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Twisted Metal is the preeminent “vehicular combat” game, as well as the originator of the genre. But what really sets Twisted Metal apart from its contemporaries is its surprisingly fun story about a supernatural being named Calypso, who grants a single, magical wish to the winning driver of the titular Twisted Metal tournament (including the iconic fire-haired psychopathic clown, Sweet Tooth).
Unsurprisingly, these wishes usually come with an unfortunate Faustian twist, which players can witness for themselves when they win the game with their chosen driver.
10 Mr. Grimm (Twisted Metal 2012)
There have been many versions of Mr. Grimm in Twisted Metal over the years, most of them literally the Grim Reaper (aka Death) riding a motorcycle. However, in Twisted Metal (2012) – the final released game (so far) – Mr. Grimm is a criminal named Daniel Grimm who dons skull face paint. He blames his life of crime on losing his father in a car accident at a young age. So, when Grimm wins the tournament, he asks Calypso to let him save his father. However, Calypso takes him back in time – as an adult – to the backseat of the car his dad was driving before the crash (his younger self is in the passenger seat). His father then sees the adult Grimm as an attacker, so tries to fight him off and inadvertently causes the accident, which causes his death again. The Grimm’s younger self shoots the injured adult Grimm, which sends him on an even darker path than before. This one is especially fun for all the time-y plot twists involved.
9 Hammerhead (Twisted Metal 2)
Hammerhead was the name of the monster truck driven by two teen stoners named Mike and Stu in Twisted Metal 2, who tell Calypso that they wish (no, demand) the ability to fly. It isn’t a bad wish, all things considered.
The issue is that once Calypso grants them their wish, they immediately run off a skyscraper to test their new powers… only to plummet to their deaths. That’s because, after their bodies splatter bloodily on the pavement, Calypso reveals that he bought first-class airline tickets for them. This one is admittedly less Faustian than most, but it’s still one of the most humorous in the series.
8 Spectre (Twisted Metal 2)
In Twisted Metal 2, the driver of the sports car Spectre was the narcissistic, fame-obsessed Ken Masters (no, not that Ken Masters), whose wish to Calypso was for “everyone to see [his] face.” Of course, Masters obviously meant that he wanted his face to be adorned across billboards and movies that starred him. However, Calypso took it in a more literal direction by stretching Masters’ face so that it covered the entire universe. It’s definitely one of the most absurd visuals in the entire series, but also extremely imaginative.
7 Outlaw (Twisted Metal 1)
In the first Twisted Metal game, Outlaw was a police cruiser driven by the unrealistically honorable Sargent Carl Roberts. Unlike most of the drivers in the tournament, Roberts wanted to use his wish to force Calypso to rid the world of his violent Twisted Metal tournament altogether.
Calypso, forced to oblige, agrees… by sending Roberts into outer space, which as Calypso puts it, is “a world free of Twisted Metal!” This ending is great for the clever way Calypso twists Roberts’ wish in classic evil genie fashion.
6 Minion (Twisted Metal 2)
Minion was a gigantic demon driving an armored tank and the final boss in the first Twisted Metal game. He was also one of the mini-bosses in Twisted Metal 2. Nevertheless, if players knew the right code (remember those?) they could actually play as (the super OP) Minion tank in the aforementioned Twisted Metal 2. Even better, if players finished the single-player mode as him, they even got a character-specific ending! And it’s one of the few endings where the driver actually gets to defeat Calypso – especially in the original series of games.
In it, it’s revealed that Calypso had escaped Hell and Minion was the demon sent to recapture him, which he does by throwing a screaming Calypso into a pit of fire. It’s pretty metal.
5 Roadkill (Twisted Metal: Black)
Roadkill in Twisted Metal: Black is a white supremacist terrorist with no memories (who doesn’t even remember his real name and goes by “John Doe”). He wants to win Twisted Metal to ask Calypso to give him his memories back. When he does win, it turns out that he actually wasn’t a terrorist, and was in fact an undercover FBI agent infiltrating the group to take them out from the inside. In fact, he lost his memory when he tried to stop a bombing by throwing the bomb out of a building. However, the force of the blast gave him a concussion and amnesia.
Unfortunately, since Calypso is on the FBI’s “Most Wanted” list, he points a gun at “John” and bloodily blasts him away. John dies remembering that he has a family. It’s one of the more tragic and surprising Twisted Metal endings.
4 Yellow Jacket (Twisted Metal 1)
In Twisted Metal 1, the taxi cab Yellow Jacket – driven by the old cabbie Charlie Kane – has one of the saddest endings in the series. Once he wins, his wish to Calypso is to be reunited with his estranged son, who he hasn’t seen in years. Unfortunately, in a Twilight Zone-esque twist, it turns out his son was actually the ice-cream truck driving, mass-murdering clown Sweet Tooth (real name Needles Kane), whom Charlie personally killed in the tournament. The final text even says, “[Charlie is] filled with a sense of anguish and regret [he] never thought possible. Perhaps [he]’ll compete in the next Twisted Metal contest and ask Calypso to take away [his] suffering…“
3 Preacher (Twisted Metal: Black)
Jebidiah is a crazed and delusional evangelist preacher fittingly named “Preacher,” who is haunted by what he believes to be religious visions. One night, after trying to exorcise a demon from a baby, the demon became too powerful and possessed Jebidiah instead. Afterward, the demon forced the possessed preacher to massacre an entire church. He’s now on a quest to redeem himself in the eyes of God, which Calypso promises to grant him if he wins the Twisted Metal tournament.
However, once Preacher wins and Calypso grants his wish, it turns out that his “religious visions” were in fact hallucinations. It’s then revealed that he wasn’t performing an exorcism of a demon baby at all, but simply the baptism of a regular one, thus drowning an innocent child and murdering everyone out of his own volition (even if he was out of his mind). This revelation breaks Preacher’s faith in himself and God, and he ends up jumping into traffic to commit suicide. This ending makes this list just for how…well…twisted it is. Both for the mind-bending twist and also the dark subject matter. It’s easily one of the darkest endings in the series’ history.
2 Sweet Tooth (Twisted Metal 1)
In the first Twisted Metal game, the iconic murderous clown Sweet Tooth – driving his equally iconic heavily-armored ice-cream truck – has probably one of the funniest endings in the entire series. Or at least one of the silliest. When Calypso asks what Sweet Tooth desires after winning the tournament, he is confused. The clown simply wants a crumpled paper bag. Calypso yells: “I can offer you ANYTHING, Sweet Tooth! Money, fame, even power… you dare INSULT ME!?!“
But Sweet Tooth just wants the bag as it’s “a friend! YES! The bag is CRAZY HAROLD THE WACKY LUNCH SACK!!! And he has come home!“
1 Grasshopper (Twisted Metal 2 )
Grasshopper is a dune buggy driven by the rebellious teenager Krysta Sparks. However, when she wins, it’s revealed that she’s actually Calypso’s long-lost daughter, whom he thought had died in a car accident years ago. Turns out, she did die but was rebuilt by the LAPD into a living bomb to get close to Calypso. However, once he finds out, he isn’t mad and instead decides to stay and hold her close, comforting her as they both explode together. It’s one of the only truly emotional endings in the series, and it’s surprisingly effective at pulling on the heartstrings.
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