[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/abadox_the_deadly_inner_war_u_000.png]]
''Abadox: The Deadly Inner War'' is a ShootEmUp developed (in part) by Creator/{{Natsume}} for the Platform/NintendoEntertainmentSystem in 1989 and published in the US by Creator/MiltonBradley of all companies in 1990.

The game's plot involves the planet [[TitleDrop Abadox]] being attacked in the year 5012 by [[PlanetEater Parasitis]], a techno-organic horror that manages to obliterate nearly the entire defense fleet of Abadox, save for a single ship, piloted by Second Lieutenant Nazal (Nazar in Japan). Nazal goes ''[[FantasticVoyagePlot into]]'' Parasitis--not just to continue the attack, but to save [[SaveThePrincess Princess Maria]] who was swallowed whole by it.

The story is a lot different and darker in the Japanese version, likely due to Milton Bradely toning it down for the American market. In the year 5012 of the Essler Calendar, the planetoid-beast Parasitis, [[WasOnceAMan thought to have been an unknown person who harbored Parasite X which ultimately turned them into it]], is approaching Earth, and no one wants its spawn to rain down on the planet with the kind of death toll that would result. The Earth Allied Forces send a unit of their best men and technology to destroy it...but they're all killed, save for Nazar. As he's mourning them ''and'' [[TheLostLenore his lover Maria, a previous victim of Parasitis]], he catches a glimpse of the "Mother Alien" at the entity's core. This, somehow, restores his resolve to destroy Parasitis--which feels to him like a fight against the great devil Abaddon...

The game is notable for being really gruesome for Platform/{{NES}} standards, and it's often compared to ''[[VideoGame/{{Gradius}} Life Force]]'' due to its similar organic themes and story (well, the American version as least, the story is very different in the Japanese original, which was called ''Salamander''). ''Abadox'' was also notorious for its [[NintendoHard horrendous difficulty]], even for a game of this genre.
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!This game provides examples of:

* AllTheWorldsAreAStage: DownplayedTrope. The final stage has you making a hasty escape through Parasitis's innards, with the maze you must quickly navigate incrementally taking on the appearance of most of the previous areas you fought through.
* AnuscapePlan: It's not obvious unless you're paying attention, but one might notice your final escape is through a winding, vaguely intestinal-looking path and an orifice that doesn't look like the mouth you came in through.
* AttackItsWeakPoint: Most of the bosses have a "sweet spot" that needs to be shot.
* BittersweetEnding: Nazar beats the Parasitis core, rescues Maria, they make it out and the EldritchAbomination is annihilated, but so is their home planet. On top of that, [[spoiler:[[ParanoiaFuel Maria may still harbor Parasite X.]]]]
* {{Bowdlerise}}: Milton Bradley censored references to [[TheLegionsOfHell Abaddon]], and instead justified the title (originally a combination of that demon's name and the "Parasite X" that started the whole mess) by making Parasitis's first victim a small planet [[TitleDrop named Abadox]], with Maria the erstwhile Princess of the place, rather than just Nazal's lover. [[spoiler: The Abaddon reference makes ''a lot'' of sense once you realize Parasitis [[TheLegionsOfHell is demonic in nature]], no less--probably something else Milton Bradley didn't want to get into a scandal with.]] And, of course, the captive Maria was nude in the Japanese version, in which she was clothed in the American version.
** Changing "Nazar" to "Nazal" may also be a case of this. [[spoiler:"Nazar" is how you start the word "Nazareth", as in the hometown of [[{{Christianity}} Saint Joseph]]. Maria is a variant of Miriam/Mary. Yeah, it looks like you're fighting TheAntichrist--originally Nazar and Maria's unborn child that Parasite X possessed.]]
* BraggingRightsReward: Sitting through the credits and starting a new game grants you invincibility. You know, after you've proven that you don't need it (there is a button code to enable it on a first playthrough, though).
* CollapsingLair: The final stage has no enemies; you must instead navigate your way out of Parasitis before it blows up.
* [[DigitalBikini Digital Kimono]]: Maria is naked in the Japanese version. This obviously wasn't the case in the American version.
* EldritchAbomination: Parasitis qualifies as it. Sure, it's primarily a PlanetEater, but speaking biologically, this thing '''''should not be'''''. It doesn't help that in the original Japanese story, the attack on the mother Parasitis is likened to attacking [[LegionsOfHell Abaddon, the destroyer of worlds]]. And the final boss is emblazoned with [[RuleOfSymbolism the picture of a horned humanoid torso]]. The Japanese story even alleges that Parasitis [[WasOnceAMan used to be]] ''[[WasOnceAMan human]]''. [[spoiler: In which case, Nazar and Maria's [[FetusTerrible unborn child]] was the most likely template.]]
* EternalEngine: Stages 5 and 6 are what's left of the hospital vessel the Parasitis originally subsumed. In the Japanese, Parasitis constructed the machinery itself, within itself.
* EvilIsVisceral: The game is ''full'' of this trope, being one long WombLevel.
* EvolvingWeapon: Collecting power-ups adds upgrades to Nazal's laser gun and rocket launcher.
* EyesDoNotBelongThere: Eyes are everywhere inside Parasitis.
* FacelessEye: One of the enemies in the first stage, and the miniboss of the penultimate stage.
* FlamingSkulls: An enemy in the first stage.
* FlunkyBoss:
** The penultimate boss only attacks if its flanking eyes are present. If the flanking eyes are destroyed, it's a sitting duck.
** The final boss has two minions attack from behind. This angle of approach makes them hard to take out.
* GiantEnemyCrab: The miniboss of stage 4.
* HardLevelsEasyBosses: In almost any boss battle, there's one spot on the screen where you can sit and shoot all day without fear of getting hit yourself. The parts ''leading up'' to that fight are pure BulletHell.
* {{Gorn}}: One of the goriest games on the NES. Even the logo is covered in blood!
* HeartbeatSoundtrack: Toward the end of stage 4 as you approach the Cilia Monster.
* HumongousMecha: The boss of stage 5 is a robot who's about five times the player character's size.
* KingMook: The miniboss of stage 4 is a larger version of the crabs you encounter throughout the level.
* MeaninglessLives: Losing all your lives only results in your score being reset. You don't even lose your checkpoint. However, since this means you'll have to go through the second half of a stage with no power-ups, this adds to the game's difficulty.
* MirrorBoss: The miniboss of stage 5 consists of three robots who are about the same size as the player character and use the same weapon.
* NintendoHard: The last few stages dip into BulletHell territory ''without the tiny hitbox that makes most BulletHell games easier than they look.''
* OneBulletAtATime: All the player's weapons are limited to either one or two shots or a single "spread" on the screen at a time.
* PlanetEater: Parasitis in the Milton Bradley version. It's more of a GenericDoomsdayVillain in the Japanese, [[spoiler: although potentially also TheAntichrist.]]
* RingsOfDeath: A weapon not available until stage 3 fires giant rings.
* SaveThePrincess: Only in the American version. This was absent in the Japanese version as Maria is not the princess, but Nazal's lover. She's even FloatingInABubble!
* SmashingHallwayTrapsOfDoom: Appears in the first part of stage 6. The single-piece crusher is almost as tall as what can be shown on screen.
* TrialAndErrorGameplay: Without sheer luck, there is no way you will dodge the hands in stage 2 or the phoenixes in stage 6 the first time you play.
* UnintentionallyUnwinnable: If the player is using the in-game invincibility cheat, and is latched onto by one of the grasping creatures that can attach to your ship in the second and third to last level, it becomes possible to get stuck at the boss fight. The player cannot position themselves high enough on the screen to shoot the boss, and cannot die or get rid of the creature limiting their movement.
* WasOnceAMan: The Japanese version {{implie|dTrope}}s this with Parasitis, having once been [[spoiler:Nazal and Maria's unborn baby infected by Parasite X.]]
* WombLevel: You're inside a PlanetEater for most of the game.
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