History VideoGAme / Gradius

* NamesTheSame: Konami's constant tendency to rename things outside Japan has resulted in this multiple times with this franchise.
** ''Nemesis'' is either the first Gameboy game, or Gradius's North American arcade port.
** ''Gradius 2/Nemesis 2'' on MSX is not to be confused with ''Nemesis II'' on Gameboy, or with ''Gradius II: Gofer no Yabou'', which itself shouldn't be confused with ''Gofer No Yabou: Episode II/Nemesis 3'', which is not ''Gradius III'' in the slightest.
** Also, take care not to confuse ''Life Force'', Salamander's North American arcade/famicom port, with the remade Japanese arcade also titled ''Life Force''

* CoresAndTurretsBoss: Potentially the TropeCodifier.

** In ''Gradius III'' for the SNES. Several [[strike:bosses]] mayors get renamed: Big Core mkII to Ice Ice, Crystal Core to Monarch, among others. The Vic Viper itself is called "Modulated Artillery Exalter" (or [[FunWithAcronyms M.A.X.]]).

[[SimilarlyNamedWorks Not to be confused]] with the 2003 console [[RolePlayingGame RPG]] ''VideoGame/{{Gladius}}''. Nor with ''VideoGame/Darius'', for that matter - though they are both iconic shoot-em-up franchises.

[[SimilarlyNamedWorks Not to be confused]] with the 2003 console [[RolePlayingGame RPG]] ''VideoGame/{{Gladius}}''.

* NintendoHard: The games are notorious for their high difficulty, due to one particular mechanic: Dying takes away all of your power-ups, leaving you with only the Speed Up highlighted (and that's only if you had a highlight on the power meter upon death in the first place - if you had just enabled a power-up before death, you were ''really'' screwed). The game then expects you to pull yourself through a difficult section with no upgrades except maybe a single Speed Up, and it is quite likely that however many lives you have, you will lose them all. Several arcade games, most notoriously ''Gradius III'', exponentially increase the difficulty by refusing to let you continue.

** ''Gradius Gaiden'': In coop-mode, not only does dying lets you respawn in the same spot, you also get 5 power-ups to get back on your feet. That being said, your friend might steal them. Even in single-player mode, you respawn in level sections where power-ups are given out in generous quantities.

* DownerEnding: ''NEO Imperial'' ends with [[spoiler: the Big Core MK-1 Custom escaping the Lars Empire after destroying the Genocide Core, only to be destroyed by the Force Viper unaware that it went rogue and was trying to escape. The last we see of the Big Core MK-1 Custom is its wreckage [[DeaderThanDead burning up in the atmosphere of a nearby star]].]] This is the only sad ending in the series.

* HiveMind: Bacterion, Gofer, and Zelos in the Gradius Series. Venom has [[spoiler: become one too in Gradius V.]]

* OurDragonsAreDifferent: Eastern-style dragons appear as enemies and bosses in some of the games such as ''Salamander[=/=]Life Force'', ''Gradius II'', ''Gradius III'', ''Gradius IV'', and ''Solar Assault''.

* MyDeathIsJustTheBeginning: Said by the AntiClimaxBoss [[spoiler: who is also the BigBad and the FinalBoss]] in ''Gradius V'', to more or less some degree after he is destroyed.

* ProtagonistWithoutAPast: Outside of the MSX games, the Vic Viper's pilot isn't even named, and it isn't until ''Gradius V'' that he ever finds it necessary to talk to anyone. [[spoiler: And he's just [[HelpYourSelfInTheFuture talking to himself anyway]].]]

* WeHardlyKnewYe: [[spoiler: The Vic Viper pilot in ''Gradius V''.]]

** ''Gradius V'': This game practically combines almost all of the above merciful features, save for spawning power-ups upon dying. The addition of a [[HitboxDissonance tiny hitbox]] for the Vic-Viper is a necessary blessing, considering the massive amounts of enemies, [[BulletHell bullets]], and cramped spaces throughout the levels.

** The Snake Options in ''Gradius III'' are the least used Option style due to their quirky nature. [[note]]The Options move to the opposite direction whenever the Vic-Viper stops moving. For example, if the Vic-Viper moves right and then stop, the Options would swing to the left rather than stay behind the Vic-Viper[[/note]] However, the swinging nature of Snake Options means that the Options become a makeshift whip that allows the Vic-Viper to attack hard-to-reach enemies and boss [[AttackItsWeakPoint weak points]] while firing from a safe distance.

** The Snake Options in ''Gradius III'' are the least used Option style due to their quirky nature. [[note]]The Options move to the opposite direction whenever the Vic-Viper stops moving. For example, if the Vic-Viper is moving right, then the Options would swing to the right rather than stay behind the Vic-Viper[[/note]] However, the swinging nature of Snake Options means that the Options become a makeshift whip that allows the Vic-Viper to attack hard-to-reach enemies and boss [[AttackItsWeakPoint weak points]] while firing from a safe distance.

** The Snake Options in ''Gradius III'' are the least used Option style due to their quirky nature. [[note]]The Options move to the opposite direction whenever the Vic-Viper stops moving. For example, if the Vic-Viper is moving right, then the Options would swing to the right rather than stay behind the Vic-Viper[[/note]] However, the swinging nature of Snake Options means that the Options become a makeshift [[WhipItGood whip]] that allows the Vic-Viper to attack hard-to-reach enemies and boss [[AttackItsWeakPoint weak points]] while firing from a safe distance.

The last ''Gradius'' video game released was ''Gradius [=ReBirth=]'' (ironically enough) in 2009. After that, ''Gradius'' just quietly went off the radar, outside of the aforementioned ''Otomedius''. The series did get a pachislot spinoff in 2011, the series has cameoed in various other Konami games such as ''Pixel Puzzle Collection'' (a ''VideoGame/{{Picross}}''-like game with puzzles depicting elements from and music lifted from various Konami games), the ''VideoGame/{{BEMANI}}'' series (mainly in the form of music remixes), and the second ''VideoGame/ZoneOfTheEnders'' game (where it was depicted as a TransformingMecha) and ports of the games get released from time to time (with the latest being ''Arcade Archives: Gradius III'' in 2020), but don't get your hopes up for a new ''Gradius'' game anytime soon.[[note]]Even ignoring Konami's extremely controversial business practices starting in 2015, ''Gradius'' lost its commercial traction after the 1990s, along with the rest of the shmup genre as three-dimensional games became the new norm. However, there may still be a sliver hope that aside on how Konami has calmed down a little on the controversies and at the 2020's have been releasing compilations of their old games that gained ground in the 8-bit era, which was basically their proven golden age (as shown with either ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'', ''VideoGame/{{Contra}}'' or their ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' games), a ''Gradius'' compilation may be possible and your best bet for modern exposure, but even then, it wasn't Konami's top tier defining franchise even in that age, so the chance is still low.[[/note]]

* BattleshipRaid: Stage 4 of ''Salamander 2'' and the second stage of ''Gradius V''; [[spoiler:you actually run through a mirror version of said battleship in the final stage of the game, minus the boss rush after destroying Venom's eyes, since the game ends immediately on that.]] ''Nemesis III'' has a small one with the boss fight against Queensryche, where after destroying its head, the player must reach to the core by carefully fly into its cavity from the rear while destroying the inner turrets.

** But what about the Gradian government? Before the Northern Cross War that inadvertently killed nearly of the Wreekians, the Gradius government avoided contact with them because they were primitive. After the Northern Cross War, the Gradius government didn't do much at all for the poor Wreekian survivors; they only wanted to use their ESP power. This would put the Gradian government on the [[GrayingMorality grey morality]].

** ''Gradius V'' actually leaves any multiples you have onscreen when you die, and you can fly into them to reclaim them.

* ConvectionSchmonvection: In ''Life Force'' and ''Gradius III'' you fly between two solar surfaces and are totally OK unless you actually get struck by a flare.

* CoolStarship: The Vic Viper, of course, along with its cousins, Lord British, Jade Knight, and Falchion Beta.

* DidNotGetTheGirl: The Prince of Latis (actually named Lord British, like his fighter) spends much of the Salamander OVA's third episode trying to propose to Stephanie, one of the Vic Viper pilots. In the end however, seeing how she and Dan (the other Viper pilot) work, talk and argue with each other convinces him to step back, believing they make a far better couple. He's not too broken up about it either, as he tells his attendants that he'll fall for some other girl in due time.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: One staple of the ''Gradius'' series are of course the variety of big awesome bosses. ''Gradius 1'' however features either environmental hazards or an army of smaller sub-bosses, always followed by a Big Core MK I and the same [[SoundtrackDissonance cheery boss music]] at the end of every level. The only exception are the Stage 6 Nucleus boss and the Brain.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: In the intro cutscene in ''[=ReBirth=]'', Dr. Venom briefs James on his mission of destroying the brain infecting Gradius's moon-computer, and that Venom himself has another mission to do in the meantime. [[spoiler:Venom's "mission" is actually the ''coup d'etat'' that James busts him for at the end of the third loop.]]

* GravityIsPurple: The Falchion β from ''Gradius Gaiden'' has the "Gravity Bullet" as a possible weapon which is basically a purple bullet that explodes into a purple SphereOfDestruction.

** Subverted for Venom at first. Even in Nemesis 2, Venom was a Bacterion emperor but unlike the others, he was ThatOneBoss. But then Venom reappeared in ''Gradius V'' and in that game, now he's a brain that's no weaker than the other Big Bads.

* MyNameIsNotShazam: The final boss music for ''Salamander 2'' is named "Giga's Rage". The final boss itself is actually named ''Doom''.

* NonActionBigBad: The vast majority of villains in the series put up little to no offense when you finally reach them, making it [[ZeroEffortBoss painfully trivial to kill them]]. Of course, at the same time, they're in control of the enemies you've been fighting throughout the game, and their goal is to make sure you don't get to their leader in the first place.

*** Allow four shots per player ship or Option on the screen at once, as opposed to the traditional two shots. (Possibly to mitigate with the game's extreme BulletHell difficulty.)

** A case can also be made for Game Boy ''Nemesis II''/''Gradius: The Interstellar Assault''. While it looks and plays enough ''Gradius'' to not be InNameOnly, it features very little music, enemies, or level themes from the previous titles, is the only game in the entire franchise to feature DirectContinuousLevels and has a final boss that actually fights back (albeit not much) and isn't an immobile brain or core.

* PointOfNoContinues: ''Salamander 2'' locks you out from continuing once you reach the "Experts-only" second loop.[[note]]Which also changes the music of some stages to remixed versions of those from the original Salamander.[[/note]] Downplayed in that it still allows a second player to join in... up to until you clear final stage again or lose all your lives being solo, of course!

* ProtagonistWithoutAPast: Heck, outside of the MSX games, the Vic Viper's pilot isn't even named, and it isn't until ''Gradius V'' that he ever finds it necessary to talk to anyone. [[spoiler: And he's just [[HelpYourSelfInTheFuture talking to himself anyway]].]]

** ''Gradius V'' has huge wormy monsters with vulnerable heads or tails. The ones in the WombLevel are actually [[DegradedBoss downgraded versions]] of ''Gradius Gaiden'''s first boss.

** Speaking of the [[CoolStarship Vic Viper]], the fighter's [[AttackDrones Options]] and their tail-like behavior give the Vic Viper a vaguely serpentine appearance, [[MeaningfulName hence its name]]. The Vic Viper's ally fighters also have these kinds of Options.

** In addition to the power-up Zub Rush before both boss rushes in ''Gradius V'' (with 4 additional Zubs in between each boss), the second-to-last part of Stage 7 has the Vic Viper traversing a series of shafts with power-up lasers. While it comes after a room where one must roll balls to shield off lasers blocking the path (with Zubs, Duckers and turrets making this job harder), there are a ''lot'' of power-up lasers. You will want to be at full power; the next part of the stage is a cramped minefield with more Duckers, and then you have the gunwall boss known as Keeper's Core, a major source of BulletHell and possibly the hardest boss in the game.
** In the Famicom port of ''Gradius II'', destroying Club (the boss of the mechanical base stage) awards a ''massive'' amount of points depending on the current game time, enough to award possibly at least a dozen extra lives. You'll need them, because right after is the final stage, which has [[CheckpointStarvation no checkpoints]].

** Speaking of Classical Mythology, the soundtracks of ''Gradius IV'' are named after Greek[=/=]Roman God(desse)s and Titans.

* TooFastToStop: Activating too many Speed Ups can result in a ship that is nearly impossible to control. Very few games allow taking back Speed Ups; ''Gradius III'' allows you to assign the '!' slot to Speed Down but only if you use Weapon Edit, and ''Gradius V'' changes Speed Up to Initial Speed once you hit maximum speed (thankfully in that game, max speed is actually pretty reasonable).

** Subverted partly in the ''Salamander'' [=OAVs=]. Instead of cells, the Bacterians are living crystals that can turn into any kind of creatures. Maybe Bacterion is a huge Crystal lifeform that can transform into a cell or maybe the Bacterians are cells born in crystals grown on Bacterion's rocky shell?

* WeaponizedExhaust: Booster Core, the first midboss of ''Gaiden'' stage 9, averts this trope in the first loop as its exhaust can't actually hurt you. But in subsequent loops, its exhaust now becomes harmful (signified by the flames turning from a dim and transparent orange to a bright and opaque blue) and ''will'' kill you unless you have a Limit shield on.

* ZeroEffortBoss: Played straight for the most part with the last boss, but averted in ''Gradius III'', ''Salamander 2'', ''Nemesis 2'', ''Solar Assault'' and ''[=NEO/Imperial=]'', where the FinalBoss actually attacks. This is probably because the final level is usually the final boss; all the enemies are controlled by the Big Bad's psychic powers. Some of these final bosses do fire back, but their attacks are painfully easy to avoid; others (such as the the one in ''Gradius Galaxies'') don't attack at all and [[WinsByDoingAbsolutelyNothing will simply self-destruct if you don't do anything]].

* SnakesAreSinister: Absolutely Averted with the Vic Viper, a heroic Gradian star-fighter whose {{Ace Pilot}}s dedicate themselves to protecting the galaxy from Bacterion forces. Played Straight with Zelos, a malevolent PlanetEater who is portrayed as a serpentine DraconicAbomination, at least based on the ''Salamander/Life Force'' art cover.

** Stage 4 of the ''Salamander'' arcade is hard as nails due to fast-moving rocks, volcanic eruptions, and enemies that come out of the background. The background music, on the other hand, is calm and relaxing. It is worth noting that most console adaptations of the game (including the NES Lifeforce) change this song's tempo to make it more upbeat.

* EenieMeenieMinyMoai: Nearly every game has one stage full of these [[IncrediblyLamePun stoners]].

*** Not have a [[EenieMeenieMinyMoai moai]] stage.

* ScienceFantasy: The series routinely weaves in and out of this, especially in terms of some of the game's bosses, as some are prophecized ancient terrors, while others are [[ElementalEmbodiment elemental beings]], like [[OurDragonsAreDifferent dragons]], [[ThePhoenix phoenixes]], and lions ''made of'' fire. Even [[EenieMeenieMinyMoai Moais]] are also recurring enemies and bosses in the series. Other supernatural elements routinely come into play as well, especially in the UsefulNotes/{{MSX}} games where the concept of [[PsychicPowers ESP]] plays a role in the story. To compliment the fantastical side, the series also has fleets of battleships, [[SpiderTank robot spiders]], and alien monsters made of BodyHorror. What other game lets you play as a CoolStarship that battles fiery dragons and battleships with [[EnergyWeapon Frickin' Laser Beams]] and AttackDrones?

* ZeroEffortBoss: Played straight for the most part with the last boss, but averted in ''Gradius III'', ''Salamander 2'', ''Nemesis 2'', ''Solar Assault'' and ''[=NEO/Imperial=]'', where the FinalBoss actually attacks. This is probably because the final level is usually the final boss; all the enemies are controlled by the Big Bad's psychic powers.

* AwesomeButImpractical: The flame thrower weapon in the ''Nemesis'' series. Sure it looks neat, but it has such short range that you have to put yourself in harm's way to get the most of it, and it's practically worthless against Core bosses. To make matters worse, the damage is ''pathetically weak'' due to a GameBreakingBug. Thankfully this was corrected in ''Gradius V'' where the Fire Blaster gets the awesome damage output it deserves.

* InertiaIsACruelMistress: Too many Speed Ups can lead to you running right into the bullets you're trying to dodge.

* DeadlyWalls: Traditionally, touching the environment will kill you as if you had run into a bullet or enemy. However, ''Gaiden'' offers two kinds of shields that defend against this trope: the Guard shield which allows your ship to bounce off of walls (although getting wedged into a space too small will still kill you), and the Limit shield which for 3 seconds offers complete invincibility and lets you pass through walls safely.

* FunWithAcronyms: The final boss of ''Gaiden'' is named O.V.U.M. ([[UltimateEvil Original Visions of the Ultimate Monsters]]).

* UltimateEvil: The FinalBoss of ''Gaiden'', O.V.U.M. ('''O'''riginal '''V'''isions of the '''U'''ltimate '''M'''onsters), according to Website/TheOtherWiki, may be "The power of ultimate evil condensed into physical form".

* WikiRule: [[http://gradius.wikia.com/wiki/Gradius_Wiki Yes, it has one]].

* DysonSphere: Zelos's size in the NES version of Lifeforce, although even this is implied to not come anywhere close to it since ''outer space itself can be seen inside of its stomach, stars in place and all.'' This is simply the closest thing Wiki/TVtropes has to describing it.

* UltimateEvil: The FinalBoss of ''Gaiden'', O.V.U.M. ('''O'''riginal '''V'''isions of the '''U'''ltimate '''M'''onsters), according to Wiki/TheOtherWiki, may be "The power of ultimate evil condensed into physical form".