Slitterhead has a complicated, non-linear narrative that can be confusing until the end. Although the involvement of Team Silent alumni caused it to be classified primarily as a horror game. Slitterhead is secretly an action RPG with a time loop plot. The entire game lasts three days, and players must repeatedly return to crucial story events to prevent tragedy or recruit new characters.
[Warning: This article contains major spoilers for Slitterhead.]
Slitterhead centers on a Hyoki, a formless, amnesiac spirit who can inhabit the bodies of other living thingsand Rarities, extra-powerful humans who can maintain a fraction of their free will while possessed. Hyoki (later nicknamed the Night Owl) teams up with a small group of Rarities to understand and ultimately exterminate a group of shape-shifting, brain-sucking monsters called Slitterheads who stalk the dirty, neon-drenched streets. from the Kowlong slums. . They gradually uncover a Slitterhead conspiracy that strikes at the heart of Kowlong’s criminal underbelly, religious movements, and ultimately their own lives.
Alex’s betrayal and Hyoki’s secret
Why does Alex leave the party
Eventually, Alex discovers that Lisa, a nurse who works at her clinic, is also a Slitterhead. However, she is more complicated than anyone he has ever faced, and he is forced to fight her many times. He eventually gains the upper hand, but the effort leaves him psychologically damaged and perpetually enraged. He doubles down on his promise to eliminate all Slitterhead and tells Night Owl that he is taking over.
Alex then embarks on a time loop around Kowlong, killing the same Slitterheads over and over again. Night Owl tries to contact him, accusing him of simply trying to punish himself for losing Lisa, but Alex rebuffs him. He turns on his fellow Rarities next, eventually killing Julee when she tries to stop him. Meanwhile, Night Owl realizes that he has completely lost his connection with Alex, but Alex still appears to have access to Hyoki’s powers. He solves it there must be a second Hyokiand jumps to another timeline to confront him.
Now possessing Julee, who remains alive in the other timeline, Night Owl realizes that Alex has become nearly unstoppable. Due to his unrestricted access to the three-day cycle, Alex’s violence continues. But Night Owl does some soul searching and comes to some conclusions about his own nature. Hyoki is not an alien or a spirit, but the disembodied consciousness of a human from the future.sent back in time to prevent a series of calamitous events that led to his dark reality.
He was not sent alone, however. Night Owl remembers he was given a device that could seal the Slitterheads in the space-time continuum instead of killing them. He and Julee manage to retrieve and activate the device, but are forced to sigh over Alex once again.
Slitterhead’s Normal Ending Explained
Try, try again
Confronting him on a foggy rooftop, Julee makes a final plea to Alex/Leopard Head. She explains that the Slitterhead threat has been functionally eliminated and that as long as the two decide to break out of the time loop, their collective nightmare will end. Alex, however, makes it clear that he is not interested. He resents Julee and Night Owl for the friendliness they occasionally showed towards certain Slitterheads.some of whom are able to remain conscious (even non-violent, as long as their hunger for blood is satiated) after their transformations.
Hoping to eliminate Night Owl’s possession options by killing Julee for good and then turning Kowlong into a “perpetual cemetery“unopposed, Alex attacks. The two fight, with Alex/Leopard Head possessing several civilians and using them against Julee for the first time. Eventually, they wear him down and he passes out. Blue light can be seen coming from Alex’s eyes, but he can only laugh as blood pools around him and then watches a distant plane approach her.
The implication here is that Leopard Head has taken possession of the plane’s pilot and intends to crash the plane into the building Julee is in.. This ending leads to a post-credits scene that reflects Slitterheadopening sequence. Night Owl hovers in the air above Kowlong, reflecting on eternity, on reappearing here, again and again. This suggests that the time loop starts all over again if Julee dies and Night Owl fails his mission.
Slitterhead’s True Ending Explained
(Almost) Breaking the Cycle
After reaching the normal ending, a kill counter will appear on the screen between missions in the game. This represents the total number of civilians who have died during the current game. Players will need to return to previous missions, completing them with as few casualties as possible, eventually reducing the number of victims to 66 or less to unlock the true ending.
Julee’s Revive All ability can be immensely useful in preventing civilian deaths.
This will unlock a new story mission,”Last RE duel (2nd cycle)” which plays out the same way as the first fight with Alex, just with some additional dialogue at the beginning about how to close the loop. It reveals that Night Owl and Leopard Head are distinct manifestations of the same being. It almost ends the same way, too: Julee gets the upper hand on Alex, and Leopard Head takes control of the approaching plane. time slows down and the player has just eight seconds to possess a passenger and save Julee’s life.
If they do, Night Owl will fight his way into the cockpit in a brief cutscene, with Leopard Head possessing the pilot and then a flight attendant in an effort to stop him. During a mid-credits sequence the plane passes overhead, almost hitting the building where Julee is still. Relieved, she turns her attention to the pool of blood where Alex once lied and realizes he is gone.
Finally, a post-credits scene shows Alex getting on his motorcycle, his blue eyes still glowing, and riding off into the night. The screen displays the following text:
Julee and Alex.
Night Owl and Leopard Head.
And the remaining Slitterheads…
Your battles move into the next era.
This seems to imply that Julee and Alex will continue to live, as will their respective Hyoki. It also suggests that the Slitterhead threat has not been fully eradicated either. What comes next for either of them is left deliberately unclear. However, what is clear is that they will remain locked in conflict indefinitelyas there has yet to be a final resolution to their struggles.
And with that the game comes to an end. It is possible to interpret its final moments as a sequence setup or simply a final statement that the time loop continues. Whatever the case, the future of Julee, Alex, and everyone else remains uncertain at the end of Slitterhead.