Characters / Gain Ground

For an action game, Gain Ground has lots of characters to choose from as you rescue them throughout the game. Time to introduce the heroes, shall we?

Heroes are listed in the order they appear on the character select roster (Starting with the spears and ending with the boomerangs), not in the order they appear in-game as hostages. This is due to the fact that depending on weather you are playing co-op, more hostages appear than in single player, and thus some characters can be obtained earlier in the game. Furthermore, Hard mode simply has no hostages, and only provides you one of each character instead. The order on the roster remains constant in all game modes, and it categorizes the characters based off of their weapons as well, making it the easiest method of sorting them.

Spears and Archers

The game has two spear-throwing characters and two Archer characters. All four characters can hit the high ground with their special weapon and move faster than any other character in the game, but the archers sacrifice a small bit of that speed in exchange for better range instead.

Athra

He is one of the three warriors sent in by the United Earth Federation to save the scientists who were captured during testing in addition to the other members of previous rescue teams trapped by the Gain Ground system. He is a spear warrior with a short range eight-directional spear as his regular attack and another short range eight-directional spear as his special- but this one can hit targets on high ground. He works best as a rescuer due to his speed, and is one of the fastest characters in the game.

• Fragile Speedster: He, along with Gascon, are tied for the fastest characters in the game. In some cases, they can outrun enemy projectiles, but their smaller range and one-hit death results in him best being used to rescue hostages when short on time.
• Javelin Thrower: His attacks are this.

Gascon

A spearman who's trapped in the Gain Ground system. He's the counterpart for Athra, as his regular shot is nearly identical to Athra, but with slightly better range in both his standard and special weapons. His special shot is a spear that can only shoot straight ahead, but has slightly better range and can hit targets on high ground.

• Fragile Speedster: Equally as fast as Athra, used for escaping with hostages in a pinch. However, his strafing attack makes it easier to attack whilst fleeing as well.
• Javelin Thrower: His attacks are this.

Verbal

One of the warriors who's held prisoner in the Gain Ground system. He's an archer whose bow and arrow has good range and it's able to go in 8 directions. His special attack is the same as his normal one, but can take down enemies on higher platforms.

• Expy: He looks like a dwarf archer straight out of Dungeons&Dragons.
• Game-Breaker: Borderline example. He's very fast, his arrows are able to go over obstacles to kill enemies on the other side and he has a good rate of fire. Not to mention, he's the only character capable of hitting enemies in extremely hard-to-reach high up places since he's one of the few characters whose weapon can shoot the high ground from any direction that are out of range for other high-ground hitters. The only other character that might possibly be able to pull this off is Robby, but he's a slow character that can only shoot one rocket at a time to take out high enemies from any distance. Despite that advantage, even Robby doesn't work sometimes if there isn't enough room for his rocket to take off properly, making Verbal the better choice for most stages.

Mars

Another archer. He's nearly identical to Verbal gameplay wise, except that he's a bit faster and his arrows have more range, though his special attack can only shoot forwards.

• Expy: Many have drawn the similarities between him and Rambo, or perhaps Hercules.
• Game-Breaker: Bordeline example. As mentioned above, he's more agile and although he can only shoot straight ahead with his special, his arrows have very good range and can go over obstacles a little easier. Besides, only being able to shoot forwards with his special means he can strafe enemies or attack while retreating. In two-player mode, he and Verbal can team up to dominate any stage with a good level of ease.

Magic Knights

The Magic Knights are a set of four Magic users in the game. Magic users share the same standard attack- a magic missile. Their special attacks are based on their element, and none of them can attack enemies on the high ground. However, all of their standard and special attacks do double damage compared to an attack from other characters, such as Athra's spears or Johnny's bullets.

Shared Tropes:

• Magic Missile: Every Magic Knight's standard attack is a simple fireball bullet which acts the same as any other standard weapon, expect they do double damage. In fact, some versions of the games have it listed in their manuals as a "Magic Missile" attack.

Fire Knight

One of four magic knights trapped in the Gain Ground system. His element is fire. He's able to shoot a fire bomb straight ahead and set it as a trap to kill enemies that blunder into it.

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• Kill It with Fire: See above. He can also shoot fire bolts as his normal attack.

Water Knight

One of four magic knights trapped in the Gain Ground System. His element is water. He can shoot a fountain of water to momentarily stop enemies in their tracks, causing them to spin around and be unable to attack.

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• Making a Splash: He casts a water spell to stop an enemy for a few seconds. Useful for finishing them off or rescuing other characers while making an escape. Also helpfull with enemies that like to disappear and reappear elsewhere, making them easy targets should one connect.
• Our Elves Are Different: He certainly looks like an elf, if his character art is any indication.
• Prongs of Poseidon: Matching his use of water magic, he carries a trident.

Zaemon

One of four magic knights trapped in the Gain Ground system. His element is wind. He calls upon a whirlwind that spins around the battlefield to take down surrounding foes.

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• Difficult, but Awesome: His whirlwind attack spins around the map, and after it takes down the enemy, it bounces off a different path. On some maps, it can be difficult to tell where it will go once it bounces off an enemy, or a wall or an obstacle. But with enough patience and practice, he can take down lots of enemies all the while staying away from danger.
• Samurai: One of the more exotic looking characters in the game, and he definitely rocks the look.
• Magic Knight: One of four, even though he appears to be more of a Samurai. His name is also the only one not to call him a Knight.
• Not the Intended Use: Probably has some of the most niche cases of any character in the game:
  • When fleeing an enemy that is charging at you, launching a tornado will most likely cause it to turn around and hit whatever is directly behind you just due to it's regular path being where you once were.
  • Tornados spawn a slight bit in front of the direction Zaemon is facing, allowing them to spawn on the opposite side of walls. Even if you don't do this on purpose, the tornado eventually gets fast enough to just clip straight through walls and enemies without changing course too much.
  • Zaemon's tornado bounces off of any enemy, and if lucky, can hit the same enemy multiple times. However, this also means that it can bounce off of the inside of a large enemy's hitbox multiple times over. This makes most bosses susceptible to it hitting them fifteen times within the span of a second (if done correctly), combined with magic being double damage means an instant kill. This makes especially easy the tank in stage four, where it can literally run over a well-timed tornado for you, putting it inside the hitbox with minimal effort.
• Odd Name Out: Let's see here... "Water Knight", "Fire Knight", "Glow Knight", and... "Wind Knight"? Nope, the manual refers to him as Zaemon, making him the only magic character that doesn't follow the trend of being named after their element plus the word "Knight".

Glow Knight

One of four magic knights trapped in the Gain Ground system. His element is light. He casts a cluster of four light orbs to protect him in close quarters while taking down foes when breaking through enemy lines.

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• Difficult, but Awesome: A little tricky to use, since the orbs move around him, and he cannot cast them again until they're used up. If a skilled player uses his special attack wisely, he can take down many foes both from a distance and up close.
• Light Is Good: Definitely one of the good guys, and it's his element.

Gun Wielders

With average speed and better range than most classes, guns act as a good way to clear out large hordes of enemies without risking more precious characters. Each also has special attacks that vary up how they fight, making each better in different situations. However, none of them can shoot the high ground.

Shared Tropes:

• Guns Are Worthless: Honestly, compared to the versatility of other characters in the game, these guys are only secondary choices. Magic Knights are stronger, Archers are faster, and even the Heavy Weapons have longer range and higher damage output. On top of all that, none of the Gun Wielders can hit high ground targets. Their "Strategy" is dependent on on a level having zero high ground and minimal obstacles so that they can just run through gun down everything in their path as quickly as possible.
  • Experienced players will recognize this weakness and usually opt for someone with more versatility like Verbal or Fire Knight to do the job (who are faster and can deal more damage to tougher enemies respectively).
  • Their best use probably involves sending them on a suicide run to punch as big of a hole in the enemy's front lines as possible when the odds of loosing a good character are too risky, and then bringing out said good character to carry the fallen gunner to the exit and eventually clean up the rest of the enemies.

Johnny

One of the three warriors sent in to save the people and the rescue teams from the Gain Ground system. He's a trooper who can attack enemies from a safe distance by using his rifle. His special attack can only shoot at one direction, being straight forward, but this allows him to strafe enemies whilst also attacking any direction with his standard pistol.

• Good-Looking Privates
• The Gunslinger: He can use his pistol for regular attacks while he shoots his rifle with his special shot.

Professor

A counterpart of Johnny, he can use a sniper rifle for long shots as a normal attack and he can execute a spin attack to defeat enemies to the left and right.

• Badass Bookworm: Why his name is "Professor" is unknown. If it's due to him being an actual professor^note Like one of the creators of the Gain Ground system who was taken hostage, then it is a straight example.
• His Name Really Is "Barkeep": I mean, his only listed name is "Professor". Whether or not he is one is still up for debate, though.
• Non-Indicative Name: Some could question why he's called Professor. It could be argued that he was one of the scientist who originally built the Gain Ground system, but that would fail to explain his experience with his weaponry^note seeing that humanity was currently suffering a crisis where everyone forgot how to defend themselves due to world peace.
• Spin Attack: He does a full 360-degree spin on the spot when using his special attack. It's mostly flashy, and other characters can be more effective in some cases, but it's fun nonetheless^note but it is good at taking down enemies in narrow horizontal hallways and ones to the left and right of narrow doorways.

Kou

A trooper who's armed with an assault rifle. Nearly identical to Johnny in functionality, he can shoot enemies from a long distance and strafe with his special attack. The main difference is that his assault rifle makes his attacks have a larger hit box.

• More Dakka: What his attacks look like. Basically, they have a bigger hitbox that makes it a little easier to take down enemies en masse.

Kid

A soldier who can also use an assault rifle. The counterpart of Kou and nearly identical to Professor functionally speaking, he also executes a spinning attack that lets him fire a shot on both sides, which is useful for defeating enemies that try to attack from multiple angles at once.

• More Dakka: Same as with Kou.
• Spectacular Spinning: His special attack, which also helps him weave around attacks while taking down enemies at the same time.

Heavy Weapons

Strong, slow tanks. Heavy Weapon characters are a utility box of long range and high-damage output. They are the slowest in the game, but the leverage they provide, especially in the last world, make them almost a necessity for any play through. Their primary weapons are all a simple pistol weapon with lower than average range.

Mud Puppy

A slow guy with goggles and a plasma cannon. His special attack only fires forward and only hits the low ground. This makes him optimal for taking down enemies too dangerous to get close to. In addition, it deals three times the normal damage of a basic weapon, making him the optimal choice for many bosses, especially in the early game.

• BFG: His plasma cannon is so big, it's clearly visible from any angle of his sprite.
• Necessary Drawback: His speed is crippled to the lowest possible in the game to compensate for his insanely powerful weapon. Furthermore, his weapon can only have one shot on the screen at a time, and only shoots forwards, thus he cannot hit enemies charging him from the side as easily.

General

The slow guy with a flamethrower. His weapon is special in the fact that you hold it down instead of just pressing it once, for as long as you hold the button, the fires spew in whatever direction you're facing^note Of course, because he holds it in his right hand, his left side is entirely vulnerable.

• Awesome, but Impractical: While it may seem overpowered to rush in and burn anyone that gets in your way, his weapon fires off-center from his body, has a crappy range, takes too long to hit maximum range, and becomes less effective the more you're forced to turn. He can't hit the high ground, he can't strafe, and he's so slow that even taking on enemies in the first levels using only him becomes a Self-Imposed Challenge.
• Blatant Lies: The manual proclaims him as "The Most Powerful". Let's just say that in practice, he's not worth the effort.
• Expy: Comprable to M. Bison, if not for the hat alone^note  although it mostly only has the look when playing as Player 1, given that his hat and uniform turn blue when controlled by Player 2.
  • That said, Street Fighter II came out in 1991, whereas the original arcade version of Gain Ground came out in 1988- which featured the same depiction of General. Even the Japanese release of the Sega Genesis version of Gain Ground came out a full month before M. Bison's debut game!
• His Name Really Is "Barkeep": "General" is his given name in the manual(s). It remains questionable whether or not he is one, though.
• Joke Item: Borderline example, seeing how useless his flamethrower is. It has almost zero utility, and anything it CAN do, other weapons can do better:
  • It can be used to take out enemies that disappear and reappear regularly, by simply covering the spot they will reappear at with flames. However, literally anyone else can do this by rapidly shooting. Furthermore, Fire Knight and Water Knight can do the same thing with their special weapons without the need to spam the attack button(s), and even deal double damage in the process.
  • The laser turrets in Round 5 stage 8 are slightly easier to deal with using his flamethrower at a diagonal angle. However, getting him past the initial guards in the stage can be rather tricky. Even if we ignore the guards, any player that can position themselves precisely enough can attack the turrets horizontally without any risk, at the cost of spending extra time getting into position^note which is made equal due to General's already slow movement speed.
  • Even if one considers using him as Cannon Fodder, faster characters can simply make more out of Mercy Invincibility than him since it allows them to ram more enemies.

Robby

The guy with a fishbowl for a head. His special weapon is a rocket that flies any distance and can hit any enemy on the high ground. Good for cleaning up after the first character takes out the main defenses.

• BFG: His missile launcher is so big, it's nearly all of the picture he's feature in. In fact, it's rather difficult to tell where the launcher stops and where he starts. Due to the vague picture, some believe he's actually just a full-on robot, or at a minimum a cyborg.
• Loophole Abuse: His missile launcher has a special property- if a stage has no high ground that enemies can stand on, his missiles hit enemies on the low ground. However, this also means that his missiles now fly straight through low walls (such as sandbags), making some stages as easy as camping a corner and sniping everyone from a distance.

Cyber

The guy that looks like Iron Man, and/or RoboCop. His special weapon fires a spread of six missiles on the low ground, making him good for destruction en mass. Especially useful for later stages when the enemies are best faced at at distance. Also good for hitting around tight and odd angles, given precise aiming.

• BFG: Large, but not as large as some of the others.
• Spread Shot: His main gimmick.
• Expy: As noted above, Iron Man, and/or RoboCop.

Grenades and Boomerangs

Similar to the Spears and Archers, there are two Grenade users and two Boomerang users. This category contains all of the women in the character roster, and is comprised of only women. The grenades can hit the high ground, whereas the Boomerangs travel in a nice arc back to their starting position. All four of these characters have a secondary weapon of a pistol.

Honey

The counterpart of Betty, she has green hair and shades. Her special weapon is grenades, which she can throw in any direction. The grenades can hit the high ground, but given their poor range, are better suited for hitting enemies hiding behind short walls.

• Throw Down the Bomblet: The entire point of her character.
• Cool Shades: And she is rockin' them!

Betty

One of the three warriors sent by the United Earth Federation. Her grenades are identical to Honey's, but they can only be thrown forwards^note Which means she can strafe enemies and/or retreat whilst attacking.

• Throw Down the Bomblet: The entire point of her character.

Valkyrie

Valkyrie wields boomerangs which can be thrown in all 8 directions. She can have two out at a time, and the boomerangs alternate between curving left and curving right. The boomerangs are great for hitting around corners, have great forward range before turning, and can make good coverage to hit enemies charging you from weird angles as you flee, since the boomerangs return to your previous location (which is most likely to be the enemy's new location). Furthermore, for some reason, they deal double damage, just like magic.

• Battle Boomerang
• Non-Indicative Name: She's called Valkyrie, though she does not look the part, what with the animal hide she's wearing.

Mam

The counterpart of Valkyrie whose specialty is also boomerangs. Her boomerangs behave identically to Valkyrie's, but she can only shoot them forwards. This also allows her to attack whilst fleeing.

• Battle Boomerang