Killer7



"A postmodern devil, thou art."

""…I don't follow.""

- ~ Garcian Smith

Describe Killer7 here?

Where do we start?

In an alternate timeline, a worldwide ban on nuclear research -- and the firing of all nuclear missiles into each other high in orbit -- allows mankind to finally achieve world peace several years into the 21st century.

During this peacetime, a group of mysterious, vicious creatures known as "Heaven's Smiles" begin to attack; they start by attacking delegates at a key treaty signing, then begin striking at random from there. The Heaven's Smiles appear to exist specifically to cause terror, but only one person knows their true purpose: their leader, an enigmatic man known only as Kun Lan.

To stop Kun Lan and the Heaven's Smiles, the elderly, wheelchair-bound Harman Smith -- a man who bears a grudge against, and shares some history with, Kun Lan -- utilizes "Killer7", a group of specialized assassins trained to deal with high-level threats to the security of the United States.

While this plot summary appears clear and concise, it only scratches the surface of the game's story. As the Smiths keep getting called in to deal with each new threat from Kun Lan, a deep conspiracy with ties to the origins of both Killer7 and the Heaven's Smiles comes to light, and dozens of twists and turns follow.

With that, we depart from the realm of sensibility. Killer7 can become an exceedingly confusing game, thanks to its multiple layers of metaphor and symbolism. Themes of war, religion, personal conflict, and politics all weave into one gigantic Mind Screw, wrapping around each other like the bondage straps around Iwazaru.

In contrast to the Mind Screw storyline, the developers uniquely streamlined the gameplay of Killer7: a character moves along a set of predetermined paths, so all a player can do is choose forks and turn around. When attacked, players hold down a button to switch into first-person view and aim crosshairs manually (similar to Resident Evil 4). The Heaven's Smiles remain invisible until players use another button to scan for them; as they approach, players can see an obvious glowing spot upon them, and while shooting this spot results in their instant death, players will find it difficult to do so. Any enemy who gets in too close to the player will laugh at the player before exploding and causing damage. Death Is a Slap on The Wrist most of the time -- as Garcian can retrieve the severed heads of the other Smiths and revive them -- but if Garcian himself dies, the game ends.

While players can practically count the polygons in the characters's faces, the game makes excellent use of shading and shadows to create a unique graphical style. Two levels also feature anime cutscenes, both done by different studios.

Suda 51 (who went on to do No More Heroes) created this game, and Capcom published it on the Gamecube and Playstation 2. In 2012, Suda began work on Killer Is Dead, a game project he says will serve as a Spiritual Successor to Killer7.

In the name of Harman...
"Old Harman: Tricks are for kids, Kun. I'm an old man..."
 * Action Bomb: The Heaven's Smile.
 * Adult Fear: This scene (warning: NSFW) basically sums up a most horrifying scenario for any parent.
 * Aerith and Bob: On the same team, we have KAEDE, Garcian... and Kevin.
 * A God Am I: Kun Lan and Trevor Pearlharbor both have shades of this.
 * All There in the Manual: Hand In killer7, which actually makes the story even more complicated, though mostly because its based on an early version of the game's story, which had a few differences with the final version.
 * Ambiguously Gay: Travis Bell, Harman's first hit. Appears in a variety of suggestive poses with flamboyant, sometimes innuendo-laden tank tops, usually in hot pink print ('Bad Girl', 'Sexual'). In a library area in the first level, he describes himself as 'the Chief's first catch', then describes his death like it were an orgasm: 'To be honest, that shit felt good'.
 * is also gay according to Hand in killer7 though this is never brought up in the game.
 * Amnesiac Dissonance: in Target 05: Smile.
 * Anticlimax Boss: The Final Heaven Smile.
 * Anti-Grinding: You can only process a certain amount of Thick Blood per level, though that amount is usually high enough that you can make use of SOME grinding.
 * Arc Words
 * Badass: Many characters, especially Dan Smith.
 * Badass Family / Badass Crew: The Smiths.
 * Badass Grandpa: Harman Smith.
 * Badass in a Nice Suit: Dan and Garcian both wear tasteful suits when out killing. MASK also starts off with a flashy suit, but changes into a wrestler costume later.
 * Badass Normal: Andrei Ulmeyda
 * Beat Them At Their Own Game: That's why they call Emir the Ace of Aces:
 * Kevin,
 * Con,
 * Kaede,
 * Coyote,
 * MASK,
 * Dan,
 * Beyond the Impossible: A fully upgraded Mask De Smith cannot kill the invincible smiles at the end of the game, but he can destroy the frame rate and the console trying.
 * BFG: Harman's rifle. He calls it the "God Killer", and it's supposed to be an anti-tank gun.
 * Big No: One of the the most horrifying examples, ever, courtesy of one Curtis Blackburn.
 * Book Ends:.
 * Button Mashing: How you revive dead Smiths. The more stamina the higher the bar you have to fill (Try not to die as ).
 * Call Back: This scene from "Alter Ego" is notorious for not making sense, even in the game's context... unless you've played Moonlight Syndrome, a previous Suda 51 game which has never been officially released outside of Japan.
 * Calling Your Attacks: HANDSOME WINK!
 * Collateral Shot!
 * Carnival of Killers
 * Chasing Your Tail: Fighting the Ceramic Smile.
 * Catch Phrase: Everyone has a special one for when you hit an enemy in its One-Hit Kill spot, when you deliver a counter attack and when you kill a nearby enemy when he's crawling towards you.
 * Cel Shading
 * Chekhov's Gunman: to a staggering degree.
 * The Chessmaster
 * China Takes Over the World:.
 * Cosmic Chess Game
 * Cosplay Otaku Girl: Ayame Blackburn.
 * Creepy Child: Kess and Susie. Susie especially--not only because she's a head, but because
 * Crowning Music of Awesome: Rave On
 * Dark Messiah: Ulmeyda.
 * Daylight Horror: And the bright lighting emphasizes the bizarre, cel-shaded, technicolor palette, making the world around you only look that much more alien and hostile.
 * Dead All Along
 * Dead Man's Chest
 * Death Is a Slap on The Wrist: Apparently played straight, but in the long run, it's subverted. Dying as Dan, Kaede, Kevin, Coyote, Con or Mask simply transports you back to the last Harman's Room you visited. You can then switch to Garcian and make your way back to the place where the persona got killed, retrieve it, get transported back to Harman's Room and resurrect it by repeatedly pressing X. You even get to keep all the blood you've collected. However, this means playing through the same stretch of level at least three times: 1) the original run before dying, 2) as Garcian up to the spot where you died, 3) a third run with the restored persona. Considering that the enemies respawn constantly, and Garcian is the weaker member of Killer7, dying isn't the walk in the park it's supposed to be..
 * Decoy Protagonist:
 * Did Not Do the Research: In the prologue, Kun Lan tells Harman, "It's Friday night... LET'S DANCE." The mission takes place on January 20, 2010. A Wednesday.
 * You could also take this as
 * Door to Before: Many.
 * Earn Your Title: Garcian is The Cleaner, he retrieves dead bodies and brings them back to life; Dan is the Hellion, because of how reckless and violent he is; KAEDE is named Barefoot, because she never wears shoes, and so on.
 * Easter Egg:
 * To get that, even you must beat, which was downright brutal at points (as far as this game goes).
 * Everything's Deader With Zombies: One of the boss fights consists of two elderly Japanese gentlemen who had their heads blown open. You have to blow their brains out, literally to kill them...again.
 * Evil Albino: Kun Lan; Kevin Smith.
 * Expressive Shirt: Travis has several.
 * Fan Disservice: Samantha has one (thankfully not graphic) sex scene.
 * Though for some, it would be considered Fetish Fuel.
 * Final Speech: Subverted; kills  partway through his.
 * Foot Focus: KAEDE "Barefoot" Smith.
 * For Massive Damage: Every Heaven's Smile has a glowing weak spot that instantly kills it. This is the easiest way to gather Thick Blood, which is needed for character advancement.
 * For the Evulz: The Heaven's Smiles aren't trying to change anything-they just want to cause havoc.
 * The Four Gods: At one point you have to match them to their directions.
 * Friendly Enemy: Harman and Kun Lan play a lot of chess.
 * Fragile Speedster: Con.
 * Gambit Roulette:, as revealed in the supplementary material, Jacob's Report.
 * It should be noted that much of the supplementary material outright contradicts the game.
 * Gangsta Style: Coyote and Con.
 * Con does so while Dual-Wielding, but Coyote has an especially bad case - he does not merely hold his gun sideways, but DIAGONALLY OVER HIS HEAD. Possibly subverted somewhat, as he has serious kickback and is one of the most difficult characters to aim with.
 * Genre Busting: Both the story and gameplay are nearly impossible to neatly categorize. In terms of gameplay, the limited movement, fixed camera angles, and light Adventure Game elements suggest a Survival Horror game (not surprising, seeing as it was produced by Shinji Mikami), while the combat resembles a Rail Shooter and the powerup system is more reminiscent of a traditional action game with RPG Elements. The plot, meanwhile, plays out like a bizarre lovechild of Hideo Kojima, David Lynch, and Quentin Tarantino.
 * Go-Karting with Bowser: Harman and Kun Lan..
 * Go Out with a Smile: The Heaven's Smiles don't seem to care whether or not they ever reach their target.
 * Guns Akimbo: Con and Mask (technically Grenade Launchers Akimbo for Mask).
 * Handguns: what most of the characters are armed with.
 * Heal Thyself: Using the blood of their enemies, no less.
 * High-Pressure Blood: KAEDE,.
 * Hints Are for Losers: You don't want the expanded hints. Trust us.
 * Hoist by His Own Petard: finishes  off by
 * I Cannot Self-Terminate:.
 * In Medias Res: Target 00: Angel pretty much throws you straight into the game without a single bit of exposition.
 * In the Name of the Moon: "Ayame Blackburn, Survive!"
 * Jigsaw Puzzle Plot: In the end, it's incredibly easy to miss the connections.
 * Karmic Death: Oh boy.
 * Less ambiguously, several targets including
 * Kick Chick: Kaede's counterattacks, even despite her status as Barefoot.
 * Knife Nut: Kevin Smith.
 * Let's Play: By Chip Cheezum and General Ironicus, seen here. Ironicus's thoughts on the ending: "Nothing has anything to do with anything."
 * Limited Wardrobe: Harman only ever wears traditional Hasidic Jewish gear, Garcian a white suit, and Kevin nothing but sunglasses and chinos. MASK changes his clothes exactly three times in the game, and in each case it's a plot point; on the other hand, before finding the blue mask, he wears a different mask in each level. In contrast, Dan, KAEDE, Coyote, and Con wear different clothes in each level, albeit always of the same style.
 * Locked Door: And Coyote's a thief; do the math.
 * Losing Your Head: Susie Summers.
 * MacGuffin: Soul Shells, which are required to advance to the next stage.
 * The Yakumo.
 * Don't forget Odd Engravings and Color Samples.
 * Magical Girl: Ayame Blackburn is an Homage to the genre.
 * The Magnificent Seven Samurai
 * Mask Power: MASK de Smith, pro wrestling god, who even powers up by finding new masks.
 * Not to mention the fact that he can flatten bullets by headbutting them.
 * Another example: Ayame Blackburn, who wears a animegao cosplay mask.
 * Metal Slime: Camilla and Mini Smiles.
 * Mercy Kill:.
 * Mexican Standoff: Subverted; it looks like one, but then everyone opens fire.
 * Mighty Glacier: MASK de Smith.
 * Milkman Conspiracy:
 * Mind Screw: Don't think about it too hard or your brain will start crying.
 * Mook Maker: Mother Smiles.
 * Mr. Exposition: Travis and Iwazaru, but can you trust either of them?
 * Not exactly,
 * Actually,
 * Besides them, the Smiths travel with a whole bunch of quirky Remnant Psyches who give them help, advice, items, confusion and nightmares.
 * Not So Stoic:.
 * Off Like a Shot: Con's speed-up power.
 * Our Ghosts Are Different: Remnant Psyches. They're... I don't know what the hell.
 * Pastel-Chalked Freeze-Frame: The end of several cutscenes.
 * Pop Quiz: On the way to Ulmeyda's lair.
 * The Psycho Rangers: The Handsome Men, a Super Sentai parody.
 * Rain of Blood:
 * The Reveal: Many in the final chapters. * Ahem*
 * Russian Roulette:
 * Sadistic Choice: Presented to the player at the end of the game: kill ; spare him, and.
 * Secret Character
 * Shout-Out: Some of Travis's T-shirts are references to Tyler Durden's in Fight Club. Appropriate, given Travis's relationship to the protagonist and the Trick Twist of the game.
 * The manager of the Union Hotel is apparently Edo McAllister from Flower, Sun and Rain, another Suda51 game.
 * Some of Dan's suits look like Spike Spiegel's and Lupin's.
 * Pastel-Chalked Freeze-Frame: The end of several cutscenes.
 * Pop Quiz: On the way to Ulmeyda's lair.
 * The Psycho Rangers: The Handsome Men, a Super Sentai parody.
 * Rain of Blood:
 * The Reveal: Many in the final chapters. * Ahem*
 * Russian Roulette:
 * Sadistic Choice: Presented to the player at the end of the game: kill ; spare him, and.
 * Secret Character
 * Shout-Out: Some of Travis's T-shirts are references to Tyler Durden's in Fight Club. Appropriate, given Travis's relationship to the protagonist and the Trick Twist of the game.
 * The manager of the Union Hotel is apparently Edo McAllister from Flower, Sun and Rain, another Suda51 game.
 * Some of Dan's suits look like Spike Spiegel's and Lupin's.
 * Some of Dan's suits look like Spike Spiegel's and Lupin's.

"Kun Lan: Harman, the world won't change. All it does is turn."
 * Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism:


 * Smart People Play Chess: Harman Smith and Kun Lan play chess while not engaging in their neverending conflict.
 * Sociopathic Hero: Dan Smith.
 * Soundtrack Dissonance: "Greensleeves" over a murder scene, loud (and awesome) techno as you're walking down a completely ordinary hall... it goes on.
 * Solve the Soup Cans: Oh so many instances.
 * Split Personality: The Smiths; it's on the box cover. Samantha also counts to an extent, switching between Meido and Alpha Bitch depending on whether or not the lights are on. At least until.
 * To make matters even crazier about the history of
 * The fact that Dan wants to kill Harman is a bit of Truth in Television. It isn't uncommon for real life split personalities to want to kill each other.
 * Coyote's hatred of Dan could also qualify. Supposedly, he and Dan were rivals, competing for KAEDE's love before they died.
 * Spy Speak: used by Cristopher Mills, in fear of wire tapping.
 * Surreal Horror: Many parts of the game.
 * Suspiciously Similar Substitute: The Steward, who replaces.
 * Terrorists Without a Cause: The Heaven's Smiles, identified by a narrator as "terrorism for the sole purpose of causing terror".
 * The Jimmy Hart Version: Oddly enough, Ministry of Education, the final boss's theme, sounds a lot like Johann Sebastian Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor (c.f. here).
 * Tomato in the Mirror:
 * Trailers Always Lie: This trailer, from way back in 2003, is particularly interesting as virtually none of the dialogue or cutscenes in it appear in the game itself.
 * An article in a gaming magazine prior to the game's release stated that the characters would each have different abilities than what made it into the game.
 * KAEDE was supposed to be able to kill the Smiles by raining blood down on them, like she does with the barriers. It was supposedly because she had some kind of toxin in her system.
 * Coyote was supposed to be able to preform a roundhouse kick, that would clear a room full of Smiles.
 * Unorthodox Reload: Con reloads like he's playing hackeysack.
 * Vicious Cycle:
 * Wake Up Call Boss: Kurahashi and Akiba are quite a bit harder to deal with than the Angel first boss.
 * The Walrus Was Paul: Many believe the entirety of the game's plot to be an extreme example of this.
 * Wasted Song: Rave On is the most popular song in the entire soundtrack. The location where it plays? A completely featureless corridor of stairs that takes all of 20 seconds to walk through.
 * The aforementioned Let's Play turns these scenes into a Crowning Moment of Funny by having the characters "dance" to the song via timed presses of the "go forward" button.
 * Wave Motion Gun: "Collateral shot!"
 * What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?: Possibly the intention of Suda51 because he loves to do it. What's more awesome than walking up a staircase with a rave in the background?!
 * What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic / Rule of Symbolism: In spades.
 * What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic / Rule of Symbolism: In spades.