The Bomb Guardian is an Alpha Sandigger possessed by the Ing which stole Samus's Morph Ball Bombs, which Samus can retrieve by defeating it.
The Bomb Guardian retains many of the characteristics of the Alpha Sandigger. However, it is generally darker in colour and has only one head, the other being replaced by a glowing tail stump. Furthermore, it has barbs all over its body, as well as a crest of barbs along the back of its head. Its mandibles are larger and barbed.
Battle[]
As Samus steps into the arena, the doors close, and an Alpha Sandigger appears. When the Ing that stole Samus' Morph Ball Bombs possesses the Alpha Sandigger, it transforms into the first Sub-Guardian boss that Samus fights: the Bomb Guardian. In the process, one of the creature's heads becomes a bomb-producing tail.
The Bomb Guardian slithers along the ground, dropping bombs out of its tail at a steady rate. It will occasionally raise its head and spray several bombs into the arena from its mouth. If Samus is too far away, the Bomb Guardian will perform a fast moving charge in order to close in on her. The tail can be attacked to stun the beast, at which point the Bomb Guardian shrieks and lifts up its head. The head then becomes vulnerable for a short time. If Samus does not inflict enough damage to make the beast flinch (one charge beam shot will suffice), it will spray a great number of bombs into the air, which will fall and scatter over the field. If Samus manages to inflict enough damage, the whole cycle is repeated until the Bomb Guardian dies, earning Samus the Morph Ball Bomb upgrade that was stolen from her earlier in the game.
Logbook entry[]
Bomb Guardian
Morphology: Bomb Guardian
Bomb-dropping darkling. Enemy is utilizing your Morph Ball Bomb unit. Although its armor is strong, its tail is exposed when moving. Its mouth can be hit when glowing.
This darkling Sandigger has absorbed the ability to generate Morph Ball Bombs. It can throw Bombs with considerable accuracy, and frequently lays a spread of Bombs in its wake. Its head and tail are the only vulnerable spots on its body. Target them when they are vulnerable to neutralize and terminate this enemy.
Development data[]
Within the Metroid Prime 2: Echoes Bonus Disc resides an unused Logbook entry for the Bomb Guardian. Here, the Bomb Guardian was called the Bombdigger. Because Alpha creatures (besides the Dark Alpha Splinter) have not yet been added, it is possible the Bomb Guardian was spawned from a normal Sandigger.
Trivia[]
- If Samus morphs into Morph Ball anytime during the battle and the Bomb Guardian is near, the creature will pick up Samus with its jaws and then throw her aside. Normal Sandiggers will also do this.
- Normal Sandiggers and the Alpha Sandigger have light-coloured body segments with darker tissue in between. These colours seem to have switched for the Bomb Guardian, which is mostly dark, with light blue tissue in between body segments.
- The Bomb Guardian is perhaps the weakest of the Sub-Guardian bosses as a single charged shot can deplete nearly a third of the creature's health.
- The Bomb Guardian shares its battle theme, Short Battle, with numerous other Darkling creatures in the game.
- The multi-Bomb attack references the Five-Bomb Drop technique from Super Metroid, and the later Metroid: Other M.
- By sequence breaking and equipping Samus with the Light, Dark, and Annihilator Beams during this boss battle, the Bomb Guardian is revealed, strangely, to be invulnerable to all three weapons. The reason for this is most likely because it was not scripted to encounter either weapon.
- However, any charge beam shot can still stun the creature and, when stunned, can also take damage from said charged shot. Firing an Entangler shot will freeze the creature and when its head is vulnerable, firing a Lightblast shot may potentially burn the creature. Similarly, when Bomb Guardian is stunned, all four Charge Combos can instantly kill this creature.
- By hacking, it appears the Bomb Guardian can be damaged by the Screw Attack and the Boost Ball, both must be used on the creature's head to damage it. Power Bombs will instantly kill this creature. Strangely, Morph Ball Bombs can both stun and damage the Bomb Guardian.
- As long as the Morph Ball Bomb is not acquired (either before or after the Bomb Guardian's death), every time the room is "reloaded", the boss fight will also reload (the Bomb Guardian will disappear once the Morph Ball Bomb item is acquired.) If this boss fight is triggered after visiting the Agon Energy Controller, then the War Wasps in the Agon Temple will also appear during the fight (including cutscenes).
- The Bomb Guardian's ability to launch energy Bombs, along with its worm-like characteristics, is shared greatly with the Fune and Namihe boss duo in Metroid: Other M.
- The Bomb Guardian resembles the King Worm in body shape and head.
- A large Sandigger that may have been the Bomb Guardian appeared in Metroid Prime: Episode of Aether. This massive Sandigger ambushed Bravo Team after they'd assumed they had destroyed all attacking Sandiggers, and was quickly destroyed by Samus.
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 |