Cadence, our shovel-wielding heroine, made her debut in the Zelda universe recently in Cadence of Hyrule, and as a fan of the game she originally hails from (Crypt of the NecroDancer), I genuinely hope we see more of her. In her world, she’s well-equipped with a fearless, determined, and upbeat personality to explore the NecroDancer’s merciless crypt, and you may be surprised to learn that she doesn’t just dance through its dark halls for curiosity’s sake.
Cadence of Hyrule didn’t reveal much about her past, but the opening cutscene of Crypt of the NecroDancer immediately introduces us to Cadence’s bold personality and explains how she ended up succumbing to an unfortunate case of rhythm mortis. We see her digging in a graveyard before striking the source of an ominous purple mist. “They told me I was too young,” she says, “They told me I needed more training. I told them to drop dead.” The ground collapses beneath her and she falls through a pit of dead hands. She hits the bottom of a staircase, fatally, outside of what seems like the entrance of a crypt. “How ironic.” She admits. Unfortunately, her confidence was premature.
Out of the purple mist appears the NecroDancer, who pulls Cadence’s heart from her body. He brings her back to life and ties her heartbeat to the crypt’s rhythm, so she can attempt to face him and his minions for his own amusement. She describes her blood as running cold but her heart still beating like a drum. With this curse, she must dance for her life to survive — to make it to the end and find the answers she’s searching for.
In this introduction, we see that not even a near-death experience fazes her — she’s determined to press on. This unfazed confidence is also echoed in the launch trailer, where we get a glimpse of two other crypt explorers who’ve been unfortunate enough to encounter the NecroDancer.
The NecroDancer boldly asks all three of them: “You think you can defeat me?!” to which the two others reply: “I do.” Cadence, however, simply concludes confidently: “I will.”
“I do.”
“I will.”
I think Cadence’s name is a nod to her role in the story. Its basic meaning is to do with rhythm and flow — fitting the musical theme of the game — but it also refers to “a melodic or harmonic configuration that creates a sense of resolution [finality or pause]” or “a sequence of notes or chords comprising the close of a musical phrase.” This seems to reflect Cadence’s journey, as she’s the one who finally faces the NecroDancer to stop his evil-doings.
So, why exactly is Cadence so adamant about exploring the crypt in the first place? Well, we quickly learn that it’s a family matter. After Cadence’s mother died when she was young, her father was desperately searching for some “great treasure,” presumably to try and revive his wife. His adventuring led to him going missing for two years, at which point Cadence discovered documents he’d left behind that could help her find him. Despite protests from her Uncle Eli, she was determined to follow in her father’s tracks and find out what happened. What could possibly go wrong?
As Cadence descends further into the crypt, we see flashbacks from her childhood. These memories provide further context about why her father went exploring, as well as why Cadence didn’t fully know the gravity of the situation by following him. She was — as her family and friends told her — too young to understand the dangers. But old or young, it clearly didn’t matter. Her father was determined to risk his life for his wife, and so too was Cadence for her father. No years of experience or echoed warnings could silence their search for answers.
What does Cadence discover about her father’s disappearance and the crypt of the NecroDancer? Well, you’ll have to play it for yourself to find out, but let’s just say she’s far from the first person that the NecroDancer — and other threats in the crypt — have cursed to dance for their life. Unfortunately for them, beating down skeletons, wizards, and dragons to the tempo is Cadence’s forte. So much so, in fact, that she’ll go on to help save another world after the events of the Crypt of the NecroDancer — Hyrule.
