Video Game / Splatter Master

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Splatter Master is a 2004 horror-themed Beat 'em Up game developed by Vingt-et-un Systems. It was originally released in Japan by D3 Publisher as the 64th entry in their Simple 2000 series of budget games, under the title The Splatter Action. 505 Game Street released it in Europe the next year as Splatter Master.

As detailed in the backstory, an Evil Wizard named Jagodd had dabbled in the dark arts, allowing him control of monsters and demons from the underworld. But Jagodd's sorcery inadvertently gave life to a pumpkin-headed scarecrow belonging to an elderly couple living in a farm, a scarecrow who had grown attached to his owners and, upon witnessing the farm's occupants being seriously injured by Jagodd's forces, decides to avenge his owners by battling Jagodd and his minions.

...with a chainsaw.

Players assume the role of the pumpkin-headed scarecrow hero as they travel across seven monster-infested levels, slicing up everything in their way with their trusty chainsaw, wiping out legions of Jagodd's followers en masse, before a final confrontation with Jagodd in his fortress, Nightmare Castle.

Splatter Master contains examples of the following tropes:

• Adorable Evil Minions: Say what you want about the imps, they're actually kind of cute despite (or maybe because) being the most recurring enemy in the entire game.
• Airborne Mook: The imps with bat wings. They're small and can be really difficult to hit, not helped by the fact that the game tends to have them showing up in areas with platforming elements or pitfalls.
• Amphibian Assault: Occasionally, you might be attacked by frogs as large as you, which can slap you with their tongues.
• Animate Inanimate Object:
  • Your hero is a living scarecrow.
  • The game's third boss is a living gear brought to life by Jagodd's magic, and it can slide across the floor to attack you from below, besides spamming laser bolts you'll need to jump over. It returns in the final stage as backup for Jagodd.
• Become a Real Boy: In the hidden ending, when Jagodd is defeated and his magic is reverted, a magic crystal suddenly appears and turns the scarecrow protagonist into a human boy.
• Big Bad: Jagodd, the Evil Wizard who dabbled in dark arts bringing monsters and imps to enslave mankind. The one hero standing in his way is the player's pumpkin-headed scarecrow character.
• Bloody Hilarious: The amount of bloody overkills you can pull off with that chainsaw is equal parts over-the-top and hilarious to watch, with every onscreen death leaving behind pools of blood.
• Body Horror: Near the end of the Train Canyon stage, we saw the horrifying results of Jagodd's sorcery to the former occupants of the now-abandoned valley town - most of the population have been forcefully fused together into an entire blob of limbs, heads and interior organs large enough to fill up an entire train carriage. It's mindless and attacks you the moment you're in sight.
• Burger Fool: The second boss of the game is a giant fast-food diner mascot brought to life by Jagodd's magic, dressed up like a fast-food employee (including a cap with the logo on it). The robot will attack by flinging exploding burgers at you.
• Chainsaw Good: The chainsaw power-up is so very, very good, living up to the trope's name by grinding imps and low-level enemies into a bloody pulp. It also deals impressive damage to bosses, and can instantly kill those annoying flying imps with a well-timed hit. Make sure its fuel meter is at maximum before the start of each level, though. Finishing off the sixth boss with it is required to get the true ending.
• Creepy Crows: The first stage's boss is a giant raven who can swoop around the boss arena to attack you. It shows up as one of Jagodd's assistants in the final level.
• Flunky Boss:
  • The Burger Fool giant robot can dispense low-level imps to attack while throwing explosive burgers at you.
  • Jagodd himself can summon copies of the previous bosses as backup, though they only last onscreen for a short while before disappearing afterwards.
• Fungus Humongous: Requiem Forest contains giant toadstools which can be used as jumping platforms for reaching bonuses and power-ups. Be warned when trying to walk under these toadstools, they periodically discharge poisonous spores capable of hurting you, but at least they're immobile vegetation (the same thing can't be said for the Mushroom Man enemies in the same stage).
• The Goomba: The basic imps which are the first enemy encountered are hilariously weak and hardly a significant threat. Their sole attack is a slow headbutt that does pathetic damage, and they can be pummeled into scrap and easily killed without using weapons. They do appear in larger numbers later in the game, but by then you probably had the chainsaw loaded with maximum fuel, at which point you can grind them to bits by the dozens.
• Gorn: The very selling point of the game. Enemies killed by the chainsaw will leave behind acres of Ludicrous Gibs, and even opponents killed by punching and kicking will burst into gory red puddles.
• Half the Man He Used to Be: The fate of every imp that gets in the way of the chainsaw. Some of the bosses, like the giant crow and the living gear, are also killed by breaking in half thanks to the same weapon.
• Heroic Sacrifice: The conclusion of the game: as you whittle away Jagodd's health in a difficult Final Boss battle, Jagodd taunts that if you killed him, his magic will be gone and you will revert back to being a scarecrow. Nevertheless, you pressed on attacking and after you killed Jagodd, you reverse the effects of his dark magic, bringing peace back to the land - but at the same time, you turn back to a lifeless scarecrow, with the game's credits played over your prone, once-again-motionless body.
• Hockey Mask and Chainsaw: In later stages, you can fight imps wearing hockey masks and armed with hatchets, though they don't have chainsaws. The masks seems to provide extra armour for them, allowing them to take more damage than regular imps.
• The Horde: Jagodd's army of imps and monsters, which is slaughtering entire villages to enforce his rule.
• Multiple Endings: A default Bittersweet Ending where the protagonist reverts to a lifeless scarecrow, and a hidden ending where he's able to Become a Real Boy.
• Mushroom Man: Requiem Forest has plenty of living mushroom humanoids as enemies, and it caps with a boss battle against a giant mushroom monster that can spam poisonous fungal spores.
• No Ontological Inertia: Killing Jagodd in the final stage removes his sorcery and banishes his army of imps and monsters back to where they came from... but this also undoes the magic that brought you to life in the first place, turning you back to a motionless, lifeless pumpkin-headed statue.
• Our Gargoyles Rock: The second stage has three gargoyles who pretend to be statues on a bridge, until you approach them, at which point they come to life and attack you. Oddly enough, this is their sole appearance in the whole game.
• Pumpkin Person: Your character is a pumpkin-headed scarecrow who was animated by Jagodd, but refuses to serve him and chooses to avenge his owners instead.
• Scary Scarecrows: You play as a scarecrow, on the side of good. You're scary because of the amount of imps and monsters you slaughtered throughout the game.
• Spring Coil: Jumping imps with springs for feet are another enemy variety. They aren't as difficult (or as annoying) as airborne imps, but they can still bounce around the area quite rapidly.
• Storming the Castle: The final stage, Nightmare Castle, where Jagodd the wizard is waiting for your hero in an epic confrontation.
• Tennis Boss: The giant Burger Fool robot boss of the second stage primarily attacks by flinging exploding burgers at you. You can deflect them back at it, which is the only method of inflicting any damage.
• That's No Moon: The Freeze Lane stage's boss shows up as you reach the end of the level, at a lake's edge. In the background, the moon suddenly dips into the water, and then resurfaces, transforming into a yellow moon-like monstrosity...