulnerable to NonLethalBottomlessPits and [[spoiler:damage from hitting Fingy in fight with Yayoi]].

* JustForPun: Most of the levels in the US version are puns of popular movies (e.g. [[StarWars Stair Wars]]), and TheDragon that looks like a cat but is really a bear is called "Trouble Bruin" in the US version.
* KamehameHadoken: King Dark Demon has a beam attack that fills most of the screen.
* LargeHam: Maruyama in the Japanese version. Full stop.
** All versions have King Dark Demon with his EvilLaugh and his take on ThisCannotBe.
* LethalLavaLand: Act 3, Scene 1. Subverted in that it ends with Maruyama bursting through the background and pulling Headdy backstage, where the rest of Act 3 takes place.

** The track “That’s The Way The Boss Is Killed” is only heard when you first fight Trouble Bruin, and since he goes down in two hits, you’ll only hear the first 30 seconds of the track and never hear the part that plays after it before it loops around.

* MoodWhiplash: Hey, it's a [[CloudCuckooland weird]] but friendly level full of cows and birds. And the boss is kinda easy and [[ActionGirl Fingy]] is helping me out while they play happy music. Could this be a BreatherLevel?

** At one point, while you're passing through a fairly normal area, Maruyama ''punches through the backdrop'' and drags you backstage.

** For the first Act 7 boss, if Fingy gets into position to throw a key at Yayoi a little too late, she'll try anyway, but Yayoi will get out of the way in time, sending Fingy into this trope as she scrambles to get the key back.
** After what looks like a BreatherLevel in 7 you beat an easy boss then suddenly the background turns dark, revealing the enemy's castle, evil music starts playing, and [[DifficultySpike Yayoi]] arrives.

* PoisonMushroom: Head Trip (known as the Buddha Head in Japan), a massive head made of metal which slows you down a lot and prevents you from jumping or shooting, and it makes strange faces too. It can't be canceled. It has a distressing tendency to show up during boss fights.

* PublicDomainSoundtrack: The Nutcracker plays during the Mad Dog/Bouncy Boundy Boss fight complete with an orchestra and composer playing the music in the background.

** The two puppets composing the puppeteer boss were originally named Marrio & Nettoh. (''marionette'')

* RecurringBoss: Maruyama, a bear (although he looks more like a cat, really) who also has a detachable head but instead uses it to control a wide variety of strange attack vehicles, [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog Eggman-style]]. He is TheDragon to BigBad King Dark Demon.

* ShouldersOfDoom: King Dark Demon has what appear to be green ''statues'' sprouting from the shoulders of his costume. ''Animated'' green statues.
* ShoutOut: In addition to the many SciFi-related puns the US version gave to level names (e.g. "Mad Mechs", "Terminate Her Too", etc.), the bosses are called ''Keymasters'', and one of them as seen below is the ''Gatekeeper''. [[Film/{{Ghostbusters 1984}} Who ya gonna call?]]

** Also played straight in the ending cutscene where [[SequelHook Maruyama takes control of the ruined castle]].
* StockAnimalName: Bruin is Dutch for brown, and a lot of bears in Dutch fiction are named after their brown coloring. This is somewhat weird because he was originally colored purple and had a different name.

* ThemeNaming: Headdy has a detachable head. Fingy (Heather in the English version) has detachable fingers.
* ThisCannotBe: "[[LargeHam I CANNOT BELIEVE IT]]" (said by King Dark Demon after beating most Keymasters)

* TrickBoss: Yayoi seems like an unusually easy boss for her place in the game, as she only has two, fairly telegraphed attacks and you don't even have to attack her yourself. After defeating him at first and revealing the ominous castle in the background, though, her sister, Izayoi, shows up and continues the battle.

* TheUnfought: Fingy beats one of the bosses for you; you never get to fight or even see her. Maruyama also has a machine that you never fight because a Keymaster falls on it.

* WarmupBoss: The first fight with Maruyama, especially in the Japanese version where the balls of light don't do damage, though he's not a danger in the NA version either given he has 2 HP and you will have at least 14. Mad Dog, the boss of Act 2, probably counts as well; she has more health and a variety of attacks, but compared to the rest of the game, still a cakewalk, especially with all the goodies Headcase brings to the fight.

* WidgetSeries: It's a game set in a puppet show, starring a puppet with a detachable head. The Widgetiness is especially high in the Japanese version, which contains robot kabuki performers, a gigantic doll firing EyeBeams, a bright purple bear with a fixed grin (referred to as Maruyama), and bizarre dialogue.

* DifficultySpike: Act 6 is an UnexpectedShmupLevel that doesn't hold back on those unaccustomed to the genre. Followed up by Act 7, which brings gameplay back to normal, but features a difficult boss which represents the start of an overall challenging endgame.

* StockAnimalName: Bruin is Dutch for brown, and a lot of bears in Dutch fiction are named after their brown coloring. This is somewhat of a weird because he was originally colored purple and had a different name.

* MeaningfulName: Bruin's name is Dutch for brown. It's also a common name for bears in Dutch children stories, making him veer into the territory of ADogNamedDog.

* HyperactiveMetabolism: Jelly Beans. "Yum yum!"