The Star

The Star
Basic information
Featured in	The House of the Dead 4
Encounters	THoTD 4 - Chapter 5
Weapon	Kukri blades Energy beams
Protection	His skin His speed His kukri blades (occasionally)

"Come, you must prove youself in a test of strength. This was Goldman's parting wish..."
-The Star, Type 0001

Type-0001, dubbed "The Star," is a competitive, sword wielding, boss and also the fifth boss character fought in The House of the Dead 4. He appears at the end of the fifth level, just after the AMS agents James Taylor and Kate Green enter the Goldman building, confronting them in the main foyer. He tells them that they must prove themselves in a "test of strength", claiming that this was Goldman's parting wish.

He is a humanoid monster wearing a red trench coat with a large scar on his chest and wields a pair of twin Kukri blades. He also possesses levitation and the ability to generate purple energy beams from his swords. He has a purple aura. His weak point is stated to be the scar on his chest; however, later in the battle, his hood falls down, allowing his head to be used as a secondary weak point to cancel his spinning tornado attacks. After his defeat, he destroys himself by blowing up near James and Kate, severely injuring James in the process. It is unknown whether this was intentional on his part or whether it was just a coincidence.

His type number is 0001, making him very similar to Magician and Wheel of Fate (who are Type-0 and Type-0000, respectively), in that they're all humanoid creatures with unique powers. However, Type-0001 possesses neither the lightning speed of the Magician nor the immense power of the Wheel of Fate. He is also the only one out of the three that can successfully be scanned for weakpoints, which could perhaps signify his less powerful abilities. The Magician can't be scanned by G's PDA in The House of The Dead 4 Special, but he does have a file displaying his weakpoints in The House of The Dead 2.

He also makes an appearance in The House of the Dead EX where he develops a crush for the second main character, Zobiko, even willing to go as far as giving her an offering of flowers, but as a result, Zobiko doesn't notice him, being turned down. In the final stage, he tries to kidnap Zobiko, but he fails.

In the ending, the Star tells the scientist that he has failed, when after, the scientist pulls out a photo of him and his girlfriend, his girlfriend is actually Zobiko.

Bestiary Overview

The figure like any other second to the last boss in almost all HOTD games is a being where his capabilities are beyond human physicality. Clad in a hooded red trench coat, he may have been some human test subject who had been fused with the formula, resulting in levitation and elemental offensive powers. That being said, that could be the reason why the scar engraved on his chest is his weakness and to why he is Type 0001. His choice of weaponry, as stated above, are two butterfly swords.

Strategy

THE STAR: "Come, you must prove yourself in a test of strength...this was Goldman's parting wish..."

JAMES: "Get out of our way!"

FIRST ATTACK (WEAK POINT THE SCAR ON THE CHEST) (NO DAMAGE THE SWORD)

Remember the Magician's fireball shower? The Star can do that too. He amasses bright purple aura and hurls continuous bolts of light at you, from six to about eighteen (!!!) For two players, both must try to eliminate ALL beams before you take on the Star.

SECOND ATTACK

The Star flies swiftly and charges you with a hack of knives on both players. He'll give you time to pound his chest with lead before he attacks. Be quick, since this time is usually is not enough. He also likes to fly to the edge of the screen before he slashes you. You CAN'T shoot him much while he's off-screen! (This is a real pain in arcades, due to the sensors of THoTD4 guns being mistreated at some point, as various machines only allow you to fire in bursts of 1,2 or 3 bullets if you aim too far off screen. Otherwise, not so much of a pain.)

THIRD ATTACK

Tips: Don't ever throw a grenade, When the Star is flying, the grenade can't reach him. For anyone curious, this doesn't work very well for The World's second form either, depleting approx 1/5 of his cancel bar. Due to the grenade taking several seconds to throw, and World's ice dragons being fairly fast, you might as well avoid the trouble.

Same as Attack 2, but the Star flies full-speed atop the tower and dives down with a brutal knife slash on both players. Likewise, you have an ample chance to shoot his chest beforehand. Fire bullets at him like there's no tomorrow.

FINAL ATTACK

The Star spins around in a dusty-brown tornado and zips across the screen. Shoot the bald albino to stop him before the tornado devastates you. He'll do this about twice or three times only. This attack is obviously the easiest out of the 4 attacks to avoid, as Star stays in around the same position on the screen while doing this attack. Just shoot in around the same place and you'll be fine.

The Star will simply alternate the first 3 attacks during the battle. After he lost 60% of its total BOSS LIFE, the hood will be removed and the head will be exposed (and be a targetable weak point). From then on, The Star will alternate Attacks 1 and 4 until the end of the battle. Time's running out...

KATE: "Looks like you're the one who failed the test!"

(The Star explodes into rays of mauve gas. James is hit point blank by a ray. He falls to his knees in pain.)

KATE: "James!"

JAMES: "Don't worry about me... It's an old wound... Ugh..."

AUTHOR'S NOTES

BOSS' MAIN POINT OF VULNERABILITY / HOW TO "OWN" THE STAR

All rounds of the battle has the Star's main weak point openly exposed. Very seldom do his knives deflect gunfire on his chest. Speed and Accuracy are key to simply stun him every round. Keep your aim focused on the chest and keep firing. The Star moves sadistically, and sometimes he doesn't give ample time to stun him prior he even starts an attack. Grenades prove to be slow against his speed. Constant fire against his chest will deem the best way to prevent his attacks and survive. Against his multitude beams of light, try to rotate your fire around the screen to hit every single beam. Those at the sides are the priority since they are the ones nearer to you. Two players must play cooperatively to stop the multitude-beam attack and to take the least life losses possible.

BOSS' HIGH ACCURACY TRICK

Shoot the Star whenever he's not attacking (you'll see dust-like blood leak through the slit from his chest). Hits deflected by his knives also count in accuracy, so don't worry about that.

Trivia

• Coincidentally, the Star's appearance resembles that of Dante, the main protagonist of Devil May Cry, as both wear red long coats and wield large swords. Also, the Star's glow resembles the demonic glow Dante possesses when he transforms into his demon form (known as Devil Trigger in Devil May Cry). His pale appearance and his hooded red trench coat is also evocative of Edgar Allen Poe's "Masque of the Red Death".

• The Star also appears in The House of the Dead EX, where he is working for an evil scientist who tries to capture Zombiko, but however, he developed a crush on Zombiko and tries to meet up with her, but his acts always end by hurting himself.

• The Star's appearance, location, type number, and attacks indicate that he is designed as a successor to the Magician.
• Some fans have speculated that the Star is one of the Heavenly Kings, along with the Magician, the Wheel of Fate, the Emperor, and the World. This is due to him supposedly possessing the power of wind.
• There is a possibility that The Star is in fact Harry Harris from HOTD2 because after being attacked by Strength, he was clutching his chest, The Star has a chest wound.
• Similarly to the suggestion that the World is the resurrected form of Goldman, there is a theory posited among fans that the Star may have been the mutated form of HOTD2 protagonist Gary Stewart due to the character's absence and the creature's humanoid appearance.
• Interestingly, the Star is the most human of the boss characters, especially in terms of appearance and weaknesses.