Pepperman

File:Levelicon5.png

**Pepperman** is the first boss and a major antagonist of Pizza Tower.

## Description

Pepperman is a giant red bell pepper with limbs wearing a pair of white gloves and sneakers of the same color. Pepperman has big, blue eyes and is frequently seen sporting a great, confident grin on his face showing his teeth. His stem has shown to sometimes turn into a beret whenever he's focused in his artwork or admiring others' work.

His Boss Fight portrait depicts him in a more humanoid appearance and wearing a darker shade of red T-Shirt under a white artistic apron.

During fights in older demos, he was far bigger, and would change colors to orange, and then to light yellow depending on how many times he has been hit.

## Boss Room

To access the boss room, the player needs to pay Mr. Stick $100, or 10 Toppins.

The room is made out of purple bricks, full of Pepperman's artwork. As Peppino enters the boss fight, Pepperman is drawing a sad caricature of Peppino, which can be destroyed during the fight.

During the second phase, the background artwork starts laughing and the room is filled with fog.

## Boss Fight

### Phase 1

The phase is split between 5 attacks, that change after getting hit 2 times.

#### Shoulder Dash

Pepperman dashes towards the player until he hits the wall, giving an opportunity for the player to attack. At 8 HP after the player successfully jumps over or parries Pepperman's Shoulder Bash attack, he turns around and starts dashing in the other direction until hitting the wall.

#### Ground Pound

Pepperman jumps up in the sky and lands at the exact place the player is at. After the land, he is open for an attack. At 4 HP after landing, he bounces up towards the wall in the direction he is facing, then bouncing off it back to the ground, being open for an attack only in the air.

#### Art Marbles

At 2 HP, Pepperman constantly uses his double Shoulder Bash, while not giving any direct opportunity to hit him. The player instead needs to attack marble blocks, the first one appearing on the right at 2 HP, the second on the left at 1 HP. The marble blocks have 3 HP. After finishing the artwork, the player needs to let Pepperman to Shoulder Bash towards it, then he'll stop to admire it, giving an opportunity to attack.

#### Pepperman Drawings

At 8 HP, Pepperman Drawings start appearing from the corners of the arena. Once they spawn, they wait some time in the wall, then start slowly moving towards the other side of the arena, disappearing into the other wall. They can be destroyed by Pepperman, but deal damage if Peppino touches them at all.

#### Pepperman Statues

At 6 HP, Pepperman Statues start appearing at the top of the arena shortly before falling down. After reaching the floor, they get destroyed, but will hurt Peppino if they touch him on the way down.

### Phase 2

After getting hit 10 times, Pepperman's HP regenerates and his attacks become much faster. The marble blocks that drop during Art Marbles require 6 hits to be finished instead of 3.

#### Knight Pepperman Statue

The Knight Pepperman Statue works very similar to the Pepperman Drawings, except it has a bigger hitbox and it moves across the screen much faster. It also can destroy Pepperman Drawings and cannot be destroyed by Pepperman.

### End of the fight

After finishing the second phase, Pepperman shrinks down in size and runs away from the player when they get too close to him. When cornered against a wall, he jumps and starts running in the other direction. Any Pepperman artwork that was still on screen during the second phase is not removed, so the player needs to be careful to not get hit by them. He requires only a single hit to finish the fight, but he is also shrunk down only for a limited time. If the player does not hit Pepperman in time, he grows back up in size and performs Ground Pound with bouncing off the wall, requiring the player to hit him once more before he shrinks again.

### Boss Rematch

After beating the Final Boss’ 2nd Phase, the villain will bring in the four previous boss characters, and send each of them to attack. Despite each boss having 8 HP and extra 8 HP afterwards, 4 HP will be drained per hit. The player fights each of the bosses one by one, they use some of the same attacks as before. After defeating Pepperman, Gustavo will appear for the player to grab and throw him at the remaining 3 bosses to stun them.

Pepperman is the first boss fought. He does the same order of attacks as his original boss fight, but without the art-related attacks.

After 4 hits, Pepperman will go down, and the player will face The Vigilante.

## In the comics

Pepperman appears in *The Bad, The Ugly, and The Even Uglier* comics.

In The Bad, The Ugly, and The Even Uglier, he wears a cowboy hat and is first seen attacking a western town. He first goes to the Sheriff's building and finds The Vigilante there, who quickly surrenders after Pepperman asks if he was the sheriff. Afterwards, he robs the town's bank alongside a Pepperoni Goblin and a bandit Cheeseslime and ties up the banker and The Vigilante. However, soon after, right before he sets up camp there, he hears an explosion and is then attacked by The Vigilante, who had escaped. His fate is currently unknown, as the set of comics hasn't been completed yet.

## Pre-release

*For early appearances and scrapped ideas, see the pre-release page here: Pepperman/Pre-release*

## Trivia

* Pepperman's main attack seems to be inspired by Wario's Shoulder Bash, his signature move throughout the *Wario Land* series, which was the main inspiration for Pizza Tower's gameplay.
	+ However, the boss itself seems to take more inspiration from his first ever apparence as a boss in *Super Mario Land 2,* explicitly by it's heavy usage of ground-pounds, taking place inside a castle filled with statues, and his transformation into a smaller version of himself upon defeat.
* Pepperman was likely a nod to Spoiled Rotten, the first boss from *Wario Land 4*.
* In comic #4.5 of *The Bad, The Ugly, and The Even Uglier*, Pepperman is shown with green pupils, despite the fact that his eyes have always appeared blue. It has been suggested that his eyes turn green when he's scared, but that isn't the case in his in-game animations despite looking terrified when stunned, so it's most likely that this was just a continuity error.
* Pepperman is a hypocritical, contrarian artist, as confirmed by McPig.
* It has also been said that Pepperman's full name is Phil Pepperman, with him also being referred to as an apple.
* McPig stated that Pepperman would sound similar to Comic Book Guy, from The Simpsons.
* McPig has shared a concrete idea for a Pepperman spinoff game, titled American Pepperman. The gameplay would've centered around Pepperman travelling through the different states of America to spread his artistic influence, with enemies based off American iconography trying to stop him. McPig's referred to the gameplay style as a mix of Viewtiful Joe and Warioware, taking place in single screen challenges that move on to the next one when you beat it under a strict time limit, with the intensity and difficulty of each screen continually ramping up.
* Pepperman summoning crude drawings to fight for him is very similar to the main ability of the Painter from Castle Crashers.
* Despite being the first boss of the game, he has the most hit points of any boss.
* Upon entering this stage, the game's window will rename itself to "Fighting an artist in the Pizza Tower".

## Gallery

### Regular animations

Spr pepperman intro1 0.gifPepperman admiring his painting of Peppino.Spr pepperman intro2 0.gifPepperman turning around to look at Peppino.Spr pepperman intro3 0.gifPepperman preparing to laugh.Spr pepperman intro3loop 0.gifPepperman's laughing animation.Spr pepperman intro3end 0.gifPepperman finishing laughing.Spr pepperman idle 0.gifPepperman's idle animation.Peppermanbash.gifPepperman preparing to Shoulder Dash.Peppermanrun.gifPepperman Shoulder Dashing.Spr pepperman shoulderhurtstart.gifPepperman hitting the wallSpr pepperman shoulderhurt 0.gifPepperman after running into a wall.Spr pepperman shoulderturn 0.gifPepperman preparing to turn around.Spr pepperman shoulderturnloop 0.gifPepperman turning around.Peppermanjump.gifPepperman jumping.Spr pepperman groundpoundstart 0.gifPepperman preparing to Ground Pound.Spr pepperman groundpound 0.gifPepperman falling during a Ground Pound.Spr pepperman groundpoundland 0.gifPepperman landing after a Ground Pound.Spr pepperman rolling 0.gifPepperman rolling in the air.Spr pepperman hurtplayer 0.gifPepperman in the air after getting hit.Spr pepperman contemplat.gifPepperman contemplating a statue.Spr pepperman scared 0.gifPepperman's hurt animation. Also used after Peppino goes enraged during the intro of the Pizzaface/Pizzahead boss fight's third phase intro and as his idle animation during The Crumbling Tower of Pizza.Spr pepperman sour 0.gifPepperman's second phase idle animation. Also used as the initial idle animation during the Pizzaface/Pizzahead boss fight's third phase intro.Spr pepperman ministart 0.gifPepperman shrinking down.Spr pepperman miniidle.gifMini Pepperman Idle.Spr pepperman minimove 0.gifMini Pepperman fleeing from the player.Spr pepperman minijump 0.gifMini Pepperman jumping.Spr pepperman minifall 0.gifMini Pepperman falling.AHHHHHHHPPMANISDEFEATED.pngMini Pepperman defeat sprite.Spr pepperman miniend 0.gifMini Pepperman growing back up into regular Pepperman. Seen when you don't hit Mini Pepperman for long enough.Peppermanwalk.gifPepperman's walking animation. Appears during The Crumbling Tower of Pizza.
### Pepperman's Artwork

Spr peppermanartdude1 0.gifPepperman's first drawing.Spr peppermanartdude2 0.gifPepperman's second drawing.Spr peppermanartdude3 0.gifPepperman's third drawing.Spr pepperman smallstatue1 0.gifPepperman's first falling statue, a head sculpt.Spr pepperman smallstatue2 0.gifPepperman's second falling statue, a bust sculpt.Spr pepperman smallstatue3 0.gifPepperman's third falling statue, a fullbody statue of Pepperman flexing.Spr pepperman statues1 0.pngMarble block.Spr pepperman statues1 1.pngFirst statue's beginning process.Spr pepperman statues1 2.pngFirst statue halfway finished.Spr pepperman statues1 3.pngFirst statue, a muscular Pepperman posing.Spr pepperman statues2 1.pngSecond statue's beginning process.Spr pepperman statues2 2.pngSecond statue halfway finished.Spr pepperman statues2 3.pngSecond statue, a female body with the head of Pepperman.Spr pepperman statues3 1.pngThird statue's beginning process.Spr pepperman statues3 2.pngThird statue halfway finished.Spr pepperman statues3 3.pngThird statue, a pizza-Pepperman statue resemblant of Pizzaface.Spr peppermanknightstatue 0.gifPepperman's Knight Statue.
### Arena

Spr gate pepperman 0.pngPepperman's arena gate, a paint-covered stone archway with a carving of Pepperman on the top.Spr gate peppermanBG 0.pngPepperman's arena gate background, Pepperman's face.Bg peppermanarena 0.pngArena's ground sprite.Bg peppermanboss1 0.pngPhase 1 background, where we can see The Pepperman Art Gallery.Bg peppermanboss2 0.gifPhase 2 background.Bg peppermanbosscloud1 0.pngBackground decoration #1. Fog.Bg peppermanbosscloud2 0.pngBackground decoration #2. Fog.Spr pepperman pepportrait 0.pngPepperman's portrait of Peppino.
### In-game miscellanous

Spr vspepperman 0.pngPepperman's VS screen portrait.Spr vstitle pepperman 0.pngPepperman's name on the VS screen.Spr bossfight pepperhp 0.gifPepperman's HP icon.Spr peppermanvengeful 0.gifPepperman's Western District animation.Spr peppermangraffiti 0.pngPepperman's grafitti in Western District.Spr list5 4.pngPepperman's boss fight icon on a Pizza Granny sign.Spr intro pepperman 0.gifPepperman in the game's intro.Spr towerending base 0.pngPepperman in the game's ending.Spr ending cards 0.pngPepperman driving with his art as he intends to share his talent with the world. Appears in the ending.Spr ending cards 9.pngPepperman losing in a hotdog eating contest against Brick. Appears in the ending.Spr ending cards 10.pngPepperman in a costume party. Appears in the ending.Spr ending cards 11.pngPepperman (along with the other bosses) chasing Peppino. Appears in the ending.Spr ending cards 12.pngPepperman thinking about Peppino's offer. Appears in the ending.Pepperman end.pngPepperman looking at the tower, concerned in the ending.
### Miscellaneous

PizzaTowerBook 0027 Calque-26.pngConcept art of Pepperman alongside Clownmato.PizzaTowerBook 0016 Calque-51.pngA sketch of Peppino fighting Pepperman featuring a scrapped feature where the game would look like a fighting game during boss fights.Tumblr p5k265dgo21vav2cko2 400.jpgConcept artwork of various enemies and mechanics, including Pepperman.Descriptionimages3.pngAn image on the Steam page, showing Pepperman talking about his artwork, while The Noise points a revolver at Peppino.OH NO HE'S HOT.pngThe original version of Pepperman's realistic portrait for the boss intro.Pizza Crawler Pepperman.pngPepperman's Pizza Crawler sprite.Pepperman worm.pngPepperman as a worm in some promotional art for a Pizza Tower Summer Sale.
#### Noisette's Cafe Comic

Noisetteshopconcept9993.pngNon-canon artwork of Noisette and Pepperman, giving an example of Pepperman's personality.Noisetteshopconcept9994.pngNoisette getting scared over Pepperman's maniac laugh.Noisetteshopconcept9995.pngNoisette asking "Pizzaboy" (Gerome) to shoo Pepperman away, to which he executes with fantastic dance moves.Noisetteshopconcept9996.pngPepperman gets tired of Gerome's nonsense and leaves, however Noisette is getting concerned with how much Gerome is getting into whatever it is he's doing.Noisetteshopconcept997.pngNon-canon artwork of Pepperman and The Vigilante at Noisette's Cafe.
#### American Pepperman Concepts

Pointy peppers (careful with the edges!).pngConcept art of American Pepperman, showcasing Pepperman using multiple artforms as attacks.AmericanPepperTransition.pngConcept art of American Pepperman, which visualizes the screen transitions.Peppa.pngConcept art of American Pepperman, giving an example of the style.Comboidea2.pngConcept art of American Pepperman, visualizing attack combos.