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Don’t read any further unless you’re okay with being spoiled for the entirety of Gungrave and/or Gungrave: Overdose/Gungrave G.O.R.E. We highly recommend you watch or play a full playthrough before reading the Wiki. |
Rocketbilly Redcadillac (ロケットビリー・レッドキャデラック, Rokettobirī Reddokyaderakku), "Billy" or "RB" (by Jyuji) is a ghost haunting an electric guitar, partner to Jyuji whom had found and saved him sometime during his travels. He is one the protagonists and playable characters in Gungrave: Overdose. Billy's voice actors are Chis Cook in the English dub and Hochu Otsuka in the Japanese dub.
Appearance[]
Physical Appearance[]
Billy has a peach complexion accompanied by blonde-yellow hair that’s styled into a messy, spiky pompadour. His eyes are a pale blue color, and he can almost always be seen with a smile on his face.
Clothing[]
For clothing he wears a very bright red and black outfit. The style is very unique and hard to describe, looking retro or almost alien. The entire outfit has multiple silver adornments at random places, and resembles pads at multiple points like the shoulders, elbows and knees. The silver resembles metal screws in the pad areas meaning that it might be a heavy-duty armor. The jacket has a high collar and comes in at the waist. On the back of the jacket there is a large golden “B”, most likely standing for “Billy”. Underneath the jacket he wears a simple t-shirt, which varies in color from white to gray. The waist is darkened, or colored black, as well as parts of the sleeve and pants. The shoes are a simple boot-style with silver buckles.
Personality[]
“Yeah, I told you that getup of yours was too flashy.” - Jyuji
Billy has a very bright personality. Laid-back, charming and funny, he often gets along with anyone and everyone including enemies. He very rarely ever takes charge unless it’s to de-escalate a situation, preferring to go with the flow of things and take what life throws at him. He’s especially kind to women, being called out by Jyuji for constantly chasing women and being a ladies' man. It’s shown he expresses his emotions through his music, either playing upbeat tunes or sad requiems depending on the situation. Bizarrely, he considers his own grandmother to be the ideal woman.
Plot[]
Past[]
We know nothing of his past or how he died in the past, only knowing that at some point he was in danger and got saved by Jyuji Kabane and that’s why they started traveling together. Billy seemingly remembers his past, occasionally hinting at it in story. Being a poltergeist, and based off of how he speaks about it, it can be implied he died in a gruesome way and left this world with a lot of regrets.
Playable Character[]
The difference when you pick Rocketbilly Redcadillac as your playable character in Gungrave Overdose is that instead of Grave fighting the bosses, it's Billy instead. The only exception is the first encounter with Fangoram, in which if you pick Billy it's Jyuji who stays behind and fights him instead so you can hop on the plane to chase after Garino. This means he is also the one to get injured on the truck and tell the player of Spike's betrayal.
There are certain scenes with special extra dialogue, cutscenes and models such as: Casino Manager, Zell, Bunji Kugashira, Sherry Walken, Don Corsione, Fangoram, Garino Corsione.
Gungrave: Overdose[]
Relationships[]
Allies[]
Beyond The Grave[]
Billy had no clue who Grave was before they met in the Gargoyle Hotel but even then, he was reluctant to attack a man he didn't know was the enemy or not. Over the course of the game, they don't interact very much aside from fighting together. But it's easy to say that Billy holds Grave in a positive light and respects him for his strength and attitude.
Jyuji Kabane[]
Savior, partner, and best friend. Billy trusts Jyuji, and vice versa. It's a mutual understanding that they don't have with anyone else because of the time they've shared together. Billy can sometimes be disapproving of Jyuji's attitude however, especially when he gets needlessly aggressive or blunt with other people. There have been many times in game where Billy would have to hold the rambunctious deadman back from doing or saying something he would regret.
Mika Asagi[]
Billy is extra nice to Mika, both because she's going through a lot and because she's a little girl. He believes that all women should be treated with respect, regardless of age, and that it's a real man's job to provide that kindness. Whereas Jyuji doesn't believe Mika is capable of doing anything, Billy recognizes her hard work and even worries that she pushes herself too hard. After the reveal of where Grave's blood comes from, Billy reprimands Jyuji for how he had been treating Mika.
Spike Hubie[]
Spike and Billy have similar personalities, full of mischief and humor. Being a young kid Billy treats him kindly and gives him the benefit of the doubt. and just like with Mika he recognizes and appreciates the work the younger boy puts in. When Jyuji steps out of line and gets too aggressive with Spike because his buttons got pushed too much, Billy is the one to step in and stop Jyuji to protect him.
Others[]
Bunji Kugashira[]
Because of the fact that they're both 'dead', Billy understands Bunji and his plight. When Bunji begs Billy to kill him during his boss fight, Billy easily agrees stating he'd play a special number for him. After he is defeated, Billy asks how the song was and Bunji compliments his music by saying "Yeah... you're not bad..." and thanks him for ending his misery.
Abilities[]
Due to being a ghost, Billy has a unique set of abilities.
Like the deadmen, he has a form of immortality. It’s unclear whether or not he could die again seeing as he has no corporeal form. The only thing that could potentially damage him is if his guitar got damaged, which holds his spirit and powers. With his electricity powers he can do basic electricity manipulation as well as concentrated forms like balls. He can also pick up his guitar without touching it and swing it around as a weapon. There’s no evidence of him being able to do this with other objects, however he can summon his own items to interact with. During the fight with Sherry Walken, he was able to channel his energy and summon forth speakers to blast sound waves with.
Equipment[]
BL20000V[]
His spirit is attached to a guitar, which is also how he uses his electric powers. It’s teal in color with white accents. It’s split into two parts, with the main guitar part only being about ⅔ of a normal guitar. Near the bottom where it connects to the second part, it has a gear set part. The second part is an outward extension in an off-white cone shape, which connects to a rocket. At the tip of the rocket, there is a long red and white rod resembling a sword or lightning rod. The electricity itself ranges from light blue - purplish to gold in color.
Gameplay[]
Billy excels at long range combat, quickly clearing rooms of henchmen with arcs of electricity. His melee skills are subpar compared to his comrades, but he can charge his electric guitar to deliver powerful shocks.
Demolition Shots[]
Forward Attack[]
- Level 1: Do Not Disturb: Billy shoots a huge ball of lightning forward.
- Level 2: That Girl's Dynamite: Billy strums his guitar and calls forth a lightning bolt from above.
- Level 3: Thunder Love: Billy summons additional parts that will assemble themselves to the dynamo of his guitar and form a massive cannon. Then he fires a large laser beam forward.
Surrounding Attack[]
- Level 1: Let's Have Some Fun: Billy performs some breakdancing moves while strumming his guitar and unleashes homing lightning bolts around him.
- Level 2: Roses From Heaven: Billy tosses multiple explosive roses around him.
- Level 3: Good Vibrations: Billy summons two loudspeakers and jams his guitar under colorful spotlights. The shockwaves will destroy anything in range.
Bullet-Time[]
- Level 1: Doing It Tonight 1: Everything goes in slow motion.
- Level 2: Doing It Tonight 2: Much longer and slower.
- Level 3: Doing It Tonight 3: EVEN longer and slower.
Quotes[]
"What sources? You don’t even have any friends!”
You’ve got all kinds of ghosts haunting you, you just can’t see them!”
“She’s a lady, and she’s sad. That means she needs to be treated with kindness.”
Gallery[]
Sprite Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- It is hinted in Gungrave: Overdose that he used to be a World-renowned rock-star, though nobody seems to recognize him.
- During the final boss fight, Billy seemingly gets so angry he loses his shirt somehow. This may be lifted from how many charismatic and attractive male musicians will take off their shirts in more wild and passionate gigs that push them to the limit, and drives especially female fans wild.
- If you activate ALTERNATE CHARACTERS in the menu and select Billy, it allows you to play as Garino instead. He even has a different fighting style and his own voice lines.
- In Gungrave: Overdose Billy and Grave share a VA (Chris Cook).
- He resembles another one of Nightow's characters Vash the Stampede from Trigun, due to his extravagantly styled blonde hair and bright red attire.
- Billy has twelve (12) unique sprites in game.
- Him idealizing his grandmother as the exemplar of the perfect woman further hearkens to unusual romantic and sexual aspects of celebrities, in this case to classic rockabilly rocker Jerry Lee Lewis.