“	Stop me if you've heard this one before: Bad guy crashes party, kidnaps princess, makes dramatic exit. Plucky, handsome hero gives chase. Epic quest ensues. But, funny story… Yeah, *I'm* the bad guy.	”
—Crow

Crow is the main character of Nefarious. He is a supervillain and mechanical genius who aspires to take over the world.

Profile

Appearance

Crow wears a purple and red metallic suit. He also has a matching purple helmet with two yellow headlamps. His gauntlets are asymmetrical, with the larger one acting as a grenade-launcher. His helmet and gauntlets both feature a white “X” emblem.

Crow considers himself a professional villain, extending to matters of appearance, and keeps a collection of costumes and disguises if the occasion calls for them. This is seen when he swaps his helmet for a western-style cowboy hat in Rattletrack Rails.

Without his helmet, Crow is shown to have medium-length blonde hair. Along with amber-colored eyes, a visible shade of black under his eyes, and sharp shark-like teeth. While the black shade did come from his father's side, his eyes and teeth came from his mother.

An X-ray of Crow reveals that he is missing most of his right arm, and that it is entirely mechanical. Though it appears on left this is due to Josh flipping the canvas, Crow's arm is on the left and has always been on the Right, Slight error that has put a major issue in drawings of community

Personality

Crow prides himself on being a classic villain. He openly delights in being evil, and values his reputation as a bad guy.

As a villain, Crow demonstrates a number of selfish qualities. He's power-hungry, wanting to expand his empire and conquer the world. He also shows a great degree of self-aggrandizement, placing statues and decor of himself throughout his empire, as well as modeling his mechs in his own image.

Crow may also be much nicer than his reputation would suggest, treating both his minions and his captives quite well. However, when Scholar Ben suggests that Crow truly cares about his minions, Crow angrily derides the idea as slander.

It is possible that Crow could grow to care enough about the princesses he's captured for it to interfere with his plans for world domination, but whether or not he does is up to the player.

It can be inferred, however, that Crow may not truly view himself as evil. When asked whether he considers himself a villain on Would You Date A Super Villain?, his choices are limited to "No", "Deflect", and "Lie".

Main Story

Normal Route

Crow's story begins in Macro City, with the kidnapping of Princess Mayapple. After making his way through the city and defeating the MCPD Swat Van, Crow is confronted by his arch-nemesis, Mack. However, rather than battle him, Mack breaks up with Princess Mayapple, and flies off, not even bothering with Crow - much to the villain's annoyance.

Crow returns to his airship, the Sovereign, where his secretary Becky asks what his latest plan is. Crow simply says that he needs five princesses but does not elaborate, and then sets out for Insektia. There, he kidnaps Princess Apoidea, and uses his Death Pod to defeat the Insektan hero, Dash.

After returning to the Sovereign, Becky confronts Crow, realizing that he's trying to power the Doom Howitzer, a device that - if powered by five princesses - can give Crow all the power he needs to take over the world. Crow then sets his sights on two warring nations: the dwarven kingdom of Winterdown and the ogre kingdom of Sukochi.

In Winterdown, Crow encounters rival villain Dr. Mechano, who has also arrived to capture Princess Ariella. He defeats him and confronts the princess herself, who leaps onto Crow's back and takes him for a ride through the kingdom's cavernous depths, throwing axes at enemies along the way. Becky realizes Crow is need of aid and sends down Punch-Bot, one of Crow's boss mechs. Crow gets into Punch-Bot, and is confronted by the dwarven hero, Guryon the Righteous. Crow defeats Guryon and heads on to his next target.

In Sukochi, Crow meets the ogre hero, Kaptain Man. Kaptain Man presents Crow with a deadly obstacle course known as the "Gauntlet of Man," filled with pits, platforms, and cannon fire. After Crow makes his way across, Kaptain Man agrees to open the doors to Princess Tephra's palace - but only on the condition that Crow delivers a love letter from him to his secretary, Becky, whom Kaptain Man has a crush on. Crow accepts the conditions, calling it a "dark pact," and proceeds. When he meets Princess Tephra, she overpowers him with her pure strength, and tosses him through a window. There, Crow meets Tephra's much less imposing brother, Prince Malachite. As Crow is an equal-opportunity kidnapper, he decides to kidnap Malachite instead. On the way out of Sukochi, Crow is confronted by the 8-Bit Heroes, and squares off against them in turn-based combat. After defeating them, he returns to the Sovereign.

After completing Winterdown and Sukochi, Crow is informed by Becky that his Lucre reserves are running dry, and that his empire won't have enough funds to complete their current scheme if they don't get more money, fast. Crow makes a deal with Princess Apoidea, who knows the location of a massive underwater treasure - if she guides him to the treasure's location, he'll split half the treasure with her. Uncertain of whether to trust Crow, Apoidea agrees, and the two take the Death Pod out to the Heartless Abyss. Along the way, Apoidea and Crow talk and get to know each other a bit better. By the end of their journey, Apoidea remarks that - if not for Crow's villainy - she wouldn't mind being friends. Crow delivers half of the treasure to Insektia as promised, using the other half to fund his empire.

Next, Crow sets his sights on the fifth and final princess he needs: Princess Farrah Day, an experimental princess created by Adept Co. Crow finds Farrah Day, who mistakenly believes Crow is a hero sent to rescue her, and accompanies him out of the lab - but not before Crow is confronted by Mack along the way. Crow finds one of the first boss mechs he ever made, which had been salvaged by Adept Co., and hops in, using it to fight and defeat Mack.

After returning to the Sovereign, Crow has all five princesses he needs, and is ready to power the Doom Howitzer. However, Malachite tells Crow that he had a prior engagement - a TV appearance on the game show, Would You Date A Super Villain? Crow doesn't care, but Becky informs him that this appearance could be a good PR move for him as a villain, and so be begrudgingly agrees to appear on the show. Crow, Malachite, and Malice appear onstage as the eligible villains, and answer questions from Mayapple, Becky, and Ariella. (Depending on the player's choice, Crow can end up dating Becky after this show, though in either case she says dates will have to wait until later.) After Ariella is brought onstage, Malachite breaks down and confesses his love for her - committing high treason on television. This earns the attention of Princess Tephra, who sends a train packed with her troops toward Crow's Empire.

Riding up beside the train in his armored car, Crow takes Princess Ariella with him, and the two ride out on Colonel Apricot to take on Tephra's train. After defeating the ogre troops, led by Raijin, Ariella destroys the train engine with her axes.

After this, Becky informs Crow that no more obstacles stand in his way, and that it's time to head to his empire and power the Doom Howitzer. Crow flies the Sovereign toward his home base in Bramble Flats, but is shot out of the sky by Tephra, who wants to use the Doom Howitzer to conquer the world herself. What's more, all of the world's armies have converged on Crow's location, and he is forced to trek through his empire on foot, through the wreckage of the downed Sovereign, to get to his base and power the Doom Howitzer. Upon reaching his fortress, he finds it overtaken by the heroes, who he must refight. He once again defeats Dash and Guryon, before being confronted by Mack again, whom he quickly blasts with the death ray he unveiled back in Macro City.

Finally, Crow arrives at the Doom Howitzer, where Becky has taken the five monarchs. At long last, Crow is able to turn on the device and conquer the world.

Bad Ending Route

If the player did not complete the requirements for the good ending, Crow will decide to power the Doom Howitzer automatically. If the player did complete the good ending requirements, but selects "Activate the device!", he'll also power the Doom Howitzer. At this point, Princess Mayapple loses faith in Crow, and Crow is confronted by Mack again - who transforms into Hyper Mack.

Crow jumps into the Doom Howitzer, a massive boss mech, and begins blasting laser fire at Mack. If Mack manages to defeat Crow here, Crow will reveal that the Doom Howitzer is a multi-phase boss, and that he isn't done for. The same is true for the second phase - Crow will only lose the battle if defeated on the third phase of the fight. After defeating Mack on the fight's third phase, Crow finally bests his nemesis for good, and nothing left stands between him and world domination.

With the power of the Doom Howitzer, Crow's army manages to easily conquer the world, as every nation falls under Crow's rule. The princesses - encased in the crystals powering the machine - express their shock, anger, and confusion at Crow's betrayal, before Mayapple alone manages to break out of her crystal and escape. The story ends with Crow laughing maniacally, finally getting what he always wanted.

After the credits, Crow receives a message from Princess Mayapple, who alone managed to escape from the Doom Howitzer. She sadly says she must put her friendship with Crow on hold, and vows to become a freedom fighter, who will rescue the other monarchs and topple Crow's rule someday.

Good Ending Route

To get the good ending, Crow must complete several optional tasks:

In Adept Co., after rescuing Princess Farrah Day, Crow must fall into the pit immediately after Farrah's containment tube. This leads to a secret area.
- In this area, Crow must read the computer kiosk that implicates Princess Mayapple as the creator of Adept Co.
- Crow must also free the other three experimental princesses.
After Adept Co., Crow must talk to Princess Mayapple and tell her that he knows her secret. Mayapple confesses her involvement, and says that she wishes to confront Dr. Cackle, the man who began mass-producing Farrah Days. This will open the secret stage, Dr. Cackle's Lab.
- In Dr. Cackle's Lab, Crow and Mayapple befriend one of Cackle's creations, Walk Droid. Later, they fall into one of Cackle's traps, but Walk Droid presses a button to release them from it, only to be blown to pieces by Cackle seconds later. Furious, Mayapple leaps onto Cackle's ship and crashes it, grabbing him and holding him over a pit of acid. Cackle begs for his life here. In order to complete the requirements for the good ending, Crow must select the option, "Don't drop him!", urging Mayapple not to give in to revenge. Mayapple smiles, thanking Crow for giving her "good advice from a good friend." Crow huffs, saying they're not friends, but that he simply doesn't want any villainous competition. The two of them then return to the Sovereign.
Crow must then talk to Farrah Day aboard the Sovereign. She explains to Crow that she's running low on energy, and will soon need to siphon energy from the Sovereign itself. To alleviate this, Crow decides to take Farrah to an energy reserve deep beneath Sukochi. This will open the secret stage, Farrah's Folley.
- Crow and Farrah head out into Sukochi, fighting past enemies and obstacles until they reach the energy reserve. Farrah absorbs the energy, growing gigantic in the process, and begins talking about purging the planet with fire and destruction. But soon, she shrinks back to her original size and playful demeanor, and the two head back to the Sovereign.
With all of the above requirements completed, this time, the monarchs will plead to Crow not to activate the Doom Howitzer once he reaches the device. They reminisce over all the good times and friendships they've shared, and implore Crow not to throw all of that away by trapping them forever just to conquer the world. If Crow selects the option "On second thought..." at this point, he'll decide not to activate the device, making up the excuse that the giant scary face isn't ominous enough.

Annoyed by Crow's lack of dedication to the plan, Becky steps up and takes control of the Doom Howitzer herself, flinging Mayapple's crystal onto Crow, crushing him and knocking off his helmet in the process. Becky then reveals that she legally filed paperwork to declare Crow's Empire a kingdom, and that since she just usurped Crow as its ruler, she's technically a princess, allowing her to power the Doom Howitzer herself. She enters the machine, and prepares to use it to take over the world.

Crow explains to Mayapple that his metallic suit's shock-absorbers could create a feedback loop that would cause a giant explosion if he were dropped into the Doom Howitzer. Mayapple picks the wounded Crow up, and battles Becky herself, knocking Reaperbots into her in the first two phases of the battle.

In the third phase, Becky takes to space, declaring that she'll destroy Mayapple's kingdom as a test of the Doom Howitzer's power. The other princesses temporarily escape from their crystal prisons with help from Farrah Day, and give Mayapple and Crow a boost to catch up with Becky - with Princess Apoidea grabbing the two of them and flying after her. Mayapple continues fighting Becky, doing significant damage to the Doom Howitzer and finally managing to throw Crow into the device. As he predicted, it causes a gigantic explosion, destroying the machine.

Throughout the world, the princesses, heroes, and citizens celebrate the planet being saved. But Mayapple hopes Crow is still out there somewhere, saying that despite his villainy, he still came through for his friends in the end.

After the credits, it is revealed that Crow and Becky both survived the explosion of the Doom Howitzer, as the two of them sit on a hillside, watching the sun rise together. Crow forgives Becky's betrayal (though he still docks her pay), and claims that next time, they'll come back with an even better plan - one that even friendship can't foil. But for now, Crow says, he could use a vacation.

Powers and Abilities

Skills

Crow is a mechanical genius, and can create all manner of weapons, robots, and vehicles. His skills with machines have gained the praise of fellow scientist and rival Dr. Mechano along with many other high-class villains. Even the Princess from the Dwarven Kingdom would hire Crow for his skill in making war-machines. This skill has given Crow respect and fear from other villains and unless they have an arsenal that matches his they have no chance. Even when Foxglove tried to kill Crow with a mech, he quickly rewired the mechanisms and used it against her.

He is also a skilled pilot, able to fly airships like the Sovereign, as well as controlling weaponized boss mechs to battle the heroes.

Weapons

Crow's mechanical suit comes equipped a powerful metal fist, which can damage enemies and destroy obstacles. Crow's punch can be upgraded with the following:

Crow's suit also has a grenade-launcher. Crow's grenades can hit enemies from a distance. His suit can also safely absorb the impact of his own explosions, allowing him to use his own bombs to propel himself to higher places. Crow's grenade-launcher can be equipped with the following ammo: Grenades, Missiles, Sticky Bombs & Machine Gun Bullets and all of them can be enhanced by the princesses' abilities.

Vehicles

The Sovereign

Crow's airship, the Sovereign, is his primary mode of transport. It is equipped with weaponry, such as the Orbital Cannon, and also comes furnished with comfortable accommodations for Crow, his minions, and his captives. Crow uses the Sovereign to travel to different stages.

Boss Mechs

Chekhov's Death Ray

A simple laser blaster that Crow planned to use against Mack in Macro City. He ends up using it against him far later, in Bramble Flats, instead. The name is a reference to “Chekhov's Gun”, a literary trope in which an object is displayed early to foreshadow its use later.

Death Pod

The Death Pod is employed against Dash and used to explore the Heartless Abyss. The Death Pod itself is a red and purple flying machine with a large object attached that can deliver excessive blunt force.

Punch-Bot

A large robot in Crow's likeness that, true to its name, attacks with its huge fists. The head of the mech can swing back and forth, dodging enemy attacks, while the fists on either side can be used to smash Crow's foes. Crow uses Punch-Bot to do battle with Guryon the Righteous.

Crow's First Mech

The very first boss mech Crow ever constructed, this unnamed giant robot was eventually discarded and salvaged by Adept Co. He uses it to fight Mack.

The mech uses a shield that can move vertically, and absorb enemy attacks. When the mech's shield has absorbed enough power, it will automatically fire a laser beam back at its foe. The beam can be aimed by moving the mech's arms up and down.

The Doom Howitzer

A terrifying contraption powered by five monarchs trapped in crystals (or, four monarchs in crystals with the fifth one piloting the machine). The Doom Howitzer is a weapon powerful enough to take over the world. In order to activate the Doom Howitzer, Crow must power the machine up with five princesses.

The Doom Howitzer has a rotatable laser turret, and the top part of the machine is detachable, which can freely fly through space and fire huge laser blasts in all directions.

In the bad ending, Crow uses the Doom Howitzer to fight Hyper Mack. In the good ending, Becky seizes control of the machine herself and uses it to fight Princess Mayapple.

RPG Powers

Relationships

See Crow/Relationships.

Gallery

Indie Game Battle

Crow appeared as a playable character in the fighting game Indie Game Battle before it was cancelled.

Indie Pogo

Crow appears as the non-playable final boss in the fighting game Indie Pogo.

Indie Assault

Crow is scheduled to appear as a playable character in the fighting game Indie Assault in a future update.

Indie Rumble

Crow was planned to be a playable fighter in the game Indie Rumble, his move set was not finished, his sprites and icon was, however this game was canceled...like the many others...this game was supposed to be another indie fighting game involving characters such as Peppino, VVVVVV, Spark and many more, His stage was never decided and neither was his colors. this meant Crow was VERY under devolpment

Trivia

To date, all of Crow's known family members are named after birds.
- They also have designs from older generations games, such as 8-bit (Vulture) and polygonal 3D (Condor).
Various aspects of Crow's character are clearly inspired by other famous video game villains: his design is likely a nod to the Robot Masters from Mega Man, his kidnapping of princesses is based on a variety of early video game villains (particularly characters such as Ganondorf and Bowser), and almost all of his inventions are based on inventions used by other villains (such as Dr. Robotnik and Dr. Wily).
Crow's X-ray (along with some other images, like his profile picture) in the game was flipped. Canonically, his mechanical arm is his right.
- This mistake extends to some of the artworks and comics.
- He's based off Bass from Megaman.
His appearance is most likely based on Axel Gear from Rocket Knight Adventures.