Leopaldon

Well it's Halloween-time. And like most people, we usually imagine scary or just bizarre creatures for this holiday.

So I got into a conversation about fighting game characters from different parts of the world. Now there aren't really any characters who live in Antarctica; except this one exception. This bizarre freak of nature calls Antarctica his home. And how appropriate a weirdo like this lives in a weird habitat like Antarctica. It's Leopaldon from Guilty Gear Isuka.

Now of course most people who saw him/it the first time asked the same question: "What the Hell is this thing!?" It's pretty much a dog/yeti hybrid with both a puppy wearing aviator goggles/gimp mask combo and a grey colored Black Mage thing sticking out of it's mouth.

For those who don't know Guilty Gear; let this set the tone for some of the weirdness they come up with.

Of course the weirdness doesn't just end with his overall design or his home location: there's also a few other oddities about him. There's his moveset which involves hurling giant energy balls at you that look like giant meatballs. He also can spit out a fish which instantly dizzies you.
Then there's his personality. You think being a big ugly abomination and the final boss he's evil. But usually in Guilty Gear the final boss isn't usually evil; and Leopaldon is actually supposed to be nice and help people who got lost in Antarctica. OK...If you got lost in Antarctica and you need this thing to help you out; you need to seriously question some life choices you made.
Also; the only way to hit him is his head. You can't hit any other part of his body; you HAVE to hit his head. I don't know a whole lot of final bosses in fighting games where you can only hit the head. I THINK Abyss from MVC2 in his final form is one; but it's been a while since I played that.
And finally there's his theme. Guilty Gear is all about hard rocking character themes; and Leopaldon's is no different. When you hear it, you hear hard guitar riffs that almost sounds like someone screaming into a microphone. It's an appropriately hardcore theme for a hardcore design. But the weirdest thing about the theme is the title: Kill Dog as a Sacrifice to Dog. .............Yeah I know some people interpret that as "Dog Eat Dog"; but I knew they were just being weird for the sake of being weird enough already with this monstrosity.

Now for the scariest part of all. The game which he was the final boss of came out in 2004. So it's been 11 years since I first faced and beat this big ugly beast. Wow!! Eleven years gone by already!? That's insane!! When most people talk about "Back in the day" when it comes to gaming: they talk about their teens or early twenties when they were fighting guys like Ganon from Hyrule or Bowser from the Mushroom Kingdom. Me? I was busy fighting this dog/yeti thing from Antarctica!!

Gaming truly is a strange and bizarre world to visit. And Leopaldon is definitely no exception.
And here's his theme if you're interested: www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsZjnY…