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| “ | Please sign the waiver. | „ |
| ~ The Dealer's first words to the Player. |
| “ | Are you ready? | „ |
| ~ The Dealer before taking his turn. |
| “ | Long last, we arrive at the final showdown. No more defibrillators. No more blood transfusions. Now, me and you, we are dancing on the edge of life and death. Four items each. You know the drill. | „ |
| ~ The Dealer entering the final round. |
The Dealer is the main antagonist of the 2024 tabletop strategy horror game Buckshot Roulette, and the overarching antagonist of its multiplayer DLC.
Seemingly void of any real name or identity, the Dealer resembles a creepy floating head with two hands, and a toothy smile that shifts into a scowl or pained expression upon getting shot.
Quick Answers
What is the backstory of the Dealer in Buckshot Roulette?
What is the significance of the 'General Release of Liability' document in Buckshot Roulette?
What does the Dealer's changing facial expressions signify in the game Buckshot Roulette?
What is the connection between the Dealer and God in Buckshot Roulette?
Is the Dealer's real name Josh J Tarver in Buckshot Roulette?
Biography[]
Past[]
God's General Release of Liability Form
It is hinted that at some point in the Dealer's past, he won against God in Buckshot Roulette. The evidence of this comes from the bloody General Release of Liability, a document the Dealer has all players sign before they play his game so that he is not legally responsible for their deaths if they die, with the name God in the name box. This is further implied if the player dies in the final round against the Dealer, as losing will send the player to a barren and broken afterlife, one without God to keep it in check.
On the other hand, it is also possible that the afterlife was always this way and that the blood on the document is the Dealer's, but whether or not this is correct is unknown. This is because neither God's blood color nor the afterlife's original state is known.
It's also possible that this is symbolic of something else or a false document designed to make the player lose hope. Regardless of whether or not the Dealer actually gambled with God or not, there is a tape that can be seen on a shelf containing tapes owned by the Dealer, and one of them is titled DEALER vs. GOD (copy).
According to another one of the tapes on the wall, there was an important event in the Dealer's past called the "Money Dispenser Incident 1998".
The origins of The Dealer are widely a mystery, but based on some popular theories, it's possible that The Dealer's true identity is Josh J Tarver, which is the name blacked out in the General Release of Liability form. If the Dealer is Josh, it is possible that when he was a child, he survived a house fire, giving him his uncanny appearance.
It's also possible that The Dealer is a supernatural entity in some way or the literal manifestation of addiction. It's even possible that the entire game is symbolism for someone's battle with addiction.
Buckshot Roulette[]
When the player first encounters the Dealer after leaving the bathroom and entering his office, the Dealer makes the player sign a General Release of Liability. Once they do, the monitor on the side flickers to life, showing that their game will go on for three rounds. The third round is highlighted by a skull, representing the final round.
The first round is relatively easy for both players, as you can not "die" because you and the Dealer are hooked up to defibrillators if either of them gets unlucky and shoots themselves or each other with buckshot. However, the Dealer will implement "items" into the next round once the first round is over. These items are taken from a magic item box and can vary from beer cans, which allows the drinker to rack the shotgun to get rid of the current shell; handcuffs, which prevent the opponent from making a move, cigarettes, which give the smoker more health points, a magnifying glass, which grants the user to view into the shotgun and check the current shell, and a hand saw, which doubles the shotgun's damage given that the shell is a live one and not a blank. After defeating the Dealer a second time, the two enter the death round, which is where the Dealer turns off the defibrillators and tells the player to get ready.
In the final round, the Dealer either wins and the player dies or loses and dies himself. If the Dealer wins, the player is sent to the Dealer's barren purgatory afterlife, full of black spikes and a long metal gate. If the player wins, the Dealer is killed by the shotgun (either getting shot by the player or himself), and the player is seen driving away from the nightclub in which the Buckshot Roulette game was held, a briefcase of cash and the Dealer's shotgun in the passenger seat beside them.
Whether or not the Dealer truly died is left ambiguous. His rather calm demeanor and methodical, practiced movements suggest that he did not die but was rather left incapacitated or unwilling to continue. The glowing red orbs or eyes that momentarily appear before the player receives the briefcase in the good ending also hint to his possible survival.
His calm demeanor may also hint at him truly being dead, as the Dealer seems to value the rules and thrills of Buckshot Roulette over everything else, and since a game of Buckshot Roulette, especially in its final round, can only (officially) end when one player is dead, it is also possible that the Dealer truly died. Furthermore, the Dealer's final monologue before the third round also implies his death in the good ending, as he claims that he and the player are both "dancing on the edge of life and death."
Based on the evidence provided, it is most likely that the Dealer died in the good ending of Buckshot Roulette, as the evidence supports his wanting to play his game to the fullest, including the consequences.
Double or Nothing[]
As of Buckshot Roulette's 1.1 update, a new game mode called Double or Nothing was added. This game mode is activated by taking the pills in the bathroom before going to see the Dealer. In this game mode, you can either give up or go for double after beating the Dealer for a third time. Going for double resets the matches, but you will double the money if you win again. However, it should be worth noting that there is no skull above the third round in this game mode, implying that beating the Dealer in the Double or Nothing game mode does not kill him, unlike in the game's good ending.
Multiplayer[]
While the Dealer does not make a physical appearance in the Multiplayer DLC, some hints about some lore behind him can be seen on a shelf of his recorded tapes. The names of these tapes are as follows;
- Automatic Round Entry Bootup Sequence
- Charge Counter Exploit Example And Fix!
- 1-Player Table Proto
- Unknown Percussions V1
- 4-Player Table Bearing Maintenance Example
- 4-Player Table Item Grid Cross-Sensor Firing
- Volta Standard Electronics No. 1
- Money Dispenser Incident 1998
- Firearm Safety (DO NOT WATCH)
- DEALER vs. GOD (copy)
- How To Clean Blood Off Hardware Surface
- How To Replenish Shells On Dispenser Unit
- two player table item comportment accident
- dealer uses magnifier, inverter, handsaw, and SLAYS
- footage of the dealer smoking a fat joint
- fully dark footage audible gun shots echoing
Personality[]
The Dealer is an ominous and quietly maniacal gambler. He is polite, well-spoken, and mostly straightforward in his interactions with others, based on how he treats the player. Smiling at the start of the first round, he appears to greatly enjoy his game of shotgun-based Russian roulette (which he excels at immensely, perhaps even having defeated God), either out of sadism or enjoyment of the extreme thrill.
Despite his apparent ruthlessness, the Dealer is professional and honorable. He makes sure the player signs a contract before playing Buckshot Roulette, explains the game rules to them, and coldly abides by the rules himself without cheating or even exploiting his heavily implied otherworldly or demonic nature. He seems to value human life enough that he will have his doctor revive the player should they die (before having reached the non-life-support stage, at which revival becomes forbidden).
Looking around his room, it is possible to see many old, vintage/retro-style machines being used for various purposes, often one per machine. A few examples would be the contract-signing device, defibrillation arms, table item spots (which flip out from within the table), case-giving machine, and wire-cutting computer. The Dealer appears to have a great deal of affection for technology, respecting its various utilities.
Gallery[]
.png "The Dealer (Buckshot Roulette).png (634 KB)")
.png "TheDealerCover(BR).png (1.27 MB)")
Trivia[]
- The Dealer values the honesty of his Buckshot Roulette game more than he does his own life, as seen by the fact that he can see what round is in the chamber without using the magnifying glass (as he breaks it before "using" it). Despite being able to know if the round inside the gun is a live round or not, he sticks to the honesty of the game and only allows himself to use this power if he has a magnifying glass.
- This is one of the many reasons he is considered an "honorable" villain.
- Another example of him being "honorable" is that he always willingly puts on the handcuffs rather than having the player cuff him instead. This shows how he values the rules of the game more than his own life.
- This is one of the many reasons he is considered an "honorable" villain.
- If the player attempts to use the name "God," the game will not continue until they put in a different name, possibly proving that the Dealer killed God and the player cannot use their name again. The game will also not work if the player attempts to call themselves "Dealer."
- The Dealer's General Release of Liability Form template used in the game is based on an actual Release of Liability waiver, taken from a legal templates website. It can be found here. The key difference is that Point 5 of the original release form was deleted (replaced by the Dealer's abnormally large "Enter Name" slot), the Dealer blacks out areas of the first paragraph in the original release form, and the title of the waiver has been drastically sized up.
- Ironically, Point 5 of the original Release of Liability waiver template states that both parties had the right to review the details of the form with an attorney and that they "read and fully understand" the details of the waiver. In-game, the Dealer only tells you to sign the waiver without asking you to read the contract over.
- Furthermore, when looking at the original Release of Liability waiver template, we can see that the part that the Dealer has blacked out is the name and address of someone from the form in the template. This detail was most likely included to remove any possible canonical name or residence for the Dealer. For those curious, the name listed on the original Release of Liability waiver template is "Josh J Tarver", which could potentially be the Dealer's real name in the game. However, it is also entirely possible that this name has no relation to the Dealer and was blacked out by the game developer for this reason.
- Similarly, the name listed for the Releasee (the Player in Buckshot Roulette) is named "Cynthia S Townsend", and just like the Dealer, this very likely has nothing to do with the Player at all, since the Player in the game is meant to represent the person playing the game.
- When using an Adrenaline item in the Steam Release of Buckshot Roulette, the Dealer immediately throws it away instead of using it. This is contrary to the player, who visually injects the crude Adrenaline shot into their body. This confirms The Dealer is entirely what it looks like and that the Player does indeed at least have a human body likely similar to the person smoking outside the room seen before entering The Dealers game.
- The Dealer shows the ability to alter reality or at least swap things with another version of it with the Inverter item introduced in the Steam Release of Buckshot Roulette. It is likely this is a power rather than just the device doing it, as the animation shown is The Dealer punching and destroying the device without even using it. It is unknown if The Dealer creates these devices or if they are commonplace in the Buckshot Roulette universe, but it is entirely likely due to The Dealer and his affinity for technology.
- Unless the voice from the future shown from the Burner Phone item introduced in the Steam Release of the game talks much faster for The Dealer then the player, it is possible The Dealer can not only check which shell is in the current chamber but for every shell in the gun. This is due to The Dealer not taking time to listen to the phone before breaking it. The animation only shows The Dealer opening the phone, putting it up to its 'ear' for a moment before stuffing it into a drawer.
- The Dealer seems still susceptible to the consequential effects of medicine from the Expired Medicine item from the Steam Release game version. If The Dealer fails the 50% chance of earning two charges, he collapses from the medicine and loses a charge.