The Mars People are the main troops of the Martian army and the second most prominent enemy of the main series after the Rebels.
Information
Mars People have a large head with multiple tentacles placed below. Their tentacles are fairly strong as they can hold a weapon using only one of their appendages. Contracting their tentacles allows them to jump large distances and descend slowly. They have great intelligence and own psionic powers like telekinesis and space-warping in various degrees. They are also experts in necromancy and biological engineering.
According to their death animations, Martians possess a skull and green blood. Some artwork shows them to have mouths. The Game Over screen of Metal Slug 6 shows the skull of a Mars Person, revealing them to also have teeth and a nasal cavity. The skull appears to be made of bone. Severed tentacles writhing about after dismemberment suggest an involuntary nervous system.
Their weapon of choice is a ray gun that can fire varying types of floating projectile. These projectiles are destructible by knife and gunfire. Mars People's words are mostly formed with the syllables Pa-Pe-Pi-Po-Pu (except Rootmars and Marty). These syllables also form the Martian Language, and a translation device is required to understand them.
Types of Infantry
Troops
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Mars People: This Martian is the normal run of the mill Martian army soldier. They fire orange projectiles that move slowly and home towards the player; these shots can easily be dispatched with gunfire or melee attacks. Very weak, can be killed with melee attacks. |
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Mars People Cabre: Experienced soldiers able to sustain more shots than the standard Martian using various energy pistols. They usually shoot their projectiles three times in a row. |
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Mars People Elite: Elite soldiers with commanding roles that fire blue projectiles three times in a row. Their projectiles are faster and harder to destroy but cannot home in on the player. As their rank and rarity suggests, they can take more punishment than their comrades. However, a grenade or a few melee strikes can easily kill it. |
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Mars People Officer: The most elite Martians. They are capable of distorting space-time with their psionic powers in order to call in artillery strikes directly from Fake Rootmars. They first appear in Metal Slug Attack. |
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Mars People Commander: Commanding officers of the Martians who wears caps and eyepatches on their left eye resembles Heidern, and are in charge of monitoring the environment of earth in-case one dares damage the planet's environment. They are capable of commanding a team of Mars People Elite Priest. They first appear in Metal Slug: Commander. |
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Mars People Chief Operating Officer: Top ranking officials of the Martians who are also in charge of current affairs. They have stronger versions of the Officers' attacks. They compose the Martians' high command and first appear in Metal Slug Attack. |
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Mars People Neo: A significantly stronger mutated Martian who Rootmars bestowed his power upon. Only one Neo exists: the Earth's expeditionary Martian forces second-in-command who the Professor calls "Marty", since he was annoyed with the fact that the Martians lacked proper names. |
Rare Troops
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Halloween/Party People: Disguised Mars People trying to understand and infiltrate human society. |
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Mars People Pocket: Young Martian recruits tasked with surveillance missions. |
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"Mars People (MSD)": Drives the Mini-UFO in early versions of Metal Slug Defense, though the pilots were later changed to regular Mars People. It also appears in Metal Slug Attack. |
| "Mars People Supporter": a Martian that are good at tampering with machines and provides support with the use of a special machine that generates powerful radio waves capable of jamming enemy attacks. |
Crossover Appearances
SNK Vs. Capcom: CHAOS
The Mars People appears as a hidden playable character and mid-boss. He attacks using his tentacles and his gun, and can also call a traditional Japanese-style UFO. His attacks are named after paranormal folklore, such as the Tunguska Blast of 1908 and the Roswell incident.
Neo-Geo Battle Coliseum
He appears again as a playable character, with little different than his SVC counterpart. A Mars People model is available in a variety of different colors.
Trivia
- Like many parts of their forces, Mars people themselves have some visual basis on the Martian invaders from H.G. Wells' literary classic "War of the Worlds", where they are originally described as cephalopods with psychic abilities.
- The Mars People also have some basis on the common depiction of Martians in Japan. While in western culture Martians are green-skinned humanoids, in Japan they are depicted as octopi.
- The Masked Soldiers shoot what resembles Martian spores from their pistol.
- In SNK vs. Capcom and Neo Geo Battle Coliseum, the Mars People's palette is green instead of grey. Metal Slug Attack would give the green palette to the Mars People Officer.
- The Mars People Pocket sprite reuses the Metal Slug: 2nd Mission sprite of the Mars People.
Gallery
