Badman

Badman
Real name	Shigeki Birkin
Also known as	The Batman
Family	Bad Girl (daughter)
Occupation	Professional baseball player (former) Assassin (current)
Weapon	Diamond Core baseball bat
First appearance	"Killer is Dead" (2005)
Voiced by	Steve Blum

Shigeki Birkin (シゲキ・バーキン, Shigeki Bākin), better known as The Batman and Badman, is a character in the short story "Killer is Dead" and the Deuteragonist of the video game Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes. He is the father of Bad Girl, an assassin Travis Touchdown killed on his first climb up the United Assassins Association rankings. Ten years later, while trying to get revenge on Travis Touchdown, he becomes the second 'player' in the Death Drive Mk II games, serving as Travis' rival.

History

In his past, Birkin was a professional slugger for various Major League Baseball teams. He started his career with the St. Louis Cardinals and ended up playing for the Houston Astros alongside Nigel McAllister, then the Boston Red Sox. It was a ritual of his to crush a can of beer as he entered the batter's circle. However, he had a habit of drinking during the games and playing while really drunk, which led to him getting cut from the team. After that, he became an assassin, and in this line of work received a major face injury that resulted in him wearing a mask to cover it. He kills using his baseball bat which earns him the title "The Batman," and later simply Badman.

In "Killer is Dead," Birkin receives a threatening letter from Curtis Blackburn and must ally with Christopher Mills and Dan Smith for protection. Birkin is highly psychotic, being shown to kill people even when they are not his target.

Eventually, Birkin sells Mills and Smith out to Blackburn and hides away in a "Celtic" Building apartment, however Smith learns his location before long and comes to kill him. Birkin pleads for his life, explaining he betrayed them and hid so he could survive long enough to find the whereabouts of his daughter Charlotte's killer. Mills orders Smith to find the killer himself, which he does almost immediately to Birkin's surprise. Smith tells Birkin that he will find the killer Travis Touchdown in Texas. He hands Birkin a Death Ball containing the prototype video game Electric Thunder Tiger II and suggests it can help bring his daughter back.

In Travis Strikes Again, Birkin has hunted down Travis Touchdown, however, during their fight they are sucked into the Death Drive Mark II. Birkin seemed to have made an unspoken truce between him and Travis sometime after they entered the game. At least until he can resurrect his daughter. Birkin spends his time sleeping, eating, drinking beer, or practicing his swings whenever he and Travis aren't playing. Occasionally grumbling to himself or making threats at Travis.

Upon beating all the games, the six Death Balls gathered together and formed into a magical tiger head. It offered only one wish and Travis wished for Bad Girl to be brought back to life. However, due the fact that one of the games (Killer Marathon) is a forgery, Bad Girl was brought back as a dog. Birkin was upset, confused, and in a way happy that Bad Girl came back to life. However, his dissatisfaction of her condition made him determined to turn her back into a human.

After beating the real Killer Marathon, the six Death Balls gathered once again to summon magical tiger head. The tiger head restores Bad Girl to her human self. The reunion between Birkin and his daughter was not a happy nor an unhappy one. Birkin had mixed feelings upon her true resurrection. Both of them knew and understood, that they are both no longer the same people they were before. They are no longer Birkin and Charlotte, but Badman and Bad Girl. Out of respect for each other. They decide to live their own lives separately. Birkin gives some parting words for the player. Telling them that he learned that blood is blood, and blood don't fight. He also advises the player that blood is a curse, but also a blessing. For as long as that chain of blood continues.

Appearance and personality

Badman seemingly wears headgear at all times, even shown masked while driving. His body is heavily tattooed with words such as "Sink" and "Swim," a teardrop, a topless woman, a Mickey Mouse-like caricature, spiderwebs, a cat-like face, a flower, a boxer, a bird, an eight-ball, an anchor, skull and crossbones, a dagger, a rose, a banner reading "Love Without Cause", and many more. He is a very hairy man with beard stubble and exposed chest and pubic hair. He wears a wifebeater under a black jacket and a belt which carries up to six cans of beer. He drives a nitro-equipped muscle car which he keeps stocked with a number of baseball bats and a photograph of his daughter, Charlotte, on the dashboard. He is also a cigar smoker.

Special Abilities

Similar to his daughter, Badman is incredibly skilled with a baseball bat, as he is able to fight against Travis with near superhuman strength. He also also shows to the same sort of pain tolerance and durability that his daughter showed while during his time in the Death Drive Mark II, withstanding attacks that would incapacitate the average person. However, it seems to be that he needs to be inebriated in order to keep his pain tolerance and super strength, forcing him to keep his body supplied with alcohol while fighting.

Trivia

• It was previously speculated that Bad Girl was Dr. Peace's daughter, Jennifer, as both assassins were fought at Destroy Stadium. With the introduction of Badman in the Travis Strikes Again trailer, this possibility was eliminated.
• In early press releases, Badman was called alternatively "The Bad" and "The Bat"; The Bat was the name of an antagonist in The Silver Case, although in that game it referred to the animal. Both "The Bat" and "Badman" echo the character of Batman, who was previously referenced by No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle antagonist Jasper Batt, Jr.
• The core of Badman's bat is made of diamonds, which he paid for using money he earned from professional baseball. It prevents his bat from bursting into flames when clashing with energy weapons such as beam katanas.