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| “ | If that twitchy freak shoves me one more time... | ” |
–Writing in the bathroom alluding to The Trickster's human form, The Jerk | ||
The Trickster, also known as The Jerk, is the third Elder God encountered in Beneath and can be fought upon accessing the Construct level. He is fought after the player has successfully finished all the Construct scenarios in Beneath.
Description[]
The Trickster's true appearance isn't actually revealed in the game, instead it has possessed an ordinary worker in the facility in order to spy on what the humans are doing. The possessed worker, known as "the Jerk", is pale and haggard as a result of an elder god controlling his body. Once the player enters the Construct, the Trickster boasts a similar stature to the Solitary Prisoner except he has four faces on the front, back and the sides of his head, all with different facial expressions displaying happiness, anger, surprise and fear. In the Construct, he appears to wear the UHDF General's uniform.
He is extremely hostile towards the player upon having his Construct scenarios beaten and will challenge the player in a fight to the death in the same gladiatorial arena seen in Arena Mode. In a similar fashion to the Construct, the Trickster's large variety of attacks are all Scenario-themed. He will cycle through different phases randomly. Unlike other enemies in the game, it is impossible to kill the Trickster by simply whittling his health down. Instead, each time the player depletes the Trickster's health, they have to interact with a "reconstruction cube" that spawns in the arena to build multiple turrets surrounding the arena. After the player depletes a certain number of his phases, the Trickster will shrink and the newly built turrets will obliterate him.
Reaching the Trickster[]
- Main article: The Trickster/Reaching the Trickster
Abilities and Powers[]
- Scenario Phases: Throughout the fight, the Trickster will cycle through four different attack phases, all themed after the Scenarios in the main game. How frequently the Trickster cycles through his phases is determined by either his health being depleted or if the player takes too long to deplete the Trickster's health. The Trickster will switch through the following phases in this order:
- Katana Tornado: The Disco phase. The Trickster dual-wields two Black Katanas and will begin rapidly spinning towards the player when approached at melee range, dealing continuous damage.
- Shotgun & Shield: The Prison phase. The Trickster spawns an invincible Riot Shield and wields a Pump-action Shotgun. He will block nearly all direct attacks in this phase with his shield. Upon getting closer to him, the Trickster will periodically let his guard down to shoot directly at the player. The damage the Trickster's Shotgun deals depends on how close the player is to him or, more specifically, how many Shotgun pellets hit the player.
- Boxing Stance: The Biker Bar phase. The Trickster turns his fists into boxing gloves and attempts to block his face. Similarly to the Boxer, he will dish out low damaging but fast punches at melee range.
- Pirate Cannon: The Pirate Cove phase and easily the most dangerous phase of all. The Trickster will spawn several large rocks that rise through the ground while the Arena is flooded with water. The player will instantly die if they fall into the water, thus requiring the player to jump from rock to rock. Meanwhile, the Trickster will spawn a large shoulder-mounted cannon and will periodically fire at the player with the intent of knocking the player into the water. The cannonballs deal moderate damage, but travel extremely fast and deal a deadly amount of knockback. The Trickster will not move in this phase and will remain stationed on the rock in the middle of the arena. If a player jumps onto the center rock, the Trickster will lash out and attempt to knock them into the water. After the Pirate Cannon phase finishes, the Trickster will revert back to the Katana Tornado phase, thus repeating his attack cycle.
- Revival: As the one in control of the Construct, the Trickster cannot be killed through normal means. Upon losing all of his health, he will instantly regenerate back to full health and resume attacking the player. The only real method of killing him is to re-construct the turrets surrounding the arena by collecting the reconstruction cubes that spawn throughout the arena.
Strategy[]
- Though there are weapons in the arena, it's best if you bring a Shotgun and a Black Katana (which you can find in the Construct Prison and the Construct Disco respectively). The blows will deplete a great deal of the Trickster's health and although the Trickster will not die via conventional means, it will speed up the fight as the reconstruction cubes usually spawn each time the player "kills" him.
- One of the safest ways to attack the Trickster in his Katana Tornado phase (without the use of ranged weapons) is to use a standard hit-and-run attack pattern. The Trickster will only start spinning once you close in on him. Players with high speed can easily outrun this attack.
- Trying to land any hits on the Trickster in his Shotgun & Shield phase can be challenging not just because of his Riot Shield, but also because of his Shotgun. It might be best for players to wait the phase out by dodging the Trickster's shots, as he will move onto his next phase after a certain period of time. One method to get around the Trickster's shield is to use allies to distract him if they are available to the player. It is advised to wait for him to shoot, and the player will be able to strafe and counterattack.
- In his Boxing Stance phase, players should attack his body or his legs to deal damage to him since he will keep trying to block his head.
- The Pirate Cannon phase is without a doubt the most unforgiving part of the whole fight. One wrong step and/or one hit from the Trickster's cannonball could end a player's run in an instant. Regardless of whether or not a player's character is fast or slow, the player always has to be on the move, hopping from rock to rock with quick precision. The lengthy window between each of the Trickster's attacks makes it very hard to predict his cannonballs, which in turn are extremely difficult to dodge from a standstill. It is very risky to attack the Trickster in this phase with a melee weapon due to the chances of a quick death, as not only is there is a much higher chance to be hit by a cannonball depending on how close you are to the Trickster, but the Trickster will also try to knock the player into the water at melee range. If the player is intent on damaging the Trickster in this phase, a ranged weapon should always be used.
- During the Pirate Cannon phase, players can stand on the widest rock and just alternate left and right. Because of the Trickster's aim, players can avoid being hit through this method, and also avoid the risk of jumping from rock to rock.
- Since the Trickster will automatically switch to a new phase if the player takes too long to deplete his health, this can allow players to strategically "skip" a few of the Trickster's attacks by whittling down the Trickster's health until his health is almost depleted, waiting around long enough for the Trickster to switch to his next phase, and then deplete his health by quickly so he is again forced to switch to another phase. This strategy is best suited for the Trickster's Pirate Cannon attack (as long as the player has a ranged weapon), as it avoids any risk of getting instantly killed by arena's water.
- After you deplete his health bar, quickly collect the reconstruction cube that spawns, which can be done by pressing "E" to interact with it. One will appear each time you deplete his health bar and each time you collect one, turrets surrounding the area will start being built. Repeating this three times will end the fight, as the turrets will simultaneously launch a barrage of bullets which destroy The Trickster.
Trivia[]
- The Jerk's similar appearance and pivotal role in reaching the Trickster concludes that both characters are one and the same. The Jerk's true nature as an Elder God is also foreshadowed by his eyes occasionally glowing red if a player looks at him from a certain distance away.
- The Trickster is the only Elder God that does not summon enemies in combat.
- Despite the Trickster being the last boss before The End, beating the Trickster will not send the player to Fire and Blood . The player will only be sent back to Caves - II. This means the player is required to play through and beat The Necromancer or The Aberration a second time to access The End.
- Even though The Trickster is not the first ranged enemy, it is the first human enemy to shoot firearms.
- In the game files, the Jerk is named "Asshole", in reference to the fact that he will shove you without provocation if you come close to him in the Facility.
| Enemies in Beneath | |
|---|---|
| Standard | Acolyte • Bore Worm • Charger • Crystal Crab • Crystal Entity • Floating Head • Giant Mage • Golden Boxer • Gremlin • Hydra • Interceptor • Leaper • Minion • Observer • Pursuer • Skeleton • Statue • Teleporter • Zombie |
| Shard Lords | Beast • Centurion • Crawler • Deceiver • Golem • Pyro |
| Elder Gods | The Necromancer • The Aberration • The Trickster • The End |