The Empress

The Empress
Species	Cat
Role	Antagonist
Appears in	Nyakuza Metro Main Station Yellow Overpass Station Green Clean Station Yellow Overpass Manhole Green Clean Manhole Bluefin Tunnel Pink Paw Station Pink Paw Manhole Rush Hour
Voiced by	Laura Post

The Empress is a major character, and the main antagonist of the Nyakuza Metro in A Hat in Time. She is the boss of an underground Cat Yakuza Gang, but allegedly covers as a jeweler.

Physical Appearance

The Empress is a big, gray anthropomorphic cat. Although the exact breed is unknown, she seems very much to be a siamese cat. She has black and grey fur and a slick of white hair between her two large ears. Her scleras are neon yellow, with the left eye having a blue iris. Her left eye has a large scar, spanning from the top to bottom of her face. There is another scar along the left side of her neck, and yet another scar on the back of her right hand-paw (this one being X-shaped). From her torso region to her ankles, her body is light grey with darker gray accents on her paws and face, resembling that of a siamese cat. She sports a long, kinked tail, further suggesting she's no stranger to fights. She is also abnormally tall, being three Hat Kids in height, in comparison to the 1 ~ 2 Hat Kids tall of the other Metro Cats.

She wears a black, fur-lined coat that ends in a deep red. A golden cat paw is on the back of the coat, alongside other various golden decals. She wears three rings on each of her hands and has two long, frayed whiskers on each side of her face. Beneath her coat is what seems to be three golden necklaces.

Personality

The Empress is a cunning, deceitful and manipulative cat. She uses her accumulated wealth and many underlings to keep the Metro under her complete control by any means possible. She is shown to lack all empathy, being apathetic to anyone, even her minions. As seen in a cutscene during Nyakuza Metro, where she ruthlessly destroys one of her Gang Cats, just because she found their supposed cat hair on her jewelry. She is also very assertive, as seen in the ending of Nyakuza Metro, where she confidently states that she "rarely makes bad business decisions", and that she is disappointed in Hat Kid's betrayal, even though she hired a literal baby to work for her. She is also very ignorant, and often makes rather bad decisions. Such as when Hat Kid stole the Timepieces from her vault, she could've immediately killed her, but decided halfway through that she'll get her entire gang to play catch with Hat Kid instead, even willing to lose millions of cat-dollars in process. Or when she decided to use a non-homing rocket launcher, giving Hat Kid a chance to destroy her very own barriers and escape.

She seems to be a very powerful figure in the cat world, having even the police fearful of her. To the point that they had to make a deal with her, that they won't mess with her organization, in exchange of her not causing harm to the surface.

Role

Main Station

Upon Hat Kid's first arrival to the Metro, a Metro Cat can be spotted with a lost Timepiece. Hat Kid will then, as usual, "defeat" the enemy and get the Timepiece back. This time however, when she is about to leave, two gang cats will interrupt her, demanding that she gives them the Timepiece, because it belongs to "The Boss". Expectedly, Hat Kid declines, holding the Timepiece away from them. However, "The Boss" shows up right that moment, and takes the Timepiece from Hat Kid.

The Empress appears for the first time.

She will then thank a visibly terrified Hat Kid, asking her if she worked for anyone. Not waiting for an answer, she quickly declares that Hat Kid now works for her, and commands her to come to her jewel store, so they can discuss business.

She'll command Hat Kid to find more Timepieces to bring back to her, and states that she'll pay her accordingly.

Nyakuza Metro

Throughout the missions of Nyakuza Metro, The Empress won't intervene with the mission. She'll stay behind the counter inside her jewel store "Le Félin" without intruding, nor aiding Hat Kid's activities. However, whenever Hat Kid collects a Timepiece, two gang cats will be sent by The Empress to collect it from her, and bring it back to Le Félin. This is where she will give out orders to Hat Kid on where to go to search for the next Timepiece, and where Hat Kid will return to after collecting one.

After collecting three Timepieces from the stations of Nyakuza Metro, a cutscene will play. When Hat Kid enters Le Félin, she'll see The Empress holding a Gang Cat by their neck, stating in terror that they did not at all touch Empress' jewelry. Empress however, does not buy the claim, and tells the cat that she found their cat hair on it. The cat will then get violently thrown to the floor, exploding into a heart pon. Empress then glares at Hat Kid, warning her to not be like the poor cat.

Aside from the event above, there isn't much to say about the interactions of Hat Kid and Empress that happen after a Timepiece is collected. Majority of them consist of Empress expressing interest in Hat Kid's ability, and that if she keeps up the work, she'll earn a place in the organization one day.

Rush Hour

After Hat Kid has collected eight Timepieces from the stations of the Metro, The Empress will not be present in Le Félin. Hat Kid can take this opportunity to steal back all of her Timepieces from the vault. After the Timepieces are secured in her pocket, she'll exit the vault, just to see Empress standing right in front of her. Empress, now visibly enraged, calls over an intercom, that the reward for anyone who catches Hat Kid gets a million cat-dollars.

After Hat Kid gets to the Green Clean Station, Empress will show up on a flying platform, with a giant rocket launcher. An indicator will follow Hat Kid, and locks at a position after a few seconds. In an attempt to block Hat Kid's way, electrical barriers are set up around the metro. Hat Kid can then use Empress' rockets to her advantage and destroy the power generators, allowing her to run further. After a few more encounters with Empress, Hat Kid will get to The Escape Tunnels, and to an elevator. When it opens however, Empress is staying right inside, and commands Hat Kid to enter the elevator.

In the elevator ride, Empress expresses disappointment in Hat Kid, stating that she "rarely ever make bad business decisions", and that Hat Kid could've been "someone" one day."It's time I cash out", she says. However, the door opens, and two police officers walk in. Worried, Empress quickly cashes out on another floor, saying that Hat Kid will meet her again, ending the story of Nyakuza Metro.

Gallery

• 

  The Empress in a render for the Nyakuza Metro DLC.

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  Nyakuza Metro on Switch promotional image.

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  Rush Hour's titlecard.

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  Empress firing her rocket launcher.

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  Empress as a sticker.

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  Empress as another sticker.

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  The Empress in the main menu.

Trivia

• If Hat Kid hit The Empress inside her store, she'll get clawed, resulting in a painful death.
  • If mods are used to escape The Empress before her animation to attack is initiated, it is entirely possible to survive a blow from her.
  • Though, the moment her character model fully loads back into the map, Hat Kid will die immediately, regardless of where she is.
• Due to Hat Kid's "little stunt", the chief officer decided to renegotiate the police's arrangement with Empress, sending officers into the metro to investigate.
  • Thanks to this, Hat Kid can return to the Metro and talk to Empress again. She states that because of the investigation, she'll have to keep things orderly, so she doesn't immediately kill Hat Kid, and that it would be smart of Hat Kid to run before it is concluded.
• According to one of the Metro Cats, Empress does not have any qualifications as a Jeweler.