- For the animated character, see Werner Werman/TCS.
Werner Werman is a boss in Cuphead. He is encountered and fought in the level Murine Corps, which is located in Inkwell Isle Three and takes place in a house that Werner apparently lives in.
Boss Theme
Description
Appearance
Werner is a long-snouted brown rat who operates a dented red tin soup can that bears 4 gold stars perched on a wooden cart that he uses as a battle tank. (Although during his second phase, it crumbes, leaving behind only the cart that his tank was perched on and exposing him to his opponents.) He wears white gloves, blue shoes, and light brown pants (with a tan stripe running down each side of the pants) held up by a single suspender strap. His most notable feature is his metal Pickelhaube helmet strapped to his head, giving him a slight resemblance in his design to a Prussian soldier. He also smokes a cigar. In The Cuphead Show!, his appearance remains the same, only Werner has a pink fleshy tail with a bandage wrap tied around it and either a fake German accent or can also speak with an American accent.
Personality
Werner Werman is cantankerous and a military master in his own mind.[2] Werner Werman acts like a stereotypical German soldier from World War I, speaking in a thick and exaggerated German accent (warping his TH sequences into Z's and his W's to V's) and making a salute whenever he charges forward to attack with his tank. He appears to be interested in the late 1700- early 1900 military as he is wearing a Prussian soldier helmet (Pickelhaube) and owns a Colonial British soldier figurine.
Werner is also an incredibly skilled technician, having the talent to create both a realistic mechanical cat and a tank with multiple uses out of wood and a soup can. He doesn't seem to mind boasting about his own technology, as evident by his 2nd phase's death screen. However, he becomes completely irrational in the face of failure, since instead of giving up in the 2nd phase when his tank is demolished, he chooses to continue fighting while screaming wildly, although his weapon is now gone.
Katzenwagen has no real personality, being an automaton created by Werner, although it is capable of expressing emotion as evidenced by the territorial and angry meowing noises that the Cat makes, and by the final phase death screen.
Battle
Intro
As the battle commences, Werner places a cigar in his mouth and has it lit by a mechanical arm from the can's interior before going inside to pilot the tank.
Phase 1
"Zat vas easy as eins, zwei, drei!"
—Werner Werman, Phase 1 Death Screen
In this phase, Werner has two main attacks that he performs on either side of the arena while his tank moves back and forth:
- Cherry Cannon - A cannon attached to a spring comes out of the can, shooting out five cherry bombs that will damage the player(s) if they come in contact with them or the explosion they create. If the bombs hit the floor, they will send shock waves of fire that travel along the ground in both horizontal directions upon exploding. In Simple Mode, the cherry bombs are shot at a slower rate. In Expert Mode, they are shot at a faster rate.
- Scrap Attack - A catapult appears and hurls a spread of projectiles at the player(s). These projectiles can be bottle caps, gems, nuts, bolts, coins and 2 pieces of gum (the gum can be parried). In Simple Mode, there will be 3 pieces of gum.
After performing one of these two attacks, he will send out two springboards that land on random spots. He will then charge towards the player(s) to the other side of the arena. The player(s) must parry these springboards that Werner throws out of his tank to gain extra height to jump over Werner, due to how big his tank is. Parrying the springboards doesn't count towards the parry total. The player(s) can also dash through his charge attack if they have the Smoke Bomb charm equipped.
Even if the player(s) manage(s) to dodge his attacks and his charge, it is still possible to unknowingly bump into his tank and accidentally get damaged in the process. In Simple Mode, Werner's tank moves slower. In Expert Mode, it moves faster.
After taking enough damage, Werner attempts to use what appears to be a bottle rocket in an effort to damage the player(s), but it backfires; the now-damaged mechanical arm is unable to handle the weight of the rocket, causing it to drop into the tank and explode. Upon exploding, the exterior of the can is destroyed as Werner gets moderately injured, as he yelps in surprise and alarm as this happens, but he continues to operate the tank. This commences the second phase of the fight. Hitpoints = 750/540/567
Phase 2
"Zis tank iz ze ultimate veapon. You vill not vin!"
—Werner Werman, Phase 2 Death Screen
In this phase, Werner attacks the players by shooting fire streams on both sides from two flamethrowers mounted below his seat. This attack can be avoided by immediately moving to the area from which Werman moved, as Werner will cycle between moving up and down and firing the flamethrowers.
While that happens, two columns of bottle caps that spin like saw blades appear on both sides of the arena. These bottle caps will spin and extend in pairs (one from each column). Sometimes, however, an entire column might activate at once (if this happens, the sound of a buzz saw can be heard). In Simple Mode, the bottle caps will not attack, though players can still take damage if they accidentally touch them. Also, since the bottle caps do not attack in Simple Mode, Werner can also move from left to right. In Expert Mode, the bottle caps extend at a faster rate and the possibility of an entire column activating at once is higher.
After taking enough hits, Werner will start to panic and frantically shift his tank's control levers back and forth as the tank appears to have stopped working. All of a sudden, the Cat named Katzenwagen that had been occasionally peering behind the holes in the wall throughout the fight will break in and eat him, commencing the final phase. In Simple Mode, Katzenwagen won't eat Werner after this phase, instead, the battle ends with his tank sputtering. Hitpoints = 750/720/756
Phase 3
- Main article: Katzenwagen
"Hiss! Hiss! Me-e-e-e-ow!!"
—Katzenwagen, Phase 3 Death Screen
In this phase, the players battle the cat Katzenwagen as it attacks by opening its mouth, revealing a grate from which two spectral rats, clad in 1930s style prison scrubs emerge. These ghosts will conjure a pink crystal-like ball and throw it at the player. This ball will release two fire waves travelling along the ground upon exploding, but it's possible to prevent this from happening by parrying the ball, and the split ball will still be pink, so you still have a chance to parry them. In Expert Mode, there will be four spectral rats and the ball might not be pink all the time (being blue instead) so you can't prevent it from splitting. The spectral rats can be disabled by shooting at them. Hitpoints = 34/30
Katzenwagen can also attack by smashing the floor with its paw. As it retracts its paw, wooden boards begin to fall down from above. They will damage the player if they hit. The boards fall from side-to-side, so it is best to keep moving to avoid getting hit. In Expert Mode, the wooden boards fall faster. After dealing enough damage, Katzenwagen's face falls off and reveals Werner is still alive and well inside its head and was controlling Katzenwagen, which is actually a machine presumably built by Werner. Hitpoints = 740/777
Sound Effects
| Description | Audio |
| Werner's introduction. | |
| Werner acting snarky. | |
| Werner "loads" ammo onto his catapult. | |
| Werner charges valiantly across the floor. | |
| The malfunction and explosion of Werner's tank. | |
| Going up... | |
| Going down... | |
| Werner panics as his tank refuses to operate. | |
| Katzenwagen appearing to swallow Werner whole. | |
| Katzenwagen after letting out Spectral Rats with its mouth. | |
| The laughter of a Spectral Rat. |
Gallery
Unused Content
An unused pink version of the Cherry Bombs exists in the game's file, which implies that some of them could have been parried.
Code exists for another attack during the first phase, called "Roman Candle", the attack would have homing properties and an Area-of-Effect, though it currently goes unused. From the transition from phase 1 to phase 2, the big firework that destroyed Werner's tank is in fact the roman candle for the unused attack, which would make a bit more thematic sense but would be less of a surprise. Most recreations of this attack lack the explosion animation to pair with it, so it is usually just a homing rocket in a limited space.
There is an unused shot for the second phase, the cannon has an animation for shooting a bullet on either side and sometimes it could be parried, the bullets are the same as Captain Brineybeard's Octopus gun or Hilda Berg's Zeppeling and it has a chance of not being a placeholder as most assets would use Jareed's head instead.
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Walkthrough
| Regular Mode | Expert Mode |
|---|---|
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Trivia
A beaten-up Werner giving his contract to Cuphead in the E3 2015 trailer.
- In the 2015 trailer, there is a short scene of Cuphead collecting Werner's soul contract, however it went unused in the final game. It's possible it might have been an early victory screen, or it was simply made for the trailer.
- In the same trailer, Werner's dash attack had no springs to help dodge it, though this may be because the springs were not added yet.
- Werner appears to be German with his German-accented death lines, the helmet (Pickelhaube) he's wearing resembling those worn in World War I by German soldiers and his forename and surname (Werner and Werman, with the latter being an alternate to Wehrmann) both originating from Germany.
- Werman, when pronounced with a German accent, sounds like vermin, a common term used when referring to animals classified as pests.
- Taking into consideration that Cuphead is set in the 1930s, Werner Werman may be a World War I veteran.
- When Cuphead dies during the fight's first phase, Werner says "eins, zwei, drei", which is German for "one, two, three".
- The name of the stage, "Murine Corps" is a pun on Muridae, the family of rodents such as mice and rats, and Marine Corps, though he is not implied to work around the sea.
- There is a Union Jack flag at the back of Werner's home. This could either hint that he was a traitor or rebel in war times or it serves as a trophy from combat.
- Werner Werman's theme is one of 4 boss themes that is not used in Admission to Perdition or One Hell of a Time. The others are Shootin N' Lootin, The Kings Court, and Honeycomb Herald.
- The fact Werner Werman keeps a dice in his house as well as his use of poker chips and bottle caps related to King Dice and The Devil for attacking may hint of him having a hidden history with the casino. The bottle caps in Phase 2 bear the following titles:
- Inkwell Soda
- King Kola
- King Famous Kola
- Grape Spritzer
- Devil Ginger Ale
- Casino Cola (Is Better)
- Werner Werman is one of two bosses to have a spoken word during the fight outside of Inkwell Hell; this plays during his charge attack. At first it may sound like he's simply screaming when he does his charge attack, but he's actually shouting the word "Charge!" The other is Sally Stageplay.
- Depending on what side Werner is facing from before his roman candle fails to launch, starting the second phase, Werner's black eye would be either on his left or right eye.
- This is actually one of the few boss fights to not have slightly different sounding background music; it sounds exactly the same as in the soundtrack.
- In the second to last cutscene of the good ending, Werner is seen in his tank. This shows that he uses it for transportation as well as battling.
- There are 3 medals hanging from the wall in Werner's home:
- The first medal is an Austrian commemorative medal 1914, which was given to Austrians who served during World War 1, which indicates that Werner originates from Austria.
- The second medal is a 1914 British War Medal, which was given to British soldiers for their campaign service. Since the medal is bronze, it means Werner was non-enlisted service personnel during the first world war.
- The third medal is harder to determine due to the fading. However, the colour scheme does give some hints; the dark blue edges of his ribbon indicate that Werner served in the Royal and Merchant Navies. The medal appears to be based on a British 1918 service medal.
- Werner Werman's size stays inconsistent through his appearances in other media.
- Though it could potentially be that Cuphead & Mugman have been shrunken down for his fight, Werner Werman and his tank are far larger than the two. Or it could also mean that the interior of the house is large. But its never stated.
- In the Good Ending, he appears to be about the size of Cuphead, if not counting his tank.
- In The Cuphead Show, he is shown to be small enough to fit into Cuphead and Mugman's heads.
- In his one appearance in Comic Capers & Curios, only his head peeps out of his can.
- Lastly, in his appearance in Cartoon Chronicles & Calamities, Werner is shown to be nearly the size of Mugman.
- This is the first boss to get eaten by its own machine, the second one is the Pilot Saluki by the Chinook. (The Howling Aces). The Yankee Yippers, if the player triggers the secret part of the fight by damaging their jetpacks, will retreat into the Chinook this way.
Inspirations and Similarities
Werner Werman's character design was heavily influenced by many military rodents in the Ub Iwerks-animated Disney cartoon The Barnyard Battle (1929) and Mortimer Mouse from the 1936 Disney short Mickey's Rival.[2]
- Due to the nature of the battle and inclusion of Katzenwagen, Werner's boss fight is a reference to the iconic Tom and Jerry cartoons.
- Werner's status as a German rodent refers to how in WWI, British and American soldiers would often give German soldiers the nickname "Jerries". British ones were also referred to as “Tommies”.
- Werner's screaming--particularly when he panics after his tank stops working and he is seemingly swallowed whole by his mechanical cat--sounds similar to the iconic screams of Tom (particularly the one he let out after being socked in the eye by Jerry in the 1944 cartoon Mouse Trouble).
- The war theme resembles the 1943 cartoon The Yankee Doodle Mouse, which was the first Tom & Jerry short to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.
- The tank he operates is most likely a reference to the German Panzertruppen, which was a popular war machine in WWI, or the Panzer VIII Maus, a super-heavy tank constructed by Germany in WWII. Also, the "Maus" is the German translation of "Mouse", which is probably another reason why he is a rat.
- The soup can that Werner uses for his tank is very similar to Campbell's soup cans with the red on the upper half and white on the lower half.
- Werner's colour scheme, the shape of his muzzle, and his habit of constructing machines make him similar to Wile E. Coyote from Looney Tunes.
- He also seems to be very similar to Vladimir from Nickelodeon's 2002 cartoon My Life as Teenage Robot, as they're both villainous rats with heavy accents (German for Werner, and Russian for Vladimir), and they attack their foes by using various weapons and automatons (Werner using his own soup-can tank, and Vladimir using Jenny, albeit only in his debut episode).