The Gunslinger

"I think he was worried that guns would make the magics of the old world obsolete. In that way, I guess he was right..." - The Blacksmith

The Gunslinger (referred to in some places as the Legendary Hero) is a Gungeoneer that appears in Enter the Gungeon. He costs 7 to play.

Story

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

The Gunslinger is the ancient gunslinging wizard who constructed The Gungeon out of a concern that the way of guns would out-compete the old magics. He is also the pre-mortem version of the Lich, whose presence in the present is only possible thanks to the paradoxical timestream.

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 drawing a new one from his magical belt. 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.

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. In addition, he hired a family of gunsmiths to create weaponry for him to enchant.

Eventually the Slinger set his eyes upon an impossible artefact, working to construct a gun capable of killing the past itself. While eventually successful, his work was interrupted by the Great Bullet- a mighty projectile descending from the heavens and crashing upon the keep. While the origin of the Great Bullet is unknown, some inhabitants of the Gungeon believe that it was necessary to finish the Slinger's past-killing masterwork. In the wake of the destruction that followed, the Slinger was not seen alive again.

At some point a statue of the Gunslinger, calling him a 'legendary hero', was constructed in the entrance-way of the Keep of the Lead Lord, standing sentinel over the Gungeon below. The exact origin of the statue, or its purpose, are unknown- and the identity of the figure depicted would be lost to history as the statue fell into disrepair.

While it is unclear when or how this happened, at some point the Slinger felled the High Dragun at the heart of the forge in only five rounds- potentially the five powerful Master Rounds that can be discovered by skilled Gungeoneers. A sixth round existed, but remained unfired.

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).

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 paradoxical 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.

Strategy

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. This renders many weak weapons much more powerful, and makes obtaining strong guns significantly easier. The Shop often 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. The Gunslinger is generally considered to be the easiest Gungeoneer to play.

Other Appearances

The Gunslinger in the Instruction Booklet, page 14

• The painting above the Fireplace in the Keep of the Lead Lord appears to depict the Gunslinger in his later years, dressed in black (the same clothes worn by him in death), with pale skin, and a long white beard.
• The Gunslinger is prominently featured in key art for the A Farewell To Arms update, illustrated by Max Grecke.
• The sleeve for the 2022 special edition vinyl release of the Enter the Gungeon soundtrack includes an illustration of The Gunslinger by artist Joseph Harmon. The sleeve also contains a rendition of the Gunslinger's fireplace painting, technically showing him twice.
  • The Gunslinger also appears in the inside art of the sleeve, again illustrated by Joseph Harmon.

Unused and Cut Content

• In Alpha versions of Enter the Gungeon, several signs could be encountered throughout the Keep of the Lead Lord offering helpful tips and advice on basic game mechanics, in lieu of a proper tutorial. Each of these notes was signed from The Gungeon Master.
  • "Anything outlined in white can be interacted with, like these tables. -The Gungeon Master"

Notes

• Dying with Clone during the Gunslinger's past will return him to the Keep of the Lead Lord.
• 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 Gunslinger's 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.
• Possible Bug The Gunslinger does not have a special tombstone icon for the Ammonomicon death page in co-op. For other characters, these icons are used to mark how many times each player has died. Instead, the death page displays an icon-less tally.

Trivia

• Gunslinger was created on the side as art by Joe Harty 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 the film A Fistful of Dollars. The post-mortem Gunslinger, 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, creating potential narrative symbolism with the Gunslinger being The Good and the Lich being The Bad.
  • It could also be a reference to Stephen King's The Gunslinger: The Dark Tower. The cover shows a palace resembling the castle at the start of the game and the Gunslinger resembles the main character's design.
• 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.
  • When petting the Dog the poncho will smile.
• 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 a sword in it's shape, suggesting that the Gungeon once possessed an affinity towards melee weapons rather than guns.
  • This is further evidenced by Old Red in The Bullet's past referring to Blasphemy as an 'ancestral weapon'.

Gallery

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  The Gunslinger in-game.
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  The Gunslinger's icon on boss fight introductions.
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  Facecard
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  Punch Out Facecard (Slightly Injured)
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  Punch Out Facecard (Very Injured)
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  The final screen of the Gunslinger's Past.
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  The win screen after defeating The Gunslinger's Past.
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  The back of the Gunslinger's icon.
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  A portrait of the Gunslinger dressed in black, from the Fireplace room.
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  The Gunslinger in key art for the Farewell To Arms Update, by Max Grecke
• 

  The same art on the box of the August 2019 special edition physical Nintendo Switch release of ETG
• 

  The Gunslinger on the sleeve of the 2022 special edition soundtrack vinyl. Illustration by Joseph Harmon.
• 

  Ditto, on the inside art of the sleeve
• 

  A rendition of the gunslinger's painting from the same vinyl sleeve, also illustrated by Joseph Harmon

See also

• Gungeoneers