Bakonga

“	It usually pretends to be dead and waits for potential prey to approach it. It is difficult to tell because old Bakonger corpses are buried here and there. The fire from the center is not the Bakonger's, but rather from the Symbiotic Demon Beast Orian. It has evolved to make it easier to secure prey by extending the neck that forms the lower half of the body.	„
	~ Official description from Neo Contra

Bakonga (大開三重唇バコンガー, Daikai Mie Kuchibiru Bakongā^?, lit. "Large Three-Layered Lips Bakonga") is an enemy in the Contra series. It is a large alien mouth with three-layered lips that grows on the surfaces of an aliens' nest.

Description[]

A large mouth growing on the rough floors of the aliens' nests, presumably just being organs that comprise the whole biomass with the task of consuming foreign matter in order to sustain it. They have three layers of lips, one inside each other. The two inner mouths have their own set of teeth comprised solely of sharp fangs.

They attack by suddenly opening on the ground and snatching any unsuspecting prey that happens to be in their vicinity. They aren't stationary, though, and may randomly reemerge anywhere near the place from where they first attacked until killed, so staying on one spot for too long is tantamount to suicide.

Bakongas may pose a real threat when they attack along with other alien species, such as when the player is trying to dodge oncoming bullets from Dumpling Bug Aliens, only to end up running into the gaping maw of a Bakonga; or when they have to contend with Big Faces, they may get too focused in dealing with them that they could get careless and run into a lagging Bakonga that still manages to erupt from the ground.

Appearances[]

Super Contra[]

Arcade

In the arcade version of Super Contra, Bakongas stop appearing after the player has killed enough of them, should they choose to cross the platform safely without these enemies harassing them.

NES

In the NES conversion of the game, Super C, Bakongas spawn endlessly, leaving the player no choice but to negotiate with them as they walk across.

Neo Contra[]

The variant appearing in Neo Contra features an inner snake-like alien creature called the Symbiotic Demon Beast Orian that is an extension of its lower body and which emerges from inside as a manner of tongue, which either lunges or spews three fireballs at the player in a spreading manner. It's worth noting that eyes can also be seen growing around them.

Appearing halfway into stage 5, these idle mouths slowly twitch their lips until prey passes over them. Once the mouth senses a target, its vicious tongue extends and quickly attempts to snap back at the player. The tongue remains then idle and looks toward the player, occasionally firing a triple spread shot of round projectiles at them. Killing the tongue will cripple the mouth on the floor.