The Rotating Ducker (回転ダッカー Kaiten Dakkā?) is an enemy in the Contra series. It is a robot that moves around by adopting a spherical form and then transforms into a mounted cannon which fires projectiles at the player.
Appearances[]
Contra III: The Alien Wars[]
A green robot encountered in urban or factory areas. It is first encountered in a spherical form, rolling along the environment starting from the left or right edges of the screen. Shortly after their entrance, it will briefly stop and fold its armored shell, revealing a mounted cannon inside that will take aim and fire a projectile at the intruder. It then closes back up and proceeds to continue rolling along its intended direct path, where it may fire again shortly after if still rolling on a surface.
A Rotating Ducker has an armored shell, preventing it from taking damage. When opening to reveal its turret is the only time the machine is vulnerable, so the player has a brief amount of time to fire back at the robot while avoiding its projectile, or simply ignore it and jump over the rolling robot (if necessary), where it eventually rolls off-screen or into a pit. Each one possesses four HP and when destroyed, grants the player whom eliminated it 710 Points.
There is a total of twelve encountered in Contra III: The Alien Wars.
Contra: Shattered Soldier[]
Rotating Duckers appear in the City Stage, during the underground segment. After a battle with a Garth Base, the elevator reaches the bottom floor and the heroes exit into a long hallway, where Rotating Duckers roll in as the first enemies encountered within the basement levels. These models are virtually identical to their previous models from years past, however when they open up, their body protrudes leg extensions that attach to the ground, likely to keep its balance when aiming. These Rotating Duckers are also capable of rolling along roofs and fire upside-down (it is unknown if the older variant had this capability due to their appearance not having any nearby roofs). Three are located at the basement entrance while two more are located past the Gluttonous Ugougo feeding pit. Each Rotating Ducker destroyed is worth 200 points plus 2% Hit Rate each.
Rotating Duckers may also appear during the battle with the Crawler Tank. As the heroes fight to eliminate its rear core, it may on occasion fire out a single silver and green-highlighted Rotating Ducker as an obstacle. This unique-colored Rotating Ducker behaves identical to the normal colored variant but does not add to the hit rate when destroyed. Because of the scrolling area, this enemy only has enough time to fire off one round by the left side of the screen before disappearing off-screen. The heroes have a chance to destroy any in their way, though it is generally easier to simply avoid it and its bullet.
Gallery[]
Screenshots[]
.png "Rotating Ducker Shattered Soldier (wheel).png (71 KB)")
Sprites and models[]
.png "Shin Contra Rotating Ducker (wheel).png (267 KB)")
.png "Shin Contra Rotating Ducker 2 (wheel).png (208 KB)")
.png "Contra Advance Rotating Ducker sprite (closed).png (1 KB)"){kind=icon}
.png "Shin Contra Rotating Ducker (turret).png (249 KB)")
.png "Shin Contra Rotating Ducker 2 (turret).png (235 KB)")
.png "Contra Advance Rotating Ducker sprite (open).png (927 bytes)"){kind=icon}
Trivia[]
- These enemies are inspired by the Ducker, an iconic enemy from the Gradius series (also by Konami).
- The Dumpling from Contra: Hard Corps possesses an identical behavior as the Rotating Ducker. One difference, however, is that the former can be easily annihilated while rolling, due to not being an armored robot as the latter.
- The silver-colored Rotating Ducker from Contra: Shattered Soldier resembles the appearance of a Rotating Ducker from Contra: The Alien Wars, mirroring the original coloration's two appearances.