|
| Damon Riccitiello | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Damon in The Return trailer of No More Heroes III | |||
| Age | 10 (When first met FU) 28 (TSA) 30 (NMH3) | ||
| Species | Human | ||
| Affiliations | Utopinia | ||
| Occupations | CEO | ||
| Alter ego | Mr.bigshot | ||
| Ally(s) | FU (childhood friend) ✝ [(Dr. Juvenile)] Former ally | ||
| Enemy(s) | Travis Touchdown [(Dr. Juvenile]) | ||
| Status | Erased | ||
| Debut | Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes | ||
| Battle theme | Final boss | ||
| Voiced by | Max Mittelman | ||
Damon Riccitiello, known as Damon Ricotello in No More Heroes III, is a character in the No More Heroes series. He was the CEO of the Utopinia corporation, an urban development firm whose specialty is revitalizing cities. He is an antagonist in Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes, and is one of the main antagonists in No More Heroes III.
Appearance and personality[]
Damon's portrait is that of a youthful-looking man with an aloof expression. He has dark, shaggy hair and wears a polo shirt.
He is not above using violence to get what he wants, at one point admitting that he had once beaten Juvenile to the point of unconsciousness in order to steal a Death Ball. He justifies his actions by insinuating that she deserved it for being condescending to him, a response that disgusts even Travis.
But once at a young age (before reaching corruption), he took in FU and helped him return to his home despite the threat of government intervention. And even still continues to think of him as his closest friend even as he was shocked by FU's goals for world domination.
Relationships[]
FU[]
- Main article: FU
Travis Touchdown[]
- Main article: Travis Touchdown
Story[]
History[]
Eight years before the events of No More Heroes, Damon discovered FU, an alien stranded on Earth after a crash-landing. They formed a tenuous friendship as Damon helped FU evade government agents and find a way for FU to return home. After discovering a piece of alien technology where FU crashed, Damon's brain was imbued with mysterious powers, enabling him to build a rocket for his alien friend. They promised to reunite 20 years later.
As a young adult, Damon got a position as an intern in the video games industry, working with Dr. Juvenile on Serious Moonlight. He worked hard on the game, but Juvenile often implemented ideas out of the blue, resulting in the game getting stuck in development hell. He and the other staff objected to Juvenile’s eccentric game design. After the project ended up canned at the last minute, Damon was sent to another team.
However, Damon remained bitter towards Juvenile and wanted to see Serious Moonlight finished at any cost, so he pressed Juvenile for the game's Death Ball. He claimed that she looked down him due to his position as an intern. He became so infuriated that he beat Juvenile to the point of unconsciousness, took the Death Ball, and went home.
Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes[]
Damon is first mentioned by Travis in the "Hell's Chainsaw" scenario of Travis Strikes Again. Travis describes him as a "real asshole" who is the CEO of the Utopinia corporation and the keeper of the Death Ball for Serious Moonlight.
Travis arrives in San Jose and attempts to track Damon down at the Utopiland Amusement Complex, the headquarters of the Utopinia corporation. Damon's tertiary secretary, Juliet Chesterfield, reluctantly divulges that he is on a business trip to a place called City of Split in Croatia. When it becomes apparent that Travis does not know where Croatia is, Juliet advises him to instead wait for the Utopinia music festival occurring the day afterwards, as Damon will be attending the VIP afterparty.
Travis confronts Damon in a VIP room during the concert. Damon calls security to throw him out, but Travis cuts down his bodyguard and demands the Death Ball containing Serious Moonlight. At first Damon feigns ignorance, but Travis reveals he knows that Damon used to work with Dr. Juvenile. Now trapped, Damon concedes and tells Travis the story of his violent encounter with Juvenile over the Death Ball. Travis is so disgusted that he decides Damon is not worth killing, and instead beats him with his fists before leaving with the Death Ball. Mysteriously, the bloodied Damon pulls himself off the floor and vows revenge on Travis.
No More Heroes III[]
Two years after Travis Strikes Again, Damon had constructed a huge entertainment park in Santa Destroy called Utopiland as part of his corporate empire. However, FU returns to Earth for the promised reunion with Damon. His joy at meeting with his old friend quickly turns to horror, however, as FU declares that he and his so-called Galactic Superhero Corps plan to conquer the Earth with Damon's help. He is then forced to build an elaborate throne for FU, watch as FU kills all of Utopinia's shareholders during a board meeting, and get stuck as his disrespected servant while Utopiland is converted into the "Garden of Insanity" for the Galactic Superhero Corps.
Damon remains in FU's throne room for most of the game, growing more and more annoyed by FU's delinquent personality. His actions lead to Travis getting caught up with the Galactic Superhero Corps, which he secretly relishes, as either way at least one of his enemies will perish. He gets increasingly stressed as he watches Travis cut down alien after alien, eventually taking matters into his own hands by paying 30% of his entire company to hire Henry Cooldown and the Order of the Emerald Night to assassinate Travis. FU begins to realize Damon's true intentions and gleefully taunts him over it, but does not harm him.
Once Travis kills the entire Galactic Superhero Corps and defeats FU, Damon watches as the regressed alien flees in a spaceship. Having placed a bomb on the ship, Damon detonates it, killing FU mid-escape. He also disables a camouflage he has been wearing the entire game, revealing that his face has mutated due to FU's lingering influence in his brain. Travis is surprised by this revelation, and Damon declares that he will get his revenge for the beatdown he received two years ago. He then summons the gigantic mecha Thunder Break, though Travis uses an Arsenal Rollout Model to fight back and defeat it.
After flying into space, Damon and Travis find themselves in a mysterious void resembling Damon and FU's old treehouse. There they decide to settle it with sumo, and Damon takes on a demon transformation. The two have a Super Smash Bros.-inspired battle until Travis knocks Damon off the platform. As he falls into the void and disintegrates, Damon repeatedly shouts a pathetic "I don't want to die!" before completely disappearing.
Gallery[]
.jpg "Damon Riccitiello (NMH3 Story Trailer).jpg (60 KB)")
Trivia[]
- Damon shares his surname with John Riccitiello, the former CEO of Unity who was also CEO of EA when Shadows of the DAMNED was published in 2011. John Riccitiello had a large influence on the direction of Shadows of the DAMNED, and he can be considered partially responsible for the final game resulting so differently from Goichi Suda and Shinji Mikami's original vision. This reference was retconned to the similar surname "Ricotello" in No More Heroes III, possibly to avoid legal action.
- His "true face" is a homage to the aliens in the John Carpenter film "They Live!"
- His appearance in Travis Strikes Back closely resembles that of Garma Zabi from Mobile Suit Gundam.
- In addition, his "Not even my father hit me!" line in No More Heroes III is a direct reference to Amuro Ray's reaction to being slapped by Bright Noa in Mobile Suit Gundam.
- Daemon's fight is similar to the same fighting style of the Super Smash Bros. series.