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The Gunslinger Icon

The Gunslinger is a Gungeoneer added in the A Farewell to Arms Update. He costs 7 Hegemony Credit to play, and starts with the Slinger and the Lich's Eye Bullets. He is the pre-mortem version of the Lich, and an ancient gunslinging wizard who constructed The Gungeon out of a concern for the loss of the old magic.[1]


How to Unlock[ | ]

As The Paradox, defeat the Lich. This will launch you into a new run as the Gunslinger at the beginning of the first chamber (Or the chamber The Paradox started at, if the elevator was used). It is important to note that at this stage, you have not unlocked him, you've only received a single attempt at unlocking him permanently. If you die, quick restart, or exit the game without using save button before finishing his run, you will have to start the process over by beginning another run as The Paradox. To unlock him permanently, you must proceed through the game again, making sure to get The Bullet That Can Kill The Past from the Blacksmith in The Forge (if you don't get the Bullet before entering the Aimless Void, then firing The Gun That Can Kill The Past will simply send the game straight to the credits, and you will have to begin the process again with another Paradox run) and kill his past (See: Past Kill).

Story[ | ]

For information about the post-mortem version of the Gunslinger, see; Lich

The Gunslinger was a legendary gunfighter, known by enemies and friends alike for his unusual reloading technique of simply throwing the empty gun at his foe and simply drawing a new one from his magical belt.[2] In addition to his renowned shooting skill, the Slinger was a powerful wizard who combined his two hobbies via arcane experiments in which he infused magic into the firearms of his fascination.[3]

Fearing that the ways of guns would replace the old magics, he retreated to the planet of Gunymede and constructed a grim fortress within which he could undertake his work. Beneath the fortress, he created a mine to extract black powder from the planet's crust for his experiments.[4] In addition, he hired a family of gunsmiths to create weaponry for him to enchant.[5]

Past Kill[ | ]

Traveling to the past takes you to Bullet Hell (Note that the hole in the Aimless Abyss that you'd typically take to Bullet Hell is unavailable, necessitating getting The Bullet That Can Kill The Past). Unlike other pasts, you keep your health and all the items you have gathered during the run, as if going to Bullet Hell normally. Everything is identical to normal Bullet Hell until the Lich boss fight.

Instead of fighting a normal Lich that has three phases, you fight 2 Liches simultaneously, similar to the Glitch Chest Boss. One Lich is normal, and the other one has the same visual effect as The Paradox. The Paradox Lich fires Jammed bullets and has increased health. Luckily, the Liches use only their first phase, and the player will win once both are defeated. The final scene shows the Gungeon as it looked before the Bullet crashed into it and the victory screen shows the Gunslinger throwing away his gun (a variant of the title screen), implying that time was rewritten and the Gungeon was never created, fracturing the timeline and turning the Gungeon into a paradox.

This leads into the events of Exit the Gungeon, where the now paradox Gungeon begins to crumble.

It is unknown what happened to the Gunslinger after he completed his mission. However we can assume that he decides not to attempt to create the gun that can kill the past and accidentally summoning the Great Bullet, implied by him throwing his gun away in his victory screen card.

Notes[ | ]

  • You can not unlock the gunslinger while in a blessed run. You will not be taken down to bullet hell as paradox if you are playing blessed run.
  • Dying with Clone during the Gunslinger's past will return him to the top floor.
  • Performing a Quick Restart during the unlocking run of the Gunslinger will return you to the first floor as The Paradox.
  • Dying with Clone during the unlocking run of the Gunslinger will still return him as himself.
  • Defeating The Gunslinger's past will unlock a golden skull trophy in the bottom left shelf at the Breach in the Sorceress' room.
  • Defeating The Gunslinger's past will unlock the Sixth Chamber, as the boss is considered Jammed.
  • When talking to the Blacksmith to acquire the Bullet That Can Kill The Past, she remarks that she's never been happier to make one of them. Talking to her again has her ponder where everyone will be after this is all over (i.e. instead of the Gungeon, since if the Gunslinger succeeds, the Gungeon will have never existed), and wishes him good luck.
  • After killing his Past, the regular path to Bullet Hell will be opened, and the Gunslinger can fight all three phases of the Lich by entering in this way.
  • When fighting phase 3 of the Resourceful Rat, the Gunslinger will hip-fire revolvers from his left or right side instead of throwing punches. Similarly, his special move consists of him pistol-whipping the Rat and appearing to fire a bullet at his chin in place of an uppercut.
  • Prior to v2.1.6, unlike other gungeoneers, The Gunslinger would go to his past regardless of whether or not you have the Bullet That Can Kill The Past.
  • If the player uses a Shortcut while unlocking The Gunslinger, they will spawn as The Gunslinger on the floor that they selected for the Shortcut.
  • The Hall of Knowledge can't be accessed with The Gunslinger.
  • Defeating Lich in Gunslinger's past does not unlock his respective unlockables nor will it add his perspective entry to the Ammonomicon. In addition, the text on the ending screen will say "The Past still haunts you" instead of being changed to "Evil Banished".
  • Unlike other Gungeoneers, the Gunslinger cannot drop Lich's Eye Bullets.
  • During the Gunslingers past if the player has Heck blaster or Mecha Junkan the player can "Un-Jam" the Paradox Lich.
    • If this is done the Paradox Lich will appear as the normal Lich and fire normal bullets instead of jammed ones.

Strategy[ | ]

  • The Lich's Eye Bullets allow the player to have any synergy that a gun could have without needing the counterpart. For example, the player can have the Cactus and get the Cactus Flower synergy without needing Broccoli or Orange.
  • The Lich's Eye Bullets allow the player to be wild with any item or weapon that has Synergies, so the player doesn't need to worry about getting strong items for later portions of the run, and can use money for armor, keys, or ammo.
  • Many weak guns are now much more powerful thanks to his passive, e.g. Cactus and Flare Gun, since these guns have many significant synergies. As a result, the strength of many guns is different for the Gunslinger compared to other Gungeoneers.
  • It is especially beneficial for the Gunslinger to go to secret floors for more opportunities to pick up powerful weapons.
  • The Shop many times sells low quality guns that usually are not worth purchasing for other gungeoneers. However, the Gunslinger's passive can sometimes make them excellent options for a cheap price.

Trivia[ | ]

  • The Gunslinger has only one nickname that NPCs use: "Slinger."
  • Gunslinger was created on the side as art by Joe of Dodge Roll while the other developers worked on the main game.
  • The Gunslinger first appeared in the game files in the Advanced Gungeons & Draguns Update, but was not playable until the A Farewell to Arms update.
  • The Gunslinger's appearance resembles that of Clint Eastwood in A Fistful of Dollars. Considering how the Lich resembles Lee Van Cleef's character in the movie The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, who serves as the antagonist of the same narrative universe, further connections between the Lich and the Gunslinger being the same, one being bad and the other good, can be made. There is also a resemblance to Justice from Afro Samurai which ties in with the Number 2 being included in the game.
  • The time count shown at the end of the Gunslinger's unlocking run is the time of both runs combined.
  • The poncho he wears seems to be alive, since it has a face on it which blinks during his idle animation. This, however, does not change any of the gameplay.
  • According to the description of Slinger, he became known as the Gunslinger because he literally slings guns at his foes once they run out of ammo.
  • His injured portrait during the Punchout fight with Resourceful Rat shows his eyes to be Bullets, suggesting he has been using bullets as prosthetic eyes even before he became the Lich.
  • The Gunslinger lacks an animation for missing the Resourceful Rat with a left punch. Doing so will instead show a right punch.
  • Unlike the other Gungeoneers, the back of his character icon (seen when selecting a character in the Breach) depicts a bullet resembling the Lich's skull.
  • A special rendition of the Lich's battle theme is played during the fight with the Paradox Liches, making it the second soundtrack in the game to feature lyrics next to the main Enter the Gungeon theme.
  • The Gungeon's appearance on the final screen of the Gunslinger's past seems to closely resemble that of a sword, possibly referencing one of Blockner's quotes, "The other dungeons me and Manny used to loot never had any guns. It was always sharp metal."
    • This also potentially implies that the Gungeon used to possess an affinity towards melee weapons, rather than to guns.
      • Blasphemy (wood version) could have been made (as a Pea Shooter kind of sword, given to people when they got there)when the Gungeon favored melee weapons.
      • The gunslinger may also be a reference to the character, Boss Godfrey in Cool hand Luke, due to being called "the man with no eyes." in the film and also having impeccable aim.

Gallery[ | ]

References[ | ]

  1. "I think he was worried that guns would make the magics of the old world obsolete. In that way, I guess he was right..." - Dialogue from The Blacksmith
  2. "Brought to the Gungeon by a legendary gunplay expert. Called the gunslinger by his foes not because of his ability to aim and shoot but because of his unusual habit of literally slinging his gun once it is out of ammo and replacing it with another from his magical belt of a million guns." - Description of the Slinger
  3. "A powerful wizard, that one, and fascinated by firearms. But... he needed a smith. He was always experimenting with them, infusing them with magic." - Dialogue from The Blacksmith
  4. "Before the great Bullet fell, the Gungeon's original master used this powder in his experiments. The Bullet Kin still mine it from the depths, awaiting the return of their master." - Description of the Arcane Gunpowder
  5. "I was hired, long ago, to make guns for the one who built this place." - Dialogue from The Blacksmith

See also[ | ]

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