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The Vic Viper (ビックバイパー in Japanese) is the name of the main protagonist starfighter in Gradius series by Konami. The craft has been at the player's control in almost ten different titles, making it the series' flagship model and mascot. The ship has been renowned for both its remarkable adaptability and unique twin-pronged fuselage. The first Busou Shinki design competition, Bokushin(ボク神), champion was inspired by Vic Viper.(Anubis Version, from Zone of Enders), a sentient version of the ship later went on to star in the Parodius series.
The Vic Viper's popularity has made the craft one of the most recognizable player-controlled spacecrafts in the Shoot 'em up genre, gaining it an iconic status amongst other recognizable crafts such as the R-Crafts from R-Type, the Silver-Hawks from Darius, and the Fire LEOs from Thunder Force.
Description[]
The Vic Viper was created by the Gradius Empire as a means to counter the Bacterian Empire from invading their home planet (and solar system). The starfighter is built in with an array of weapons ranging from a standard cannon, to guided missiles and a laser. The space craft is also capable of producing up to four energy orbs called Phantoms that follow behind Vic Viper as the craft navigates space. In later installments, the starfighter can have its weapon setup modified with preset weapon setups or even ones created by the player's choice.
History[]
Gradius[]

Somewhere in the galaxy, a beautiful, peaceful Gradius has thrived peacefully for many years. However that all changed when an omnicidal force known as the Bacterian Empire abruptly ended that peaceful existence by launching a war against the planet. In order to avoid an imminent defeat, the Gradius Empire sets its sights on its last hope: a small, but nimble temporal starfighter called the Vic Viper. Its mission: travel to the main source of the Bacterians, an enemy fortress called Xaerous and destroy its core.
After visiting several different planets including the volcano-filled planet Eioneus and a world containing a sentient, hostile species called Moai. The Vic Viper locates Xaerous and infiltrates it. The Vic Viper manages to bypass its tight security defenses before it finally reaches the power source, a large, body horror called the Xaerous Brain. The starfighter manages to destroy the brain and in turn defeat the Bacterian forces, causing a chain reaction inside the fortress, resulting in it self-destructing. The Vic Viper escapes the exploding fortress before it finally returns to Gradius with its mission accomplished.
Salamander[]

In a distant, allied planet called Latis, an ancient doomsday prophecy haunts its inhabitants, that in the future, a giant dragon born from the sea of flames (an unknown star) consumes the planet into external darkness. This prophecy seemingly comes true when the Bacterians inexplicably return under the guise of the Salamander Army. Latis' military fights back, but is quickly overwhelm by the sheer power of the Bacterians, whom eradicate nearly all of their forces.
Unwilling to surrender to the hostile invaders, a prince of Latis named Lord British contacts the Gradius Empire to aid his prototype starfighter the LS-379G in a last-ditch counterattack after hearing about their experience with dealing with these invaders from the past. The empire agrees, and sends forth the Vic Viper to aid Lord British's starfighter against the Bacterians.
Following a string of intense battles, the two starfighters locate and destroy several enemy commanders, including the Brain Golem, Tetran, and Death. Eventually they track down their leader the Zelos Force and destroy it. After completing their successful mission, the Vic Viper and Lord British save Planet Latis from certain doom and both Gradius and Latis form a strong, military alliance.
Gradius II[]
Two years after the events of Gradius, the Bacterians return once more, bringing the same destruction as they caused in the previous games, but this time under leadership of a entity known as Gofer. The Gradius Empire turn to a more modified version of the Vic Viper to once again track down and destroy the head of the hostile empire.

The Vic Viper proceeds through space once more to several familiar (i.e. planet Eioneus and the Moai Zone) and new sites (i.e. a world filled with artificially created Suns and a crystal world) and battling various Bacterian forces and hideouts, destroying several commanders along the way. Eventually, the Vic Viper locates Gofer's Ship and after defeating a menagerie of old foes and infiltrating through tight security, the starfighter locates the Bacterian commander and destroys him, following Gofer's death, the ship begins to self-destruct, forcing the Vic Viper to beat a hasty retreat from the enemy ship. With the Bacterians invasion thwarted again, the Vic Viper returns back to Gradius.
Gradius III[]

For many years, the Bacterians lied in wait for their next opportunity to invade the galaxy and launch an onslaught on Planet Gradius. Under leadership of a massive being known as Bacterian, the new force is much bigger and more prepared than before. With their unstoppable force, planets in their path have their defense crushed, and fall quickly. Eventually, Bacterian and his forces set their sights on the last obstacle in their way: Planet Gradius.
To counter the imminent threat, the Gradius Empire launches all their available fighter craft, forming ad efensive net and a strike team, but the Bacterians quickly overwhelm them and destroy all the fighters.
Now on the brink of defeat, the empire launches a new version of the Vic Viper to destroy the Bacterian Empire and end its onslaught. This craft is now capable of using a custom load out of weapons unlike its predecessors, as well as a variety of new weapons, allowing it to boost its effectiveness against the enemy.
The Vic Viper travels to 9 different planets both old (i.e. the volcano-laced planet Eioneus and the Moai Zone) and new (i.e. a desert-themed planet and a planet covered entirely in sentient plants), battling numerous Bacterian forces and destroying its commanders.
Eventually, the Vic Viper locates planet Bacterian, the source of Bacterian Empire. There, it battles through a menagerie of bosses from the previous titles before infiltrating the Bacterian's hideout through a hidden entrance. It eventually makes way through the bases' defenses, before eventually coming face-to-face with Bacterian before defeating him. Before he "dies" however, Bacterian warns the Vic Viper that as long as men and greediness exist, so will he.
After Bacterian's death, the planet begins to self-destruct. The Vic Viper escapes through a high-speed exit, and manages to escape the planet just as it explodes. With its mission a success, Vic Viper returns back to Gradius.
Salamander 2[]

At some point, a Sub-Space lifeforms by the name of Doom/Giga began an invasion across the solar system, bringing back both the Zelos Dragon and the Salamander Forces with him. During the course of the invasion, numerous disruptions started to appear, causing anyone and anything unfortunate enough to be trapped inside of them to be transported to Sub-Space. Many attempted to fight back, but were quickly overwhelmed and were either consumed by the threat, or forced to retreat. Eventually, with Gradius standing as the last obstacle in Doom/Giga's path.
In a last-ditch effort to fight back, the Gradius Empire launches the Vic Viper, alongside a mass-produced spacecraft called the Super Cobra that was recently refined to be on par with the Vic Viper's combat capabilities in order to stop the invasion in its tracks.
The two crafts battle their way through Doom/Giga's forces before confronting Doom/Giga himself. Unfortunately, Doom/Giga proves to be a formidable opponent and is prepared to battle against the two spacecrafts. Nonetheless, both Vic Viper and the Super Cobra overcome Doom/Giga's powers and ultimately prevail, destroying him in the process. As Doom/Giga curses the two crafts into bring them to hell with him, they manage to escape the fortress and end the invasion.
Solar Assault[]
Twelve years after events of Gradius III, a mysterious mobile fortress suddenly appears and slowly makes it way towards Planet Gradius. Along its path, numerous stars and planets standing begin to unexpectedly vanished, as they were warped into another dimension.

With Planet Gradius once again in danger, the Vic Viper, alongside the Lord British and the new starfighter called the Alpinia were summoned to investigate this matter and if necessary, destroy an unknown approaching enemy. With an updated set of weapons, the Vic Viper and the other fighters wage a series of dangerous dogfights in various environments, encounter several foes from their past and destroying them in the process. Eventually, the trio of fighters discovers the mobile fortress and manage to infiltrate it via an opening in the midst of combat. Once inside, the Vic Viper and its partners fought their way through countless hordes of enemy onslaughts until they eventually located to the Core that controls the fortress and destroyed it, bringing the planetary threat to an end.
Gradius Gaiden[]
Eventually, the Bacterians return to invade Gradius once more, though this time they are much more prepared as they now process more advance technology than their previous encounters. Knowing that the Bacterians would be much more difficult to defeat this time, the Gradius Empire launches Vic Viper, alongside its Latis counterpart the Lord British, and two new crafts called the Jade Knight and the Falchion β to prevent them from succeeding again.

The four crafts travel across various worlds, both familiar and unfamiliar to their past, all the while eliminating Bacterian forces station in each one. They eventually locate the source of the invasion inside the Black Nebula and destroy it, causing a chain reaction to occur. Fortunately, the Vic Viper and its partners escape certain doom, bringing an end to yet another Bacterian invasion.
Gradius IV[]

For many years, Planet Gradius enjoys a long period of peace, going a long time without an invasion by the Bacterians, their existence being long forgotten. However that all changes when all of the sudden, the Bacterians led by a resurrected Gofer return unexpectedly, bring the same destruction as they did before in the past. As a result, the Bacterians quickly crush Gradius' defenses. But just as all hope is lost, the Vic Viper appears once more in an attempt to save the planet again like it has previously.
The Vic Viper once again transverses through various new and familiar worlds, battling various Bacterian forces and crushing its commanders, before locating Gofer's spaceship. After battling numerous core warships, the Vic Viper penetrates its defenses and fights its way through the ship's defenses. Once all of them are crushed, the Vic Viper confronts Gofer and destroys him once again. As the ship explodes, the Vic Viper quickly escapes, ending the Bacterian invasion once again.
Gradius Galaxies[]
Centuries after the events of Gradius III, the peaceful planet of Lamiless suddenly fell silent, causing communication towards spacecraft in its vicinity to stop working. Concerned about the planet's present state, the government of Gradius and ordered an investigation into the matter.
There findings eventually came up with a disturbing revelation. Following the destruction of Planet Bacterian 400 years earlier (as depicted in Gradius III), numerous planetary fragments were scattered across the solar system; these fragments each contained a self-breeding DNA, which allowed them to repopulate the Bacterian Forces in case they were destroyed.
The Gradius Empire's finding revealed that one such fragment managed to find its way to Lamiless after all these years and impacted the planet in the form of a meteorite, immediately activating the DNA program and subduing the planet in the process. The Gradius Empire sent the Vic Viper to stop the Bacterians from consuming the planet.
The Vic Viper once agains travels across known and unknown worlds, fighting off numerous Bacterian forces, before eventually reaching the orbit of Lamiless, after navigating the fortified base that the Bacterians were stationed within, the Vic Viper locates the Eleos Brain and destroys the threat, however in a tragic twist, the planet is also destroyed in the process.
Gradius V[]

In the year 8010, the Bacterian Empire returns once more and attacks Gradius when it sends Zelos Force to attack a space station orbiting the planet by surprise. As usual, the Vic Viper is tasked to fight off the imminent invasion. After repelling the initial invasion, the Vic Viper is suddenly visited by a similar craft from the future after it traveled through time, the pilot of the future Vic Viper instructs the pilot from the present to locate a gigantic Bacterian battleship and carefully navigate through it in order destroy the main core simultaneously once they reach the source.
Afterwards, the Vic Viper seeks out more Bacterian forces and bosses at various bases that the hostile forces control, destroying numerous commanders along the way.
Eventually, the craft comes to a dead end at the impenetrable front hatch of an enemy ship, there it discovers that it is the same battleship it traveled to previously and that its main weakness is the rear hatch, but it requires the strength of two fighter in order to infiltrate it. With this intel in mind, the pilot of the Vic Viper activates the crafts time anomaly ability to travel back in time to instruct their past self to navigate through the interior of the cruiser and destroy the source simultaneously once they both reach it.
After navigating through the battleship's defenses with its past counterpart for a second time. The Vic Viper confronts the source for a second time and destroys it easily. However the entity, who reveals themself to be Dr. Venom, warns them that even if they destroyed them, the Bacterians would eventually return in the foreseeable future.
After Venom is destroyed, the Vic Viper escapes the ship, once again thwarting the Bacterians once more, but bearing the warning in mind for the foreseeable future.
Gradius ReBirth[]

Two years before the events of Nemesis 2, the planet of Antichthon, which acts as a protectorate of the Gradius Empire, suddenly falls silent. Dr. Venom, the Director General of the Space Science Agency proceeds to look into the matter, only to find that the planet's mother computer has been infected by the Bacterians.
Realizing that imminent threat, the Gradius Empire sends out its forces to combat the growing threat, among being Special Colonel James Burton, who had faced and defeated the Bacterians years earlier during Gradius. Assisted by his A.I. navigational system Gaudie, he takes control of the Vic Viper and sets out to stop the threat.
The Vic Viper, as always travels to worlds all-too familiar with the past, battling various Gradius forces in the process. Eventually, the craft reaches Antichthon, where it tracks down the infected mother computer and destroys it, ending the Bacterian threat on Gradius.
Unfortunately, the victory was short lived...
Afterwards, Dr. Venom reveals to James that he has been arrested for staging a coup against the Gradius Empire (who had been investigating him during this time), and that they can no longer communicate to each other again. This epilogue foreshadows the events to Nemesis 2.
Crossover Appearances[]
Airforce Delta Storm[]

The Vic Viper makes a guest appearance in Airforce Delta Storm under the name XF-0002 Phosphorus. Its in-game design looks vastly different from those in the Gradius series in an attempt to give the craft a more realistic appearance. It is arguably the best fighter in-game, as all of its stats are maxed out except for Attack (though it is still very high).
Airforce Delta Strike[]

In the sequel Airforce Delta Strike, the Vic Viper's appearance is now a faithful rendition to its Gradius counterpart. Its stats are slightly nerfed compared to those used by the Phosphorus in the previous game, having only average speed and thrust. Nonetheless the fighter is still powerful. Its biggest benefit is its ridiculously powerful machine guns, which have a long range and can destroy most enemies in just a few shots, which also feature penetration. Its special weapon, the Ripple Laser from Salamander is also quite useful due to its large hitbox and penetration ability, though the laser's movement speed is somewhat slow. Just like its Gradius counterpart, the Vic Viper is a reliable craft.
Variants[]
- Vic Viper BP-456X: Built by Dr. Venom and used by James Burton. It's used in Gradius and Gradius Rebirth. It has the basic weaponry.
- Vic Viper BP-456Y: Vic Viper used in Nemesis GB and Gradius The Interstellar Assault. It's a slight variation of the original model.
- Vic Viper BP-8332: A variation of Vic Viper with new wings similar to Delta-wings. Used in Salamander and Salamander 2. It featured the new Ripple Laser and Twin Missiles added to the Lord British too. An upgrade allowed it to use Options as powerful counterattack weapons.
- Vic Viper BP-8272: Vic Viper used in Gradius II and IV. Is one of the most powerful models. It added the Spread Bomb, Armor Piercing and Floating Mine as new weapons.
- Vic ViperBP-5963: Vic Viper used in Gradius III, a.k.a "Vic Viper Mark-III" or "M.A.X". It's the first Vic Viper able to combine great numbers of different weapons in a single fighter. And, the color scheme of this version is white, without blue stripes.
- Vic Viper Gaiden: An unnamed Vic Viper used in Gradius Gaiden.
- Vic Viper BP-592A: Vic Viper used in Solar Assault. It has the same weapons as the original model but it was created for High-speed interceptions.
- Vic Viper T-300: A prototype version of the new T-301. Cancelled for being too unstable.
- Vic Viper T-301: Futuristic version of Vic Viper used in Gradius V. It's known for it's tiny hitbox and was capable of creating tears in the space-time continuum.
Specification[]


Wingspan | 14.7 m (Gradius Gaiden) 18.9 m (Solar Assault) 15.2 m (Gradius II) 17 m (Nemesis, Nemesis II) 6 m (Gradius) |
Length | 21.64 m (Gradius Gaiden) 30.6 m (Solar Assault) 19.8 m (Gradius II) 16.3 m (Nemesis, Nemesis II) 14.85 m (Gradius) |
Height | 5.93 m (Gradius Gaiden) 7.92 m (Solar Assault) 7.1 m (Gradius II) 7 m (Nemesis, Nemesis II) |
Weight | 8.4 t (Solar Assault) 38 t (Gradius, Nemesis, Nemesis II) 14.6 t (Gradius II) |
Material | Alloy |
Crew | 1 |
Maximum Speed | 5.62c (Gradius Gaiden) Classified (Gradius II) |
Drive | M-88 Antimatter Engine x1 (Gradius Gaiden) Impulse Power Booster Engine x1 (Gradius) Impulse Power Booster Engine x2 (Salamander) Classified (Gradius II) |
Nothing is known about the Vic Viper variant starring in Gradius IV.
Weapons[]
Vic Viper has the capability to use a variety of different primary and secondary weapons. Most of the weapons must be obtained using a power-up system, requiring the Vic Viper to collect capsules in order to activate them:
- Impulse Rail Gun - fires a single, semi-automatic bolt that can destroy smaller Bacterians easily.
- Missiles - the Vic Viper's main secondary weapon; missiles can be fired below or above the Vic Viper in an attempt to eliminate enemy flank attacks. Multiple variants are introduced in various games:
- Missile - fires a single missile downwards at a 45 degree angle. Once the missile makes contact with the ground, it will travel along the ground until it hits an enemy or an obstacle such as the environment. If it comes in contact with a hatch, it will destroy it instantly.
- Spread Bomb - fires a single bomb at a 45 degree angle downwards, upon making contact with any surface or enemy, it will explode, creating a medium-size explosion. The explosion will damage or destroy any Bacterians unfortunate enough to travel within the radius.
- 2-Way Missile - fires two missiles that travel at a slight arc before traveling upwards and downwards respectively. Unlike the normal missiles, they will not travel along the ground, and simply explode. In later games, the arc is increased, allowing the missiles to travel further.
- Photon Torpedo - fires a missile that behaves similarly to the normal missile, but when it travels along the terrain, it will penetrate weaker enemies instead of exploding upon any surface. Later games give the missile the ability to fire upwards as well, and increasing its striking power.
- Hawk Wind - in early games, this variant fires two missiles that can climb surfaces instead of exploding upon them. In later games, this variant fires only one missile, which travels either upwards or downwards depending on which surface the Vic Viper is closer to in proximity.
- Small Spread - fires up to two spread bombs at a 45 degree arc backwards, upon making contact with any surface, the bombs will explode, creating a small explosion. The explosion will damage or destroy any Bacterians unfortunate enough to travel within the radius.
- Control Missile - fires a missile straightforward. The missile can be controlled to move up or down using the directional buttons.
- 2-Way Back - fires two missiles behind the Vic Viper, which travel at a slight arc upwards and downwards respectively. Upon hitting any surface, they will explode.
- Flying Torpedo - fires two missiles straightforward, the fire button can be held to increase the arc of the missiles, allowing them to be fired vertically.
- Vertical Mine - fires a mine similar to the Spread Bomb, but upon hitting any surface, the resulting explosion will be a vertical line. The mine's direction of fire is affected by the velocity and direction of the Vic Viper, and will be affected by gravity.
- Double - one of two primary weapon variants, the double allows the Vic Viper to fire an additional rail gun (or more) at a different direction, increasing the firepower and allowing the craft to clear more Bacterians quicker. Multiple variants are introduced in various games:
- Double - fires an additional shot at a 45 degree angle upwards, allowing the Vic Viper to clear Bacterians located on surfaces that can't normally be reached with the standard cannon or missiles.
- Tail Gun - fires a single shot behind the Vic Viper, making it useful for taking out enemies located behind the craft.
- Vertical - fires a shot directly above the Vic Viper, it can clear entrenched targets on the roofs of levels.
- Free Way - fires an additional shot in the direction that the Vic Viper previously traveled. It is very difficult and awkward to use, but extremely versatile.
- Spread Gun - fires two shots at a slight angle forwards, it can be upgraded again to fire a third shot straightforwards to further increase the firepower.
- Back Double - fires an additional shot at a 45 degree angle backwards.
- V-Shot - fires two bolts that travel upwards and downwards respectively, making it excellent for countering flank attacks.
- Laser - the Vic Viper's signature primary weapon, it is generally more powerful than the Double, as it is able to do more damage and can penetrate Bacterians in most cases, but is unable to be fired in multiple directions other than straightforwards. Multiple variants are introduced in various games:
- Laser - fires a standard beam that can penetrate most smaller Bacterians.
- Cyclone Laser - fires a beam with a spiral effect that behaves just like the standard Laser. It is thicker than its normal counterpart.
- Ripple Laser - fires a ring-shaped pulse that is much wider than the normal laser, but lacks the ability to penetrate enemies.
- Twin Laser - fires two smaller lasers straightforwards, they have a faster fire rate than the normal variant.
- Energy Laser - the most powerful laser the Vic Viper can use; it creates an orb that surrounds the Vic Viper that can be charged, causing any enemy that makes contact with it to be destroyed. When fired at full power, the laser is capable of doing tremendous damage to stronger enemies, and is able to penetrate layers of core bosses and doing devastating damage to others (being capable to destroying them in 2-3 shots).
- Armor Piercing - fires an armor-piercing laser cannon, it moves slower than a normal one, but can penetrate enemies and does more damage overall.
- Thrust Laser - fires a think, lance-like laser, it is powerful, but is not very useful in tight passages.
- Fire Blaster - fires a powerful flamethrower that has a much more limited range than the aforementioned lasers.
- Options - most essential weapon to the Vic Viper; then activated, it creates a phantom orb that provides extra firepower, but does not protect the Vic Viper from enemy projectiles. Up to four can obtained. Multiple variants are introduced in various games that change their movement and attack patterns:
- Option - the standard variant of the option will follow the exact path of the Vic Viper from behind.
- Rolling Option - the options will rotate around the Vic Viper clockwise, covering a smaller, but more concentrated area of fire. They function similarly to the CLAWs from the Thunder Force series.
- Formation Option - two options will position themselves above and below the Vic Viper respectively, covering a larger, but less concentrated area of fire. They function similarly to the Options from Thunder Cross series.
- Snake Option - the options will operate in a tail-like matter, by swinging in the opposite direction when the Vic Viper stops moving. They are hard to control, but very useful if functioned correctly.
- Freeze Option - the options will initially behave like the standard variant, but when there function is activated, they will hold their position, allowing them to concentrate fire more effectively than the other variants, making them useful for destroying larger enemies and bosses as well as large groups of smaller enemies.
- Shield - creates a shield that can protect the Vic Viper from enemy fire. It can only absorb a limited amount of fire before being depleted. Multiple variants are introduced in various games:
- Shield - creates a pair of hexagonal gear-shaped shields that protect the Vic Viper from the front, but leave the other sides exposed. They shrink with every hit they take until they are depleted.
- Force Field - creates an aura that surrounds the entire Vic Viper, allowing it to absorb enemy fire from any direction, but usually takes less hits (three in most cases) to deplete.
- Free Shield - creates a single hexagonal gear-shaped shield that can be placed at any part of the Vic Viper, allowing it to absorb fire from that location in question. Up to eight shields can be placed on the craft at once.
- Rotating Shield - creates a pair of hexagonal gear-shaped shields that rotate around the Vic Viper at opposite points; they function similar to the CLAW in Thunder Force series.
- Reduce - two versions of this power-up are introduced in the series: the first version reduces the size of the ship by one size, making its hitbox smaller and thus harder to hit, a second activation reduces the size even further. The second version reduces the craft to the second aforementioned size automatically, and allows the craft to absorb two hits, with each hit causing the Vic Viper to grow bigger in size.
- Vertical Guard - creates a shield that protects only the top and bottom of the Vic Viper for up to two hits, when active, the Vic Viper is immune to terrain collision.
- Limit - creates a spherical shield around the craft, granting it temporary invincibility or a few seconds. This shield also allows the craft to past through terrain.
- Mega Crush - a unique power-up that destroys all small Bacterians and all projectiles instantly.
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