Overview
Axel was the son of a single father, a Southern man who happened to be a psychopath. As punishment for an imagined failing, Axel's father strapped his son into a grotesque machine, an enormous pair of wheels with a stand where Axel's feet were locked in place, trapping him between the tires - serving as a literal 'axle' - permanently. In
Twisted Metal 2, Axel upgraded his hellish ride with machine guns on his base and rocket launchers mounted on his shoulders. In Axel's ending, he confronts
Calypso and makes his wish: to learn the location of his long-estranged father. Axel confronts his father, who insults him and refuses to set him free - but that wasn't what Axel had in mind. Axel insists that he's become a better man than his father ever was, and he's been "free" all along - which he demonstrates by brutally ripping himself out of the machine, severing his feet and lower arms, though he doesn't show any pain, and stalking off into the Louisiana bayou on his bloody stumps. Axel's ending is one of only two in which the winner's wish is not twisted back against them by Calypso, and is considered a "good" ending by fans. Axel also appears in
Roadkill's ending; when Marcus wakes up from his nightmare into the real world, Axel is seen as one of the comatose drivers who were also involved in the collision that nearly killed Marcus. Axel is heavily bandaged, and his arms have been severed at the elbows, referencing his own ending.
Axel returns in
Twisted Metal III, having discovered that despite his moral victory, life without hands and feet is extremely hard, even after having prosthetic limbs grafted on. Now riding a replica of the machine his father locked him into (this time with the ability to remove himself at will), Axel plans on winning the Twisted Metal tournament and wishing to have his lost arms and legs regenerated.
Introduced in
Twisted Metal 2,
Axel quickly became one of the most popular characters in the series thanks to his extremely unorthodox ride, and has appeared in every game in the series since. Although only
Sweet Tooth,
Dollface, and
Mr. Grimm are playable in the singleplayer mode in the latest game in the franchise, the
same name reboot Twisted Metal, Axel is available in multiplayer mode in the form of a
pre-order bonus.
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