Zako are the main antagonists of Stretch Panic. They are vanity demons that capture Linda's sisters, transforming them into twisted versions of their visions of perfect beauty. Additionally, there are Zako which act as lesser enemies in EX stages or certain boss fights.
Appearances
Zako
The Zako which initially imprison Linda's twelve sisters vaguely resemble birds with their beak-like faces. They have round black eyes and large toothed smiles. Different types of these Zako vary, as some have arms and legs and others have only one pair of them.
The Zako that appear when a sister is turned into a demon hold trumpets and drums with drumsticks. The Zako with trumpets have red heads, yellow arms and green and yellow bodies in addition to a yellow trumpet. The Zako with drums have purple faces, cream arms and legs; and yellow and pink bodies. Their drums are light pink and white with a yellow and orange drumstick. Unlike the other Zako, they have small white wings on their backs.
The Zako which is exorcised from a sister is a pink head with green wings. It also emits black smoke.
Bonita Zako
Bonita Zako appear as humanoid females with large breasts. They have simple faces with cat-shaped mouths. They all have their hair up in bunches and wear swimsuits. They also come in colour variations which act differently.
The Bonita colors are:
- Light skin, blonde hair and a black swimsuit
- Tan skin, dark brown hair and a blue swimsuit
- Light skin, brown hair and a red swimsuit
EX World Zako
Zako that are exclusive to the Japanese version, Hippa Linda. These types of Zako consist of a seal creature and a head that resembles Fay Soff.
The seals are round and pink with simple faces. Their lower half appears to be eaten by a yellow fish-like creature, with an orange mouth and white sharp teeth. These Zako also appear in Anne Droid V2.1's stage, though instead of a fish eating them, their lower halves are metal-plated.
The heads have dark skin and exaggerated facial features like Fay Soff. They have yellow and purple multicolored eyes with white eyeliner and thick blue lashes. Their noses are pointed and orange and they have white lips with sharp yellow teeth. They additionally have a top-knot like Fay Soff, in pink.
Siren's Zako
Siren's Zako take the appearance of small children. They have round heads and cone-shaped bodies.
In their peaceful form, they have round white heads, with small closed eyes, open smiling mouths and a small pink blush. They wear light blue dresses with pink sleeves.
When transformed by Siren, they become more monstrous. Their skins turns pale blue, they have open yellow eyes with pupils, and they flash wide smiles of sharp teeth. Red ears also sprout from the top of their head. Their gowns become purple with red sleeves, and they also wield small scythes with teal blades.
Anne Droid V2.1's Zako
The Zako that accompany Anne Droid V2.1 in her fight resemble Anne Droid's helmet and come in two colors: blue and yellow. The yellow Zako additionally have sharp teeth and antennas.
Demonica's Zako
The Zako that Demonica can summon in her fight come in two types: green Zako with round heads, pyramidic bodies and small feet, and yellow Zako that are round orbs with bat-like wings. Both of them have black dot eyes with red trails painted down them, as well as small mouths.
Cyan's Zako
The Zako that surround Cyan resemble futuristic space men. They are roughly the size of Linda, wearing blue and yellow outfits. They have round heads with tan skin, and they wear helmets with a pointed tip and green visor. They are propelled through the air from a flame shooting out of their helmets. Each of them also carries a futuristic blaster weapon.
Spirit's Zako
The Zako that Spirit summons resemble limbless statues with round heads. They have large round eyes with black pupils, and gaping mouths with tiny fangs on their upper jaws. The eyes and mouth are colored differently depending on the attacks they use.
Strategy
Bonita Zako
To defeat Bonita Zako, Linda can pinch them to inflict damage. However, in order to earn points from them, she must instead target their bodies, usually hidden behind their breasts. Pinching their bodies will do heavy damage and grant the player a point. Linda must maneuver around to their backs to attack their weak points. All Bonita except the red Bonita take two heavy hits to defeat; red Bonita take four heavy hits.
The different color of Bonita act differently:
- Black Bonita rush at Linda and try to push her. Though this does no damage, it can push her off her footing and into the abyss.
- Blue Bonita can rarely jump and bodyslam Linda if they notice her.
- Red Bonita can punch, rush and bodyslam Linda.
Additionally, if pushed off a ledge, they can fly back to the ground.
EX World Zako
The seal zako can be picked up and thrown by the scarf, but not destroyed.
Upon spotting Linda, the head Zako will slowly hover toward her, stopping once they get close enough. They change color when taking damage from any of Linda's attacks, and when destroyed they award the player with a point.
Siren's Zako
The Zako in Siren's battle play a key part in her main attack. There are ten in the arena, and at first they are harmless. Once Siren starts singing, however, they will lay onto her gown. You must pluck them off with the scarf before Siren can initiate her next phase of offense. If you do not, they will transform alongside Siren into their more evil forms, and they will fly through the air and target Linda with their scythes. Pinching them in this state will revert them to normal, though they will also eventually change back once some time has passed. If you initially pull off all ten Zako while Siren is singing, her transformation will backfire and she will damage herself.
Anne Droid V2.1's Zako
As she orbits the planet arena, Anne Droid V2.1 will summon her Zako at a frequent rate. At first they are harmless, but if a yellow Zako initiates an electric shock, the light blue Zako can then conduct it into electric barriers which harm Linda. The Zako can be destroyed after taking enough damage.
Demonica's Zako
Upon reaching one of the unique statues in the arena, Demonica might try to summon her Zako in order to complicate the situation. She will either summon green or yellow Zako, up to four at a time. The green Zako will randomly hop across the ground, and the yellow Zako will attempt to slowly home in on Linda. Touching them causes Linda to take damage, and they can be destroyed with any attack. If you do not destroy them, they will eventually disappear. Additionally, if the statue is pinched, Demonica will immediately stop summoning Zako and resume her normal behavior.
Cyan's Zako
The Zako present in Cyan's battle are unique in that they are the only Zako which actively assist Linda. As Cyan is normally immune to the scarf, she can only be attacked after the Zako use their weapons to freeze her. In between their attacks, however, Cyan can hit them with hers and stun them. She can also pick them up and throw them into the windows of the arena, where they will get stuck. You must grab them in either of these states for them to resume their regular behavior.
Spirit's Zako
These Zako can only be summoned when Spirit pulls them from the ground of the arena with one of her hands. They are completely stationary, and depending on the color of their facial features, they will use a different attack:
- Red Zako breathe fire in a similar fashion to Cinder.
- Yellow Zako shoot bombs, like those found in Cinder and Spinner's fights.
- Pink Zako shoot homing missiles, like those found in Miss Mecca and Mirage's fights.
- Blue Zako shoot lasers, like those found in Fay Soff and Jelly-Chan's fights.
Pinching the statues instantly destroys them, though they will also retreat into the ground after some time. It is recommended to clear them out as soon as they are summoned, for they could distract you from another dangerous attack Spirit is readying.
Trivia
- In early screenshots, it seemed that all Bonita Zako colors behaved the same as the red Bonita.
- New Zako were added to the Japanese version of Stretch Panic to make collecting points easier.
- In the Gallery of Shame, any sisters who haven't been exorcised yet will appear as red Bonita Zako instead.
- In their peaceful form, the faces of Siren's Zako resemble Bino, a character from Treasure's previous title Dynamite Headdy.
Gallery
