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Dramatic Fanatic is a level in Inkwell Isle Three, where the fight with Sally Stageplay takes place. The boss stage is presented on the map by a theater and a blue ticket booth, the place you go to actually begin the fight. Once you enter the level, you are put on a stage in front of a row of seats. The setting changes throughout the battle, going to a wedding scene, a scene of a 2 story home, and for the last 2 stages, the sky. The only difference between the third and final stages is that in the very last stage, there are props from previous phases scattered on the floor. It is one of the three boss fights which got updated when added into version 1.2.0.

Strategy[]

  • Smoke Bomb
  • Chaser - Phase 4
  • Spread - Phase 1, Phase 2, and Phase 3

Battle[]

Sally

Sally before the fight begins.

The audience is cheering for the start of the play. Sally is seen wearing a bride's dress holding a red bouquet before ripping it off to reveal she's wearing a turquoise dress and boots and armed with a orange-red parasol as the curtain rises up to reveal a wedding scene, with who appears to be an actor playing the husband panicking, along with a frightened pastor in the background.

SallyIcon1

"Break a leg...nah, break two!"
Sally Stageplay, Phase 1 Death Screen

In this first phase, Sally has four attacks that she alternates back and forth or uses one attack more often than other:

  • Parasol Corkscrew: Her first known attack involves her parasol swallowing her which she later falls from above and lands on the players damaging them. Where she lands may or may not be based on where the players are.
  • Flying Kiss: She occasionally stops to blow the kiss as the kiss travels at the direction she is facing. The kiss can be avoided as it will fly off screen or parried to neutralize. If it hits the player, it will disappear.
  • Fan Throw: She will occasionally jump up in the air and strike the players by diagonally kicking at them, or she will remain in the air spinning and throw fans at the player. If the fans miss the players, they will be set on the ground as a trap for players accidentally running into them.

There will also be high cupid platforms hanging from above which the player can stand on. When the next phase begins, however, they will disappear.

After taking enough damage, Sally jumps into the background and rides away in a car with her newly wed husband and the curtain falls, thus beginning the 2nd phase.

SallyIcon2

"Stay away from center stage or succumb to the power of a starlet's rage!"
Sally Stageplay, Phase 2 Death Screen

In the second phase, Sally will look the same way she looked from last phase. After the curtains come back up, Sally will appear. She will make a huge gasp, then angrily point her finger at the player(s). She will use all the same attacks from last phase (except for the parasol teleporting attack and the flying kiss attack). She now has a new attack:

  • Clockwork Mice: Sally will stop moving and open her parasol, spinning it to release four clockwork mice (two on simple) that will move along the stage before climbing the walls and falling towards the player from the ceiling.
  • Baby Bottles: In addition to this, a baby will appear at one of the windows of the house and throw a baby bottle downwards, which will break upon hitting the floor. In addition to damaging the player if it touches them while falling, the bottle will deal contact damage if the player touches it while it lies broken on the floor.
After taking enough damage, Sally's outfit turns into her angel costume, and she rises off the stage and rise to the ceiling while crying and the curtain will fall again, thus beginning the 3rd phase.

SallyIcon3

"Good riddance -- go away! It is time for my soliloquy."
Sally Stageplay, Phase 3 Death Screen

In the third phase, Sally comes back as a cardboard 'goddess' that will summon a meteor, lightning, or a big wave (Smoke Bomb Charm is very useful against the big wave attack, so it's recommended to have it equipped).

  • Meteor: Sally will move her hand to the right and she will summon a meteor, the meteor can be attacked, and after taking enough damage it will reveal it's core; a parryable star. (Jump, parry it, then dash to the left to also dodge the big wave attack.)
  • Lightning: Sally will move her hand to the right and she will summon a lightning shower, the lighting may/may not be homing to the player (Do not go to the corners, since the lightning may go towards you.) A maximum of four lightning bolts can be present. These will not appear in Simple Mode.
  • Big Wave: Sally will move her hand to the right and she will summon a person carrying a big wave towards the player/right, which can be dodged with the meteor's parryable star or Smoke Bomb Charm dash.
After taking enough damage, Sally will rise off the stage and rise to the ceiling crying, and the curtins fall once again, thus beginning the final phase. In simple mode, the fight ends with Sally crying, without the curtins falling again.

SallyIcon4

"Please exit stage left during my standing ovation!"
Sally Stageplay, Phase 4 Death Screen

In the 4th and final phase, Sally will appear in her angel costume in the ceiling and start moving to the left then to the right. This phase may be also tricky, since the normal weapons can miss and not deal damage due to Sally moving left then to the right. (Recommended Chaser weapon for this phase.), this is the first phase which Sally does not command any attack.

  • Homing Spinning Parasol: At the beginning of this phase, the parasol from the 1st phase will fall off from the ceiling, then it will start spinning and homing where the player is like Horace Radiche. (This attack makes this phase also tricky due to the parasol homing towards the and dodging the roses that come from the audience.)
  • Audience Roses: The audience may start throwing roses to the stage, meaning that they liked the act, however there will be a rose that will be parryable, however the normal roses are dangerous and the player should dodge them.
After dealing enough damage, the fight will end with Sally panting with a black eye and her angel costume damaged.

During Sally's first phase, she will use the flying kiss attack. Parry the attack nearby the cupids, then land on the cherub and it will lower. If you do that to both cherubs a chandelier will fall on Sally's Husband and kill him, then Sally jumps into the background mourning the death of her husband.

After that, the player goes to the second phase but you are at a nunnery instead of the house, where nuns will throw semi-homing rulers at you.

In the third phase, the husband's cardboard God form is there with Sally's and he attacks by summoning tiny cherubs (the normal 2nd phase babies at the house) pushing cardboard fireballs at you. He is also taking up more space under Sally, making Sally's attacks more dangerous for the player since there is less space to dodge.

Walkthrough[]

Regular Mode Expert Mode

Sound Effects[]

Description Audio
Overworld

Soundtrack[]

Version Soundtrack
In-game soundtrack Cuphead_OST_-_Dramatic_Fanatic_In-Game_Version
Original soundtrack Dramatic_Fanatic
Game over soundtrack Cuphead_-_"Dramatic_Fanatic"_Game_Over_Screen_Version

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

  • This is one of the few times Studio MDHR includes its name on something in the game besides the death screens.
  • Every time the curtain falls, there is "ASBESTOS SAFETY CURTAIN" written on it. This is a reference to the fire-retardant properties of the mineral asbestos, and how it was was formerly used to make safety curtains before exposure to dust from it was known to cause lung cancer, mesothelioma and asbestosis.

Inspirations and similarities[]

  • The third phase of her fight is set much like the boss fights in turn-based RPGs like Final Fantasy, with her cardboard cutout staying immobile and panels with the names of the attacks showing up above her.
  • Composer Kristofer Maddigan stated that the level's soundtrack was inspired by a scene from the film Stormy Weather (1943) in which the Nicholas Brothers, a tap-dancing duo, perform with jazz singer Cab Calloway and his band. Calloway influenced much of the game's music and animation, most notably as the inspiration for King Dice.
Boss Levels
Inkwell Isle One
Botanic Panic!Ruse Of An OozeThreatenin' ZeppelinFloral FuryClip Joint Calamity
Inkwell Isle Two
Sugarland ShimmyPyramid PerilCarnival KerfuffleAviary Action!Fiery Frolic
Inkwell Isle Three
Honeycomb HeraldShootin N' LootinDramatic FanaticMurine CorpsJunkyard Jive!High Seas Hi-Jinx!Railroad Wrath
Inkwell Hell
All Bets Are Off!One Hell Of A Time
Inkwell Isle Four
Gnome Way OutBootlegger BoogieDoggone DogfightSnow Cult ScuffleHigh-Noon HooplaA Dish To Die ForOne Hell Of A DreamThe King's Leap (The King's Gauntlet)
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