Iron Maiden

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Iron Maiden in Gradius III.

Background

The Iron Maiden is a large enemy type, only seen in Sub Boss battles, and is a major recurring Sub-Boss in the series, originally appearing as the Stage 4 Sub-Boss in Gradius.
It was later upgraded into Iron Maiden MK 2. Maidens traverse terrain in an attempt to trap the player - if the player is not in a good position or has not dealt with the other enemies in the area they can quickly become overwhelmed.

Whilst present in most ports of Gradius, it was replaced by a Inverted Volcano in the NES version.

This particular boss found it's way into Parodius Da!, with a new design based off Japanese legends, and now named Karakasa, where it became one of the hardest bosses in the game, all thanks to increases in health, speed, and the aid of the undead.

Attack Pattern

The Iron Maiden is usually joined by two Dagumu Hatches, which spawn a constant stream of enemies until they are dealt with.
The Iron Maiden itself follows a preset movement pattern, along the path of the mountain and terrain, before eventually enclosing in on the player.

In Gradius ReBirth the terrain they are normally present in is inverted (so.. rightside up then), and they actually emerge from the terrain itself.

Strategy - Regular

Safespot example

The main way to survive this Sub Boss is to first take out the Dagmu Hatches if possible, and then to find a safespot - and stay there, dodging what-ever bullets come your way as necessary.
This safespot should optimally be able to hit newer Iron Maidens coming into the area, as well as older ones as they get closer.

If the safespot is sound, you will be able to take out the Maidens with little trouble, as they have little health.

Strategy - Parodius

These are evil.

In their reappearance in Parodius Da! - they are much more dangerous and have more health than in normal Gradius games - this usually means even with a good safespot - they will probably get a bit too close for comfort - certain characters may very well require the use of special weapons to get past.

They are also joined by spread shot generating skeletons that can't be killed. A nasty combination.
The main trick is to try and deal as much damage to as many of them as possible one their first pass, so when they attempt to close in you can - hopefully - destroy them one by one. You may end up pretty far back from your starting position but you might just be able to take them all out.

See Also:

Iron Maiden MK 2

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