Widget (組み立てキット?, Kumitate Kitto) is a recurring "character" in the Rhythm Heaven series. Their purpose is unknown.

Widget
Image
[[File:File:Widgets 3DS.png|frameless|400x270px]]
Artwork from Rhythm Heaven Megamix
Appears in

Rhythm Tengoku

Epilogue 3DS First Contact OK.png
Widget rods.png

A precursor to the Widgets first appears in Rhythm Tengoku in the Rhythm Game Polyrhythm, referred to as Akai Mono (赤いモノ?, Red Thing). They are industry products, whose details are kept a trade secret. They are considered hazardous because they explode when colliding with walls. Their purpose is unknown.[1] In the game, the rods roll along two raised paths, and the player must press the corresponding button to raise the blocks when they reach a gap.

Rhythm Heaven

Widgets first appear in Rhythm Heaven, in the first Rhythm Game, Built to Scale, where they are portrayed as a rod and nuts with a white color. The player must wait for the nuts to roll into place, then launch the rod into them to form the Widget. They later appear in Built to Scale 2, this time colored red. Workers are instructed to follow the rhythm while producing the widgets, but they get the paid the same regardless[2].

Rhythm Heaven Fever and Rhythm Heaven Megamix

Widget.png

The square mass-production objects appear again in Rhythm Heaven Fever and Rhythm Heaven Megamix, first appearing in Built to Scale, where the player must toss around red rods while waiting for two nuts to come into place, after which the player must launch the rod into them to form the Widget. The company sometimes makes defective products, and a worker in product testing accidentally sold the bad parts to collectors for a lot of money[3].

Trivia

  • Although Akai Mono and Widgets are considered to be the "characters" of these Rhythm Games, there are actual human characters depicted in the epilogues of each game. In Rhythm Tengoku, the factory is depicted, with what may be the owner standing outside. In Rhythm Heaven, a man is depicted inspecting the completed Widgets. In Rhythm Heaven Fever and Rhythm Heaven Megamix, the worker behind the building process is depicted standing outside the Widgets Factory.
  • Akai Mono and Widgets have appeared in 15 different games total throughout the series, while Karate Joe appears in 23 and The Wandering Samurai in 16.

Appearances

Akai Mono

Widgets

Gallery

In Other Languages

Language Name Meaning
Flag of Japan.svg Japanese 組み立てキット Assembly Kit
Flag of the United States.svg EnglishNOA Widget
Flag of the United Kingdom (3-5).svg EnglishNOE Widget
Flag of France (1794–1815, 1830–1974, 2020–present).svg French Le bidule The contraption
Flag of Spain.svg Spanish Cachirulo
Flag of Italy.svg Italian Mr. Congegno Mr. Device
Flag of South Korea.svg Korean 조립 키트 Assembly Kit

References

  1. https://www.nintendo.co.jp/n08/brij/chara/stage04.html
  2. "Slogan for March: Turns out you get paid the same whether you're on the beat or not." ~ Assembly Line Slogans, Rhythm Heaven
  3. "I work in product testing. My company doesn't make a lot of defective products, but when we do, I'm NOT supposed to sell the bad parts to collectors for a lot of money. Oops." ~ Rhythm Item description for Built to Scale, Rhythm Heaven Megamix