The Iron Hood

* 8-Bit
* 16-Bit

> "*Haha! You didn't think The Shopkeeper was the one who made the Climbing Claws, now, did you?*"
> ― *The Iron Hood*
>
>

    **The Iron Hood** is a character in The Messenger. He is a member of the Order of the Blue Robes who hid away inside the shop's Money Sink. The Iron Hood is a legendary craftsman who made Ninja's Climbing Claws, Wingsuit, and Rope Dart. He makes toys that Ninja can purchase with Time Shards  in The Craftsman's Corner.

## Profile

### Appearance

Like the other members of the Blue Robes, The Iron Hood wears a blue robe outfit and a necklace of round white beads; the outfit shrouds his face in darkness except for two glowing red eyes. He is a large man with huge arms. The counter he stands behind hides the fact that he wears blue sandals.

As depicted in his Tower of Time statue, The Iron Hood is extremely buff, with muscly arms, muscly legs, abs, and broad shoulders. He wears a hood that obscures his face, arm guards that cover his wrists, a loincloth, and boots. He wears no other clothing, so his arms, hands, legs, and torso are exposed.

### Personality

The Iron Hood thoroughly enjoys his toy-crafting hobby. He tends to laugh while talking.

## Main Story

As Ninja traverses through the Tower of Time, he encounters various large statues with plaques in a mysterious writing. The fourth statue Ninja passes depicts The Iron Hood, which is labeled with a plaque that translates to "THE IRON HOOD." In final room of the Tower Time before Cloud Ruins, Ninja encounters this statue again, along with a couple of other statues he passed earlier.

If Ninja purchases all of the shop upgrades, a Money Sink appears in the shop. During the Version 1.0.4 build of the game, players could waste any amount of Time Shards they wanted into the Money Sink. However, with the release of the Picnic Panic DLC, the Money Sink becomes clogged. After interacting with the clogged sink, The Shopkeeper suggests locating a "Money Wrench."

Ninja can go to The Artificer's room in the Tower of Time HQ and interact with the tools on a nearby machine. He requests if he can borrow The Artificer's Money Wrench in order to fix the Money Sink. The Artificer is shocked, believing that the Money Sink was "destroyed during the raid," and he ponders if "he" (The Iron Hood) is still alive. The Artificer offers to hand over the Money Wrench in exchange for all of Ninja's Time Shards. If Ninja agrees to do so, he acquires the Money Wrench. Interacting with the sink fixes it, but the wrench immediately disintegrates. Ninja can then enter the Money Sink at any time in order to visit The Iron Hood in The Craftsman's Corner.

Ninja asks The Iron Hood who he is, mentioning that he thought that there were only three Blue Robes members. The Iron Hood is surprised that there are only three members left in the Order and comments that hiding away was a good decision. He introduces himself as Iron Hood, Entrepreneur Extraordinaire, and informs that Ninja is fully equipped with his creations, such as the Climbing Claws. The Iron Hood also explains that he has since changed his vocation to toy making and that he sells toys. As Ninja buys toys from The Iron Hood, the shelves in the background of The Craftsman's Corner are filled with miniatures of various enemies and bosses.

### February 5, 2019

Outside of the game, players from the official The Messenger Discord sever were given a chance by The Archivist to choose between three different books, labeled "NINJA," "THE ALCHEMIST," and "BARMA'THAZEL." Players voted for the book labeled "NINJA," which did not actually provide any new information about Ninja. However, it did reveal new lore about The Iron Hood himself.

When translated, the passage reveals that Ninja's Wingsuit was crafted by The Iron Hood and that The Iron Hood is a legendary craftsman.

BAMBOO CREEK
AND INTO THE
HOWLING GROTTO,
NINJA WOULD
BEAR WITNESS TO
BEAUTIFUL
STREAMS OF
EMERALD. IT IS
HERE THAT HE
WOULD ADD THE
WINGSUIT
YET ANOTHER
ARTIFACT MADE
BY THE
LEGENDARY
CRAFTSMAN
KNOWN AS IRON
HOOD. AS HE
WOULD
EVENTUALLY
FIND OUT, RIGHT
BELOW HIM LAY

### March 14, 2019

In the official The Messenger Discord server, the Clockwork Concierge mentioned that he gave instructions to The Iron Hood related to the shop's Money Sink.

 **Clockwork Concierge** | This is unacceptable, I thought I gave clear instructions to Iron Hood.

### March 22, 2019

The Shopkeeper visited Kammesennin's Twitch stream and dropped a rumor about The Iron Hood.

 **LeShopkeeper** | Some say he hid in the sink...

### July 8, 2019

TwoCPlus ran a speedrun of The Messenger for a Games Done Quick Community Spotlight, which was streamed on Twitch. After TwoCPlus passed by the Tower of Time statue of The Iron Hood, the actual Shopkeeper noted that it was the same person as the one from the Money Sink.

### January 2, 2020

"John Gaiden" was revealed to be The Iron Hood's full name, in a quiz held by the Clockwork Concierge.

## Trivia

* A beta screenshot of Sunken Shrine uses The Iron Hood statue and an unused feminine statue as placeholders for the Guardian Gods, Sunboy and Moongirl.
* The "Live Messenger Q&A" confirmed that The Iron Hood is a human.
* The Iron Hood's sword depicted in the Tower of Time statue can be seen resting on the shelf behind The Iron Hood in The Craftsman's Corner.

## Gallery

The Iron Hood's 8-bit talk portrait icon.The Iron Hood's 16-bit spritesheet.The Iron Hood statue makes a second appearance in the Tower of Time.
## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Developer Interviews#Live Messenger Q&A - June 2019 (Part 1)
> "*The Money Sink? I thought it had been destroyed during the raid! (...) (Could he be alive???)*"
> ― *The Artificer*
>
>
3. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeMmU5MzECw&t=52