| “ | Who are you? Nobody gives me instructions! I shall destroy everything! | „ |
| ~ His first words upon being created, before killing his creator, Dr. Roy Curien. |
| “ | I have been waiting for this time to come. You have no future! Either I'll get you, or the Emperor will. Either way, your fate is in our hands. | „ |
| ~ A revived Magician, ready to face a lone AMS Agent, be it James Taylor or Gary Stewart. |
| “ | I have been waiting for this moment for some time. Now you shall have a taste of the pain that I have endured! | „ |
| ~ His words upon being revived for the second time. |
The Magician (Type 0) is a major recurring antagonist of The House of the Dead series. He is one of the first of the Four Heavenly Kings, sentient mutations wielding the primal forces of nature, that was created by Dr. Roy Curien.
He is the final antagonist in The House of the Dead, major antagonist in The House of the Dead 2, and the main antagonist in The House of the Dead 4 Special. He has been the most recurring boss of the series, making him one of the main antagonists of the franchise.
history
The House of the Dead
In the first game, he is the final boss to be fought. Dr. Roy Curien unleashed the Magician, whom he referred to as his "masterpiece", and ordered him to kill the AMS agents Thomas Rogan and G. The Magician refused, and killed the doctor with a fireball. He intended to kill everyone and destroy everything, t hen flew outside the doctor's mansion. The agents followed the Magician and, after a ferocious battle, were successful in destroying him. Before his death, he told the AMS agents, "You... haven't seen... anything yet!" and exploded.
The House of the Dead 2
He returns in The House of the Dead 2, though it is unknown if this Magician is the original (resurrected from death) or a clone, but it's probably the former choice, as he appears battle-scarred, rotting, and covered with worms (it is hinted that he said the line "You... haven't seen... anything yet!" in the first game). Two years after his apparent death, the Magician was revived and kept at the Goldman building in Venice to oversee the creation of the Emperor. AMS agents James Taylor and Gary Stewart arrived at the building's courtyard to stop Goldman's plot, but as they were about to enter the building, they were waylaid by the Magician. This time around, the agents had the upper hand, as they knew where the Magician's weak points were. They eventually managed to destroy him once again, causing him to explode and allowing James and Gary to resume their mission.
The House of the Dead 3
The Magician himself does not appear in the third gam e, though he is mentioned in the flashback before the final level, and his name and picture can be seen quickly during the title sequence of the same level. He also makes a similar appearance in the intro movie, appearing in both his original HOTD version, and his more grotesque HOTD2 form.
As well as these subtle appearances, one of the extra point icons scattered throughout the game takes on the form of a golden statuette of the Magician, and even flies about in a quick manner like him, making it harder for the player to shoot it. Because of this, successfully hitting it gives the player a larger point bonus (+2000 points) than most of the other point icons. Interestingly, if one listens closely enough while this item is on-screen, they can hear him reciting, "I've been waiting for this time to come..."
The House of the Dead 4 Special
He returns in The House of the Dead 4 Special, though it is unknown if this Magician is the original (resurrected from death) or a clone, but it's probably the former choice, evidenced when the players fail to destroy the box with a grenade within 10 seconds.
Three years after his apparent death, the Magician was revived once again after the destruction of The World, which is hinted by the "more than one Pandora's Box" phenomenon told by the Mystery Man. AMS agents G and Kate Green arrived at the cloning lab to stop the Magician once again, but were thwarted by his fireballs as he greets them. The agents try to search for this Magician's weak points through the PDA, but fail to do so as this Magician's body is now covered with electric charges instead of small tentacles.
After a ferocious battle, the agents were successful in destroying him, but not before they throw a grenade on the "second Pandora's Box". Before his death, he told the AMS agents, "Nothing can erase my pain!" and exploded.
Trivia
- The Magician's behavior and appearance may be an allusion to Lucifer of the Bible, as both had betrayed their respective masters and became obsessed with a desire for destruction. Its demonic appearance may also allude to the Magician's synonymy with evil.
- The Magician shares similarities with classical western dragons, owing to its pyrokinetic abilities, how its body is made up of thick armored scales, and that it possesses horns.
- The Magician's concept art, as seen in HoTD's Sega Saturn manual seems to suggest that that it is some sort of cyborg or synthetic being. It is also shown that the Magician was originally designated "Type B-1".
- Even though the Magician's weak points were determined in The House of the Dead 2, they are unknown to the PDA in House of the Dead 4: Special. This appears to be for the purpose of challenging new players to figure out what it is for themselves. Of course, in-universe, it could be simply because the Magician was heavily altered in design in this incarnation (having three claws instead of two per hand), and the PDA failed to recognize the weak points due to the extensive modification. Either that, or the PDA uses Kate's profile (which is probable given that Kate correctly identified Justice's weak point) instead of G's (the latter of which should have the new Magician's weak points determined but would not have identified Justice's weak point).
- The final bosses of the first four HOTD games appear to embody primal forces of nature; The Magician uses fire, the Emperor uses metamorphosis, the Wheel of Fate uses electricity, and the World uses ice.
- The Magician was to be included in the second series of House of the Dead action figures by Palisades. However, the line was cancelled before production.
- The only time the Magician is called by its name is in The House of the Dead 2 when playing alone as Gary, and by Curien in the flashbacks in The House of the Dead III.
- The Magician is the only final boss in the first four HOTD games whose weak point is not on the chest and also having multiple weak points (right side of its face, upper left arm, lower right arm, upper left leg and lower right leg).
- There's a graphical glitch of Magician in THOD2. If the players are not injured by the magician, the magician's hallucinating movements will turn into white instead of red or blue ,and automatically fix if the magician successfuly hit the players.