Sweet Tooth is an insane killer clown that's become the face of the Twisted Metal series, with his clown mask and flaming head. He's been in every game to date, whether he be a contestant or the one controlling the carnage from behind the scenes. Sweet Tooth is a simple individual, seeking to satiate himself through the joy he finds in death and chaos. That being said, he never seems to be happy with the destruction that lies at his feet, always seeking more in the next Twisted Metal tournament. While the clown's name is has varied, his vehicle Sweet Tooth has stuck around.
Sweet Tooth, also known as Needles Kane and Marcus Kane, didn't start out as a murderous clown with a thirst for revenge. As with all insane clowns, Sweet Tooth started out as a regular guy who gave in to his worst tendencies for the sake of his own satisfaction. Each iteration and new concept has made the character darker and hungrier for carnage, culminating in 2012's Twisted Metal, where he seeks to find the one that got away. If the rumors about a new Twisted Metal are to be believed, then it follows that the next version of Sweet Tooth will be even more hungry for carnage.
Marcus Kane: The Origin of Sweet Tooth
Sweet Tooth started out like any other family man with a few kids and a loving wife. In his normal life as Marcus Kane, he worked as an ice-cream man, seemingly taking joy in the delight he brought to children when they heard the tune of his truck. For the most part, he was happy with the life he had, but somewhere deep down there was a growing hatred of his boring life and that part of him sought more. This inactive personality was able to convince Kane to carve out a mask which enabled the "Needles" personality to rise to the surface and take over, becoming the infamous Sweet Tooth.
From there, Needles destroyed Marcus's mundane personality by attempting to kill off his entire family. He nearly succeeds, until Marcus's oldest daughter is able to grab a pair of scissors to stab him below the eye with. Sophie, the daughter, quickly escaped and became the only victim to ever escape Needles' lust for blood. From there, he began searching the world for his daughter in order to make sure that her life ends by his hand. If players win the 2012 Twisted Metal as Sweet Tooth, then they'll see the clown get his wish, transported to his daughter's casket 10 years after her suicide.
The Future of Sweet Tooth?
The Twisted Metal game with the most lore content is 2012's Twisted Metal, which brought fans a lot of information regarding Sweet Tooth. After Needles Kane is left to die in the coffin with his daughter's corpse, it's presumably the last that fans will see of the murderous clown. However, two epilogue scenes show that maybe fans haven't seen the last of the murder-happy clown just yet.
In the first epilogue cutscene, Charlie Kane reminisces over how his dad intentionally let him live after watching his family get murdered. Charlie states that Needles wanted him to continue his work, and the scene ends with Charlie digging up the mask and adorning it to go after Calypso. In another cutscene, Calypso laments the wasted grief and anger inside Needle's oldest and reanimates her in her father's image in order to serve him in his future endeavors.
There are a number of outlandish characters with intricate backstories, and that's part of what makes the Twisted Metal series so great. With a strong icon character like Sweet Tooth, the franchise could bring back some form of reboot or relaunch of the series with Needel's kids taking over the helm of the ice-cream truck chaos. That being said, it seems like Marcus's kids will end up being a bit more focused than their murderous father before them.
A new Twisted Metal game is rumored to be in development.