Henry Stickmin

> *What Henry Stickmin truly is is a mystery. Well, he;s a stickman, of course, but his alignments, world views, and goals are unknown. Some say he’s a bounty hunter working for the government. Others say he’s the leader of a dangerous criminal organization. One things for sure, though: Henry is a thief, and a formidable one at that, and he wouldn’t have been as infamous as he is without the tools, items, and weaponry he obtains seemingly out of nowhere. Even after being raptured by The Cross, he’s still finding a way to make some money, even if its from a completely different universe. Notably, he’s got his eyes on a luxurious golden castle, and whatever is within it. Henry will no doubt infiltrate it and steal whatever valuable treasures he can get his hands on, he just may have to deal with the king, first.”'*
>
> *Henry’s description*

***Henry Stickmin*** is a playable character in *IndieVisible*, being the first representative of the eponymous Henry Stickmin series. In *IndieVisible,* Henry Stickmin utilizes the various tools he uses throughout the Henry Stickmin series in many of his attacks, and especially his specials.

## Playstyle

Henry Stickmin is a definite example of a wild card, with him being quite an unpredictable opponent. Despite that, however, many of his normal attacks are fairly straightforward, mainly acting as reliable combo-starters or KO options. Where Henry really shines is with his specials, as they are incredibly unique compared to every other set of special attacks in the game. When inputted, they don’t initially perform the action, and instead gives Henry a choice of 3 options that allow him to use the move in a specific way. Neutral special makes Henry throw or shoot the item forwards, side special makes Henry ride or run with the item forwards, up special makes Henry ride the item upwards or jump a third time with the item in hand, and down special has Henry use the item on him. Henry can cancel out of the special before choosing an item at any time, and there is a visual indicator as to what button Henry used to input in order to reduce the chance of the player inputting the wrong special.

There are 25 different items that Henry can choose from, which, when combined with the 4 different special inputs, total out to 100 different special moves for Henry, the most out of any character in the game. However, this doesn’t mean all of the specials are good or useful for the player, as some may do nothing or may even hinder the player by putting them at a disadvantage.

The items that Henry can use are the following:

* Bombs - A basic explosive item that explodes after 3 seconds. The explosion can damage both opponents and Henry himself, meaning it may not be a good idea to use the side, up, or down special variant of this move. However, the up special variant could be useful to give Henry some extra vertical height to aid in recovery at the expense of taking quite a lot of damage. The down special variant could also be used to edgeguard, but this is very situational.
* Cannon - A large cannon that is quite useful for recovery purposes, especially for making Henry an active hitbox. Both up and side special are useful for launching Henry in a desired direction, albeit with some start-up and end lag. The start of the move also has some super armor when Henry is in the cannon, making it easier for him to recover without being punished. Neutral special, while quite strong, is generally situational due to the incredibly close-range hitbox. Down special is also very situational, due to only damaging Henry, though it does give him some brief frames of super armor while he is in the cannon.
* Rocket Launcher - Similar to the Bomb item in that it is explosive, but is far faster when used as neutral special and also instantly explodes on contact. It also isn’t gravity affected, meaning it is more useful as a projectile than a set-up. The up special variant is useful as a recovery, but on the ground, it is good for quickly gaining vertical height in order to reach an opponent quickly. Side special is a fairly useful horizontal recovery, and when it explodes, it can be useful as a KO option when near the blast zone. Down special is fairly situational due to damaging Henry and launching him away, but it could also catch opponents off-guard in the moment.
* Wings - This item isn’t quite useful for offensive purposes as it is for recovery. That said, the neutral special variant can cause opponents to fly in the air, allowing for possible follow-ups. Both side and up special send Henry forwards or upwards at great speeds, making them reliable recovery options. Down special can also assist in recovery, as they gift Henry with 3 additional mid-air jumps before they fall off.
* Scooter - One of Henry’s more reliable items, the neutral special variant can be used as a decently strong, if slow projectile. The side and up special variants are quite useful for recovery purposes, and are quite useful as Henry can control where they fly. It also makes Henry an active hitbox, making him harder to gimp. Down special is, again, fairly situational, though Henry does have an active hitbox when spinning.
* Laser - Another offensive option, neutral special works as a very fast, if weak, projectile, and unlike most of the other neutral special variants, the player can press the button again to fire another laser, allowing Henry to fire multiple lasers in any direction while standing in place, making it a fairly reliable zoning option. Side and up special are fairly useless, as Henry only runs forward and jumps upward without firing the laser. Down special is also detrimental to Henry, as it only damages him.
* Fire Magic - One of Henry’s more magical items, neutral special works as a good edgeguarding option near the ledge, and can be good for combos and set-ups. Side special and up special are good offensive recovery options, though it does damage Henry in the process. Down special also damages nearby foes, but damages Henry as well, making it fairly situational.
* Ice Magic - Another magical item, neutral special is useful for edgeguarding, as it can be hard for opponents to recover from offstage after being frozen. Side special is almost completely useless off-stage, but on stage, it can be useful for moving and damaging opponents safely, making for a good anti-zoning option thanks to it’s super armor. Up special is very situational, only freezing Henry with no vertical momentum, and down special freezes Henry in a snowflake pattern, giving it a large initial hitbox to damage nearby opponents as well as give him super armor temporarily.
* Electric Magic - The last of Henry’s magic items, neutral special is an incredibly strong and fast projectile, with the main drawback being the fact that it doesn’t go quite as far as the other magic projectiles. Side special is a reliable and safe recovery, making Henry completely invulnerable for the duration of the move, same goes for up special. Down special does damage Henry, but also creates a strong hitbox that can spike at certain angles.
* Gemstones - A very strong, if slow projectile in its neutral special variant. It doesn’t go very far, but it had great damage and launching power. It can also spike off-stage, making it a useful edgeguarding tool. Side and up special only hinder the layer, as they reduce Henry’s speed and jump height. Down special also only hinders Henry, damaging him as well.
* Jetpack - A unique projectile when used in its neutral special variant, as after landing on the ground, it flies in a random direction before exploding on contact. This makes it quite an unpredictable move, which may pressure opponents to keep their distance. Side and up special are useful for recovery purposes, making Henry an active hitbox, and down special is a situational move that deals decent damage that also damages Henry.
* Shrink n’ Grow - All of the different variants of this move, save for neutral special, shrink Henry, making his hitbox far smaller, but making him easier to launch. Side special makes him charge faster, and up special has him jump up higher as well. Neutral special can make other opponents small, making them easier to KO.
* Grow n’ Shrink - Similarly to the Shrink n’ Grow item, all special variants, save for neutral special, increase Henry’s size temporarily, making him a bigger target, but much harder to launch and have more launching power for all attacks. Side special also has decreased speed and up special has decreased vertical height. Neutral special also increases the size of opponents, making them larger temporarily, which could assist in combos.
* Swapper - A fairly unique item, neutral special has Henry fire a projectile that, once contact with an opponent, makes both characters swap places with eachother. This can be a very good mix-up option, as well as a possible anti-zoning option. Side and up special aren’t anything special, just making Henry run forwards and jump upwards, and down special only leaves Henry vulnerable.
* Grappling Hook - A unique type of recovery item, it is similar to the Swapper in that Henry can fire it in any direction with the neutral variant, except when an opponent is hit by it, Henry is quickly pulled towards them. If it manages to hit a ledge, Henry will be pulled towards it as well, acting as a sort of tether recovery. Side special just has Henry run forwards with it, but up special has Henry fire it upwards at a slight angle while gaining some vertical momentum, easing in recovery. Down special simply damages Henry and leaves him vulnerable.
* Cheese - A simple support item that, in its down special variant, heals Henry for 10%. He can also eat it in the side and up special variants, but it will only heal 5% of health. The neutral special has Henry throw the cheese, acting as an item that both him and an opponent can use to heal 6% of health.
* Duplicatorange - Another unique item. If used on its neutral special variant, any opponent hit will be cloned. The clone will last for 10 seconds before disappearing, and both the clone and the original character will take double damage and knockback from attacks. The clone also has its own AI, and will act independent of the original character. The same is true for the down special variant, but on Henry himself, and the clone lasts 11 seconds instead of 10, and Henry does not take double damage and knockback. The side special has Henry clone himself while running, acting as a sort of shield in front of him. Same goes for up special.
* Positron Reflector/Forcefield - All variants of this item deploy a shield around Henry that both decreases the knockback he takes temporarily and reflects all projectiles nearby. The neutral special variant has Henry throw the shield forwards, which any opponent can hide in. The shield will last for 5 seconds before disappearing, both for the neutral special and down special variants, and the up and side special variants disappear when the move ends.
* SuccPak - When used in the neutral special variant, nearby opponents will slowly be pulled towards Henry. This can either be canceled into another attack to start combos, or can completely suck up an opponent to fire them in a chosen direction, acting as a command grab of sorts. The side and up special variants both suck up Henry before firing him forwards or upwards, similarly to the cannon’s side and up special variants, but is much faster and doesn’t have super armor. The down special variant simply leaves Henry vulnerable to being punished. The neutral special variant can also suck up items and projectiles, making it useful for pressuring zoners, notably those who rely on projectiles, to come close to Henry.
* Cybernetics - One of the more versatile items, neutral works as a spammable projectile which can be fired up to 3 times at once in any direction, making it a good zoning tool. Side special is useful for recovery purposes as well as a combo extender, up special is useful as a vertical recovery option thanks to its high speed, and down special also great for a reliable, instant recovery at the expense of large damage.
* Build - Another unique and versatile item. The neutral special variant allows Henry to place up to 3 blocks in front of him, both on the ground or in the air. This can be used to edgeguard, set up temporary shields, or buy him time to use another, more useful item. Side special is useful for creating temporary platforms to mix-up opponents as well as recovery, as is up special. Down special simply makes Henry vulnerable.
* Boomerang - The neutral special variant works as a standard boomerang, going forwards before revolving back to Henry. If it hits an opponent on the ground, however, they are temporarily stunned, allowing Henry to follow up with a combo. The side and up special variants aren’t anything special, only having Henry run forwards with the boomerang forwards, and down special only damaged Henry while stunning him, leaving him vulnerable.
* Self-Destruct - An incredibly risky and situational option. All 4 variants have Henry explode in a massive, fiery explosion, dealing massive damage to anybody nearby at the expense of Henry losing a stock. Both side and up special will have Henry explode after jumping or running forwards, while the neutral special has Henry explode after 3 seconds, compared to down special having Henry explode instantly.
* Disguise Kit - Another very versatile, if risky, item. All variants have Henry temporarily transform into another fighter currently in the match. Neutral special performs their neutral special, side special performs their side special, up special performs their up special, and down special performs their down special. After the special is performed, or after around 5 seconds, Henry automatically reforms back into his base state.
* Teleporter - One of Henry’s more unreliable options, all variants of this item teleports Henry into a completely random area on the stage. This could be used as a recovery option, but most of the time, it will teleport Henry to a disadvantage area, such as near the blastzone.

Though Henry has some good versatility overall with his specials, he still has some notable flaws. Henry is a lightweight, and as such, is fairly easy to KO if given the chance. Though his high maneuverability and some of his items do mitigate this, its still a flaw worth pointing out. Henry’s biggest flaw, however, is arguably his greatest strength, as although all of his specials can be very out-of-pocket and unpredictable for his opponents, the same can be said for the player themself. All 4 options when inputting any special are completely randomly chosen, meaning that if the opponent doesn’t have a good fallback plan, or can’t make the most out of their options, they can be put in a disadvantage. The choice can be canceled, giving the player another chance of finding an item good for the current situation, though this is quite laggy, and can lead to the player getting punished. Additionally, a few of his choices, depending on the variation, can be useless or even hinder the player if chosen, reflecting how many of Henry’s choices in the original Henry Stickmin series often lead to him failing.

Overall, despite having a number of clear weaknesses, Henry is one of the most versatile, unpredictable, and hardest characters to master in the entire game, and although his steep learning curve and reliance on RNG can be hard to master, learning and mastering Henry can prove him to be a dangerous threat, capable of adapting to nearly any situation at hand.

## Moveset

 Cross Attack | Final Choice | Henry temporarily freezes time as 3 different options appear around him. If he does not pick an option in the set amount of time, a random one is selected
Henry calls in the Toppat Clan as the Toppat Airship flies in, with Toppats jumping out and damaging foes via bats and guns. Drill pods also fall from the airship, dealing multi-hitting damage to foes. At the end of the attack, the Toppats return to the airship as it flies away.
Henry calls in his tank which rams forward towards foes, launching them in the air before firing a massive explosion directly at them.
Henry calls in Charles Calvin as he crashes his helicopter on the stage, dealing massive damage to any foe nearby including Henry himself.

### On-screen Appearance

* Henry teleports on stage using the Teleporter

### Taunts

* **Up Taunt** - Henry puts a bag of money on him as he falls over.
* **Side Taunt** - Henry takes out a computer as he watches an incredibly drawn out walkthrough of IndieVisible.
* *Down Taunt'* - Henry performs the infamous Distraction Dance

### Block Animation

* Henry creates a large bubble around himself.

### Idle Poses

* Henry thinks to himself, looking side to side.
* Henry takes out and analyzes the Teleporter before putting it back

### Victory Pose

* Henry is seen chasing down a bank truck with a mischevious smile on his face.

## Win Quotes

Henry is a silent character, and thus lacks win quotes of any kind.

## Arcade Mode Route

Henry's Arcade Mode route is titled ***OVER THE CROSS***.

Like all other Arcade Mode routes for other characters, there is unique pre-fight banter before each fight.

## Trivia

* Henry's codename is **Duality** referencing the duality between good and evil Henry must choose between in the games *Infiltrating the Airship* and *Completing the Mission*. It can also reflect the choices commonly present in Henry's game's.
* Henry is one of few characters to lack unique post-fight dialog, simply saying "...". He shares this detail with The Knight, Carrion, OMORI, Hat Kid, Madotsuki, Brad Armstrong, Quote, Isaac, and The Lost.