Strade

THIS WIKI PAGE CONTAINS SPOILERS AND IS OPEN TO CRITICISM.

"So you got loose... and you were thinking of escaping?"
—Strade hinting at the **new remix.**

* BTD
* YKMET (NOT FINAL)
* TINR
* TPOF
* CC

**Strade** is one of the dateable characters in *Boyfriend to Death* and an antagonist in Gatobob's webcomic *This is not Romance.* He will also appear in the upcoming reboot of his Boyfriend to Death route called *You Kill Me Every Time*. He is a snuff content creator for the dark web in Boyfriend to Death, a violent, corrupted soldier in This is not Romance, and a demon in *The Price of Flesh*.

## **Appearance**

### **Boyfriend to Death**

Strade is a little shorter than the average male height, with greasy, wavy chocolate brown hair reaching the nape of his neck. His eyes are a bronze color, while his skin is light brown. Strade also has faint stubble and a scar on the left side of his chin. He has a tattoo on his left bicep, the same symbol seen on his jacket sleeve — which is a light, desaturated green button-up.

The Strade we see in Boyfriend to Death is stockier than the version of Strade in This is Not Romance. More recently, Gatobob has begun drawing Strade as chubby.

### **You Kill Me Everytime**

***NOTE: Due to the hate and disrespect over Strade's concept redesign, there will be NO more available public information of this game. Please subscribe to the creator's Patreon to view exclusive contents and updates. Do NOT include exclusive Patreon content in this page.***

Although not much is known to the public, Gatobob's newer and improved artstyle might have a glimpse of what Strade would've looked like in the upcoming game. His appearance mostly appears to be the same as BTD, but with some tiny noticeable differences.

A comparison can be seen here during earlier BTD era (2016) compared to TPOF & YKMET era (2022 onwards)

We can only speculate that the Strade in YKMET will be much stockier or chubbier than his BTD or TINR counterparts, while also having some muscle in him as well. His hair might appear to be more lighter, most likely due to improved lighting. His hair might have much more definition on his curls as well, perhaps to make it seem like he's not as greasy as fans might've thought. There were in-fandom jokes of how Strade is very greasy and doesn't take a shower and fans assumed it to be canon. However, Gato answered that he **does indeed** take a shower but it can be hard to keep it up with all the mess after he streams to his livestreaming fans.

In the recent experimental artwork where she colors and inked Strade's placeholder art, he is shown to have a much darker skin with a bit of slicked back hair on his right side of the hair. He has a muscular tone to it and has noticeable arm hairs.

In the previous games and comic, he was portrayed to have a much more thinner nose with highlights on the middle and some shadows on sides of his nose. After Gato has improved her artstyle, he had a much more prominent and wide nose.

### **Courtin' Cowboys**

As he is only a background character, his clothing and appearance aren't as detailed.

## **Background**

### **Boyfriend to Death**

Strade's original background is unknown besides the fact that he is German-Canadian. Despite this it can be implied he has been killing for a long time, hence his skill and calm appearance. At some point in his life, Strade kidnapped a young male fox Beastkin by the name of Ren. Ren has seemingly been with Strade for a long while, being enslaved by a shock collar and intimidation by Strade.

Most of the tools Strade uses to torture captives are mainly construction tools, including a nail gun, drill, hammer, saw, screwdriver, etc. In BTD2, Ren reveals that Strade only owned one gun, due to the fact that guns kill people too fast for his liking. Strade's occupation was never revealed in-game, though it's likely that he's self-employed, thanks to his snuff livestreams. Gato has since said that he previously worked as a mechanic.

### **Boyfriend to Death 2: Fresh Blood**

Later, Strade meets his unlikely end at the hands of one of his own captives. He was attacked by an unnamed captive. Strade was left on the ground, bleeding out as a result of the injuries inflicted on him. It can be implied he managed to kill this captive before his demise. His enslaved pet is hinted to have had a chance to save him yet refrained, letting him bleed out. Ren states that he ate his heart. Although Strade's corpse is left with a shocked expression, Gatobob confirmed that Strade died before his heart was eaten; it is more likely he was in shock by the injuries he sustained.

Later, his body was forced into the basement's refrigerator by Ren, surrounded with meat and ice. The MC can find him after a select choice to enter the basement and explore. The reason as to why Ren keeps his assailant's body is unknown, although it can be speculated it was some form of a sentiment due to Stockholm Syndrome.

### **This is Not Romance**

Not much is known about Strade in This is Not Romance, however, he does play a role on Raven and her death and is considered a high rank in his military group. His country's military were in a war with another country. Although the other country was already defeated with Strade and Raven only being required to do scouting, Strade used this advantage to massacre the other country's civilians.

### **The Price Of Flesh**

Strade is now an awful Demon with a gaping hole in his chest. He is a creature of pure sadism and agony, given his demonic state by a usurper king. He is new and voracious, and eternally empty.

## **Personality**

### **Boyfriend to Death/You Kill Me Everytime**

Coming from a mostly unknown background, it can be implied that Strade has a number of psychological issues and fascinations. He is charismatic, a trait which many find very compelling. It can be implied that this trait, that many killers like him share, is his main device in luring victims.

As for his tendencies, Strade is a by the book definition of a sexual sadist. This implying he finds sexual arousal in making others suffer, which can also be seen in a number of his endings. This factor is one of the reasons the dripping red heart is achievable for his character and his alone.

You can go as far as to suggest Sociopathy, which may indeed be the case. Like a Sociopath, he has a very small field of empathy. However hard it may be for Strade to feel for others it is expressed in a singular route where he takes pity on you and keeps you for his own, as he has done before. So it isn't improbable to suggest his conscience is relevant, albeit hard to achieve.

### **This is Not Romance**

Strade is considered to be much worse than the Strade in Boyfriend to Death universe. He doesn't have to worry about getting caught by the authorities and is able to kill any innocent civilians immediately with his weapons. He is considered to be high rank in his military group and has the power and ability to do what he wants. He is very commanding and forceful, and does not have any pity towards anyone.

If Strade from Boyfriend to Death universe were to meet him, he'd be very disappointed of himself and get jealous of how he could roam freely and kill anyone on sight.

## **Relationships**

### ***Canon***

#### **This is Not Romance**

##### **Sid**

Although they both have never interacted with each other, they do have a similarity in their eye color, causing Raven to be mistrustful of Sid as it reminded her a lot like her abuser Strade.

### ***Non-Canon***

#### **This is Not Romance**

##### **Sid**

In the dark TINR AU, instead of Farz getting the soul necklace from Raven, Sid gets a soul necklace from Strade. This causes Sid to go out of control, with Strade taking control of his body and using it to hurt his friends.

#### **Lover's Trophy**

##### **Jak Harasi**

In some sketches made by Mr Fishess, they are seen as partners in crimes and buddies together. They both have sadistic, dark instincts and chose to share their passions together in Strade's basement.

## **Language/Translations**

The language featured in "This is Not Romance" & "The Price Of Flesh" are one created by Gatobob. As described by Gatobob, the language is more so a font, each letter is a symbol Gatobob created to replace English letters, which makes it very simple to decode yourself.

Besides the cryptic language, Strade also speaks German in BTD as the creator is part German herself. She got inspired by listening to bands such as Rammstein and Oomph! and decided to make Strade German.

### **Boyfriend to Death**

Translation
 "Tja..." | "Well..."

## **Endings**

### **Boyfriend to Death**

**1. Strade pulled your guts out!**
 Stay quiet

**2. You did everything he said**
 keeping cutting yourself

**3. Strade sawed your head in half! 13. You got the last laugh**
 Search for food/water for Ending 13

**4. Strade gave your knife back!! 8. Strade crushed your neck**
 Say nothing

Credit to Tweakerwolf, this post, which provides the rest of his many endings as well as how to achieve them.

## **Creator's Policy**

Respecting an artist and the creator's policy is very important. It is a common occurrence that artists are always getting their designs stolen and being sold as merchandises by copycat companies. Gatobob has mentioned that:

* You **may not** use her game assets or rip off **all of her sprites** in her newer games. (TPOF onwards. This is because BTD 1 & 2 are free, and the sprites have been freely ripped off by fans and uploaded freely, so she may not be able to do much pre-TPOF.)
* You can trace, draw, or copy her art to practice and use as reference.
* **Do not claim** her artwork to be yours or sell her artworks as a part of your profit.
* As of YKMET era, **please DO NOT edit** over Strade's placeholder sprite to "fix" him. Examples are making him skinnier and making him look like an entirely different person from the canon. This is **very disrespectful** to the creator. Making fun edits that **DO NOT attempt to fix him** are definitely okay, such as the Barbie Strade edit! An example picture can be shown what kind of edits are okay and not okay.
* In addition to the above, please keep your harsh criticisms to **YOURSELF.** Criticisms such as *"Why is he dark?"* and *"Why is he fat?"* are **NOT HELPFUL and are not good kinds of feedbacks.**
* **Do not spoil and reveal her** Patreon exclusive content.

## **Trivia**

* Strade is left-handed.
* He is one of the two BTD characters to have a special heart, the other being Rire. Strade's special heart is a red, bleeding heart upon reaching 100+ love with the player.
* Strade owns a big pottery kiln where he disposes of his victims.
* In the final moments of his life, Strade was unaware that he was dying and merely thought he was passing out.
* Strade hates guns. He thinks they’re a stupid invention that take all the fun out of everything.
* Strade has a good technical information.
* His favorite color is fire green.
* Strade has a fear of being limited or being locked up.
* Strade likes German folk, upbeat and happy themed music.
* Strade can speak Plattdeutsch, also known as "Low German", a dialect spoken in Northern Germany
* In the short-lived Dark Circus AU, he is more focused on being presentable and values his craftsmanship as the ringmaster of the circus.
* Although Strade is of German heritage, he is not white.
* He has an easter egg as a granola bar in Lovers Trophy, a game made by Mr. Fishess & Bonecandy. Gatobob has answered a question related to this.
* He also appears as a background character along with Ren in Courtin' Cowboys, a game also made by Mr. Fishess & jd.
* Before he was an established character in Boyfriend to Death, Gato originally made a human version of his This is Not Romance character and decided to make him manage offensive blogs and spending time writing hateful comments on social media.
* Strade's voice would've sounded similar to Dero Goi, the former lead vocalist of Oomph!
* Strade is not his actual birth name. It's similar to a placeholder name like John Doe. His birth name is unknown.

## **Gallery**

### **Boyfriend to Death**

#### **CGs**

Strade ripped your guts out!You bled out!Strade gave your knife back!Strade loved you too much...You got the last laugh!You did everything he said.Strade crushed your neck!He'll keep you forever.Strade sawed your head in half!Open up~Strade lit you up!Strade stabbed you back!Strade gave you another hole!Strade made you a star!Strade axed your face!

### **You Kill Me Everytime**

#### **Sprites**

Transparent YKMET Strade (Version 1, TPOF style)Transparent YKMET Strade (Version 2)

### **Art**

Strade's Body Pillow DesignStrade's Keychain DesignYKMET Strade Concept (Version 1, TPOF Style)YKMET Strade (Version 2)
## **References**

1. ↑ https://gatoanswers.tumblr.com/post/611137952516571136/if-strades-income-wasnt-from-snuff-streaming
2. ↑ https://gatoanswers.tumblr.com/post/180734950001/strade-only-had-one-gun-why
3. ↑ https://gatoanswers.tumblr.com/post/183630182871/i-know-big-part-of-it-is-from-his-original-design
4. ↑ https://gatoanswers.tumblr.com/post/190500346976/i-love-tinr-so-much-its-a-hyperfixation-at-this
5. ↑ https://gatoanswers.tumblr.com/post/186924732656/i-hope-this-question-isnt-too-on-the-nose-but
6. ↑ https://gatoanswers.tumblr.com/post/187284047301/hi-for-fanfic-purposes-what-are-your-characters
7. ↑ https://www.tumblr.com/gatoanswers/184786290146/so-i-like-need-to-know-this-does-strade-have-that?source=share
8. ↑ https://gatoanswers.tumblr.com/post/184295197261/i-dont-mean-to-come-off-as-rude-when-i-ask-this
9. ↑ https://www.tumblr.com/gatoanswers/672585228094767104/hey-gatobob-im-making-a-game-called-lovers?source=share
10. ↑ https://gatobob.tumblr.com/post/127331466502/convos-on-skype-led-to-designing-humanau-strade