Bacterion
Other Name(s)	Bakuteriya (Parodius), Bacterion
Appears In	Gradius III, Jikkyō Parodius (Parody)
	""I was born... Out of the greediness of mankind. While men exist, so will I!!"" - Bacterian (Gradius III)
Theme Music	Stages Boss Music : Bacterian Dark Force from Gradius III (Arcade, Snes, PS2, PSP) Bakuteriya Over the Octopus Boss Theme from the original Gradius, Aircraft Carrier (SNES, Sega Saturn, PSX, PSP) Last Evil from Gradius: The Interstellar Assault (Game Boy Advance Version)

Bacterian is the main enemy of the Gradians and has been responsible for most of the attacks on Gradius. It is not known where he comes from or why he wants to destroy Gradius although it's known he came from a star cluster in Sub-Space. He is a cell that can multiply to make himself an armada of cells and ships. He usually works alone, but once he allied with Venom in an effort to defeat the Gradian forces. Gradius Gaiden's prologue revealed that he was actually the Bacterians center of power during the Third Bacterian War (Gradius III). The game manual for Gradius III & IV also decribes Bacterian as the God of Destruction and leader of the Dark Force (the final boss in Gradius III). In Gradius Galaxies, a piece of it infects a planet near Gradius and transforms that particular planet into a mechanical fortress.

There is a running joke concerning Bacterian in that as the leader of the invading forces, he should be quite strong. On the contrary, it takes little to no effort to dispatch of him. This may be explained by the difficulty of the security that the player must go through to get to Bacterian, thus explaining why the 'boss' is so easily dispatched: the boss' protective measures were the entirety of the previous stage, not anything to do with the boss itself. However, since the final stage of Gradius III SNES is the body of Bacterian the enemies there may be Bacterian trying to expell the player with his defense system. The tradition of Bacterian being weak has been parodied in many ways and even to Gradius V this trend continues.

Contents 1 Attack Pattern 2 Manesis 99 Kai 3 Jikkyō Oshaberi Parodius Version 4 Appears In 5 Trivia

Attack PatternEdit

Bacterian attacks by just firing three bolts at the player. Nothing else. In the arcade version, these bolts could be potentially deadly, as they fly a bit faster, and when you're struck by one, you go to the first stage of either Salamander or Gradius, depending on which one in the pattern you hit. It will also strip you of your powers. In the SNES version, however, the bolts move slower, and kill on contact.

Manesis 99 KaiEdit

Bacterian appears in Manesis 99 Kai as the final boss. He has the same attacks as the Gradius 3 version of Bacterian.

Jikkyō Oshaberi Parodius VersionEdit

An octopus, acting as Bacterian appeared in Jikkyō as the final boss. This boss has the similiar sounding name, Bakuteriya.

It has the same attacks as the SNES version of Bacterian: along with it he makes mumbling noises when he's hit, much like the SNES version of the Bacterian.
It is worshipped by Penguins.

Appears InEdit

• Gradius III
• Gradius Galaxies(Just a piece of him, though)
• Manesis 99 Kai
• Garudius '95

Trivia Edit

• The Bacterians usually have the form of a giant brain. While in the Contra series (also by Konami), one of the most traditional bosses in the game franchise is a giant heart, in the first Contra game, it is actually the last boss, as well as the first Gradius game, which the last boss is a giant brain.
• Those faces surrounding Bacterian may either be Bacterians or they are the many faces Bacterian can change into.

  

• It's possible that Bacterian may be an evolved form of the Brain in Gradius 1.

End Bosses & Major Enemies
Major Recurring Foes	Gofer • Bacterion • Dr Venom • Zelos Force (Zeros) • Lars Empire • Gofer Sisters
Minor Enemies	Brain • O.V.U.M. • Eleos Brain • Mother Computer Z • Guardian Core • Central Server • Genocide Core • Outer Limits / Metal Slave • Zelos Barrier • Doom • Dark Force

Jikkyō Oshaberi Parodius Bosses
Sub-Bosses	Mirror Ball • Zub Rush • Big Core • Horo Temple Ghost • Big Baron Bee • Fish Wall • Chichibinta Rika
Bosses	Ziyudee & Merora • Hikaru & Akane • Bo Winbee • Goemon Compact • Decoration Core MK II • Shogun • Black TwinBee • Bakuteriya
PSX/Saturn Exclusive	Dr Mardock • Kitty Train • Onjiro • Fighting Penclaw • Robot Wall