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The Fighter, also known as the Ogre Header and the Blast Fighter (among other names), is the main protagonist of the classic 1981 shoot 'em up Galaga and its subsequent sequels. It is the second starfighter developed by the United Galaxy Space Force (or UGSF) following the success of its predecessor the Galaxip, from which it is a major improvement from the latter, as it overcomes many of its flaws when battling against the Galaga.
The Fighter is holds a legendary status in the shoot 'em up genre, arguably surpassing that of its predecessor.
History[]
Galaga[]
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In the year 2281, the alien forces known as Galaga were infuriated after finding that its forces were defeated by the Galaxians two years prior, in response, they send a larger, more advanced invasion force to confront their old foes, sparking what would become known as the second Galaxian/Galaga war. Following the breakout of the conflict, the United Galaxy Space Force for its part develops a more powerful starfighter that corrects upon many of the flaws that the Galaxip possessed, christened simply as the Fighter, the new spacecraft is subsequently launched to engage the Galaga in combat, taking advantage of their new abilities to its disposal, most notably the Boss Galaga's tractor beams.
The Fighter battles through numerous hordes of Zako, Goei, and Boss Galaga, and despite being outnumbered, the craft manages to crush the Galaga invasion forces, even saving the Galaxip during ambush at one point. Within three months, the Galaga's forces become too weakened to continue fighting and are forced to retreat once more. Following the UGSF's second victory, the Fighter is subsequently kept into service, with its arsenal further improved upon in case the Galaga returns in the future; this prediction would come true soon enough...
Gaplus[]
Following their previous two failures, the Galaga's forces evolve into the Gaplus and rebuild their empire from the ground up. Using Queen Gaplus to lead their armies, they launch a new invasion against Earth for a third time in 2283. Earth is caught off-guard and is put at a disadvantage against the newly-mututad army of its old foes. Just as it appears Earth was about to fall, the UGSF launches a modified version of the Fighter, called the Ogre Header. This new variant of the iconic starfighter is built with a new ability called the Imprisonment Beam, which is able to capture Gaplus soldiers and use them against their own army.
Using its new weapon to its advantage, the Ogre Header manages to overwhelm the Gaplus' forces, crippling their army until they have no choice but to retreat. The fighter returns back to Earth, claiming yet another victory for the UGSF.
Galaga '88[]
Five years after their previous defeat, the Galaga return, this time they have evolved to allow them to use the ability to jump dimensions that they obtained from a special technology called Icems. They use this new technology to invade Earth for a fourth time, but once again are repelled by the UGSF, however the Galaga manage to retreat by means of dimensional holes. As a result, five different dimensions are created, one of which destroys the Galaga's home planet unintentionally. In response, the UGSF launches another variant of the Fighter called the Blast Fighter, which has the ability to merge not one, but two captured fighters together to substantially increase its firepower like never before.
The fighter proceeded to assault the Galaga's forces in the other four dimensions, where it proceeds to decimate each of the fleets stationed in each one. Following each fleets' destruction, the Blast Fighter then travels to its final stronghold, where it proceeds to battle and destroy the Commander of Galaga military. With their leader out of the way, the fighter returns back to its original dimension as the Galaga are left in disrepair yet again.
There are four Galaga leaders awaiting for Blast Fighter at the end of Blast's adventure to fight. Depending on which leaders Blast manages to defeat, Blast will receive four different ending (like Darius):
- Ending no. 4: this ending occurs when Blast defeats Galaga King and demolishes the revived planet Galaga. After the victory, a message transmits from a female pilot who fought alongside with the protagonist pilot. She says now that the mission is over, she requests the player to come to her house. From now on, she wants to know the player not as a comrade-in-arms, but as a man and a woman - effectively asking him for a date.
- Ending no. 3: this ending occurs when Blast reaches dimension 3 and defeats Galaga commander of dimension 3. After Galaga army is destroyed, the peace is returned to the universe. A message transmits from an afterlife by a fallen Galagan grunt. Even though he died, and his race defeated, he is just glad that the war is over. Though life in the battlefield was painful for him, so was the Blast pilot. Then the alien grunt proceeds to complain about bad food qualities, no girls to enjoy with, etc in war zone.
- Ending no. 2: this ending occurs when Blast defeats Zako General in dimension 2. After Galaga army is destroyed, the peace is returned to the universe. But is reality that simple? A message transmits from a wounded Galagan survivor who bitterly tells his story - he blames the destruction of his home on the Zako General. The grunt was conscripted to fight because he was told planet Galaga was in peril. All wars have their share of victims.
- Ending no. 1: this ending occurs when Blast defeats Galaga commander in dimension 1. Although Galaga military and its homeworld were destroyed, they rebuilt their strength and challenged humanity 7 years later. Though they were once again defeated, has Galaga truly been vanquished for good? The pilot of Blast Fighter cannot help but wonder that someday Galaga will rise up and terrorize the universe once again...
Galaga: Destination Earth[]
The Galaga eventually rebuilds its forces, and proceeds to launch yet another invasion, but this time, they don't limit their target to just Earth, but also invade other celestial bodies in the Solar System such as Saturn and Mars. Once again, the UGSF launches a new version of the Fighter to travel to each of the sites they Galaga have invaded.
The Fighter travels to each site, where it proceeds to destroy both the Galaga forces and their machinery stationed at each location. After crushing their forces on Earth following their failed attempt to render the planet uninhabitable, it proceeds to the unnamed planetoid from which their hives are headquartered. The Fighter destroys the hives, which gives the UGSF the chance to nuke the object, destroying it entirely and thwarting another Galagan invasion.
Galaga Wars[]
The Fighter returns alongside other veterans from Namco shoot 'em ups. Once again, the United Galaxy Space Force deploys this craft to fight off the Galaga in yet another war. The craft has now been updated, as in addition to its standard laser cannon, the Fighter is now implemented with a new arsenal of weapons to better its odds against the Galaga. The Fighter travels to eleven sectors were it battles against various waves of Galaga aliens, as well as giant motherships that act as bosses, all the while rescuing captured fighters. Eventually, it comes to a black hole designated Ross 256 (a reference to the "final" level of Galaga), where it battles an endless horde of Galagans...
Weapons[]
The Fighter is armed with a single weapon in the form of a laser cannon. This particular weapon is a major improvement upon the one used by its predecessor the Galaxip, as it can now fire up to two shots at a time that move at a much faster speed. A shot from the laser cannon can instantly destroy a single Zako or Goei, but requires two shots in order to destroy a Boss Galaga.
The Fighter also possesses the ability to fuse with any fighter that was previously captured by the Boss Galaga's tractor beam. Successfully rescuing a captured craft will effectively double the firepower of the Fighter, but will also increase its hitbox. If the craft is hit by enemy fire or collides with an enemy, the half that makes contact will be destroyed, and the Fighter will be reverted back to its normal state. In Galaga '88, this ability is enhanced to allow the craft to fuse with two crafts, which in turn triples its firepower.
In Galaga Wars, the arsenal of the Fighter is updated. In addition to its refined laser cannon, it is now capable of using a new set of weapons that act as temporary power-ups.
- Jumbo Shot - fires a more powerful variant of the normal laser cannon, which in addition to being larger and fired at a faster rate, has the ability to penetrate through multiple enemies at a time, allowing it to destroy entire formations and columns of Galaga entirely.
- Magnet - more of a supportive tool rather than a weapon, when activated a magnetic field will surround the Fighter, collecting any coins (the in-game currency) with is nearby radius for a limited time.
- Turret - summons a small turret in front of the Fighter, which proceeds to target and fire upon any nearby Galagas that approach it.
- Missile Barrage - fires a barrage of missiles at a fire rate that is faster than the normal laser cannon. The missiles will proceed to home onto any nearby enemies, destroying them instantly.
In addition, the Blast Fighter variant from Galaga '88 also appears as an unlock able craft. Its arsenal is slightly different from its original counterpart.
- Jumbo Shot - fires a more powerful variant of the normal laser cannon, which in addition to being larger and fired at a faster rate, has the ability to penetrate through multiple enemies at a time, allowing it to destroy entire formations and columns of Galaga entirely.
- Plasma Barrier - creates a energy barrier that covers roughly 1/3 of the width of the field of vision, blocking out enemy fire and destroy any Galagans that come in contact with it for a temporarily duration.
- Twin Laser - the Blast Fighter fires two lasers at once that came instantly destroy most enemies, including Boss Galaga.
- Circle Barrage - fires a volley of projectiles in all directions around the Blast Fighter, destroying anything it hits.
Trivia[]
- Though the Fighter is frequently referred to as the Gyaraga, the Gyaraku , or the Galaga Fighter, these names are misleading, as Galaga refers to the aliens that the Fighter is battling across the series.