Characters from Hellsinker. Unmarked spoilers below.
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Graveyard
Deadliar
His playstyle focuses on single precision strikes using his Linear Blades as well as careful positioning of his Misteltoe partner Togari-maru. He also has a special ability called Narrow Pierce that allows his normal shots to pierce his enemies. His discharge is Carnage Raid.
- The Ageless
- Armor-Piercing Attack: His Narrow Pierce shots that are activated by mashing the fire button.
- Awesome, but Impractical: His charged main attack can deal enough damage to One-Hit Kill bosses. You just have to hold down the main attack button for 60 seconds, which in a fast-paced shmup with a traditional arcade-style stage structure is a very long time.
- Black Box: His previous nickname, but he is also true to the spirit of the trope.
- Blade Below the Shoulder: His Linear Blades.
- Dead All Along: Not really, but many others believe that he's really this and lying about being alive.
- Difficult, but Awesome: Deadliar's playstyle is relatively difficult to master because all of his attacks are very focused, leaving him with limited crowd-control options, but getting to grips with him results in a potent fighter who can pick off targets in the exact order and timing that the player wants.
- The One Guy: If you don't count Minogame (who is a hermaphrodite, but referred to with male pronouns), he's the only character in the playable roster who is male.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: On paper, his name is supposed to be Tsumura Akihiro, but many doubt that it's his real name.
- Razor Wind: His main damage tool is him swiping with his Linear Blades, creating razor-sharp gusts of wind in the process.
- Red Baron: He was called Blackbox at first, but people later called him Deadliar because of his uncanny ability of always getting back in one piece despite his power being average at best.
- Shrouded in Myth: No one knows how this guy operates or even who he really is. There are even those who believe he is actually dead but lying about being alive, hence his name. His previous nickname, Blackbox, was earned precisely because of his unknown nature.
- The Stoic: A reason for his first nickname "Blackbox" was because it was impossible to tell how he worked or thought.
- Trapped Behind Enemy Lines: Was part of the first mission to the Cardinal Shaft and almost reached the core, but the mission failed and he was trapped. Not until six months later when the second expedition arrived did an opportunity arise where he could escape. How he managed to survive those six months is anyone's guess.
Togari-maru
- Blood Knight: Shows definite traits of this.
- Deadpan Snarker: Apparently got this trait from Deadliar.
- Fastball Special: Often literally thrown into combat by Deadliar.
- Fiery Redhead
Fossil Maiden
Her playstyle focuses on high damage to single targets at close range as well as area denial using Saraga-maru. In other words, a straight-up danmaku shooter with a few notable exceptions. She is also able to use the Bacillus Cloak, which grants her invulnerability for its duration. Her discharge is Curtain-Riser.
- Braids of Action
- Dark and Troubled Past
- Handicapped Badass: Suffers from several lost senses, most notably her sight, but thanks to her Synchronization with Saraga-maru, she is able to both see and feel.
- Heroic Mime: Like Kagura, she has no in-game dialogue.
- Homing Lasers: Can shoot them with two rapid taps of the fire button when the Luna gauge is maxed out.
- Laser Blade: Uses Saraga-maru as one.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Even more so than Deadliar.
- Sense Loss Sadness: Suffered from this before meeting Saraga-maru.
- Synchronization: With Saraga-maru.
Saraga-maru
- The Heart
- Laser Blade: Able to be used as one.
- Synchronization: With Fossil Maiden.
Minogame
Minogame is a wide area nuker, specialising at dealing heavy damage to multiple targets. They also focuses on comboing their attacks with each other to generate even more damage. Their discharge is Azure Lotus.
- The Ageless: As they are made as an artificial god, it of course includes the perk of not aging.
- Ambiguous Gender Identity: Due to being a hermaphrodite, others have difficulty pinpointing what gender they are. The manual states that they are referred to as male for convenience purposes, but the official Steam page
uses "they" pronouns. - Artificial Human: Was created as an artificial god by an unnamed organization.
- Badass Normal: They're so powerful that they don't need a Mistletoe to fight, not that they can equip one without destroying the Mistletoe anyways.
- Brought Down to Badass: Those power limiters have weakened him severly, but that doesn't stop them from kicking ass and having some of the greatest damage potential in the game despite that fact.
- Combos: A central part of his playstyle is to use many of his moves in tandem with each other in order to maximize his damage potential.
- Deity of Mortal Creation: Part of their backstory was that they were made as a god by some kind of cult as an object of worship.
- Depending on the Artist: Out of all the characters in the game, Minogame was perhaps hit by this trope the most with depictions of their physical traits varying wildly as to just how masculine or feminine they look. As a simple example, the initial art for the game portrayed them as having small breasts while art for the much later Steam release showcased them with a clearly masculine torso.
- Duality Motif: Rife with it. The most obvious are their eyes with one brown and one blue. Add to that that they're a hermaphrodite and the constant mentions of his ability to manipulate both Sol and Luna.
- Hermaphrodite: It's brought up that this is a little difficult to tell because they have a relatively youthful appearance.
- Homing Lasers: "Reality Hedge" and its stronger version "Revolving Theater - Hell".
- Meaningful Name: Minogame (θδΊ) is, in Japanese mythology, a symbol for wisdom and long life, further cementing his status as a kind of god.
- Otherworldly and Sexually Ambiguous: They're a hermaphrodite and hailed as a god.
- Power Incontinence: The reason why Minogame doesn't have a Misteltoe partner. Minogame is so powerful that, when mounted with a Misteltoe, Minogame empowers the Misteltoe instead of vice versa, causing severe stress for the Misteltoe and possibly even damaging them.
- Restraining Bolt: Was fitted with power restraints soon after being captured, but is still extremely powerful.
- Smart Bomb: While they have one like all other characters, they also have the Nimbus Cluster subweapon, which bears the properties of a typical shoot-em-up bomb: It's an Area of Effect attack that grants him invincibility during its duration.
- Smug Super: Despite the calm exterior, they are known to show off given the chance.
Kagura/Kagura-maru
Kagura is unusual in that she has four configurations which she can use, essentially making her four characters in one:
- Moon Cradle: A long range, precision style focused mainly on dealing sustained damage over a long distance. Possesses a guided laser able to hit enemies outside of her normal reach. The discharge acts more as a shield than as a damage tool, and only consumes 2 Sol instead of the entire gauge (although a minimum of 3 Sol is still required to use it).
- Ecliptic Chariot: A style focusing on a mobile turret and is therefore able to fire from two locations at once. The discharge deals little damage but lasts for a very long time and therefore grants limited invulnerability.
- Infernal Sabbath: A very simple style able to change the spread of its fire to almost 180 degrees. Also possesses the ability to generate two large red spheres at each side of Kagura that are able to ignore unit collision. The discharge behaves very similarly to Fossil Maiden's discharge.
- Xanthez: A very unorthodox style using a mix of short range swipes and a high-powered but limited normal shot that homes in on nearby enemies. The discharge is a powerful laser that deals immense damage but doesn't last very long.
Her discharge is Knows Only Blazing.
- Attack Drone: The Ecliptic Chariot's armor serves as this; it can be launched out to another spot on the screen, where it will continue firing while detached from her. Alternatively, Kagura can forgo her firing to make the armor shoot continously in three directions.
- Crutch Character: Infernal Sabbath is great for beginners due to its simplicity, but is also one of the worst scoring characters.
- Emergency Transformation: Was put in the armor of an Elder Misteltoe after the accident with Minogame.
- Emergency Weapon: While using Xanthez, if her Luna runs out, her main weapon is reduced to two streams of bullets unless she stops firing and allows her Luna to refill.
- Face of a Thug: Her armor is quite intimidating to many around her.
- Gatling Good: Xanthez.
- Mechanically Unusual Fighter: She's the only character to have multiple loadout options that are all different from one another (the closest would be Deadliar whose Mistletoe can be set to either lock position relative to himself or to the whole screen, but it changes nothing else about his loadout). If each of those loadouts were separate characters then they would take up more than half of the player character roster!
- Powered Armor: Wears the armor of an Elder Misteltoe.
- The Red Mage: Her strength lies in her sheer versatility.
- The Speechless: An accident when trying to mount with Minogame left her extremely damaged, losing her voice in the process. Her armor isn't equipped with proper hands, so her handwriting is also bad.
- Spread Shot: The Infernal Sabbath has no subweapon, but in exchange the spread of its main shot can be adjusted.
- Super Prototype
- The Turret Master: Epileptic Chariot turns Kagura into this.
- Unlockable Content: She is not available until the player completes Segments 1 through 4.
- Wave-Motion Gun: The discharge of Xanthez acts like this, having the shortest duration but the higest damage of any discharge in the game.
The Prayers and Cardinal Shaft
Quiet Minstrel
The Segment 1 Behind boss. A twin-nosed Prayer that guards the outskirts of the Old War Relics.- Invincible Minor Minion: Destroying its drones in its last phase spawns a new batch of drones that can't be destroyed.
- Warm-Up Boss: By far the easiest boss in the game.
- Weaponized Exhaust: Its two noses fire blue beams that give off the impression of this.
Scarlet Queen
The Segment 2 Lead boss.- 1-Up: Drops one if you unlock her Spirit Kernel and then destroy it.
- One-Winged Angel: Her Spirit Kernel form, unlocked by meeting certain conditions.
- Prepare to Die: In Creepy Monotone if you unlock her Spirit Kernel form.You will die here!
- Rush Boss: Her Spirit Kernel form. Can be killed within its 15-second time limit, but it also hits hard.
- Songs in the Key of Panic: Her theme during her Spirit Kernel form is a very fast arrangement of the Segment 1-2 boss theme.
- Wave-Motion Gun: Two of them on her frontal appendages.
Glorious Symbol
The Segment 2 Behind boss.- Wake-Up Call Boss: Difficult to hit and often traps the player.
Sunken Bishop
The Segment 3 Behind boss. Guards the skies surrounding Cardinal Shaft and attacks with lasers while using its arms to trap its target.- Death from Above: In Segment 3 Lead, it doesn't appear proper, but will try to shoot you down from above.
Rusted Dragon
A massive dragon in the Garden Sewage System, and the boss of Segment 4.- 1-Up: Drops one if you kill it without destroying both of its wings.
- Breath Weapon
- Skippable Boss: If you have less than 3 lives at the end of Segment 4, he doesn't show up.
- Wake-Up Call Boss: For many players, it's the first boss to pose a serious challenge. It's difficult enough that in Short Mission, its stage is rated higher than Segment 5.
Perpetual Calendar
An enormous Prayer found in the old archives of Segment 5. Its main function is to revive fallen Prayers.- Boss Bonanza: Tosses four other bosses at you between its (first) five forms.
- One-Winged Angel: Destroy its attack pods in its final form before time runs out or you deplete its health, and you unlock its Kaleidoscope form.
- Hold the Line: You can't destroy it, but each time you deplete its Life Meter, you will gain some Terra, although that means nothing if you've already been to the Shrine of Farewell or already ran out of Terra.
- Respawn Point: Functions as this for the prayers.
- Resurrective Immortality: Even if destroyed, it will be back up and running in 2 to 3 days.
Apostles of the Seed, Dusk and Dawn
A duo of Prayers in Segment 6 that guards The Key and the entrance to the Irreversible Lane. It's unknown whether they control The Key or if The Key is controlling them.- Battle Aura: When their aura shows up, they get greatly boosted defenses.
- Call-Back: Their theme is the stage 1-3 boss theme of Radio Zonde. In addition, they have many attacks that resemble those of Radio Zonde's protagonists.
- Combination Attack: If both are alive when their total health reaches a certain point, then they will combine their forces and attack the player both at once.
- Deflector Shields: They are sometimes surrounded by a halo that greatly increases their defensive power.
- Dual Boss
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Dawn is the red and Dusk is the blue.
Rex Cavalier
A powerful Prayer that acts as a sort of commander for the Prayers. It possesses two forms for different uses. The first and most commonly seen is a fast-moving aerial vehicle that acts as a frontline commander, seen in Segment 1 Lead. Its second form is a hulking giant knight mecha found in the Irreversible Lane in Segment 7.- 1-Up: Drops one if you destroy his armored form and then time out its secret form.
- Boss Banter: Actually has two kinds of it, during its Spirit Kernel form. The first is the Engrish below its Life Meter. The other is the blue text in Japanese (or proper English in the gensokyo.org English patch) that appears if you are playing and have in-game dialogue enabled, or watching a replay with dialogue set to "At Replaying".
- Humongous Mecha
- Jousting Lance: Dual Wields them in its Segment 7 form.
- Large and in Charge
- Mind Rape / Nonstandard Game Over: Its "Spirit Overload" attack that succeeds if you time it out in Segment 7 while you're on your last life.
- Multi-Armed and Dangerous
- Prepare to Die: Shares the "You will die here!" clip that the Scarlet Queen and the Shrine of Farewell Optional Boss also use.
- Time-Limit Boss: Inverted at first, then played straight with the Spirit Kernel form. If you don't defeat it in time, and you have only one life left, see Mind Rape above.
- The Virus: Judging from the Nonstandard Game Over, if Rex Cavalier successfully transfers his memory his victim turns into another Prayer. "You got insanity. You must reshape oneself for oncoming aspirants."
Unnamed 290 / Kaleidoscope / Floccinaucinihilipilification / Garland
The Karma compressor system as well as the core of the Cardinal Shaft. Its breakdown in ages past was the reason for the world's current state.- Data Crystal: In its inactive state, it is shown as a giant crystal matrix surrounded by a massive ring.
- Final Boss: Unnamed 290 forms the base, and then depending on performance, you get to face one of three different bosses. Of them, only Garland leads to the True Final Boss.
- Hold the Line/Timed Mission: A strange mix of both. The battle against Garland only ends when time runs out/the music ends, but you must fill up its Life Meter before the time runs out or you get no ending or True Final Boss.
- Interface Screw: The battle with Garland causes the background to take over the entire screen, including both sides of the HUD.
- Life Meter: Inverted. Garland starts with an empty meter that must be filled up by shooting it.
- Sinister Geometry: During the fight with it, it switches back and forth between various geometrical shapes.
The True Final Boss (SPOILERS)
Lost Property 771 / Amber / The Unnamed 771
A stray cat found by Deadliar that he nicknames Amber after its yellow eyes.- 1-Up: Drops three Revive tokens as The Unnamed 771: At the beginning of her first encounter, when she leaves, and when she comes back later in the stage.
- As Lost Property 771, the first thing that happens is that all on-screen enemy Mistletoes turn into Life Tokens β so many, in fact, that you can easily hit Immortal status regardless of your Way of Life.
- Hold the Line: Cannot be destroyed in either form. You have to time it out.
- Humanity Ensues
- Interface Screw: When you fight her after Garland, the screen's colors become inverted.
- Intrigued by Humanity: In fact, it is so intrigued that it wants to become human itself.
- Optional Boss: You encounter her in the second extra stage, "The Way of All Flesh".
- Scoring Points: As The Unnamed 771, it has a strange variant of this. Shooting it increases the "Voltage" counter, which affects how fast the "Count" counter increases, and not shooting it causes the Voltage to decrease. When 771 leaves its current phase, you get Spirits equal to number shown on the Count counter when it leaves.
- Spell My Name with a "The": Of all the "Unnamed XXX" enemies in the game, her Unnamed form is the only Unnamed enemy to be prefixed with a "The".
- True Final Boss: Unlocked in the main campaign or its abridged version if you unlock Garland, the level 3 Final Boss, and fill up its Life Meter by shooting it.
