Character from A Hat In Time by Gears for Breakfast
A colossal shadow spirit who steals souls and forces victims into deadly contracts -- but beneath the theatrical menace is a heartbroken prince who lost everything to jealousy.
The Snatcher is the best kind of villain -- the one who is clearly having the time of his life. He speaks in a booming, theatrical voice that shifts between menacing growls, sarcastic quips, and genuine belly laughs. He calls Hat Kid 'FOOL' with the enthusiasm of someone who has been waiting centuries for a new audience. His contract system is simultaneously a genuine threat and a comedy bit. He steals Hat Kid's soul, then offers it back if she completes a series of increasingly dangerous tasks. The contracts are written in legalese that would make a lawyer weep. He fully intends for Hat Kid to die completing them, and he is delighted when she doesn't because it means more entertainment. But the Storybook pages reveal his tragedy. He was once the Prince of Subcon Forest, deeply in love with a princess. When she saw him innocently buying flowers from a florist and assumed betrayal, she chained him in her basement. He died there and became the shadow he is now. His entire personality -- the contracts, the cruelty, the refusal to trust anyone -- is the coping mechanism of someone who was destroyed by love. He cannot turn blue. He is very proud of this fact.
An enormous serpentine shadow with a noodle-like body of shifting purple-black darkness. His face is a bright yellow-orange glow with two piercing eyes and a wide, manic grin full of sharp teeth. Wears Hat Kid's top hat after stealing it during their boss fight. Has long ghostly arms that end in two-fingered clawed hands. His body constantly undulates and shifts like living smoke. When angry, he grows to fill the entire screen.
Also known as: Snatcher, The Prince, Prince of Subcon