Work Text:
Before we begin, I must explain to some of you what the “Poker Night at the inventory” series is. It is a series of “poker” games, where the player finds themselves at the “inventory,” which is a club located underneath a video game storage factory. From there, the player then heads to a table, where they engage in either a game of “Texas Hold’em” poker or “Ohama Hold’em” with a group of 4 guest characters, with a dealer and a host as well. The game series is known for these guests characters and their interactions with them, which has inspired various ideas for roster for a sequel. Despite me never having knowledge on how to play poker, nor how to gamble, I’ve seen clips and videos of these games, and I have an idea of how poker works, so forgive me if I get something wrong.
Though it may seem unlikely due to the licensing agreements to these characters, should TellTale games release another game in the “Poker Night at the Inventory,” series, these should be the following characters that should be included, along with the following reasons why they should be included and the potential character relationships.
For the first player we have X, the protagonist of the “Mega Man X,” video game series. My initial idea was for classic Mega Man to show up, but after thinking about it for a while, X seemed like a better choice. Being a Reploid, a robot with similar characteristics and intelligence to a human, X would be interesting due to the playstyle he would have. I would suggest him being a passive, yet tactical character, who would often make sure he has a good hand, often folding if he has a bad hand. He would only make bets and raises if he feels as if the moment would seem right. Him being an honest player would be true to his character, and to make things seem a bit more interesting, I suggest hinting that he traveled back in time to capture a potential criminal that’s playing poker with them, kinda similar to how Zero’s story in “SVC Chaos: SNK Vs Capcom,” has him travel from 22XX (Mega Man Zero series) to the present to defeat a potential villain. This potential criminal would be revealed later on as we go down the list. Should the player choose X as a bounty for the player to earn something, he’ll bet the pieces to his “Ultimate Armor,” ensuring the player that they’ll use it wisely and for good measure if the player wins.
For the second player, we have Undyne, from RPG “Undertale”. Kind of similar to how Max and Claptrap were in the first two games, she would be a determined player who would be really into the game, making bets and raises half of the time, yet she would often fold, whenever someone makes a bet, preferring not to waste any chips. She would often trick the other players into making a bad decision in the game, whenever Undyne had the chance to do so. This makes her a tight, yet aggressive poker player. For her story in this, I suggest saying that Alphys showed her a clip from some anime, that showcased a game of “Texas Hold’em,” so Undyne found and went to the inventory to see if it’s as exciting as it sounds. Should the player choose Undyne as a bounty for the player to win something, she would reward the player with one of her spears asking the player to train with her, if the player wins.
For the third player, we have Space Ghost, more specifically, his variant from the animated-live action comedy talk show “Space Ghost: Coast to Coast.” Now, I know the series already had an [adult swim] representative with, Brock from “The Venture Brothers,” appearing in the second game, but I feel as if Space Ghost deserves a spot in this game. Similar to how he would be portrayed in the show, he would be an aggressive and loose player, who would often place bets and raise, even though he often has a weak hand. Should he lose, he would back down as easily as he as he bets. This would make him a loose and aggressive player. For his story, make it where, Space Ghost nearly crashes his ship, which he rode along with his fellow co-works “Zorak,” and “Moltar” near the inventory as a result of his idiotic mindset, only to play a game of poker as a way to earn enough money to repair his ship, despite the unforeseen outcomes that may occur from this. Should the player pick Space Ghost as a bounty for them to earn something, Space Ghost would bet the dry and decapitated head of a Zorak, suggesting that the player shoulder hang this in their home or workspace. This would cause everyone to be disgusted by Space Ghost’s actions.
For the fourth player, we have Travis Touchdown from the hack-and-slash game series, “No More Heroes,” or his appearance in the third No More Heroes game to be exact. Travis would be a loose, yet tactical player, often checking his hand, and either betting, folding, or checking if he does so. Despite this, he would often not go all out whenever he makes bets. His story is that, after killing of FU and the rest of Galatic Superhero Corps, he decides to head to the inventory as a way to relax from the hectic battles. However, unbeknownst to him, his kill count, from when he was an assassin, has landed him as a potential criminal, being the exact reason why X is here in the first place. Should the player choose Travis as a bounty to win something, Travis would bet a copy of a complete series DVD of the magical girl anime, “Pure White Bizarre Jelly,” assuring the player that the series is peak fiction.
The dealer for this game would be Mohammad Avdol, from “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure”. Before you guys say something, I’m fully aware that Daniel J. D’Arby (D’Arby Older) exists, and his Stand abilities related to poker, but I feel as if Avdol would be a more interesting pick, as him giving the characters and the player their hands would help determine the game’s outcome, is similar to how he and the rest of the Stardust Crusaders had to pull cards from a deck of tarot card. Not only that, but without D’Arby, every single player would have a happy ending and not live life as a poker chip (unless if they’re freed that is).
For the host, I suggest it being Negan Smith from “The Walking Dead,” series, or the TV series variant of Negan, to be exact. I initially wanted to include him as a player, but I felt as if it would’ve been more fun to have him announce and narrate the status of the game, thanks to how smooth and deep his voice is. I also feel as if his slang would entice players more and more to the game.
Now, let’s get onto the character relationships.
(From X’s side)
Undyne: X would often admire Undyne’s determination while playing, complimenting her about it. During the game, he would question her about details relating to the war between humans and monsters that forced the latter to the underground. Though he has a good connection with her, he would often question her somewhat aggressive and prideful nature, commenting about how she reminds him of his ally, Zero.
Space Ghost: Being one of the more level-headed characters in this game, X would be confused and baffled by Space Ghost’s questions and comments relating to him. Though he knows that Space Ghost is a former hero, he has a fear that Space Ghost is abusing that title to justify his actions.
Travis Touchdown: X would feel suspicious of Travis’s nature as an assassin, as well as the UAA. Since he’s on an undercover mission, he would slowly gain more and more information about Travis and the UAA, until he has everything he needs to fully arrest Travis for his actions, while maintaining some friendliness towards Travis.
(From Undyne’s side)
X: Believing that X is similar to the “mecha anime,” tapes that Alphys showed her, Undyne would grow fond of X’s nature as a Reploid, as well as his position as a “Maverick Hunter”. Despite this, she would sometimes bash him for his pacifist nature, commenting on how “Someone as cool as a robot can be just as wimpy as humans”.
Space Ghost: Often being annoyed by his comments and antics, Undyne would be annoyed by Space Ghost. One tactic she would use is that she would try to tune out his comments whenever he would talk.
Travis Touchdown: Discovering that they both have an affinity for fighting, as well as anime, Travis and Undyne have a really strong connection with each other. She would often encourage Travis to make bets if she feels as if he would have a chance to win. They would also talk about how the two know a scientist, that being “Dr. Naomi,” for Travis and “Alphys” for Undyne.
(From Space Ghost’s side.)
X: Being reminded of Jace and Dino-Boy (characters from the OG Space Ghost cartoon), Space Ghost would often ask X if he would like to join him to fight crime. He would also compliment X’s ability to imitate attacks from Mavericks, via the latter’s variable weapon system, but would also state various in-jokes relating to the X series.
Undyne: Thinking that she is the hottest thing he’s ever seen. Space Ghost tries to shoot his shot with her, only to fail numerous times. He would often ask about her hobbies and her love life. However, he gets mad at her for falling in love with Alphys, thinking that “He’ll be a better love-making partner than that otaku scientist”.
Travis Touchdown: Space Ghost would often ask Travis about the Galactic Superhero Corps., and the supposed “heroes” that were in them, hoping to recruit them for his talk show. He would also compliment Travis’s beam katana, the “Blood Berry” as well as his” “Death Glove,” hoping to gain equipment with similar abilities and strength.
(From Travis’s side.)
X: Recognizing him as a video game character, Travis would say things related to events from the Mega Man X series, as well as mentioning that he also has the ability to use a mech armor, similar to X. He would also ask X if they could one day fight against each other.
Undyne: Travis would initially develop a sort of distaste for Undyne’s boastful pride, which reminded him of his past self, before opening up to her as the game carries on. He would talk to her about many of his otaku interests, such as anime, wrestling and gaming, even recognizing her as a video game character.
Space Ghost: Though he finds his antics to be amusing and recognizing him as a cult classic character, Travis finds Space Ghost to be a bit unsettling at times, due to how hectic he can become, as we as how he reminds Travis of various assassins and aliens he had to face off against in the past.
Themes:
In the first two games, the player has the option to deck out the chips, cards, and table with themes that correlate to a character’s series of origin, which allows for the background and a character to change appearances if everything matches with a certain theme. I’ll be listing the cosmetic changes that each series would bring to the chips, cards, etc.
Mega Man X: The cards will include images of various characters from the “X” series, the chips will include items such as Sub-Tanks, heart tanks, and health capsules, and the table will be redesigned to look like it’s a table that projects the surface and image of the table. Should the player choose the “Mega Man X” theme for all of the aforementioned items, the background will be themed after the Maverick Hunter HQ from “Mega Man X3”, and X will gain his “New Parts” appearance from “Mega Man X: Command Mission”. Character busts/eliminations will involve Zero interacting with them, either having a fight with them that occurs off screen, or asking them to leave.
Undertale: The cards will include various images of the characters from the game, the chips will include various “heart modes” that match of the chips (ex. Green chips will contain a green heart), and the table will be pixelated, similar to the pixel art from the game. Should the player choose the “Undertale” theme for all of the aforementioned items, the background will be themed after the Waterfall, and Undyne will be in her “Undying armor”. The character busts/eliminations will involve them being attacked by a spear that was thrown off screen, which shows their “SOUL” breaking as they “faint”.
Space Ghost: Due to the limited amount of characters from the show, the cards will be decked out with images of various characters from a lot of Pre-2013/Pre-“Rick and Morty” [adult swim] shows, such as “Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law,” or “Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job,” the chips will be feature various faces/headshots of the aforementioned [adult swim] shows as well as “Space Ghost”characters, and the table will look as if it was made using real plastic/or have a play set-esque look to it, similar to how Space Ghost’s desks, chair, and TV set looks like in the show. Should the player deck everything in the “Space Ghost” theme,
Bounty rewards:
Since this game has bounties, it follows a similar system that the first two games had. Should the player own a copy of the Steam version of No More Heroes 3. The Ultimate Armor allows Travis to max out his abilities for about 5 seconds, as well as changing his “Death Kick” attack to a Nova Strike, and giving him the Maverick abilities from Mega Man X4. Undyne’s spear would change Travis’s attack animations and allow him to summon additional spears during combat. Zorak’s head would just be a piece of decor in Travis’ motel room. Just rotting away.
Anyway, that’s all that I have for my potiental PNATI3 character roster and ideas. I hope you enjoy it and tell me some details if I need them.