Dark Grenchlers are Grenchlers that the Ing have possessed. Although these Darklings are tougher than the original animal, their shell is still vulnerable to Missile blasts. They have the common darkling weakness to Light Beam attacks as well.
As usual, the Ing possession has changed the color scheme of the Grenchler to darker colours, mostly shades of purple and blue. The eyes on the horn and front of the head have disappeared, and all other eyes have turned yellow, without any visible pupils. The eyes on the lower jaw have become bigger. The spikes on the back are sharper than a regular Grenchler's and the horn has a blue tint to it. The Dark Grenchler is quite rare: only two specimens are ever encountered by Samus, inhabiting a single room in Dark Torvus, the Dungeon.
A related creature, the Grapple Guardian, is an adult Grenchler possessed and mutated by the Warrior Ing holding Samus Aran's Grapple Beam item.
The shell on the Grenchler's back is susceptible to explosives and once it is removed, the Grenchler itself is vulnerable to attack from behind. It is usually a better strategy to use Charge Beam shots as opposed to Missiles to attack the creature - charged Light Beam or Annihilator Beam shots do more damage than projectile weaponry, and although missiles achieve a better fire rate, this is largely irrelevant as the shell is only vulnerable for short periods of time.
Logbook entry[]
Dark Grenchler
Morphology: Dark Grenchler
Darkling-possessed amphibious predator.
Symbiosis brings additional power to creature, but it retains its key weakness. Target the back shell to reveal a weak spot.
Darklings are drawn to possess vicious predators, making the Grenchler a prime candidate. Despite the added toughness gained from possession, the Dark Grenchler retains its one weakness. Remove the back shell with explosive blasts to expose its pain center, then attack the pain center to quickly dispatch the creature.
Trivia[]
- Upon death, Dark Grenchlers fade away more slowly than many other enemies for unknown reasons.
- Although the rear shell of a Dark Grenchler is more durable than that of the standard Grenchler (which is to be expected, since Ing possession generally makes organisms stronger), the tissue cluster beneath is actually weaker than its light counterpart's, requiring only one charged shot to kill the creature as opposed to two or more.
- Dark Grenchlers are completely unaffected by Dark Water: should one fall into a pool of the substance, it will walk about on the bottom exactly as it would in air. It is unknown whether this ability is intentional or the result of a programming glitch.
- The pitch-black coloration of the body, jagged teeth, and smooth forehead all make the Dark Grenchler similar in appearance to the Alien series' eponymous creature.
Gallery[]
| Darklings | |
|---|---|
| Guardians | Amorbis • Chykka • Quadraxis |
| Sub-Guardians |
Bomb Guardian • Grapple Guardian • Spider Guardian • Power Bomb Guardian |
| Darklings | Chykling • Corrupted Sentreye • Dark Alpha Splinter • Dark Blogg • Dark Diligence Drone • Dark Grenchler • Dark Ingsmasher • Dark Missile Trooper • Dark Phlogus • Dark Pirate Commando • Dark Pirate Trooper • Dark Preed • Dark Quad MB/CM • Dark Shredder • Dark Splinter • Dark Tallon Metroid • Darkling Tentacle • Dark Trooper • Dark War Wasp • Nightbarb • Dark Luminoth |
| Unused |
Dark Luminoth • Dark Metaree • Dark Pirate Aerotrooper • Dark Shriekbat • Dark Sporb • Dark Triclops |
| Aquatic organisms | |
|---|---|
| Tallon IV | Aqua Reaper • Aqua Sac • Chomper Fish • Fish • Jelzap • Tangle Weed • Tallon Crab |
| Aether | Blogg • Bloggling • Alpha Blogg • Fish • Brizgee • Dark Blogg • Grenchler • Hydling • Krocuss • Phlogus |
| Dark Aether | Chykka • Dark Blogg • Dark Grenchler • Dark Phlogus • Dark Shredder • Flying Ing Cache • Venom Weed • Watchdrone |
| Zebes | Botwoon • Bull • Cacatac • Choot • Draygon • Evir • Gadora • Gamet • Oum • Owtch • Powamp • Puyo • Sciser • Skultera • Tatori • Tatori, Jr. • Yapping Maw • Yard • Zoa |
| BOTTLE SHIP | Fish • Skultera |
| BSL | Aqua Zebesian • Evir • Gadora • Owtch • Powamp • Sciser • Serris • Skultera • Yard • Zeela |
| Ing | |
|---|---|
| Ruling caste | Emperor Ing |
| Battle forms | Warrior Ing • Hunter Ing • Boost Guardian • Jump Guardian • Ingstorm • Darkling Tentacle |
| Submissive | Darkling • Inglet • Ing Webtrap • Flying Ing Cache |
| Immobile | Bladepod • Ingsphere Cache • Ingworm Cache • Ingworm • Webling • Ingclaw |
| Misc | Black fog • Ing Horde • Ing Larva • Fusion attack • Transdimensional energy • Phaz-Ing |