Henry Cooldown

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Henry Cooldown is a character in the No More Heroes series. He is the long-lost twin brother of Travis Touchdown, and acts as both an enemy and ally for him across the series. In No More Heroes, he is established as Travis's rival, and serves as the final boss. In No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle, he appears in a supporting role and as a playable character. He has a small appearance in Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes, and appears as an adversary to Travis once again in No More Heroes III.

Appearance and Personality

Henry is a slim, well-dressed man. In No More Heroes, he wears a grey waistcoat and trousers, and a large trench coat, as well as black gloves and riding boots. In No More Heroes 2, his design is mostly the same, but lacks his trench coat and now sports trouser chains and a spade-shaped belt buckle. In the first two games, Henry speaks with an Irish accent. In No More Heroes III, Henry wears a combination of the two outfits, and wears a trenchcoat again. However his physical appearance changes drastically, now having spiked slicked-back hair and a face tattoo. He notably no longer speaks with an Irish accent, instead sounding American.

Henry is a cool and confident foil for Travis. He appears under mysterious circumstances, hoping to have a duel with Travis and reveal to him that they are brothers. He seems to view Travis as a disgrace. In No More Heroes 2, he's grateful to Travis for rescuing him, but doesn't want to show it, and instead returns the favor by killing more of Travis's opponents. Despite being twins, Henry views Travis as his "little brother". He goes on to assist Travis in the final battle, but refuses to fight and leaves when the form of the enemy becomes too ridiculous, citing his high standards. In Travis Strikes Again, Henry's personality changes and he believes he has to stop Travis. He leads a mysterious cult of assassins, and for a time refers to himself in the third-person. Travis describes Henry's new demeanor as "savage". In No More Heroes III, Henry acts much more violently than before, and directly attempts to kill Travis.

History

Backstory

Henry Cooldown was born alongside his twin brother Travis Touchdown. As children he and Travis fled from their serial killer father with their younger half-sister Jeane. Henry carried Jeane as they ran through the snow for days, and they built an igloo to escape the cold. They found their way to a major road, but were surrounded by cars, and heard the sound of "locks". They were taken by adults and tied up, and Henry's memories were erased, replacing them with those of a child born to the Cooldown family. After this, Henry was raised in Ireland, and in his college years got married to Sylvia Christel. However due to his lack of income she would frequently disappear. At some point he became aware of the fact that Travis was his brother.

No More Heroes

Henry first appears before Travis's battle with Letz Shake, the fifth ranked assassin in the United Assassins Association. Travis meets him as a shadowy figure in the Senton Splash Tunnel, who flees when he comes close. A short time later, just as Letz Shake was about to fire his Disaster Blaster attack, Henry plunged from above, slicing through his Earthquake Maker weapon and bisecting Letz Shake, killing him. He introduced himself to Travis, and tried to reveal that he was his brother before being cut off. The two prepared to fight, but were stopped by Sylvia, after which Henry disappeared.

Henry appeared again in the game's True Ending, where he rescues Travis from an assassin in his motel room by slicing him in half. The two duel in the parking lot of Motel NO MORE HEROES as the final boss battle of the game. Near the end of the duel, Travis questioned how Henry knew his name, with Henry revealing that he is his twin brother, and Sylvia's husband. Travis taunted Henry by insinuating that he had sex with Sylvia. Henry said that the two of them are similar, with Travis beginning to accept that they are brothers. They clashed blades and began running down the street, with Henry breaking the fourth wall to ask how Travis is going to tie up the loose ends of the plot. Together, they agree to find "the exit" to the game and clash swords. In a post-credits scene, a young girl named Jeane is seen viewing the image of Travis and Henry clashing swords before she is called away by Sylvia.

No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle

In No More Heroes 2, it was revealed that Sylvia had put a stop to Travis and Henry's fight. At some point in the following three years, Henry and Sylvia got divorced, and Henry was defeated in a rematch with Dr. Letz Shake, who froze him in into a statue. Henry first appears displayed as a trophy by Dr. Letz Shake during Travis's ranked match with him. The Henry statue was recovered and he was unfrozen, but still remained in a catatonic state in Travis's motel room bed. In his sleep, Henry had a dream where he fought the magical anime girl Mimmy, after which he woke back up. Henry later left Travis a voicemail, telling him that he killed the ranked assassins Scott Gardner, Greg Cantrell, and Massimo Bellini, moving Travis up to be ranked 5th. He told Travis not to get himself killed before they had a chance to finish their fight. During Travis's final battle with Jasper Batt Jr., he was led to believe that Henry and his other friends had been killed, but this was revealed to be a trick when Henry himself arrived. Henry assisted in the fight, fighting off Jasper's attack drones. During the second phase, Henry stood on the sidelines and watched the fight without helping. After Jasper transformed into his gigantic parade balloon-esque final form, Henry departed, saying he had standards.

Travis Strikes Again

It is not entirely clear what happened to Henry in the following years. After watching the Marvel film Thor, Henry realized that like Thor, he also had a bad little brother that needed straightening out. He underwent a personality change, and became the leader of a cult known as the Order of the Emerald Knight. By following Shinobu Jacobs, Henry eventually tracked down Travis, who was living in seclusion in the Texas wilderness. He appears in Travis Strikes Back in #7: On the Eve of War, where he arrives at Travis's trailer with his knights, taunting him and explaining his change in attitude. Notably, Henry refers to himself in the third-person in this conversation. Henry left, leaving behind his goons Kes and Rumors.

No More Heroes III

During No More Heroes III, Travis anticipates when Henry might arrive. During his fight with Rank 4, Sniping Lee, Travis recognizes the parallels with his encounter with Letz Shake, and expects that Henry will appear and kill the boss. However, Notorious arrives instead. Later, when speaking with Buzariashvili Bishop, Travis felt a chill and headed outside, finding Henry in the motel parking lot. Henry had changed drastically in appearance, and no longer had an Irish accent. He once again mentioned watching a movie that made him want to stop his little brother, and asked Travis if he remembers their childhood and escape from their father. Henry notes that like back then, Travis is always crying. Travis asked why Henry didn't help in the fight with FU first, but Henry said that FU was Travis's target. Henry drew his swords, and the two had a rematch. At the end of the fight, Travis sliced Henry in half with his beam katana. Henry survived as a torso, crawling after Travis and telling him not to cry, before being sliced to pieces.

After the fight, another body of Henry was shown to be alive through the window to Sylvia's motel room. Henry and his knights later appeared to attack Travis in the bathroom. Travis was stabbed by the knights and decapitated by Henry, killing him. After Travis was revived, Henry was mentioned again after the end of the game. During Badman's funeral, Travis's twin children Jeane Touchdown and Hunter Touchdown arrived from the future, claiming that in the future Henry killed Travis and teamed up with aliens to take over the world.

Official profiles

Henry
Age unknown.
Travis's rival.
(No More Heroes: Trading Card No. 147 profile)
Henry Cooldown
Travis's older brother.
In this installment he appears in his "dark form", wielding a Cross Sword.
(No More Heroes III site profile)

Trivia

  • In Travis Strikes Back, Henry says that he changed his hairstyle, although it still appears mostly unchanged in his in-game art. This may have been foreshadowing his more drastic design change in the following game.
  • In No More Heroes III, Henry is designed by The Silver Case artist Takashi Miyamoto.

Appearances

Gallery

No More Heroes characters
Main Characters Travis Touchdown · Jeane (cat) · Sylvia Christel · Henry Cooldown · Jeane
United Assassins Association Rankings Helter-Skelter · Death Metal · Dr. Peace · Shinobu · Destroyman · Holly Summers · Letz Shake · Harvey Moiseiwitsch Volodarrskii · Speed Buster · Bad Girl · Dark Star · Travis Touchdown's attacker
Civilians Georgy Bishop · Thunder Ryu · Randall Lovikov · Dr. Naomi · Mask de Uh · Manager of Job Center · Manager of K-Entertainment · Diane
Other Talbot · Weller · M. S. · Mrs. Christel · Jeane (child) · Dr. Letz Shake · Master Jacobs · Wolf Vann
No More Heroes 2 characters
Main Characters Travis Touchdown · Jeane (cat) · Sylvia Christel · Henry Cooldown · Shinobu Jacobs · Jasper Batt Jr.
United Assassins Association Rankings Skelter Helter · Nathan Copeland · Charlie MacDonald · Matt Helms · Cloe Walsh · Dr. Letz Shake · Million Gunman · New Destroyman · Ryuji · Margaret Moonlight · Vladimir Takarov · Alice Twilight
Civilians Dr. Naomi · Georgy Bishop · Ryan Yamazaki · Mask de Uh
Other Kimmy Howell · Mimmy · Quintet · Miike · Talbot · Weller
Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes characters
Playable Characters Travis Touchdown · Badman · Shinobu Jacobs · Bad Girl
Bosses Electro Triple Star · Mr. Doppelganger · Brian Buster Jr. · Smoking King · Eight Hearts · White Sheepman · Silver Face
Important Characters Dr. Juvenile · John Winter · Klark · Death & Drive · Bugxtra · Bugjirou · Dan Smith · Christopher Mills · Garcia Hotspur · Alfred
Travis Strikes Back Jeane (cat) · Kamui Uehara · Bruno San Marino · Red Ribbon · Tsukiyono Akari · Buzariashvili Bishop · Notsuma · Nigel McAllister · Sundance Shot · Mondo Zappa · Tetsugoro Kusabi · Chillko · Kosuke Kurumizawa · Mokutaro Shiroyabu · Juliet Chesterfield · Damon Riccitiello · Frank · Henry Cooldown · Mr. Blackhole · Mr. Wormhole · DeaDri · Notorious · Jeane Touchdown · Sylvia Christel · Death Metal Jr.
Badman Strikes Back Cole · Mosca · Greco · Bogart
No More Heroes III characters
Main Characters Travis Touchdown · Jeane · Sylvia Christel · Shinobu Jacobs · Bad Girl · Henry Cooldown · Damon Riccitiello
Galactic Superhero Corps Rankings Mr. Blackhole · Gold Joe · Black Night Direction · Vanishing Point · Velvet Chair Girl · Midori Midorikawa · Sniping Lee · Sonic Juice · Paradox Bandit · Jess Baptiste VI
Supporting Characters Notorious · NT Kamui · Kimmy Love · Native Dancer · Destroyman
Other Dr. Juvenile · Dr. Naomi · Badman · Buzariashvili Bishop · Mysterious Man · Mr. Doppelganger · Bugzaburo · Bugjirou · Ryuichi · Talbot · Weller · Deathman · Miike · Jeane Touchdown · Hunter Touchdown · Jess Baptiste V