Helltaker Takes the Hearts of Japanese Artists

Helltaker is an indie game made by Polish artist Łukasz Piskorz who goes by the username vanripper. Players take on the role of the eponymous Helltaker, a muscle-bound stud who travels into hell to recruit a harem of demon girls. The game is a top-down block puzzle maze where upon reaching the end of each level, the player meets a new demon girl to add to their harem. Helltaker also features a catchy soundtrack and clean sprite-work. Perhaps most alluring of all is the fact the game is completely free.

ヘルテイカークリアした勢いで描いた。もーー皆かわいいのだけどケルベロスちゃん達が特に好き！！（一番好きなのはヘルテイカーさんです！！！！）　#Helltaker pic.twitter.com/sAH06Hebtf

— にじゅーまる (@nj_mr) May 27, 2020

For the past few weeks since the game came out, Helltaker has enjoyed a large amount of success. Fans quickly latched onto the game’s combination of unique aesthetics, engaging puzzle gameplay, and the variety of demon girls to recruit. As with all properties that enjoy a surge of popularity, artists everywhere online start creating their own renditions of their favorite characters. This also includes artists in Japan whose works have obtained tremendous reach through the #Helltaker hashtag on Twitter as well as Piskorz openly sharing other artist’s works he enjoys. A database of fanart has cataloged over 5000 works of art at the time of the writing of this article and continues to grow steadily.

https://twitter.com/Guchico77/status/1269194490398470145

It is not a surprise that Japanese artists would latch onto Helltaker so easily. The game’s characters are tailor-made to show off multiple different fetishes and traits seen in many anime favorites. The game’s Steam page describes the game as being about sharply dressed demon girls — an apt description since it is this combination of the office lady and demon girl tropes that have captured the hearts of Japanese artists. While a corporate setting generally seems bland or cold, the girls of Helltaker instead sport flashy red and black suits that when complemented with their red eyes and white hair make for a visually striking design.

ケルベロス + マリーナ #helltaker pic.twitter.com/ZRL1Wh9LZi

— faesu (@faesu_) June 4, 2020

The chaotic hellscape the game takes place in is given a sense of cohesion with the uniformity of the character designs. On top of the office lady/demon girl combo, the girls shine individually embody tropes that differentiate each other enough to be distinguishable. Each girl has a completely different personality based on popular traits which means the cast of Helltaker has something for everyone.

モデウスちゃん最高に可愛い #Helltaker pic.twitter.com/plRlggftO7

— シロス (@shiros_shin) May 24, 2020

Helltaker can be found on Steam for, as previously mentioned, free. For fans who want to further support the game and vanripper’s art, an artbook along with a demonically delicious pancake recipe for $9.99.