Hhidaka

You all know that game for the Gamecube called Super Smash Bros. Melee, right? The fighting game with all of the Nintendo characters (Mario, Fox, Kirby, Ganondorf, etc.)? Well, you can find all of the scripts, models, textures, and files in the game if you can access the files using a program.

One script, called "Char.txt," contains all of the variables and move sets for the in-game characters. Each character has a TXT file that refers to their models, too, in a folder called "Char".

In order to add my texture hacks, I needed to copy all of the files to my computer. While copying, I noticed there were 26 items, but I was sure there were only 25 characters. To make sure, I explored the filenames. All of the normal files were there; there was Cfalcon, falco, Dkong...then I came across Hhidaka.

I opened the file and noticed his variable number happened to be "666". I assumed they must have randomly generated the numbers, otherwise it'd have been between 1-26. His texture file was located in "E:\SSBM\textures\Char\modeltexture\Hhidaka.

The contents of the folder were quite disturbing. What I saw was a PNG file of a Japanese girl dressed like a hooker. She had been stabbed and mutilated to the extreme, especially at her stomach; it was cut clean. It was called "Hhidaka.png" and was the main model texture.

I absolutely couldn't believe my eyes. Why the hell would that be on the disc?

I eventually remembered that I had bought this used from a flea market. It had no instruction booklet; it was replaced by what I thought might have been cheat codes or a walkthrough written on a sheet of printer paper.

I got out the case and unfolded the "cheat codes". Instead of cheats, I saw some Japanese writing. I couldn't translate it at the time, so I went back to the computer. I checked the script and saw that Hhidaka was a hidden character. To unlock him, you had to (from what I understood) KO the purple-colored Peach four times in a row without taking damage, while playing Ganondorf.

I found it odd, but I ended up doing it. After KOing Peach for the fourth time, it went to the new character screen. Instead of a battle, it showed a video of a Japanese woman who murmured things in Japanese. A knife was in her eye.

Because my parents were home, I quickly turned the volume down and waited. I did not dare to look full on, but I did peek every now and then. It went on for four minutes until the sound of a gunshot rang out and the woman's head jerked back. Then it cut to black.

It displayed two things on the screen: "Hiroki Hidaka's taste for blood shall be quenched!" and "You have gotten the HH trophy". I looked in the trophies, but found there wasn't an actual trophy displayed. The description was still there, though. It said, "FINDING THIS WAS YOUR MISTAKE."

At this point, my Gamecube restarted itself and went to the normal SSBM menu. There wasn't any music or sound, now that I think about it, but I began a match. I chose the thumbnail-less Hiroki Hidaka and pitted myself against Kirby. Corneria was the stage. Nothing happened for a moment before text popped up on the screen that said "FINDING THIS WAS YOUR MISTAKE". My finger immediately went for the power button.

I must have pressed reset instead, as the game didn't shut off. I could hear the disc spinning rapidly, as if trying to play Crysis 2 on a laptop. The TV started displaying the same Japanese woman with the knife in her eye, but instead it was a still image. There was a caption that said "Play as Hidaka and this could be you".

I later found out the Japanese text on that paper that came in the game's case translated to the exact same words and was even signed by Hidaka. It turns out he's a Japanese serial killer who was executed on December 25, 2006. That was the same Christmas I bought the game.