"Oh, it was snowing today... Strange what triggers our memories. I'll never forget. That night, for the first time in 120 years, snow fell on Santa Destroy. It was a sign... Another change, both beautiful and deadly, was coming... Blanketed in white, the city never looked so beautiful. But anything so pristine must be cursed... White turned to red... and he lost his mind." --Sylvia Christel
Vincent, better known by his pseudonym Skelter Helter (スケルター・へルター, Sukerutaa Herutaa), is a character in the video games No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle. He is ranked fifty-first in the United Assassins Association. He makes a special appearance as an additional boss in the PS3 remake, No More Heroes: Heroes' Paradise.
Story[]
Before entering the ranks of the UAA, Vincent had been studying for his final year of college. His brother, assassin Helter-Skelter, had become somewhat estranged from him, but felt responsible for Vincent and so each year had been meeting with him and supplying him with a bag of money to fund his schooling. On this particular year, Vincent discovers the source of his brother's benevolence in that he is an assassin, however Helter-Skelter insists that this way Vincent will not be forced to live like he and their mother, which may imply their mother was an assassin as well. The brothers' meeting is brief, and before leaving Helter-Skelter admits he looks forward to seeing Vincent graduate from college, and that once he does so, to never associate himself with "a blonde woman from Scandinavia."
Skelter Helter makes a special appearance in No More Heroes: Heroes' Paradise as an additional boss.
A year passes and Vincent waits to meet his brother in the bar where they've convened each year. He receives a text message from Helter-Skelter telling him to be patient while he completes an assassination. Meanwhile however, Helter-Skelter underestimates his target, amateur assassin Travis Touchdown, and is decapitated in battle. Mysteriously, Vincent realizes the moment his brother dies, and soon he is approached by Sylvia Christel, posing as a prostitute, who entices him to join the UAA in search of revenge. Christel reveals the identity of Helter-Skelter's killer to be Touchdown, and Vincent spends the following three years battling in his brother's place, under the name Skelter Helter.
After three years the opportunity comes for Helter to face Touchdown. He waits on the roof of a skyscraper, the same venue where his brother was killed, and stands before an elevator shaft. Seeing that the elevator is making its way to the roof, Helter readies his revolver, and once it reaches the top he begins to unload bullets into the shaft. The doors open to reveal only the cloak Touchdown wore on the site three years before when facing Helter-Skelter. Confused, Helter is even more astonished when Touchdown slips in from behind him, declaring, "It's called fashionably late, fuck-face." Touchdown admits to having no memory of killing Helter-Skelter, probably a reference to the fact that Travis only fought him in the intial trailer so as a player you cannot recollect him, which infuriates Skelter Helter.
Helter then challenges Touchdown to a revenge bout but is ultimately decapitated during battle, his head flying into the air and landing back onto his shoulders. Helter then appears to die standing on his feet. A helicopter descends on the venue and Touchdown is met by Christel, who abandoned him three years prior. While Christel inducts Touchdown into the UAA for the second time, Helter, whose severed head was not entirely knocked from his shoulders, interrupts Touchdown, warning him that a larger plot has been set into motion. After threatening Touchdown with being "burdened by another's death," Helter tears off his head and succumbs to his wound.
Appearance and personality[]
Skelter Helter's concept art.
In the comic No More Loser, Skelter Helter (then Vincent) is seen as a young college student, wearing casual clothes and a pair of glasses. His hair is not styled as it is in game, though he does have long bangs that partially cover an eye.
Vincent before becoming an assassin.
As an assassin in Desperate Struggle, Skelter Helter spikes his hair and does away with his old glasses. His outfit is reminiscent of that of his brother, Helter-Skelter: he wears a gray tank top similar to the other's, but instead of wearing black sleeves, he keeps his arms exposed, displaying a series of tribal tattoos. The rest of his outfit, as well as the length of his hair, differs from Helter-Skelter, though crosses are used prominently in his costume design, as they are in Helter-Skelter's outfit. Furthermore, a wildcat ornament appears on the barrel of the assassin's revolver, similar to the cougar adorning Helter-Skelter's own revolver.
Confident in his fighting abilities, Helter also incorporates his vengeful demeanor over his brother's death into combat, taking his battle with Touchdown most personally of all. He does however accept his own death at Touchdown's hands, when he willfully removes his head after delivering his warning.
Powers and abilities[]
Helter wields an elaborate revolver consisting of a ring of 12 six-chamber cylinders. He also uses a large beam katana with three parallel blades. Because of its compact size, Helter's blade is capable of swift and accurate strikes.
Quotes[]
- "Hey! We're not done yet! I've got a message for you."
- "Such blind arrogance, like the naked emperor."
- "Travis! You are the loser! This fight was only part of our plan!"
- "I said I'd avenge you killing my brother, didn't I? Well, who's been a brother to you?"
- "Travis... Don't think you can kill without suffering consequences. To kill someone is not simply to end their life. One must risk their entire being in order to destroy another's. Up until now, you've had it easy. I've taken the curse you gave me... The shackles of revenge... And I'm throwing them back on you. Now it's your turn to be burdened with another's death. It has destroyed me, and it will destroy you too! This is the ultimate vengeance!"
- "You won't get away with this!!"
Cultural references[]
- Judging by his sword, clothing and hair, Helter's appearance may be a homage to Cloud Strife of Final Fantasy VII, similar to how his brother's design has much in common with Sephiroth from the same game. One of his movesets looks like Cloud's Limit Breaks. Coincidentally Helter's voice actor, Matthew Mercer, has been known to cosplay as both Cloud and Sephiroth.
- Skelter Helter's name is a play on the name of his brother, Helter-Skelter, whose name in turn referenced a Beatles song with the same title, as well as the British English term "helter-skelter," meaning "in disorderly haste or confusion."
Trivia[]
- Helter's revolver has 12 chambers holding six bullets each, thus having six shots with 66 in reserve, or 6-66.
- His name may come from Vincent Bugliosi, author of the book Helter Skelter.
- Helter's revolver holds 72 rounds, however he fires more than 72 times in battle without reloading.
- As a fan of the Final Fantasy games, his voice actor Matthew Mercer has described his character being a parody of Cloud as an "interesting and cool little element to [his] character [he] was not expecting."
- Skelter Helter was implied to have collaberated with Jasper Batt Jr in order to kill Bishop to get revenge against Travis, Skelter for the death of his brother Helter Skelter, and Jasper for the death of his father and two brothers. It was implied when Helter Skelter mentions to Travis that "this fight was only part of our plan" to get revenge, as both Skelter and Jasper were the only ones who wanted personal revenge against Travis.
- Helter's rank number 51 may be a reference to Suda 51, as Helter is the first of all the ranked assassins that Travis must fight in Desperate Struggle.
- Like his brother, Helter appears to be an albino.
- If this is true, his death coincides with Sylvia's figurative description of the snow "turning red" in her narration played in the middle of Travis and Helter's fight.