Tanaka

"'I'm late already, so late...'"

Kida Tanaka is a supportive NPC character and potential enemy in Fear & Hunger 2: Termina. He is a salary man dressed for the job, with briefcase and all. Tanaka is one of the fourteen contestants arriving at Prehevil for the Termina Festival.

Lore
A businessman who has travelled from far east all the way to the Europa to take an advantage of the political turmoil, all in the name of his family business.

Since he was four years old, Tanaka was raised by his family to rely on himself and only on himself in preparation for a ruthless business world. He was taught that softness was weakness, and as a result the idea of making friends and comradery is alien to him.

He is encountered inside the train that transports the Termina contestants to Prehevil. After the dream sequence that all the contestants have when the game begins, he seems to find himself lost for words and does not answer if the player interacts with him.

Location
Tanaka can be located later in a bunker located to the west of the Woodsman's shack. The player will first come across his hat, dropped on the floor. Passing by it, one can hear the sound of saw cutting through flesh, and if the player decides to investigate further south, he/she will come across Needles beheading Tanaka inside one of the rooms. Even if the player makes haste, Needles cannot be interacted with until the beheading is concluded, meaning Tanaka cannot be saved.

If one kills Needles in the city before reaching the Bunker (which means finding the Bolt Cutters and opening the gates with it to fight Needles in the next area, or getting there via the sewers through saving Henryk) the player should find only his hat on the ground if they explore the Bunker after this point. Talking to Per'kele also doesn't add a death to the counter, and he can be found near the train.

By Day 2 Morning he can be found right near the gates, bringing a wheelchair to Olivia, or being held at gunpoint by Pav with Marcoh if he isn't being played as. He, as well as Marcoh will die here if the player does not proceed to attack Pav. If he is alone, by this point his story really just ends there, wondering about seeing Needles in the city once he gets back to the train. Otherwise after he'll be found being taught to box by Marcoh right by the train. It is important to state that the event with Marcoh and Pav will take place even if the player does not witness it, which will mean death for both men under Pav's hands.

If Marcoh is left on the train by Day 3 Morning, him and Tanaka will disappear, and both can then be found in the Rher dimension of the White mold apartments. Tanaka's hat will be on the ground right beside the tunnel entrance, and a recently-moonscorched Marcoh will be rampaging inside the first prison cell, unable to be lockpicked or opened due to a complex mechanism. Tanaka, wearing bandages around his head, will then be standing in front of the Fellatio effigy on the next floor; and if spoken to, he will describe how the two of them wandered into the apartments on a supply run, with Marcoh hesitating but proceeding only thanks to Tanaka's persuasion. Ransacking the apartments resulted in Marcoh breaking down from his guilt and running around the corner, only to moonscorch and be driven mad. Witnessing this leads to Tanaka undergoing a dramatic change in perspective, vowing to put an end to the festival by "facing the man in the tower" alone.

If one brings Marcoh to PHRVL Bop instead of leaving him on the train and investigates the apartments on Day 3 Morning, Tanaka will still be found in the White mold apartments, however he will be locked inside Room 10. Upon entering, Tanaka will become hostile and immediately pursue the player, but will not leave the room; and if left alone, he will just wander around the room erratically in circles. Proceeding to interact with him will result in a battle with Tanaka being non-responsive with a blank expression. Tanaka will not respond to any attempts to talk and will appear "hellbent on killing you," possibly implying he was either possessed or driven mad by the white mold during the lone supply run.

By Day 3 Evening, Tanaka will disappear, and can at that point only be found moonscorched in the Museum.

Tanaka is involved in a special event for the Well location of the starting area if both he and the Woodsman are alive. If the player enters the well next to the Woodsman's cabin, they will find themselves unable to escape. If you yell for help twice, the shadow of Tanaka will eventually appear and reply to you. He will attempt to find rope to help you escape the well, before meeting his demise by the hands of the Woodsman. His beheaded body is tossed down the same well you are stuck inside, along with his head. The player is then instead helped out of the well by the Woodsman. If the Woodsman is dead, Tanaka will not appear at all, no matter how much the player yells. In this case entering the Well is effectively a game-over.

Moonscorched
If still alive by that point, Tanaka will moonscorch by Evening of Day 3, and can be found in the Museum as the Judgement. He will not be immediately hostile and will either face the wall or walk down the hallway, and must be run into or interacted with in order to start a battle with him.

Visually, Judgement retains most of his appearance as a human, with the main exception of large glass shards sticking out of his body, and a rusted, box-like torture device around his neck. Despite having moonscorched, he will be fully capable of conversation and will mainly repeat "morning has gold in store, in its mouth" and "the grind never stops." (A crossword puzzle can be obtained from the sink of the house with the TV room, with the only filled out boxes resembling the former phrase; if the player has this crossword on their person when fighting Judgement, it will prompt extra dialogue.)

Compared to his more sensible human form, Judgement is harsher, demanding, and more motivated, and the workaholic traits of his personality have been self-detrimentally pushed to the forefront. His drive for productivity seems fiercely competitive if not desperate or disillusioned, and although he seems aware of his transformation and sees it as some form of inner "awakening," he avoids commenting on the gravely injured state of his body in doing so and seems to disregard his well-being entirely, if he's even aware of it. Despite his moonscorching, he still seems to remember his past vividly and will comment on the regrets of how he depended on others prior to his transformation, as well as desperately calling out to his father in the middle of battle.

If his corpse is examined with the Diagnosis skill, it is even more apparent that his body has weathered severe physical trauma, to the point that it's unclear how he managed to survive that long in his current state - and that if he wasn't already dead, it's likely he would've succumbed to his wounds pretty soon anyway.

Trivia

 * Needles seem to bear a grudge against Tanaka, judging by their additional unique interactions.
 * In older versions of the game, the mind reading ability would tell you about how worried he is about disappointing his father and missing his meeting.
 * Using Steal on Tanaka can provide around 35 Shillings
 * His moonscorched corpse will drop "Tanaka's notes" only if the player witnesses the event between him and Marcoh on Day 3 Morning. This will not drop otherwise.
 * Extra dialogue that can be prompted during Judgement's fight implies that Tanaka filled out crosswords in his free time.