Kale Vandelay

**NOTE**: This page contains spoilers for the game, so caution is advised.

* 3D
* Battle
* Final Form
* 2D

**Kale Vandelay** is the main antagonist of Hi-Fi Rush, being the appointed CEO of Vandelay Technologies and the game's final boss.

Brother of Peppermint and son of Roxanne, Kale overtook the corporation and changed the company to his own ideals, intending on using SPECTRA as a means to influence consumers to purchase products from Vandelay. He's the archenemy of Chai and his friends, especially Peppermint.

## Profile

"*The Guy in Charge. While charismatic and inspiring to outsiders, some criticize the recently appointed CEO for placing profit before the interests of his customers - but who's to say Kale isn't just a visionary working hard to give people what they want?

These days, Kale's laser-focused on his company's next big initiative - one that may not be as altruistic as it appears...*"
―Character profile on the Hi-Fi Rush website

## Appearance

Kale is a tall man with green eyes and tan skin. Kale has beige hair that’s mostly slicked back, with a portion curving over his forehead. He primarily wears a black suit with several red and gold highlights, as well as gloves and spats, concealing most of his body. Under the main suit, he wears a white collared shirt and a red tie.

Upon taking this off however, Kale's been shown to have heavily modified his body, being entirely cybernetic from the neck down. He can also adjust his appearance to include a long, mechanical coat. His robotic implants share the same color attire he normally dons, but now with a blue line on his chest reminiscent of a tie.

## Personality

From his public image, he appears as charismatic and inspiring to several others, posing himself as an innovative mind worthy of suceeding his mother.

Beneath his facade, Kale is shown to be lazy, egotistical, and immature not dissimilar to Chai. Despite a similar disposition, however, Kale contrats Chai's easygoing attitude by getting upset at the smallest of slights and inefficiencies, even his own. Through a desire to put the least amount of effort, he designed SPECTRA to remove his customers' will, believing their anxieties about choice to be a detriment to everyone. His ego extends even to his self preservation, as he sabotages Vandelay Tower's own defenses just to get his coffee.

Even with all of his glaring mistakes, Kale believes himself to be perfect and genuinely believes the ideas he steals are his own, not believing in anyone else's competence. A great manipulator to get what he wants with minimal effort, he's quite immature as well; is shown best when things do not go his way, ranting at his own bosses in emails over suggestions, and calling Chai and his friends "losers."

## History

Before the events of the game, Kale created (or oversaw the creation of) SPECTRA to control his mother Roxanne's mind, forcing her to relinquish the CEO position of the company to him by faking health concerns. By creating an entire new team of Heads of Department (demoting Macaron in favor of Zanzo), he pivoted the company towards profits and rampant growth, at the expense of the customer's needs and the company's previous philanthropic reputation.

At some point, he discovered his mother's department for prototyping robotic limb enhancements, and took the idea for himself, starting Project Armstrong. In secret from most of the company, he planned it to run with SPECTRA installed in all models, hyping it up as a way to give a new life to disabled people, but eventually turning them into eternally loyal customers and spreading Armstrong interest to other groups.

However, even with the limited availability, no influential customers appeared, infuriating Kale after the first speech to the future Armstrong users. While trying to make the best of the unexpected turnout as "test subjects", Kale inadvertedly came across Chai's belongings, setting the game's events in motion as he threw his music player away and into its owner, many floors below.

### Main Game

After the initial speech, Kale and the other Heads of Department were informed of an Armstrong defect, only to meet face to face with Chai when Kale attempted to call Rekka for a video meeting.

## Powers and Abilties

Being almost entirely cybernetic, Kale has the endurance and strength of his robotic security, being able to pick up Chai as if weightless with one hand. While his attempt to fuse SPECTRA's wireless functions to himself was short lived, he was able to use it to fire shockwaves directly at the target of his control.

His main weapon of choice is a whip-like laser blade hidden in his right elbow, which is able to set the ground on fire and call forth lightning strikes. He can also call upon a group of laser drones to make his attacks more unpredictable. Kale also hides four mechanical tentacles on his back, which can draw upon the SPECTRA building's energy to use various techniques; including Z-Shielding, barrier generators, a flamethrower, and even a mild healing ability if left alone for too long.

However, he can hold out on his own without them, able to put his own body into overdrive by absorbing lightning. In this form, most of his attacks also set the area around him on fire, and he can absorb further electricity to increase the range of his blade, though he tires easily.

Though not directly tied to him, Kale's control over the company also allows him to communicate as a hologram, and take direct control of robots such as CH-AS1R and ZP-1500.

## Trivia

* Kale is voiced by Roger Craig Smith in English, known for voicing Sega's titular protagonist of *Sonic the Hedgehog* series, Deidara in Shueisha's *Naruto* series, Ezio Auditore from Ubisoft’s *Assassin’s Creed* series, Chris Redfield from the *Resident Evil* series (Darkside Chronicles until 6, lastly in *Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite*), and Thomas/Nicholas/Nikolai (as well as Night Owl) from Cartoon Network's *Regular Show*.
	+ Kale is also voiced by Takehito Koyasu in Japanese, known for voicing many other characters such as Shingo Yabuki from the SNK Multiverse (mainly *The King of Fighters* series), Dio Brando from *JoJo's Bizarre Adventure*, Deadpool from Marvel Anime Multiverse, Clayman from *At Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime*, and many more.
* If 808's "Steal The Show" special attack is used to stun Kale during his boss fight, it will have no effect. Instead, Kale will respond, *"You really think that'll work? I'm a dog person."*
* In the postgame's ending, it is revealed SPECTRA's AI can manifest as a replica of Kale, sharing his thoughts and personality; quite literally being an extension of him.
* Unlike most characters, Kale's body is completely mechanical except his head, as opposed to most characters who only have prosthetic limbs.
	+ The mechanical parts are almost entirely concealed by his regular suit for most of the game - but inspecting the model, his spats appear to be fake, as his "shoe" soles are his actual feet. Additionally, his gloves give the appearance of long nails underneath, when they are instead covering his claws.
* Kale's Vlogs in the secret SPECTRA lab mention various other Bethesda franchises as ideas for the company that he discarded early into the planning stage.
	+ The one referencing *Fallout* also implies Kale is frequently exhausted.

## References

1. ↑ https://twitter.com/johnjohanas/status/1647087140462026754?s=20
2. ↑ https://twitter.com/RogerCraigSmith/status/1618349619947384832/
3. ↑ https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/video-games/Hi-Fi-RUSH/