Line #18 YMMV/Helltaker


1	[[foldercontrol]]
2	[[folder:The Video Game]]
3	* {{Adorkable}}: Despite being a hardened protagonist, Helltaker treats gathering a harem of cute demon girls as SeriousBusiness, grinning and fist-pumping whenever he succeeds at charming one of them at the end of each level. And he loves making chocolate crepes!
4	* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Given how little Helltaker seems to care that his mission was [[AllForNothing functionally a failure]], it's easy to get the idea his view of a "harem" is a circle of close friends or roommates rather than a romantic circle devoted to one person, meaning he actually did get what he wanted in the end, and possibly made Azazel more accepting of her sexuality.
5	* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: Mittsies provides all of the music for this game, and all of the tracks are awesome.
6	** [[https://mittsies.bandcamp.com/track/vitality-2 "Vitality"]], the main gameplay theme. Little wonder everyone dances to its beat.
7	** [[https://mittsies.bandcamp.com/track/apropos-2 "Apropos"]], the main menu theme. It provides a very dark, foreboding undercurrent (rather appropriate for Beelzebub), and to show the Helltaker's determination.
8	** [[https://mittsies.bandcamp.com/track/epitomize-2 "Epitomize"]], Judgement's theme. The dark beats and heavy bass really scream, "ignite the sin machine!"
9	** [[https://mittsies.bandcamp.com/track/luminescent-2 "Luminescent"]], the theme for the game's ending where the Helltaker talks to his harem. It provides a fitting backdrop to the equally silly ending.
10	** [[https://mittsies.bandcamp.com/track/alchemy-2 "Alchemy"]], the theme for the levels of ''Examtaker''. It really sets the stage of Loremaster's vision of Hell being remarkably different from before.
11	** [[https://mittsies.bandcamp.com/track/titanium-2 "Titanium"]], the song for the FinalBoss of ''Examtaker''. The dark thumping beats provide a brisk backdrop to the BrutalBonusLevel that is this boss fight.
12	%%
13	%%
14	%% Do not add Broken Base about Examtaker until six months after the DLC's release.
15	%% The earliest Broken Base may be added about it is November 11, 2021.
16	%%
17	%%
18	* DracoInLeatherPants: ''The entire cast'' got hit with this when the game came out. Most of the harem are shown to be willing to horribly murder the Helltaker for being a slight annoyance at worst, and are either shown or implied to be regularly causing mischief, damage and other crazy (and illegal, considering the arrival of the Police in the Normal ending) antics during their stay with him. Meanwhile, the Helltaker's quest from start to finish was entirely for his own selfish desires. Despite this, they are often portrayed as NotEvilJustMisunderstood, a bad case of {{Tsundere}} at worst in fanart, or outright heroic.
19	* {{Fanon}}: Many fans believe the officer angel from the NonStandardGameOver is ArchangelMichael.
20	* FanonWelding: The FriendlyFandoms between this game and ''VideoGame/{{DOOM}}'' gave rise to humorous idea of Helltaker and Doomguy/Doomslayer being relatives of some sort, with them being either father and son or brothers. Most of this crossover deals with the hilarity of how they have completely opposite views on dealing with demons, with Doomguy usually showing up pissed that his own flesh-and-blood would "lay" with morally bankrupt demons instead of slaying them.
21	* FriendlyFandoms:
22	** With the fandom of ''VisualNovel/DokiDokiLiteratureClub'' since this and ''Helltaker'' are free-to-play games featuring a harem of cute {{Animesque}} girls. It's easy to come across a crossover fanart of these two.
23	** Also, ''VideoGame/{{DOOM}}'', mostly because of the crossover of extra manly men entering Hell to slay demons, for differing definitions of the word "slay."
24	** ''WesternAnimation/HazbinHotel'' and ''WebAnimation/HelluvaBoss'', being series about loveable demons in Hell, have a not insignificant amount of fandom overlap with ''Helltaker''.
25	** ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' fans have a good-natured relationship with the Helltaker fandom because of the humorously similar plot of collecting demons.
26	* GeniusBonus:
27	** In the Apocryphal [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Enoch Book of Enoch]], [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azazel Azazel]] is one of the fallen angels who married humans, fitting for the only angel in the game who joined the Helltaker's harem. However, given the implications from both the game and Vanripper that Azazel is only interested in [[CuteMonsterGirl the Demons]], this interpretation still fits, as the fallen Watchers were described as "sons of God" who fell for "daughters of Man."
28	*** Taken further in Examtaker, which [[spoiler:sees her taking over Hell and running it like a laboratory for her research, which ties in with the Apocryphal interpretation of Azazel as someone who provided pre-deluge man with [[TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow forbidden sciences]] against God's will]].
29	** Minor, but [[spoiler:Beelzebub's animation with the tissue actually resembles [[https://j.gifs.com/yEBLYj.gif how flies]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8B9ENsLNS-Q clean themselves]]; wiping their hands, then their head.]]
30	** The Abyssal Prisoner's "This is the best day of my life" reaction to being offered pancakes fits with some interpretations of the demon in Christian theology, which [[spoiler:equates Beelzebub with the sin of gluttony.]]
31	** The lapel pin Lucifer wears with her business outfit is the Sigil of Lucifer. It's not just an accessory, it's also a name tag.
32	** In the ''Examtaker'' DLC, the loading screen is branded with a certain sigil [[spoiler:associated with Azazel]], [[HiddenInPlainSight providing a hint as to the Loremaster's true identity]].
33	* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff:
34	** A considerable Japanese fanbase developed rather quickly, likely due to all the {{Cute Monster Girl}}s. Lucifer, Modeus, Justice, and Cerberus even get [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/img_9250.jpeg their own]] Toys/{{Nendoroid}}s!
35	** This game also became massively popular in South Korea as well, and there are already several fan dubbings (including one done by [[https://youtu.be/oo72F7rM1nU professional Korean]] [[https://youtu.be/cb2AhuJuQqw voice actors]], featuring the Korean voice actress of [[Franchise/StarWars Rey]]) and even fan animations and fan parodies (including political cartoons) created by Korean artists.
36	* HilariousInHindsight: [[https://twitter.com/Womort/status/1361345406936973312?s=20 This]] fan theory about Azazel became increasingly funny in the run-up to the Examtaker DLC.
37	* ItsShortSoItSucks: One of the few complaints people have about the game is that it's very short, able to be completed in its entirety in a single sitting. The game can be completed in twenty minutes if you know what you're doing, and it's possible to [[OneHundredPercentCompletion get all of the achievements]] in under an hour. The game being free helps mitigate this somewhat, but it's still very short.
38	* MemeticMutation:
39	** A [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wT7Ri3nD1s Party Parrot]] parody quickly surfaced from the dancing demon sprites.
40	** Helltaker's uncanny resemblance to Kazuma Kiryu from the ''VideoGame/LikeADragon'' series led to several crossover jokes of how "This is what would happen to [[CelibateHero Kiryu]] if he learned what sex is." Though, [[AllForNothing considering the implications in the game,]] it's possible it's just plain old Kiryu.
41	** Cerberus quickly got mixed up with a bunch of dog/wolf memes like Awoo, Gyate Gyate, and the Cone of Shame.
42	** GLORIOUS SUCCESS[[labelnote:Explanation]]This message appears after completing the last level and upon getting the secret ending, complete with sparkly-eyes dancing skeletons. It took off as a reference to this game, especially its mountains of fan art.[[/labelnote]]
43	** Jokes about Helltaker changing his plans and becoming a Heaventaker instead (by assembling a harem of angels instead) in Azazel's ending got bandied around by some fans.
44	* {{Moe}}:
45	** The Japanese side of the fandom quickly brought out Lucifer's moe-like points -- according to the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wT7Ri3nD1s Party Parrot]] parody, Lucy's real moe is the combination of her long-suffering ("crybaby") CEO status with her cute newlywed housewife (plus ''apron'') appeal in the ending.
46	** Cerberus, a trio of adorable LittleBitBeastly demon girls with the personality of a rambunctious puppy.
47	** Modeus, the nymphomaniac who's somewhat naive views of romance come from reading erotic literature. I guess you can call her, [[IncrediblyLamePun Moe-deus]].
48	* NightmareFuel:
49	** While the art-style is cutesy and most actions happen through text, the various descriptions of the "bad endings" can be terrifying if thought about. So many gruesome descriptions of death and mutilation happening to Helltaker, whether it's neck-snapping, sledgehammer knee-capping, blood-bursting throat-slashing and more.
50	** The implications laid during the events of ''Examtaker'' are pretty disturbing. From [[spoiler: Azazel becoming the MadScientist Loremaster who ''conquered Hell'' and lost her arms in the process, to the implied sheer number of gruesome demon-human hybrids if Subject 667's name is any indication.]]
51	* RecurringFanonCharacter: Amazingly enough for a character who was never intended to be part of the story in the first place, Generic the Template Demon, who as her name suggests was the baseline design that every other demon girl's appearance was developed using, got an impressively high amount of popularity once the concept bible page featuring her was released, mainly since her design is rather unique among the girls ''because'' she's so basic. Plenty of fanart has been made about her, usually going the route of being TheGenericGirl as befitting her name.
52	* RetroactiveRecognition: After Mittsies got a massive ColbertBump from having their music used for this game, a plethora of gamers looked back on their music catalogue and found themselves experiencing memories of 2012 and beyond, involving a decent number of... NSFW fan-games for ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' that Mittsies themself made to go with said music.
53	* ThatOneLevel:
54	** Level IX has become notorious for its difficulty for players. Despite having no enemies or spikes, you must follow an exact pattern of steps so as to not run out of them and having to start all over again or, more likely, get hopelessly stuck and have to start all over again.
55	** The part after that, however, is flat out NintendoHard. With the other levels, you can at least cheat and look up the solution to the puzzle, but this level is a straight-up boss fight requiring fast reflexes and a '''''lot''''' of patience.
56	** Pretty much the entirety of ''Examtaker'' is seen as [[SequelDifficultySpike much more challenging]] than the base game, with level 5 and the FinalBoss being exceptionally frustrating.
57	[[/folder]]
58
59	[[folder:The Webcomic]]
60	* MemeticMutation:
61	** [[https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EuRwcw1XEAAyoYl?format=jpg&name=large Modeus' shocked face]] at being told that porn isn't real became a popular reaction image pretty quickly.
62	** [[https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Eu1XejXXcAUAKV7?format=jpg&name=large The disbelieving expression that Justice makes]] at being told the same thing as Modeus also became a reaction meme.
63	* PopularWithFurries: While there was already notable interest in the game due to the LittleBitBeastly Cerberus and some of the artist's previous work, the reveal in the comics that the demons are capable of shapeshifting into furry forms (such as [[https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/001/898/044/eaa.jpg Lucifer turning into a goat-girl]]) brought the fandom around full force, with Lucifer's aforementioned case getting the brunt of the fanart. The fact that Lucifer herself outright references furries is the cherry on top of this whole thing.
64	* RecurringFanonCharacter: Ever since she was revealed to exist, Baphomet the goat-fetishist demon became a very popular OCStandIn for fan-content. But what really solidified her fandom status was when Pixiv artist Grizz [[https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/89066196 made a series of comics that were so close to Vanripper's comics in artstyle and writing]] that their version of the character became the permanent unofficial design for all fanart of her going forwards.
65	[[/folder]]

Context YMMV / Helltaker