Conductor

"All aboard!! Next stop -- your funeral."
—Conductor, Death screen

Conductor
Location:	Inkwell Isle Three
Level:	Railroad Wrath
Hitpoints:	320/325/325
Gender:	Male
Role:	Skeleton Train Conductor
Animator(s):	Jake Clark
Moveset:	Skeletal Slam
Minions:	Pumpkin
Parry Objects:	Ingots Platform Edges

The Conductor is the second phase mini-boss of the Phantom Express in Railroad Wrath.

Appearance

The Conductor is shown to be a giant angry skeleton who takes the role of the train conductor because of his crimson and yellow cap. He seems to be missing the second-to-last teeth of his upper denture.

His full body is shown in the Cuphead comics. He is depicted as a normal sized, cartoonishly exaggerated Human skeleton wearing white, Mickey Mouse-esque shoes.

Intro

In this phase, after Blind Specter is defeated, the Conductor will break through the cart's ceiling his spinning head in the middle and both of his arms, before slamming his hands down in an attempt to crush the players.

Battle

He slams down his hands at around the third look around, and retreats at the sixth look around. In Simple Mode, he attacks with more telegraph time at the fourth look around, stays up for longer and retreats at eighth looks around, making him attacks less frequently overall and more vulnerable. In Expert Mode, he slam down at the second look around and spends less time in the cart.

The platform should be navigated to the area beneath his head to avoid damage from the hands and be closer to damage him, or by standing on the edges of the platform.

Meanwhile, flying Pumpkins will drop pink ingots on the platform edges. As his hands hitbox is always active, standing between them can be risky as the ingot moving the cart might be inevitable with less maneuverability. In Simple Mode, the Pumpkins never appear. In Expert Mode, they fly faster. Hitpoints = 4/4

There is a way to avoid the hands, while not moving the minecart. If you stand in between the Conductor's hands, you can avoid taking damage.

Upon his defeat, he will appear screaming as he and his arms slowly fall back into the train. A xylophone diminuendo can be heard during this sequence. Hitpoints = 320/325/325

Gallery

• 

  The Conductor's hands

• 

  The Conductor's idle sprite

• 
• 

  The Conductor knocked out

• 

  Pencil test of The Conductor's idle

• 

  Pencil test of The Conductor's intro

• 

  The Conductor in-game

Trivia

• Due to screen size restrictions, only his arms, hands, head, and neck are visible.
• Whenever he emerges from the train, a xylophone strike can be heard. Xylophones have been commonly used to simulate the sounds of bones rattling against one another, especially in cartoons.
• In one of Jake Clark's tweets, he jokingly replied to artist Mayadile of their art for Blind Specter calling the Conductor "Mr. Bone Jangles", claiming that the joke name is now the official name.

Inspirations and similarities

• The Conductor was inspired by other skeletons in cartoons such as the 1937 masterpiece The Skeleton Dance and Skeleton Frolic.
• Due to his size when his head and his arms bust out of the cars, he may be based off the gashadokuro.

References

es:T-Bone