Peppino Spaghetti

Peppino Spaghetti (simply referred to as Peppino) is the main protagonist of Pizza Tower.

Description
Peppino is a somewhat overweight Italian chef wearing a black t-shirt, black pants, a white apron and a chef's hat. He also has black hair and a small mustache under his long nose.

He's the owner of his own restaurant (called Peppino's Pizza), and always shows signs of both anger and anxiety, frequently shifting between those two emotions.

Main Abilities
Peppino is the most balanced character included in the game due to the great quantity of abilities he has at his disposal.

Jump
Press the jump button while on the ground to initiate a jump. Holding the button longer results in a higher jump.

Jumping on top of enemies will stun them, allowing them to be grabbed if they normally hurt Peppino when attempting to grab them.

As expected of a platforming Italian, Peppino can bounce higher off of an enemy by holding the jump button when landing on top of the enemy.

Body Slam
Press down while in the air at low speed to belly flop, damaging enemies from above.

He hangs in the air for a moment before dropping and can slightly shift left or right as he drops.

With enough height, this can be used to break metal boxes, indicated by the meteor-like effect.

Jumping after this gives Peppino a little more height than a regular jump.

Dash
One of Peppino's most important abilities for blasting his way through the towers. He builds up speed for as long as the dash button is held, allowing him to transition to several successive stages of dashing. Jumping during the dash keeps his momentum at whatever stage he is currently at.

Dash Stages:
Mach 1:


 * Peppino starts to run at a moderate pace.
 * Peppino can stun enemies by bumping into them.

Mach 2:


 * Peppino starts dashing madly, indicated by his red and green afterimages.
 * Can damage enemies, but must be wary of those protected with weapons.
 * Can initiate a roll by pressing down while dashing.
 * Can initiate a Dive by pressing down in the air.
 * Can run up vertical walls by jumping at them while dashing, or by running up a staircase connected to a wall.
 * Can break through non-metal boxes.

Mach 3:


 * Peppino starts dashing at an insane rate, indicated by his extremely angry sprite animation.
 * Distinct in its added sounds and force-field effect.
 * Has the same abilities as Mach 2, as well as the following:
 * Enemies freeze in shock when Peppino reaches them, letting him bust through defenses like Forknight's fork.
 * Can break metal boxes.
 * Can initiate a super jump by pressing up while dashing.
 * Attempting to turn around in this stage will result in Peppino "drifting", in which he takes slightly longer to change directions but preserves his dash momentum.
 * Jumping off a wall results in Peppino moving back to Mach 2.
 * If the player continues pressing forward whilst running, he goes supersonic which gives him a bit more speed and alters the animation and sounds.

Mach 4:


 * Activated when the player is in Mach 3 and continues holding forward in the direction Peppino is running.
 * It is almost identical, the main differences being sprite changes and him going significantly faster.


 * This stage will activate instantly when Peppino interacts with the (now unused) Pepper Pizza power-up.

Roll
Press down while dashing on the ground at Mach 2 or higher to roll in a bowling ball fashion. Damages enemies and breaks boxes to clear through crawlspaces.

Dive
Press down while dashing in the air at Mach 2 or higher to make Peppino dive downwards at a diagonal angle, can damage enemies and break non-metal boxes in the same fashion as the dash or roll.

Super Jump
Press up when the Dash reaches Mach 3 and release to super jump. The player can move side-to-side slowly before releasing, but cannot move horizontally once the super jump is initiated.

Leaps straight upward quickly, busting through weaker obstacles until he hits a ceiling.

The player can cancel the super jump before hitting a ceiling with a dash, transitioning back into Mach 3. Skillful players can control Peppino's movement very quickly and precisely by alternating between a Mach 3 dashing stage and a super jump.

As of March 2020, the super jump has been reworked and now it only goes a set distance instead of endlessly going upwards. Because of the height nerf, it can now be used at any mach. The only way to extend the distance it goes is to hit an enemy or a block while super jumping. Also, it no longer has the mach effect, meaning it is impossible to cancel the super jump into a dash or another super jump. Now, it can only be cancelled into a grab.

However, these changes were reverted in Western Build V2 and instead it was given a different, more minor change, that being the inability to super jump in midair, meaning it is no longer possible to chain super jumps in midair by cancelling the move into a dash.

As of the April 2021 build, Peppino moves much slower while in the pre-super jump position.

There is also the Side Super Jump, which can only be enabled by hacking the game. As the name states, it is the super jump, but sideways. It will also break through metal boxes and kill enemies. The Noise's pogo moveset has a move similar to this, but he can steer it with little control.

Team Dash
While in Co-op mode, if both players attack each other at the same time, they will start rolling, which has most of the same effects as a Mach 3 dashing stage. The direction of the team dash depends on who attacked first and will go in the direction the first attacker was facing. Neither player can turn around, roll through one-block gaps, or end the dash until they hit a wall, but whoever attacked first can control the speed of the ball as well as jump.

Grab
Grabs a static enemy or object in his clutches. He can carry caught enemies around before smashing them away, upwards, or behind him. Pressing down whilst on the ground releases a stunned enemy.

He also has some wrestling moves he can perform while holding an enemy.


 * Giant Swing: Pressing dash while holding an enemy will cause you to spin forward with them, breaking blocks, bouncing off walls and killing enemies. Spinning into a hazard causes you to parry it. In previous builds, pressing the forward and backward directions quickly would allow you to spin and press the grab button to throw.
 * Spinning Piledriver: Jump with a held enemy and press down while in the air.
 * Uppercut: When pressing up with a enemy in hand, Peppino performs an uppercut, sending the enemy flying upwards at a high speed. The enemy can be grabbed again if still in mid-air.

Hold the dash button after initiating a grab and he will immediately start dashing at Mach 2, letting him reach top speed faster.

In earlier builds of the game this move had a lunging form which could break through blocks and be used for precise platforming.

Tackle (Unused)
In Peppino's Xmas Break and builds afterward, holding dash while holding an enemy will cause Peppino to tackle forward while still holding the enemy. The tackle won't break anything but small blocks, and releasing the dash button will drop the enemy and slow Peppino down. Pressing the grab button again while tackling will throw the enemy forward. Peppino can jump in this form as well as turn around, but the latter will cause him to drop the enemy. Any enemy hit while Peppino is using this move will be defeated. This move was replaced by a spin move in the April 2021 Build.

The tackle was also in GOLF and onwards, but was scrapped in the SAGE 2019 Demo.

Quick Roll
In the Cheese Dragon Boss Patreon build and builds afterward, if the grab button is pressed while Peppino is lunging forward for a grab on the ground, Peppino will do a short roll forwards, which can be used to build up speed quickly and defeat enemies.

Belly Slide
If the player crouches right after pressing grab, Peppino will slide forwards while laying down on his stomach. This attack can be used to destroy blocks in one-block spaces, but it cannot be used to defeat enemies. There is also an option to jump out of a slide to activate a slide jump, which unlike the normal slide, can damage enemies. Peppino can jump repeatedly in succession if he jumps again right when he touches the ground.

Shoulder Bash
Rushes forwards using his shoulder. It is similar to a Dash, but somewhat nerfed as it's not as fast as Mach 4, doesn't stay out permanently and cannot break stronger blocks - albeit much quicker to pull off overall due to being faster than getting from Mach 1 to 4. It is stated by PTG that this attack would be used during boss fights.

Buzzsaw (Unused)
Peppino charges forward with a large pizza cutter-esque buzzsaw, instantly killing enemies in his path. The buzzsaw needs ammo, represented by fuel cans, to function, and the player can only hold three at a time. Enemies will sometimes drop fuel cans to compensate.

Pistol
If the shoot button is pressed without a shotgun or Mort, Peppino will fire a bullet from his pistol, hurting enemies from afar. The pistol, however, has very limited ammo, only being able to hold three bullets at a time. Enemies will sometimes drop bullets to compensate.

Taunt
Strike a pose. If the player gets a combo counter of 3x or more, a super taunt will occur, where the taunts pop-out, with one of four unique taunts being selected (different taunts are purely cosmetic, and different ones don't affect gameplay), and all enemies on-screen are defeated. However, this also ends the combo afterwards.

His many taunt poses reference the likes of Peter Griffin, Akuma, Daffy Duck, Dr. Robotnik, Sonic the Hedgehog, and more.

As of the Patreon Western Build, taunting now causes any projectile-based enemies to fire their projectiles, making waiting for them to attack to get the transformation their projectile gives take less time.

As of the upcoming combat-focused overhaul recently implemented, the super taunt now only hurts and stuns every enemy on screen, taking one of their health points away instead of instantly killing them like before.

Parry
If the player makes Peppino taunt right before he gets hit by an enemy or projectile, he will parry it and attack back. This can be used to make it easier to defeat enemies that often attack the player and can also be used to reflect projectiles thrown at them.

Breakdance (Unused)
If the shoot button is pressed without a shotgun, Peppino will do a breakdance kick to attack enemies. This attack has a bigger hitbox than grabbing and can be cancelled into either a rolling attack where Peppino curls up into the fetal position, which can bounce off of walls unlike the normal rolling, or a butt-first dashing attack. The rolling attack can also be used instantly by pressing the shoot button while rolling during a dash.

Slap (Unused)
Peppino will close his eyes and nervously swing his palm. It takes a few hits to stun an enemy before grabbing them.

This move only appeared in some early demos before being cut, and some of the animations would later be used for when breaking big boxes with a grab.

Transformations
Along with his basic moveset, Peppino has the abillity to transform in a varity of ways for different purposses.

See also: Transformations

Ball Peppino
(Gained from: Getting kicked by a Pepperoni Goblin or Goblin-Bot or pressing down while on stairs)

Peppino inflates himself just like a balloon and quickly rolls until he hits a wall. He is invincible in this form and will bowl over enemies. He can also break small blocks instantly without losing momentum.

Knight Peppino
(Gained from: Grabbing a sword or getting hit by a Pizzard's projectile)

Peppino will be heavy and slow, but he will be invulnerable and can still take out enemies by walking into them or jumping on them. He also gains fast momentum from sliding down on stairs and slopes. If he slides into a wall or touches a level hazard, the armor will break and return him to normal form.

Bomb Peppino
(Gained from: Picking up a bomb or The Noise's interference)

Originally, the player couldn't get rid of a bomb Prior to the April 2021 Build, however just like in Demo 2, if the player presses 'Grab' (formerly known in Demo 2 as 'Slap'), they are able to throw the bomb away. However sometimes the path can be blocked by purple metal boxes marked with bomb symbols that can ONLY be destroyed by an explosion, forcing the player to grab a bomb. During the transformation Peppino will run around without input of the player themselves (However, he can turn around if the left and right keys are pressed as of the Sage 2019 Demo.) and will be stunned temporarily upon the bomb explodes but won't be hurt.

Firebutt Peppino
(Gained from: Touching a pool of boiling sauce, burning haystack, Cheese Dragon's fireballs, or Peasanto (setting haystack on fire))

Peppino will jump up high and after landing his bottom will be briefly exposed. He can actually defeat any enemies that touch him at any point in the animation. In demos after Peppino's Xmas Break, the cheek-exposed recovery animation is now absent so that the player can regain control of Peppino more quickly.

Firemouth Peppino
(Gained from: Kentucky Kenny's spicy chicken wings)

When Peppino eats a spicy wing tossed by a Kentucky Kenny, he gains the firemouth form. His mouth is caught on fire, and he can destroy TNT blocks and kill enemies by touching them. He'll also run nonstop just like his bomb transformation. Free Milk booths will set him back to normal.

Ghost Peppino
(Gained from: Mushroom Ghost running in to you in the Wasteyard)

Peppino turns into a ghost, allowing him to jump as many times as he wants and pass through electrified blocks and certain walls while being invincible, but he can't dash or attack. To end the transformation, there are tombstones around levels featuring this transformation that can be grabbed and tossed around to different areas by Peppino without a transformation, which can then be used to turn back to normal when touched by Ghost Peppino.

Mort
(Gained from: Picking up Mort)

Upon touching Mort, Mort will mount on top of Peppino's head and give him several new abilties like having Mort smack his head around and ascending slowly in mid-air, as well as being able to break Mort Cubes by using the previously mentioned head smacking attack.

Barrel
(Gained from: Dashing into a barrel)

Peppino gets stuck in a barrel and rolls around in it quickly. This can defeat enemies and break blocks. Hitting a wall while rolling in the barrel will cause the barrel to break, which ends the transformation. However, if there is a slope next to the wall, the barrel won't break and will instead change directions. The barrel itself can be grabbed and tossed around to different locations before using the transformation. This transformation is the only way to break Barrel Blocks.

Cheeseball Peppino
(Gained from: Trash Pan's cheeseballs)

If Peppino touches a cheeseball tossed by a Trash Pan, he gets stuck in it and will be stuck rolling in the direction of the cheeseball until hitting a wall. The only action that can be done while in this form is jumping, but the jumps are very small. There are also specific blocks labelled with a cheeseball on them that can only be broken with this transformation.

Sticky Cheese Peppino
(Gained from: Getting hit by a Cheese Peppino Robot (scrapped) or Cheese-inator)

In Demo 2, Peppino could get covered in sticky cheese from the causes above. He is lot slower in this form, walking similarly to a zombie, but can cling on vertical conveyor belts and jump off of them. To get out of this form, the player has to touch an outlet.

Pizza Box Peppino
(Gained from: Getting crushed by a Box Stamper or the scrapped Noise boss)

Peppino will be crushed in a pizza box, making him be able to crawl on smaller places more easily without having to do a roll. He can only get out of this form by getting hurt.

Weapons
In some versions and under certain circumstances, Peppino can afford a few weapons that help him endure the enemies he has to pass through during his quest:

In the SAGE 2019 Demo
Shotguns can be purchased for 4 pizza coins from Pizzamart (with a maximum of two guns). The gun will break from taking damage, but the player can carry one backup shotgun. The shotgun fires three projectiles at once by pressing up and the grab button at the same time. When performing the body slam, Peppino instead fires downwards while getting a slight vertical boost first, then stomps towards the ground. Pressing the grab button without the upward direction performs a shoulder tackle.

In the Western Build and onwards
The shotgun currently functions slightly differently than it did in the SAGE Demo, with shotguns now being obtained for free instead of bought from Pizzamarts and is now used more like a transformation and less as a powerup. The shotgun can now be gotten rid of by a metal detector. Since the projectiles fired by the shotgun go through walls, it is also now used in puzzles. Peppino can still perform the downward-fire & stomp combo, and the stomp can now briefly stun onscreen enemies when he hits the ground. There is also now a unique "shoot" button for firing the shotgun instead of pressing the up and grab buttons.

Pizza Cutter Buzzsaw
The Pizza Cutter Buzzsaw is a weapon that is in the files for the 2019 April Fools GOLF demo and Demo 2. Currently, there is no code for the weapon itself, but it's definitely not a scrapped idea. In current builds, the Cutter Buzzsaw can be seen stuck in the background of some rooms in The Wasteyard level. In some Pre-EarlyTestBuild footage, Peppino would've had it at his disposal. It would be used to ram into enemies. He could have carried up to three canisters of fuel for it.

Pizza Revolver
The Pizza Revolver is a gun Peppino wields in the GOLF demo and April 2021 build. In GOLF, it shoots out toppings when the trigger is pulled, but in the April 2021 build, it fires a bullet that damages enemies. Peppino can carry up to three bullets.

In the comics
Peppino appears in the Peppino and Noise Comics.

In Peppino and Noise Comics, he is one of the titular characters of the comics and is often seen being annoyed and/or tortured by The Noise, to his dismay.

He is also planned to appear in a currently unfinished comic featuring him and Gustavo in the desert, where the two would be antagonized by Mr. Incognito.

Trivia

 * One of Pizza Tower Guy's Twitter posts jokingly described the background of Peppino as the main antagonist of a fictional 1996 video game called Pizza Boy Tower. There he would be known as "Chef Raider" as an antagonist and would be the nemesis of a character known as Totino the Pizza Boy, the protagonist of the game. However, Peppino's current backstory hasn't been defined yet.
 * This is a reference to the predecessor of the Wario Land series, Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins. As this game marked the first appearance of Peppino's Mario counterpart, Wario, also acting as the villain, this is fitting.
 * While it's not confirmed by PTG, Peppino's anxiety could originate from a war he experienced before the main events of the game. The only proof for this is a sketch drawn by PTG showing Peppino with an army helmet. If this is true, Peppino might suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (This and other sketches can be seen in Peppino's Gallery)
 * Peppino's Grab move was originally inspired by the Suplex Copy Ability from the Kirby series. The inspiration is most obvious on demos or builds like GOLF.


 * In the real game lore, Peppino's Pizza place wasn't doing so well, so Peppino started to read about towers and eventually, he found a page that contained information about towers with ingredients to make perfect Pizzas. He then got a call from someone that was somewhere near the towers and for now that would explain how Peppino involved in the world of Pizza Tower.


 * Coincidentally, Peppino shares his name with Peppino Turco, the lyricist of Funiculi Funicula, that's also a song included in the game's soundtrack.


 * Modding Noise's Hardoween to play as Peppino makes the stage harder to complete, as the stage was initially designed around The Noise's altered moveset (The Noise with his skateboard could reach Mach 3 at much shorter distance than Peppino, and jumps higher).
 * Peppino's body slam is based on the same move from Virtual Boy Wario Land (without the bull power-up.)
 * In the game's lore, Peppino is mute but has a screaming voice when in his firebutt form, and the cheerful-sounding voice clips heard from getting a combo come from the TV counting points, not Peppino.
 * However, he is shown speaking on the rank screens (Except the S-Rank Screen) and in some of the comics. That might mean that he is only selectively mute.(Side note: In the second Demo there are audio files of Peppino saying "Oh my goodness!" "Ohohohoho!" a grunting noise "most likely for when he got hurt" and "That's-a good!")
 * When picking up the shotgun, the quote "it's time to chew ass" will appear on screen. This is a reference to a popular Duke Nukem meme called "Dick Kickem" in which the popular catchphrase "it's time to kick ass and chew gum" is swapped by two words.
 * During one of PTG's live streams, it was revealed that Peppino was initially planned to be share the name of his creator, Pizza Tower Guy, akin to Doomguy from the Doom series. However, this didn't stick for very long.
 * As the name suggests, this idea didn't come to light until the start of Pizza Tower's development, his final name sticking around before then.

Other Game Cameos
Although Peppino's main appearance is in Pizza Tower, there have been many official mods made by Pizza Tower Guy for various games that add him as a playable character, as well as officially approved cameos.

Sonic Robo Blast 2 Kart
Peppino appears in this Sonic racing fan-game as a downloadable character mod. Peppino has default stats, and a lot of his voice-lines came from Demo 0. Instead of driving a kart, he rides his signature scooter.

Rivals of Aether
Peppino is available as a custom playable character in this platform fighting game through the game's Workshop function. While originally planned to be made by Pizza Tower Guy himself, problems arised with coding, as the coder that was going to code Peppino never got to doing so. Much later on however, user Mineken713 ended up completing the mod himself using the sprites Pizza Tower Guy had made for the mod, with help from him to understand which sprites were supposed to be used for what. His moves include throwing a Cheeseslime, slamming into the ground, superjumping, etc.

DOOM 2
Peppino appears inside of a class mod for this game named "Bring Your Own Class" along with The Noise, available on a few well-known DOOM mod sites, like All Fear the Sentinel. Many of his attacks and weapons reference Pizza Tower objects and moves, like where Peppino uses outlets, junk from Dragon Lair, and other items/atttacks as melee weaponry, or using a Revolver/Shotgun. Other Pizza Tower characters also cameo in certain attacks, like The Noise being in a melee attack, The Vigilante throwing dynamite, a Pizzard using its magic, and Pizzaface acting as one of the most powerful weapons.

His only method of healing and (around the start of the game before getting any other weapons) ranged attacks is through his Pizza Slice weapon, which replaces the Pistol. Ammunition for it is gotten by meleeing enemies, and it can be thrown to hurt enemies or eaten to recover health.

Treasure Tech
Peppino appears in one of the pages of the manual as an advert for Pizza Tower, and some 3 panel comics with Treasure Tech's protagonist: Armin Chesterfield. A second in-gameplay cameo is in one of the treasures (That being a action-figure) that can randomly pop-out in the Pizza Tower themed Treasure Chest.

Fraymakers
Peppino appears as an assist character. In game, he will run up to the opponent for a lunging grab, and follow with a giant punch if successful.

Antonball Deluxe
Peppino appears as an unlockable guest character. He has a chance to be unlocked by spending points (50,000 to be exact) in a Lottery Machine.

Wario Land 5
Peppino appears as guest character.