Damon Riccitiello

Damon Riccitiello is a character who appears in Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes. He is the current CEO of the Utopinia corporation, an urban development firm whose specialty is revitalising cities. He can be considered the main antagonist of the Travis Strikes Back visual novel featured in-game, and will return with a significant role in No More Heroes III.

History

Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes

His name is first mentioned by Travis Touchdown in the "Hell's Chainsaw" scenario of Travis Strikes Back. Travis describes him as a "real asshole named Damon Riccitiello", who is the CEO of the Utopinia corporation and the keeper of Serious Moonlight.

Travis arrives in San Jose and attempts to track Riccitiello down at the Utopiland Amusement Complex, the headquarters of the Utopinia corporation. Riccitiello's tertiary secretary, Juliet Chesterfield, initially refuses to disclose his location to Travis but later divulges that he is on a business trip to a place called City of Split in Croatia. When it becomes apparent that Travis does not know where Croatia is, Juliet advises him to instead wait for the Utopinia music festival occurring the day afterwards, as Damon will be attending the VIP afterparty.

Travis confronts Riccitiello in a VIP room during the concert. Riccitiello calls security to throw him out, but Travis cuts down his bodyguard and demands the Death Ball containing Serious Moonlight. At first, Riccitiello feigns ignorance of the Death Balls, but Travis reveals he knows that Riccitiello used to work with Dr. Juvenile.

Damon goes on to explain that he used to be a part of the Serious Moonlight team. He worked hard every day on the game, but Juvenile often implemented ideas that would come out of the blue. The game went into development hell as a result. He and the other staff objected to Juvenile’s game design. They believed it was for the sake of completing the perfect game. However, the project ended up canned at the last minute, and Damon was sent to another team.

He remains bitter towards Juvenile, attributing the abrupt move to her "fearing their amazing ideas". He wanted to see Serious Moonlight finished at any cost, so he pressed Juvenile hard for the Death Ball. He claimed that she looked down him due to his position as an intern. He became so infuriated that he beat Juvenile severely, to the point of unconsciousness, took the Death Ball, and went home. He ends the story asking Travis if he thought she deserved it.

Travis is so disgusted that he decides that Riccitiello is not worth killing. Instead, he beats him with his fists, avenging Juvenile, before taking the Death Ball and leaving. Mysteriously, a bloodied Riccitiello pulls himself off the floor and vows revenge on Travis.

No More Heroes III

Eight years before the events of the first No More Heroes game, Damon discovered Fu, an alien that had become stranded on Earth. They became close friends as Damon helped Fu evade government agents and sought to find a way for FU to return home. After finding a piece of alien technology where FU crashed and being imbued with mysterious powers, Damon is able to build a rocket for FU. They promise to reunite 20 years later.

Two years after Travis Strikes Again, Fu returns to Earth for the promised reunion with Damon. Riccitiello's joy at meeting with his old friend quickly turns to horror, however, as Fu declares that he and his friends from prison plan to conquer the Earth with Damon's "help".

Powers and abilities

It is heavily implied that Riccitiello has the ability to possess others and compel them to do his bidding, which is demonstrated through Uehara's sudden betrayal of Travis in the "Quark-Gluon Plasma" scenario in Travis Strikes Back. Uehara is shown to be possessed by the same dark aura seen engulfing a vengeful Riccitiello during the previous scenario, but he is able to break through the mind control with Travis' aid. This may have something to do with the alien technology he was previously exposed to, but the specifics are unknown.

Trivia

• He shares his surname with John Riccitiello, the CEO of Unity who was also CEO of EA when Shadows of the DAMNED was published in 2011. [1]
• His appearance in Travis Strikes Back closely resembles that of Garma Zabi from Mobile Suit Gundam.