Proboterror

For other uses, see Probotector (disambiguation).

Proboterror (プロボテラー, Puroboterā^?) is a recurring enemy in the Contra series. It is a humanoid robot that, when initially destroyed, can reconstitute itself and take the form of either a running beast or a shooting tripod turret.

Appearances

Contra 4

One of the most dangerous infantry troops of Black Viper's army due to how versatile they are in the combat field. Proboterror units are only encountered midway through the Harbor area, after the battle with Nouei.

The Proboterror first appears as a running humanoid robot (similar to a Greeder, although much faster). Like a Greeder, it may stop, crouch, and fire a bullet from its cannon, before running in the opposite direction. Once it receives enough damage, it will crumble into a pile of scrap metal. However, this is not the end of this enemy, and on the contrary, this is where it will demonstrate why it is so dangerous, as after a couple of seconds it will reconstitute itself into one of two alternate forms:

• A beast-like form that charges forward at an even greater speed (similar to a Man-Faced Mutt). It may also stop and fire a bullet from its back at the player, similar to some Greeder infantry troops. After doing so, it will run away from the player.
• An armed tripod walker form. Walks quite slowly compared to its other two forms but tends to stop and fire its retractable cannon at the player, which produces a spread of three bullets. It will then walk toward the opposite direction away from the player it fired upon.

Due to this enemy reforming, plus the infinite wave of Proboterrors closing in on the player, the latter's best option is to try to momentarily neutralize them and use that time to make a quick escape, by running or jumping past their crumbled bodies. Repeated fire on their alternate forms will destroy these robots for good; a Proboterror can reform once or twice before being completely destroyed. Proboterrors are indestructible in Hard mode, meaning that although they can be downed as normal, they will always reform and will never be truly eliminated. This leaves the only option for the player to escape the incoming wave of indestructible Proboterrors.

The section where they appear in is not very long, and once the player has made it past this area, these enemies won't be encountered again for the rest of the game. In Stage 4 of the standard game, a Barrier power-up can be found which can make the Proboterror infested section much easier to traverse, so the player is advised to make their best effort to obtain it.

These enemies reappear in Challenge Mode, mostly in the exact same place they were encountered on in Arcade mode. Two challenges replace the default enemies of a certain stage with Proboterrors (Proboterrors replace Greeders in the Jungle stage, and replace Reapers in the City stage).

Contra: Operation Galuga

While the Proboterror doesn't directly appear in Operation Galuga, there are ancient humanoid stone automatons (similar to golems) that act similar to them that appear within the Galuga Archipelago's temple. These Scrap Bots can take three different forms much like the Proboterror; however, the Tripod form fires a single shot instead of a three shot spread of bullets at the player on lower difficulties. Also, the humanoid fires a bullet from their hand while standing, unlike the humanoid Proboterror adopting a prone position to fire their gun.

Gallery

Screenshots

Proboterrors in the Jungle stage in Challenge Mode of Contra 4.

Proboterrors in the City stage in Challenge Mode of Contra 4.

Sprites and models

Proboterror humanoid form from Contra 4.

Tripod form

Beast form

Scrap Bot humanoid form from Operation Galuga.

Tripod form

Beast form

Trivia

• Both the name and appearance of this enemy are a reference to Probotector, the protagonists of most Contra games released in the PAL region, which were changed from humans to robots in order to comply with their rating system, which prohibited the portrayal of too much violence in video games.
  • When it attacks in humanoid form, a Proboterror resembles how a Probotector crouches and fires its weapons in-game.
• The Proboterror in Contra 4 is known to cause a palette glitch with other enemies when spawned. Although this is rarely seen during gameplay due to no other enemies present at the same time, there are a few exceptions:
  • In Bad Guy Blitz 5, the remaining Greeders that blow up the bridge will possess a chrome coloration similar to a Proboterror. This is due to a palette change in the stage caused by replacing Greeders with Proboterrors.
  • Sometimes this may occur in the debug menu's GYM, where many other enemies are present.
• During Bad Guy Blitz 5 (challenge #14 in Challenge Mode), if a Proboterror enters any body of water, the robot will instantly be destroyed.

See also

• Probotector (disambiguation)
• Probotector

References