Tetran

Tetran
Tetran's artwork from Yu-Gi-Oh!
Japanese name	テトラン Tetoran
Type	Core
Abilities	Spins four large arms moves across the screen Shoots projectiles Shoots Twin Lasers (Gradius V, Salamander III)
Variations	Tetran Sweeper (Salamander III, Stage 2 Boss) Tetran Scavenger (Salamander III, Stage 6 Mid-boss)
Appearances	Life Force (NES) Gradius II Gradius III Gradius Gaiden (as enemy) Gradius V Salamander Salamander (MSX) Nemesis 3 Gokujō Parodius! (as enemy) Jikkyō Oshaberi Parodius Otomedius Otomedius Gorgeous Otomedius Excellent Salamander III
Theme	"Poison of Snake" (Salamander, Gradius II, Gradius III, Gradius V, Salamander III, Nemesis 3) "Power of Anger" (Otomedius G)

Tetran (テトラン, Tetoran) is a recurring boss in the Gradius series.

Description

Tetran is a staple boss of the Gradius franchise, first appearing in the spin-off Salamander as the second boss and making regular appearances since. Most, if not all, Tetran encounters usually plays an arrangement of "Poison of Snake".

Attack patterns

Tetran's main attack is firing bullets and spinning its four arms around in an attempt to destroy the player. Careful maneuvering is often necessary to dodge in the tight surroundings since the arms limit movement. The arms also protect the core as they spin and block the opening, making attack opportunities limited. Furthermore, the opening that gives access to the core is remarkably tight and shots fired by the player's vessel have a high chance to hit the surrounding edges instead. Managing to bring a good number of Options to the battle will significantly lessen the ordeal, as they can deal damage to the core while the player is occupied maneuvering around the boss.

Tetran generally doesn't change its attack abilities too much between games, but later appearances increase its capabilities by adding extra weapons at the tips of the arms and making the arms themselves more unpredictable in their movements. Gradius V in particular features a significant new addition to the Tetran's arsenal by spinning its arms at incredible speeds while firing lasers rapidly, filling the entire area with enemy fire. He can also fire four beams; two from the front and two diagonally from the back.

In Salamander III, there are two new Tetran variants that are upgrades of the original model; Tetran Sweeper (テトラン・スイーパー, Tetoran Suīpā) and Tetran Scavenger (テトラン・スカベンジャー, Tetoran Sukabenjā). Both act very similar; whenever their core is open for attack, they will twin lasers at the player, but the differences lie in their other attacks. Tetran Sweeper will protect itself using asteroids and equipping asteroids with Dome 2331 hatches on them for additional support, but sometimes it'll use Big Core Fs instead. Tetran Scavenger uses organic material instead of asteroids, and cannot use Big Core Fs, as it's already getting support from the laser-firing structures in the background.

Gallery

Tetran in Salamander

The Zylom, a sprite edit of Tetran in Life Force (Arcade).

Tetran in Gradius II.

Tetran in Life Force (NES).

Tetran in Gradius II (NES).

Tetran in Nemesis 3.

Cruiser Tetran in Salamander (MSX).

Tetran in Gradius V.

Artwork from Otomedius

Unused Tetrans from Otomedius.

Tetran featured in Otomedius Gorgeous.

Tetran's appearance in Yu-Gi-Oh! GX.

Artwork from Life Force (NES)

Tetran in Salamander HD Remaster.

Tetran in Gradius V.

Pulsating Plasma Blaster in Rocket Knight Adventures

Scrap Tetran in Gradius Gaiden

Tetran Sweeper, as it appears in Salamander III.

Tetran Sweeper as it appears in Salamander III, holding 4x Big Core F.

Trivia

• In Rocket Knight Adventures, the Pulsating Plasma Blaster mini-boss appears as a combination of Tetran and Big Core.
• A bio version of Tetran, Zylom, appears in Life Force (Arcade), which is a different version of Salamander.
• The Tetranducker, an mini-boss appearing in Contra III: The Alien Wars (also by Konami), is inspired by both the Tetran and the Ducker. Furthermore, it is essentially an combination of the two enemies (being a bipedal robot turret like the Ducker and possessing long tentacle-like limbs for legs, similar to the Tetran)

See also

• Covered Tetran
• Laser Tetran
• Tenny Rop
• Zylom