H-168 Krave

Neo Krave as he appears in the story chapter "Gimme Fuel, Baby"

### Date of death

18th April, 2065 (5 years old. Body destroyed and AI deleted without up-to-date backups)

## Physical description

### Eye color

* Red (original chassis)
* Yellow (Neo Krave)

## Appearances

### Appears in

* Schwarzerblitz
* Exploding Judo Federation (as I.N.A.B.A.)

### Debut

Schwarzerblitz

**H-168 Krave** is a major antagonist in Schwarzerblitz and acts as the arch nemesis in Cyphr Wolfchild's story. He's a flamboyant, sadistic, morally bankrupt robot who stops at nothing to grant his own survival and has an open feud with the mercenary known as Der Wolf.

## In-game character profile

Quoted from his in-game profile:

> Designed by a joint venture between Zavira Robotics and Kreen Industries, the H-1XX line of military robots has gained popularity as the most reliable and cheap alternative to the SPECTRA Robotics VORS series (Versatile Operating Robotic System). The first batch of H-150 robots sported a simple yet effective build with sturdy components and an excellent durability, despite lacking some advanced AI features when compared to the VORS class droids.
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> They were equipped with twin rotating arm-drillers and a set of plasma boosters for short sprints, which needed to be refueled after one minute of overall usage.
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> Notwithstanding their shortcomings, the success of the line pushed the development of more advanced prototypes, in combination with higher-level AIs.
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> The first instance of a H-168 sample was produced exclusively for the Euterpe Military Research Center, as an appendage of the Schwarzer Blitz project.
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> While mounting an old, standard H-150 chassis, the H-168 model synthetic brain was supposed to be installed on a dedicated, updated body after the end of the testing sessions. A prototype of the new body concept was commissioned but later discarded due to a lack of components and a sub-par endurance due to a rushed production.
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> The H-168 AI was trained using huge data samples of human behavior, but due to the exposure to the Internet (especially to certain social networks), it started acquiring an extremely quirky attitude, tending toward sadism and inherent cruelty, with touches of a flamboyant personality, which identified itself as a male.
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> The experiment was deemed a failure and "Krave" (as he was named by the personnel of the facility) was marked for dismissal.
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> The night of the Black Lightning Disaster, a team of bounty hunters from the Crossbones collective infiltrated the laboratory, prompting the higher-ups to send all the available resources to stop them. This included the unfinished H-168 Krave, who was activated again and employed as a front-line weapon.
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> There are only rumors surrounding that night, but it is said that the unit designed as H-168 Krave was destroyed by the mercenary known as "Der Wolf", while still being able to hold his own against his opponent.
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> What happened to Krave afterwards, how he survived the Black Lightning Disaster and how he got his new body, is currently a mystery. However, some people claim that the answer to the last question is connected to the sinister hermit lurking in what's left of Northern Algol, where the ruins of Euterpe were dumped after the Disaster.
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> Whether this is the truth or just another story, it's hard to judge.
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>

## Appearance

Krave has several different appearances in the game's story. The first, original model is his modified H-150 chassis, with very rough and unrefined shapes. This chassis had a blue torso and was complemented by with very bulky metal black arms and legs. This version of Krave was short lived, as it got fatally damaged by Der Wolf minutes before the Black Lightning Disaster.
His second form, the advanced H-168 chassis, is a sleeker, more refined build, with an orange main body, stilt-like legs, big rotating hands and head blades. This version is commonly referred as **Neo Krave** and has the longest screen time. Compared to the H-150 chassis, it looks much more modern, but shares some technical issues due to the amateurish fixes operated by Silman Simmerik when he rescued him in Northern Algol. The weakness of his limb joints was exploited twice, first by Mr. Daevka and Tiger during the highway chase and later by Cyphr during their last encounter.

Krave's third apperance is a bonus costume in Exploding Judo Federation, which is a slicker, thinner version of his Neo Krave frame, but with something resembling bunny ears, to match with his new I.N.A.B.A. persona.

## Personality

Krave is flamboyant, prone to make use of memes, dabbing on a downed opponent as a sign of disrespect, and always knowing how best to insult them. This is coupled with a very cruel and sadistic persona, which derives pleasure from psychologically and physically torturing his preys. Krave has little respect for biological life, or any life at all that isn't his. His ultimate end goal is his prolonged survival, even at the cost of killing innocent bystanders.

He also has a cynical view on biological life and, given the chance, would gladly plunge the world into chaos and trigger another apocalyptic event just to see people squirm in fear and confusion.

However, Krave is also afflicted by a strong form of PTSD, that kicks in every time he loses a limb or is subject to significant damage, due to its first near-death-experience. When cornered and without options, Krave would even beg for his life by any means possible, in order to prolong his own existence.

## Fighting Style

Krave uses his built-in drilling hands and boosters as his main mean of attacking his opponent. Headbutts, slaps and other dirty tactics complement his style quite well. He also has access to a high mobility "spider stance", that allows him to move on all four at amazing speed.

## Concept and inspiration

The original Krave model was born as a result of a Blender mistake while editing Graf's model. As such, Krave wasn't even meant to be a character, until a lucky accident caused his design to emerge. The design of Neo Krave built up on Krave's original design, but trying to create a more refined body.

According to the developer, the idea of giving Krave a meme-y and cruel personality was inspired by the real life event of the Microsoft Tay AI going rogue and becoming racist after interacting with online users.

## Unlock conditions

Krave must be unlocked as a playable character by clearing classic arcade mode once with Cyphr Wolfchild, at any difficulty level. He can also be unlocked by clearing classic arcade mode fourteen times at any difficulty level or by clearing "Chapter 11: Gimme Fuel, Baby" in story mode.

## Trivia

* As all robots in the developer's projects, every time Krave speaks, a ">" marker is used at the beginning of the sentence.
* Krave, Renzo and Sir Rattlebone are the only three characters in the game with a built-in taunt, assigned to the Guard + Tech combination.
* In Exploding Judo Federation's stage Last Stop, there is a time table vandalized with red spray, spelling out the words "Krave lives!"
* One of his in-game moves is called "Frogger was a poser". Another one is called "AIRPLANE!"
* Krave's standard grab "Za Warudo ~ Road Roller Dab" is a reference to an attack performed by DIO in "Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders."

## Quotes

* *">More useless than a wingless airplane."* - generic win quote
* *">I can't kill you, I've got a heart. Your mother's, to be precise."* - win quote against Cyphr Wolfchild
* *">You thought it was I.N.A.B.A., but it was me, Krave!"* - I.N.A.B.A.'s win quote in Exploding Judo Federation
* ">I've calculated your chance of survival, but I don't think you'll like it." - intro quote referencing Marvin from "The Hitchiker's Guide to Galaxy" movie
* ">I am not the droid you are looking for." - intro quote mocking Obi-Wan Kenobi line from "Star Wars - Episode IV: A New Hope"
* ">Lights! Camera! Bloodshed!" - intro quote mocking Mettaton's quote from "Undertale"
* ">Oh, wait, were you serious? Let me laugh even harder." - win quote referencing Bender from "Futurama"

## References

1. ↑ Schwarzerblitz - H-168 Krave's in-game character profile
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Schwarzerblitz - Story mode, chapter 14: Skeletons in the Closet
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Schwarzerblitz - Story mode, chapter 11: Gimme Fuel, Baby
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Schwarzerblitz - Story mode, chapter 19: Hunting Grounds
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Schwarzerblitz - Story mode, chapter 22: Death of a Robot
6. ↑ Schwarzerblitz - Story mode, chapter 4: Deep Troubles
7. ↑ Schwarzerblitz - Story mode, chapter 3: In the Name of the Mother
8. ↑ Schwarzerblitz - H-168 Krave's arcade ending
9. ↑ "SCHWB Players: "That Krave is quite original. I wonder what was Andrea's creative process for creating him." Andrea: "F\*\*\*! I had to press CTRL+S, NOT Alt+S and... hey, wait - this looks cool. What if I make him into a new character?"" - Tweet by Andrea "Jens" Demetrio (link)
10. ↑ "Twitter taught Microsoft’s AI chatbot to be a racist asshole in less than a day" - https://www.theverge.com/2016/3/24/11297050/tay-microsoft-chatbot-racist