Mother and Child

Mother and Child
Japanese name	マザー / チルド Mazā / Chirudo
Variations	Kung and Fu Mother and Child EX
Appearances	Gradius Gradius Gaiden Gradius ReBirth Nemesis (GB) Salamander III

The Mother (マザー, Mazā) is a recurring enemy in the Gradius series. It is a large enemy vessel, initially encountered at the start of Stage 3 in Gradius and ReBirth, and later a large swarm of them is encountered as a miniboss in Gradius.

It is present in most ports of Gradius. In the ZX Spectrum port, it received a redesign.

Description

The Mother's only method of attack is to release its Children (チルド, Chirudo). These small indestructible metal spheres are shot in a spread pattern and must be avoided. The Mother itself is only vulnerable when its hatch is open. The Children block the player's shots.

At the end of the level, you must deal with many at once, almost covering the screen. Attention should be focused on avoiding the Children. Eventually the entire swarm will vanish and you will encounter Big Core.

In the ZX Spectrum port, the battle is changed - you only face one of them at a time, and they will attempt to ram you from the side of the screen, firing a single spread of three children. By simply making small movements up and down to avoid the children, you can deal with them fairly easily. After defeating 7 of them, Big Core will finally make an appearance.

Gallery

Mother

Child

Mother

Child

Mother and Child
(Gradius)

ZX Spectrum redesign.

Mother and Child
(Gradius ReBirth)

Kung and Fu
(Nemesis (GB))

Kung
(Nemesis (GB))

Fu
(Nemesis (GB))

Mother and Child EX
(Gradius Gaiden)

Mother EX
(green variant)

Mother EX
(orange variant)

Child EX

Mother & Child
(Nemesis (MSX))
(closed hatch)

Mother & Child
(Nemesis (MSX))
(releasing children)

Mother
(Nemesis (MSX))

Mother with opened hatch
(Nemesis (MSX))

Child
(Nemesis (MSX))