Barracora is a Physical Pinball Table released in 1982 by Williams Electronics. It was designed by Roger Sharpe, Steve Epstein, and Barry Oursler, with artwork by Doug Watson.
When pinball enthusiasts talk about "pinball art", Barracora is a name that frequently surfaces, as the eye-catching merwoman is the first and most memorable aspect of the game. Drawing inspiration from H. R. Giger's works (most notably the painting "Li I"), Doug Watson drew a model's facenote morphing into a predatory fish against a landscape of teeth, then dubbed her "Barracuda". Williams' President Mike Stroll loved the artwork but thought the name was too harsh, so the woman (and the game) was quickly rechristened "Barracora".
Barracora demonstrates the following tropes:
- Alien Hair: The merwoman on the cover seems to have tentacles for hair, alongside other objects that look like horns and lizards.
- Character Title: Barracora is the name of the character laid out under the pinball table.
- Exposed Extraterrestrials: The fish-like Barracora appears to be wearing no clothing in the illustrations that adorn the game.
- Futuristic Pyramid: The playfield features an underwater pyramid with barracuda and Barracora swimming around it.
- Half-Human Hybrid: Barracora appears to be some combination of fish alien and human woman.
- My Nayme Is: The primary character is "Barracora", not "Barracuda".
- Nipple and Dimed: The Barracora have no visible nipples despite having exposed breasts.
- Nonhumans Lack Attributes: Enforced Trope; Barracora does appear partially naked, but seeing as the table is meant to be played by all ages, she lacks any sort of nipples.
- Non-Mammal Mammaries: Even if Barracora lacks nipples, she still has a womanly figure unfamiliar to any species of fish.
- No Plot? No Problem!: Being a pinball table, there's no real connection between the Barracora character and the gameplay itself.
- One-Gender Race: The only Barracora shown are female.
- Our Mermaids Are Different: VERY different, seeing as Barracora is an alien creature with predatory fish coming out of her hair.
- Protagonist Title: Barracora is the only character associated with the game, so her name took over as the title.
- Spelling Bonus: B-A-RR-A-C-O-R-A note must be spelled in order to receive the maximum bonus.
- Under the Sea: All the tables played throughout the game have an aquatic theme to match the title character's fish-like qualities.
- Word Purée Title: "Barracora" is a mutated form of "barracuda" that doesn't really mean anything, other than being a character name.
