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.

Contra: Rogue Corps

Classified as a Big-Mouth-type fiend. These creatures are the result of Red Falcon forces conquering Earth in an alternate timeline. Unlike the mainline creature's common black coloration, this variation takes on multiple colorations as they adapt to life on Earth. Otherwise, they retain most of their notable features, such as multiple spiked mouths.

There are several colored variants, all of which can appear in small and large sizes. If the player touches a Big-Mouth, their entire Shield HP is gone, leaving them to die in one hit upon the next enemy hit, if not killing them for being on their last hit point. Jumping on top of these mouths is not advised, as it almost guarantees a life loss. Some of these mouths are buried underground and if they sense a character near, a "blast radius" ring will appear signifying this alien mouth's rise from the ground. Although these creatures are seen rising from the ground, there is no crater or visible sinkhole left behind once they are destroyed.

Each color of Big-Mouth has its own distinct feature:

The pink constantly spew projectiles from their mouths that rain down on the battlefield. A red-tinted variant also appears, though it is unclear as to what differences it possesses from the pink variant.
Blue Big-Mouths act as enemy spawners and will rapidly upchuck one large explosive Balloon-type Devil Baby at a time. Two Balloon enemies can appear per mouth, meaning blue Big-Mouths tend to appear in large numbers in order to create swarming.
Yellow Big-Mouths create a vacuum effect when a character is near, attempting to draw said character into their multiple layered mouths.

Gallery

Screenshots

Sprites and models

Artworks

Trivia

The Bakonga resembles the mouth(s) of a xenomorph.
In Neo Contra, the tongue bears a strong resemblance to a xenomorph's head. The tongue may also resemble Java.

References

↑ Name seen on Body Parts in Contra: Rogue Corps.

[1] Name seen on Body Parts in Contra: Rogue Corps.

[1]