Viewtiful Joe - Extra Characters FAQ version 1.00
Written by thomas james burke (ripthesystem)
e-mail: [email protected]

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Introduction.
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Hello to all.

I'm writing this FAQ for all those kids out there who want to know just
what it is they're going to be unlocking before they dip into the
harder difficulties of the game, or those who aren't skilled enough and
would like a synopsis of what the extra characters are like.  I've also
written it as a motivational tool for those who need the little extra
push to take a shot at V-Rated and Ultra V-Rated.  And finally, I've
written this FAQ because I loved this game to death and find it very
hard to put down.

Onto the "legal mumbo jumbo" - without sounding too high up on myself
and throwing out the pseudo-legal crap that's in other FAQs, no other
sites aside from Gamefaqs.com may use this guide unless I'm e-mailed
about it and give permission.  If you want to use the FAQ on your site,
just drop me a line and I'll probably let you use it, so long as your
site doesn't contain any kind of questionable content.  Don't reprint
my guide, take credit for my work, try to sell it for money or change
anything in the FAQ, or anything along those lines without my
permission first.  Like I said, just throw me an E-mail me if you want
to use any portion of this FAQ, and odds are that I'll give in.

If you wish to e-mail me to add some strategies in the character
section, please do.  I'm just writing this FAQ based on what I know -
any contributions will be greatly appreciated and you will be given
full credit for them.  Please don't e-mail with fanboyish statements
like "Captain Blue totally sucks!!!! or "Alastor is the best OMG WTF?!"
Such e-mails will be sent directly to the trash bin.

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Table of contents.
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1. Extra Characters Overview.
      1.1 Unlocking Methods and Difficulty Hierarchy.
2. Sylvia
       2.1 - Sylvia overview and description.
       2.2 - Advantages compared to Joe.
       2.3 - Disadvantages compared to Joe.
       2.4 - Tips while playing as Sylvia.
3. Alastor
       3.1 - Alastor overview and description.
       3.2 - Advantages compared to Joe.
       3.3 - Disadvantages compared to Joe.
       3.4 - Tips while playing as Alastor.
       3.5 - Fact or Fiction (unconfirmed information).
4. Captain Blue
       4.1 - Captain Blue overview and description.
      4.2 - Advantages compared to Joe.
      4.3 - Disadvantages compared to Joe.
      4.4 - Tips while playing as Captain Blue.

5. Thanks.


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1. Extra Characters Overview.
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For those expecting the extra characters to have totally unique moves
exclusive to themselves, you're in for a huge letdown because they
don't have access to anything that Joe can't do.  Every character can
purchase the same exact moves from the shop and they all behave in the
same manner as they do when Joe uses them.  The bombs and voomerangs
work in the same manner, except each character throws a slightly
different voomerang.  They have slightly different names for the moves
which will be covered in their respective sections.  Don't fret - the
characters are different enough from Joe to warrant a change in
gameplay, as will be covered later.

The story sequences also change, but the dialogue is not really spoken
- it's just some gibberish dubbed over subtitles.  It's not nearly as
bad as some people make it out to be and the extra stories do have
funny dialogue.

I don't know if I'll do a text-by-text of the story sequences - it
won't be in this update, and it would be a pretty big FAQ in itself, so
I would more then likely make it separate from this one.  You also
cannot pause the game during the story sequences, which would mean I
would need my girlfriend's help to copy everything quickly.  Still, if
I get enough requests, it may be done.  If Nintendo had used
conventional discs, I could've just done a text dump and called it a
FAQ.

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Unlocking Methods and Difficulty Hierarchy.
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To unlock Sylvia, finish the game while playing on "Adults" mode.
Adults mode is available from the start of the game.

To unlock Alastor, finish the game while playing on "V-Rated" mode.  To
unlock V-Rated mode, finish the game on "Adults".

To unlock Captain Blue, finish the game while playing on "Ultra V-
Rated" mode.  To unlock Ultra V-Rated mode, finish the game on "V-
Rated."

Viewtiful Joe has a quasi-new game plus mode.  Every time you finish
the game on a set difficulty, you can start over at level 1 on that
difficulty with all your life power ups, moves, lives and items.
However, if you finished on Adults or V-Rated, you may move onto the
next highest difficulty in the same manner.  The exception to the rule
is if you finish the game on "Kids".  If you finish the game on "Kids"
difficulty, you're stuck in Kids mode for good.  You cannot progress to
"Adults" from "Kids".

You can backtrack in difficulty with no penalty.  For example, if you
finish the game on Adults, you'll open up V-Rated.  You can play
through Adults mode on this save as many times as you want in order to
acquire Viewtifuls for the remaining moves or to fill up your life bar.
Once you're ready, you can finish the game again and move onto V-Rated
with no problem.

Now, onto the characters!

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2. - Sylvia
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2.1 - Sylvia overview and description.

Sylvia isn't all that much different from Joe, aside from the fact that
she runs much faster and has a double jump that reaches slightly
higher.  Sylvia's normal mode looks exactly like she does in the game.
Her "Viewtiful" mode is a basic cheerleader outfit which is the same
color green as her dress, along with knee-high white boots complete
with orange and white pom-poms.  Instead of Joe's cape, she has a long,
blonde ponytail that flows out of her helmet in the same manner.  Her
helmet looks just like Joe's, except that it's green and she has a
purple visor which covers her eyes. Sylvia's slow down punches have a
green glow to them, and her zoom attacks generate a green aura.

Sylvia's dodge moves also slightly differ - her high dodge is more like
a feint, and her low dodge more or less a "damsel in distress" fall.
While causing the enemies to dizzy, they randomly see hearts and angles
as well as stars.  She also throws voomerangs from her pop-poms as
opposed to throwing them from her helmet like Joe does.

Move name changes:
Red Hot Kick changes to "Cool Blue Kick."
Viewtiful Forever changes to "Sexy Forever."
Air Joe changes to "Air Sylvia."

2.2 - Advantages compared to Joe.

*Sylvia runs fast - real fast.  She's the fastest character in the
game, with her normal walk speed being a little less then everyone
else's mach dashes.  This goes for both normal and Viewtiful modes.
Her mach dash is almost like a teleport from point a to point b and can
get you out of nearly any situation.  Silvia can actually outrun
helicopters and jets with her mach dash.

*Her double jump also reaches slightly higher then Joe's, probably
because she weighs less.

*Sylvia is an ideal choice for "Rock On" combos due to her high speed
and the fact that her VFX bar drains much slower then Joe's does.  This
doesn't make her any more effective against bosses since you can only
get a certain amount of hits in on a boss before they revert back to a
pattern, but she does have more VFX to work with in terms of dodging
attacks.

*If you play her correctly, Sylvia can make bosses which you require
you to keep constant pressure a cinch.  Fire Leo is easily run down
with Sylvia's awesome mach speed, negating the time he has to spit a
ton of fireballs.  Another Joe will never be able to get an attack off
if you fight him correctly and don't give an inch - easily done with
Sylvia.  Gran Blue probably won't be able to run off and heal himself
since you can stay on him with no problem.

2.3 - Disadvantages compared to Joe.

*Sylvia takes horrible damage.  In Viewtiful mode, Sylvia takes twice
as much damage as the other characters do.  In her normal mode, she'll
take four times as much damage!  Those who want to get a feel for what
kind of damage you'll be taking in the harder modes of the game can
just pick Silvia, constantly drain the VFX bar and try see what kind of
damage she takes from the enemies.

*Sylvia's dodges take some time getting used to.  They're not as
obvious as any of the other characters' dodges.

*For every boss that Sylvia can keep pressure on, there's a few that
require precise timing in terms of when to attack in order to knock
them off.  One Hulk Davidson Axe swing will damn near kill Viewtiful
Sylvia - the Hulk Davidson charge would probably kill either version
outright.  Charles III isn't that difficult, but a few hits from him
could leave you reeling.  If Alastor somehow manages to pin you with
Air Raid and one of those lightning pillars, it's going to hurt.
Taking damage against any of these bosses as normal Sylvia would put a
serious hurt on, if not just flat out kill you.


2.4 - Tips while playing as Sylvia.

*Because Sylvia takes such horrible damage, the first things on your
buy list should be some extra hearts and the VFX charger.  Staying in
normal mode as Sylvia is absolute suicide, and the VFX charger will
help you maintain the lowest damage possible.

*Unless "Sexy Forever" has drained your entire bar, refrain from using
it because it will put you back in normal mode where you are suspect to
4X damage.  This is a good tip to begin with, but you shouldn't even
buy this move until you have at least the VFX charger and some extra
hearts.

*Master using the Ukemi special move.

*Make use of Sylvia's awesome speed while in the slowdown mode by
holding in "R" during a "Rock On" combo.  There isn't much that Sylvia
can't reach during a Rock On combo with a full VFX bar to work with.
Learn to mix this up in moderation with the slide and the uppercut.

*Remember that not every fight in Viewtiful Joe is necessary.  You can
run from a lot of fights in this game, and if Sylvia is hurting, it's
better to use that awesome Mach Speed and run away.

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3. - Alastor
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3.1 - Alastor overview and description.

Some people love playing as Alastor because of the obvious Devil May
Cry references he carries with him, but I find him to be a mixed bag.
Yes, he oozes style and substance, and he's probably the coolest
looking character in the game, but he carries a couple of big
disadvantages.  The biggest and most noticeable difference with Alastor
is that he does not automatically convert into "Viewtiful" mode when
the VFX bar charges the first bar up. Rather, you have to manually
activate Viewtiful mode (called a "Devil Trigger") by pressing the Z
button when the bar has filled up. While in the "Devil Trigger",
Alastor's VFX bar actually drains, putting him at a huge disadvantage
because you will spend the majority of time running around as "normal"
Alastor and being suspect to much larger damage. You cannot activate
the "Devil Trigger" until at least the first bar is charged all the
way.  Thankfully, activating slow, mach, or zoom powers in Devil
Trigger mode doesn't take any more of the VFX bar then it normally
would. It doesn't sound like much, but believe me, this is a huge break
from traditional gameplay.

The normal version of Alastor is somewhat hard to describe.  He looks
like a slightly more decrepit version of Joe without the hat, and black
hair that goes straight backwards and sort of spikes. He has an all
black outfit with a white sash around his neck that has some Japanese
lettering one it. If you can picture someone with a tie taken off after
a hard day's work just hanging around their neck, that's sort of what
the sash looks like. He has the Alastor sword from DMC on his back just
like Dante does.  His Viewtiful mode looks exactly like it does when he
fights you as a boss, and instead of throwing voomerangs, he throws
swords you can purchase in the shop, called "Round Trip".  Alastor's
attacks have a purple aura to them.

Move name changes:
Red Hot Kick changes to "Ultra Violet Kick."
Viewtiful Forever changes to "Stylish Forever."
Air Joe changes to "Air Alastor."
Voomerrang becomes "Round Trip."

3.2 - Advantages compared to Joe.

*Alastor has some sword combos he can use while in his normal form -
one can be activated by pressing punch four times.  At the end of his
normal punching combo, Alastor will pull out the sword and swing it.
This can hit more then one enemy at once and knock the second one down.
You can also use this to trigger those poles you have to hit at the
same time if you hit one pole four times, and then hit the other one
once.  Hit the pole with one light active four more times and he'll hit
them both with the sword (credit: HyperBlissey of the Gamefaqs boards
for the pole method).  You can also execute a longer sword combo by
alternating punch and kick on the ground, or by pressing KKPPP (credit:
SuperSamusAran on the gamefaqs boards).

*The normal version of Alastor can use the double jump.  The jump is
exactly the same as Joe's, except he yells "Air Hike!" and has a red
circle appear under him, a'la Devil May Cry.

*While in the Devil Trigger mode, Alastor can stay in the air a much
longer period of time then either Joe or Silvia due to the wings on his
back which cause him to float.  He can easily hop over helicopters and
jets with no problem.  You can also control the rate of his descent
while in the air and bring him down really fast by pressing down - if
you bring Alastor down with Mach speed this way, he can fall faster
then any other character.  Because you can control the rate of his
descent, this makes collecting boxes high out of reach easy to do, and
makes the "falling parts" of chapter 3 much easier.

3.3. - Disadvantages compared to Joe.

*Alastor's biggest disadvantage is that he can only stay in Viewtiful
mode for so long before he reverts back to the normal Alastor, meaning
that he's suspect to 2X damage the majority of time while playing him.
You also cannot just activate Devil Trigger mode at your leisure - you
have to wait until the first bar is charged up all the way.  By the
way, this is a huge disadvantage late in the game when some of the
bosses and normal enemies can knock half your life bar off without
flinching.

*Because of the set amount of time Alastor has in Viewtiful mode, this
can make doing some of the puzzles in the game (like slot machines) a
pain until you get the VFX charger.

*Alastor doesn't really possess any kind of advantage over any boss.
As was said before, spending time in normal mode as Alastor will make
you suspect to double damage, and you have to save your VFX bar to do
big damage to the bosses or use the auto-dodge in slow.

*Alastor's VFX double jump will take you some time to get used to.  It
takes awhile to understand the concept of pulling yourself down after a
double jump.

3.4 - Tips while playing as Alastor.

*The most vital thing while playing as Alastor is to learn how to
activate your Devil Trigger and VFX power of choice at the same time.
If you want to use the slowdown mode, you can either press "Z" and "L"
at the same exact time or hold down L and then press Z.  Every second
of VFX power counts with Alastor.

*Buy the VFX charger first.  It is absolutely necessary because you
will want that VFX bar to stay constantly charged.

*I'm not sure how well the Ukemi works at Alastor.  I suppose if you're
good with the timing, you could possibly deal with an enemy hit like
so: once you're hit in normal Alastor mode, quickly press "B" and "Z"
at the same time before you hit the ground to really minimize the
damage.  You could try this with the C-Stick if you like but the
awkward placement of the Z button might make it difficult.  I've never
personally tried this but it is theoretically possible.

*Learn to ration the VFX bar and only use it in the situations you're
really going to need it.  Don't go for a huge rock on combo against
four easy enemies when you know three tough ones are coming up.

*If you run out of VFX power and you're desperate for it to recharge,
you can execute a double jump as normal Alastor and then hang in the
air for a long time just throwing out normal punches and kicks.  Only
do this when it's safe and there aren't any enemies on the screen with
guns or anything else that could possibly knock you clean out of the
air.

3.5 - Fact or Fiction? (Unconfirmed information)

*Some people claim that Alastor does double damage while in the Devil
Trigger mode, and that this is the tradeoff for the VFX drain.  I
myself don't see it but it could be true that he does slightly more
damage.  Anyone who can confirm this and give me a method to test the
information with should e-mail me (you will be given credit).

*According to SuperSamusAran of the Gamefaqs boards, Alastor has
another sword combo that can be executed after a double jump by
pressing PPPP.  He claims it is very tough to pull off and you must be
in normal mode to do it, and it does insane damage.  I've never done it
successfully, but if anyone else has (or hasn't), please let me know
and everyone will get proper credit.

*Finally, one last note.  Many seem to be under the impression that
Alastor becomes the best character if you can get unlimited VFX with
him.  That's very debatable, since any character with unlimited VFX
would be top brass.  I've never tried the Rainbow V challenge, but Joe
or Silvia would probably be better suited for it then Alastor.

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4. - Captain Blue
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4.1. - Blue overview and description.

The hardest character to obtain and also my personal favorite extra
character, Blue is worth it just to see his normal form - an elderly
looking man in a golf uniform with a red, white and blue color scheme.
He also does not save Silvia in his storyline, but goes after his wife
instead - she's basically a Silvia palette swap with a brown dress,
darker hair and sunglasses.  Blue's Viewtiful mode looks just like he
does in the normal game.  While in Viewtiful mode, Blue has the best
jump in the game - a super high jump that reaches a little above the
height of a standard double jump, but enough to make it worthwhile.
What makes this jump so great is that while in the air, Blue can
basically hover for as long as he wants once you press the "A" button a
second time.  Blue has no double jump, and his attacks have a
(surprise) blue aura.  He throws his voomerangs from that strange
antenna on his head.  His VFX bar drains at a normal rate.  One last
thing to note - Blue acts different when you use the zoom in pose.  He
stands still and salutes.

Captain Blue has one huge disadvantage - you will never see any skull
markers on ANY difficulty playing as Blue.  (I thought there was
something wrong with my game when I started to play with Blue).  I
suppose Capcom figured that if you were good enough to make it through
on Ultra V-rated (where there are no skulls) you can do the same with
Blue.

Move name changes:
Red Hot Kick changes to "Captain Blue Kick".
Viewtiful Forever changes to "Legend Forever".
Air Joe changes to "Air Blue".

4.2 - Advantages compared to Joe.

*As was mentioned, Blue has the best jump in the game, but it works on
all kinds of levels.  He can hop over helicopters and jets with even
less problems then Alastor, and even float and follow them around all
day long!

*Blue's float (instead of a double jump) moves pretty fast - it's just
a tad slower less then Silvia's normal running speed.  If you can use
this in a rock on combo, you can pull yourself towards many of the
enemies much more quickly then just walking along the ground.  Using
this with Mach speed will get you out of nearly any situation.

*Blue can also collect several items that would be out of reach for the
other characters due to his very high normal jump.  He can also collect
items in the "falling" sequence of chapter 3 with little to no problem
since he can float in the air for an infinite amount of time.

4.3 - Disadvantage compared to Joe.

*As stated before, Blue doesn't see any skull markers to indicate
high/low attacks.  There's a way to tell if an enemy will hit you high
and low, but even using that method (details in 4.4) requires precise
concentration on one single enemy while ignoring the rest of the
screen.

*Blue is the most helpless character in his normal mode due to the fact
that he doesn't see skull markers.  I would seriously take Silvia's 4X
damage normal mode or Alastor's normal mode over Blue's because they
can at least dodge at will.

*Who liked fighting Fire Leo in Ultra V-Rated with no skulls?  Wait,
who liked fighting Fire Leo period?  Anyway, during the fight with Fire
Leo and the other Metal Leo's in episode 7, you won't have any skulls
to go by and you'll have to revert back to using the roars as a method
to indicate high/low attacks.  Blue's super jump can actually cripple
him big time in this fight if you don't learn to use the mach speed in
moderation with the mid-air floating ability.

4.4 - Tips while playing as Blue.

*Remember how I told you there's other ways to tell which way an enemy
is going to attack as opposed to just looking at the skulls?  Here's
how:  if an enemy is standing still before he's going to hit you (in
other words, he's not juking and weaving like a boxer), he's going
high, so duck. If he is juking a weaving like a boxer, he's going low,
so jump.  Spinning enemies get targets put on them after so many slow,
normal punches.  As far as I know, this is the way it works with most
of the enemies in the game, aside from the Metal Leo's which hit twice
and anything else that doesn't use skulls as indicators.  Using this
method is necessary if you want to start a huge combo with Blue.

*Learn to use the floating power of the jump as your main method of
getting around.  It's much faster then walking, and with mach speed, it
can really move you across the screen quickly.

*If you're running low on VFX power with Blue, you can simply soar high
into the air and stay there until you're fully charged for another run.
There's no reason to ever run out of VFX power with Blue if you use
this method.

*Blue can keep the pressure on some bosses if you learn to use his jump
well, but it will take some time, so practice with it.

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5. - Thanks
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Special thanks go out to Capcom for making such a wonderful game.
Please don't make the sequel any less challenging, I'm begging you.
But a few save points here and there wouldn't hurt, especially after
killing King Blue on Ultra V-Rated =)

Extra special thanks to Ben Wood, who wrote the best boss FAQ on the
planet.  I honestly couldn't have beaten the game without it.  If
you're stuck in at a boss, I highly suggest you take a look at it.  You
can find it here:

http://db.gamefaqs.com/console/gamecube/file/viewtiful_joe_boss.txt

Thanks to CJayC for the best gaming site on the 'net.  Please don't
ever start charging people for access.

Thanks to all the people on the Gamefaqs boards who posted thoughtful
information which helped me out in writing the FAQ.  Special thanks to
HyperBlissey and SuperSamusAran for some of the Alastor information.

Thank you, Ashley Bauer for having the patience to sit through my
playing.  Your kisses are good luck!

This FAQ is dedicated to all those who wonder, and everyone who
requested the FAQ on the boards: HyperBlissey (I know you like Alastor,
e-mail me some strategies), Fullgore EXE, Viewtiful Forever, Marken X,
Captain ASCII, Zenon, method13, TJC, and Crono da Moogle.

"There is no life I know to compare with pure imagination."

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