No More Heroes has always been a game I loved for a long time, but back then I just loved its insane violence and humor. Now these days I got to look into the game in a much different manner because back then I thought something this insane didn’t need analyzing, let’s just say I was wrong, big time! Suda 51 has made games before with many things to analyze about, just look at Killer 7. Now I will say Suda 51 hasn’t really made a game as great as Killer 7 and No More Heroes, but the closest was Killer is Dead which was his recent title so let’s hope Lily Bergamo will… oh wait that got changed into something else. So what is No More Heroes deal, well it’s quite simple, the game talks a whole lot about violent media while at the same time being part of violent media. No More Heroes is a game that actually dives into about what violence actually does and some of the morality issues behind it which is something I don’t often see in the violent media, mostly video games. A great way of looking into this is the many characters that you have to fight in this game. There are ten ranked assassins to meet as they all have their own personalities and something to show about violent media and a something else.
The first boss you fight in the game is called Death Metal
and even with a name that seems to be pointing at the music genre, in the end
this boss acts more like the noble swordsman. There have been many characters
in movies, series, and games where they pick up a sword and do noble deeds
while committing violence or the idea that they take pride in their abilities
and the title that comes along with it. Death Metal is more about the pride,
but in the end he ends up not liking the results he got. Death Metal ends up
living a peaceful life inside of his mansion with everything he wants, but
sadly that all doesn’t matter. Literally Death Metal’s first line talks about
how he no longer has any desires which means his life is meaningless now. Take
notice that he is only the tenth assassin as there are a total of eleven of them.
Death Metal only killed one person to get to his rank, but who knows how much
killing he has done before. Death Metal does live in a bit of regret and he
tells Travis this since the path of fighting and murdering is just pointless.
For a man like Death Metal he already has what he wants and just warns Travis
that he should not go on the same path, sadly for him Travis doesn’t listen at
all. This will be a common theme in No More Heroes which is taking a
stereotypical role and putting it into a more realistic angle. With Death Metal
even though he is noble and a strong warrior who ended up killing someone or
many other people and for what, the title of the Holy Sword or ranked tenth? So
Death Metal lives in regret since his fights were pointless, but what happens
when one had something a bit more rewarding than riches?
Dr. Peace is my favorite character from the first game as it
is because he has an amazing entrance. He is singing alone in a baseball
stadium as this was one of his dreams, even though I would bet he wants an
audience at least. The song Dr. Peace sings can be interpreted in many ways as
some expect it’s about one of the final characters in the game or it’s about
the doctor himself. First let’s go through his story as he is the character to talk
about the most regarding story. Peace is a corrupted detective and that alone
is probably why he became a ranked killer. Still there is more to him than
that. If you look at Peace he easily personifies the western hero, the cowboy. Usually
they are the silent heroes who barely talk and keep their lives a mystery. Dr.
Peace parodies that a bit with the fact that he sings and tells Travis about
his day. Peace explains that before the big fight he got to eat at a fancy
restaurant and got to meet his ex-wife and daughter for the first time in ten
years. So with the fact that he sings alone and that he comes from a failed
marriage and barely sees his daughter anymore, all of this means he’s lonely, a
common trope for the western hero. He lost his loved ones because he became a
killer and the man clearly sees that and lives in regret. He wanted to be with
his family, but in the end the pleasure of murder got to him. There is even a
line he says, “People like us, we’re sharks attracted to blood.” So the idea of
the western hero being alone and killing others could not make someone into a
hero, I mean this game is called No More Heroes for a reason. Keep note of this
as well since most of the characters that fight just want the gratification and
pleasure of mindless violence and our main character is one of them as well and
there is a reason why people like Death Metal had to warn Travis or teach him
something at the least.
When I liked No More Heroes for the simplistic fun, I
personally didn’t care for Shinobu as I found her somewhat annoying. Now that
I’ve been looking at the satire this game has, Shinobu is the perfect
representation of the femme fatale as this is seen in both Japanese and
American media. Now there are two sides of this, there are the purely girls who
kill and for some reason that is attractive. Then there are the ones who show
how women can be empowering and performs many great tasks. Shinobu takes both
of those sides and simply shows how messed up it actually is. When Travis first
meets Shinobu she is in class and she kills her fellow classmates for no
reason. Even Travis is asking her why she did this and sees that she is just
blood thirsty. Right here is when we start to notice that killing people isn’t
attractive at all, it’s just messed up. Again this just points to how looking
at these stereotypes in a real life perspective just make them into meaningless
violent personalities. Travis even mentions that Shinobu watches too many
samurai movies and during this whole time he doesn’t even notice what he is
doing, we will get to Travis at a later point as the perfect time will come.
Destroyman is next and with a name like that you can already
tell he is an interesting take on superheroes. The heroes who hide their
identities and perform justice while doing violent tasks as well. Destroyman
takes the idea of hiding his identity a little different though as when he
dawns the masks he actually becomes his true self. In the beginning we see
Destroyman not in his outfit as he is just a mailman. The camera keeps shaking
when it zooms up on him and he tells Travis that he needs to change. What he
ends up doing is trying to get Travis to let his guard down so he can get a
quick kill. This boss really just wants the murder to happen as he loves that
more than the actual fight. He will act like a noble fighter, but he will stab
you right in the back or to be more exact electrocute you when you shake his
hand. Now while the usual hero is doing things for justice there are people
think the ends justify the means. Well with Destroyman he has no ends while the
means stay in place and those means are just violent. There is really no
justice being performed here or any greater task for Destroyman, he loves to
fight and kill and that’s his story. While on top of that Destroyman shows the
dark side of superheroes and how they can avoid the law and never question
their own morality. Destroyman is just a personification of all the bad
thoughts of superheroes and again showing that these ideas in a realistic
setting is just plan crazy and again Travis shares that idea as well, but with
a different type of character.
I will continue my thoughts on No More Heroes for a later
time as there is much more to look into. Then for those who haven’t played this
game yet, do it! No More Heroes is a masterpiece and I would argue its Suda
51’s best game. The story alone makes this worthy of being a great piece of
fiction, but at that same time the game is highly active and can easily keep
your attention. While it’s being fun in the same regards as other violent
games, it is diving into the factors about violent media and giving us a new
way of looking at violence. So be prepared for the next part as we will look
into the idea of death, magic, deadly old ladies, and some sexual interests.
Warning for those who want to pick this game up though, it’s a really violent
game and deserves its mature rating for a reason!
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