darius

“
WARNING! A huge battleship -Strong Shell- is approaching fast.
”
— Darius announcer


Strong Shell (Japanese: ストロングシェル, Hepburn: Sutorongusheru?) is one of the final bosses in the original Darius. It is shaped after a Loggerhead Sea Turtle (Caretta caretta).

Darius Odyssey Guidebook Bio

The battle bridge head can be stored in the shell to avoid enemy attacks. When deploying the bridge, in addition to missiles, it will launch a compound attack with the diffusion particle gun.

Appearance

Darius

Strong Shell appears as a large mechanical loggerhead sea turtle-like creature. Its body is covered in brown armor-like plating with angular sections, giving it a hardened shell appearance. It has multiple sharp metallic spikes on its back and limbs, while its head features aquamarine eyes and mandible-like parts. Its front claws are large and reinforced with steel, emphasizing its defensive yet dangerous design.

Darius II

In Darius II, Strong Shell has a slimmer, darker design compared to earlier versions. Its body is covered with brown armored plates, and it retains the loggerhead sea turtle-like shape with metallic claws and mandibles. Spikes extend from its back and sides, giving it a more aggressive, mechanical appearance.

Super Darius

In Super Darius, looks like a robotic loggerhead sea turtle with a heavy segmented shell colored in bright orange and yellow tones. It has sharp spikes on its back, metallic claws at the front, and mandible-like parts near its face. The overall design emphasizes toughness and a mechanical, armored look.

Sagaia (Game Boy)

In the Game Boy version of Sagaia, Strong Shell appears in a simplified black-and-white style. It still resembles a robotic loggerhead sea turtle with a hard segmented shell, spikes on its back, and claw-like limbs. Despite the limited detail, its mechanical and armored look is clearly recognizable.

Super Darius II

In Super Darius II, Strong Shell has a bright metallic look with golden armor plates covering its body. It keeps the loggerhead sea turtle-like form with a domed shell, sharp limbs, and mandible-like jaws. The design is smoother and more polished compared to earlier versions, emphasizing its mechanical toughness.

Gameplay

Darius

From the moment Strong Shell appears on the screen, it will start a barrage of shots from the various guns mounted on it's body, including straight shots and arc shots, while the head spits anchor drones. All of the guns can be destroyed, which severely cripples the boss's offensive power and makes it easy to point-blank the ship. The head is it's weak spot, but every now and then Strong Shell will hide it's head to protect itself from damage.

Sagaia (Game Boy)

On the first encounter, its attacks are a bullet arc coming from the center of shell (destructible bodypart), a combo consisting of a few straight laser shots coming from the head with homing missile launched from the belly.

The second encounter gives Strong Shell one notorious difference: big rotating orbs surround it's body as a way of shielding shots (can be destroyed but they regenerate). It still uses the same head laser attack (to shots), and once one orb has been destroyed, it starts to launch 2 homing missiles from it's belly.

Gallery

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Trivia