Gomeramos King (天王創魔心 ゴメラモスキング Tennō Sōma-shin Gomeramos King?, lit. "Heaven King Demon-Breeding Heart Gomeramos King"), also known as the Alien Heart, is the secondary antagonist and final boss in the original Contra. It has since then appeared as a recurring boss in many following titles.
This giant organ is actually Demon Dragon God Java's still beating heart, which continues to nurture the whole aliens' hive biomass even after its owner's death.
Description[]
Gomeramos King is the last boss in the original Contra, and as such, it's the first main antagonist to appear in the whole Contra series. It is a giant alien heart which nurtures the cocoons scattered throughout the aliens' hive, presumably being responsible for not only spawning newborn offspring, but also for helping the alien hives' bodily functions work properly.
Gomeramos is usually found shortly after defeating Demon Dragon God Java, actually being his own self-sustaining heart which must be defeated separately in order to stop the whole alien invasion.
In some of its incarnations, the heart has a self-defense mechanism mostly consisting of projectile shooters or energy-based weapons. Combined with the constant streams of newborn aliens, fighting it can prove to be a worthy challenge. Four cocoons are usually attached around the organ, two on the ground and two on the ceiling; these keep constantly releasing Buggers throughout the course of the fight, but can be destroyed separately in order to alleviate the threat they pose. Due to the somewhat unpredictable behavior of these newborn aliens –whether they quickly scurry along the floor, start levitating as they leave the screen, or jump from the ceiling to either return to it or remain on the ground– the battle can prove to be notably challenging.
Once the heart is put out of commission, the alien's major operation is halted to a full stop due to the resulting drop of all the alien workforce.
Appearances[]
Contra: Hard Corps[]
Gomeramos King is the final boss of the Alien Space stage. To fight the Alien Heart, the following choices must be made:
- Go after Deadeye Joe.
- Fight to the end.
The alien heart takes a more drastic appearance in this game, possibly done due to rapid mutation or by the tampering of experiments done to the Alien Cell from which it spawned from. Either way, its attack pattern is completely different than previous incarnations, with the only resemblances to its former self being the seemingly undefended vulnerability it still possesses, as well as its resemblance to an organic heart. In this game, Gomeramos King appears in the center of the room and is non-lethal to the touch (unlike previous incarnations). Its color is also more fleshier in appearance, with noticeable turquoise colored veins, rather than the usual blood-red color it sports. Within moments of the start of the battle, two large fleshy eyes appear and execute an attack to try to eliminate the heroes. Their attack pattern is as followed, and always in the same order:
| Attack | Description |
|---|---|
 |
The two eyes will appear horizontally from each other on each side of the screen. They then slowly spin in a clockwise direction, increasing speed over time. The player must time their jumps to avoid being hit by them. The eyes will eventually come to an immediate halt, then return to the background from where they came. |
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The two fleshy eyes reappear in the same horizontal position, but stop just before hitting the edges of the screen. This time, a green bob-like tether is seen connecting them. Soon, the eyes begin to bounce around the room, attempting to crush the player. The best way to avoid this attack is to stay on the left corner of the floor and slide to the left when an eye reaches close to the player. The player only needs to slide this way twice for this attack, crouching can protect the player from the rest of the predictable eye movement if need be. After a while, the eyes will halt, then recenter themselves at the heart's location before returning to the background. |
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The eyes reappear one more time, in a similar position as the previous attack, minus the tether. They soon drop to the ground and begin slowly "leaping/crawling" in a counterclockwise pattern around the entire room. As they do, they eventually increase in speed, making evasion more difficult. The player needs to time their movements so that they land in the small gap between both eyes to avoid being crushed. It is recommended not to jump here, as the eyes can easily reach a player. Also, the eyes have a tendency to hit a player close to the edges of the walls. Slides are not necessary but can be useful, so long as a player is careful not to accidentally slide into a moving eye. If a player hugs the leftmost corner of the surface, they will be completely safe from this entire attack. After a while, the eyes will come to a halt on the surface(s) they are on, then recenter toward the heart and vanish behind the background as before. |
After the third attack of the pattern, the eyes will momentarily reappear to repeat the first attack and pattern all over again. The eyes are indestructible and can absorb most weapons fire. As Gomeramos King receives damage, the background will either increase or decrease vertical movement speed. Dealing enough damage to it will cause the entire wall of flesh to rapidly shake and explode, immediately dispersing the guardian eyes. Once the wall of flesh is entirely gone, the area will soon begin to explode, placing an end to the entire Alien Cell menace for good.
The player that defeated the alien heart receives 20,000 points, which is a guarantee extra life. Ironically, the extra life is unnecessary as Gomeramos King is the final boss of this route.
Contra: Shattered Soldier[]
| “ | An alien in the form of a huge heart. The area around it is filled with Eggrons that produce Backers. The yellow smoke from Gomeramos King is stinking and its surroundings are very full of odorous air. | „ |
| ~ Translation of the official description from Shattered Soldier |
In this game, Lance Bean fuses with an alien and attacks Bill and Lucia by transforming into several creatures, the first being a heavily mutated variant of Gomeramos with many eyes which emits a green or yellow smoke. The larger eye gives off a Searle impression on the heart. This mutated mixture is likely the result of Lance's memories and battle experience against both creatures.
The battle with the mutated Gomeramos King is rather simple, being like previous encounters although vertical-wise instead of horizontal-wise. The heart will be stationed directly above the player(s), while four Eggron sacs are also present; two each on parallel walls. Not only will Buggers appear from these eggsacs but at times, two Buggers (one on each wall) will appear from the roof of the battle. All Buggers will crawl down from the wall they are stationed on and walk their way up to the opposite wall and eventually off-screen, unless they are destroyed. Over time, the heart will slowly lower itself until it hovers directly below the center. While at its lowest height, it will not kill the player with its contact damage unless they jump, which makes evading the swarm of Buggers much more difficult. The heart itself is once again unshielded and will perish once enough damage is done to it. The surrounding Eggron sacs must be destroyed first before the heart in order to achieve a higher rank.
Contra 4[]
Unlike all of its other appearances, where it is always fought in side-view levels, in Contra 4, Gomeramos King is fought as the area boss of one of the tunnel stages. Also, its defeat doesn't signify the end of the alien invasion, although it can be assumed to be a very important asset of their forces, as it provides the main sustenance of the Alien Hive, and once defeated, the entire biomass dies along with it.
Unlike previous incarnations, where cocoons releasing newborn aliens usually protect it, in this game, three Shooting Eyes act as the heart's main defense mechanism. Each eye periodically rises from the opening on the ground it inhabits and shoots at the player. After sustaining enough damage, the eye will go back down to its hole and this will move along the floor to reposition elsewhere. The eyes are indestructible and can only be temporarily disabled this way, so the player must take advantage whenever the eyes are down to unleash as much firepower to the heart as possible until it is finally defeated.
Contra ReBirth[]
The alien heart returns, although its appearance here may be the result of the Neo-Salamander Force's meddling. In this incarnation, Gomeramos King is stationed near the center of a diagonal shaft containing bottomless pits between pillars. Eggrons are present that will spew out brain-shaped Buggers used by the Neo-Salamander army.
Despite these differences, the battle appears otherwise identical to previous installments. The walls are climbable but are not always safe spots to shelter in. Eliminating the Eggron hives will render the alien heart defenseless. Due to the arena, diagonal aiming or jumping shots may be required unless the Spread Gun or Homing Gun is used. It is possible to be in a safe spot behind the Gomeramos King, although this can only be reached if the player has previously lost a life in order to take advantage of invincibility frames upon respawning, as the alien heart is blocking the area and is still lethal to the touch directly.
Contra Returns[]
Although not having Eggrons or Wadders to help it this time around, Gomeramos King retains some of its classic attacks, as well as a few new ones:
- Summons Buggers as it often did in previous games.
- Summons Orians (or mutated Greeders).
- Hurls down blood shots diagonally at the player in a similar way as meteors.
- Produces a rain of noxious blood directly above the player.
- Puts up barrier that enables it to regain its health and take less damage. To prevent it from regaining more health, the player must keep on shooting at the alien heart.
Also, Gomeramos King in Return will be fought more than once in different nests.
Contra: Operation Galuga[]
An alien heart appears as the boss of the Lab area. Believed to be a grown experiment, the heart is openly attached to an unknown body mass on the right side of the screen. It controls an arm seen from the left side of the screen. The creature overall appears incomplete as it seems to be limited to only the one room it appears in and with only a single limb to work with. It is also possible the commandos entered the creature's large inner body.
A second heart is encountered within Java's body. In an effort to recover the stolen Lemris, a defeated Varanis summons a large creature that consumes all of them and destroys Varanis's ship. The surviving commandos were able to work their way up to the chest compartment of the beast, where its alien heart resides. This heart has no defenses, but shortly after damaging it, a large arm of the beast punctures through its chest and grabs hold of its heartburn problem, dealing with it face-to-face. This heart was ultimately destroyed along with the fallen beast.
Notes[]
- In the MSX2 version of Contra, due to the greater number of levels not seen in other versions of the game, Gomeramos King acts only as an end of stage boss, and defeating it roughly marks having reached the middle part of the game.
Gallery[]
Screenshots[]
Artworks[]
Trivia[]
- Canonically, Gomeramos King died in 2633 A.D., putting an end to the first alien invasion, although it reappears numerous times along the series as a recurring boss. Whether this means it was revived, reborn from alien cells, there are more than one of these heart-like organisms, or if they are just a reused concept with no involvement in the later games' storylines, is uncertain, although it seems likely they serve as vital components to the formation and survival of the aliens' hives.
- In the Famicom port of Contra, the entire Alien's Lair pulsates as though if alive, which infers the entire level is just one giant living organism and Gomeramos is just an organ inside it.
- It is usually common to see the whole organic stage to start pulsating faster as the heart sustains damage, suggesting the whole biomass is reaching critical condition and about to collapse.
- In Contra: Hard Corps, the fleshy eyes Gomeramos King summons bear a resemblance to Brain Organism Searle, with the eyes even producing somewhat similar attacks as the once defeated brain.
- Also in Contra: Hard Corps, the movable background may sometimes not animate properly, with some parts of the wall entirely missing from the battle. This is most likely a hardware issue.
See also[]
References[]
Big Fuzz • Crustacean Cruiser • Gomeramos King • Black Viper (final form) | |||