User:Namcokid47/Vic Viper (Gradius)

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The Vic Viper (ヴィックバイパー) is a fictional starship in Konami's Gradius shoot-em-up video game series. Created by artist Nakamura Kengo, the ship first appeared in the 1985 arcade game Gradius as the main protagonist and player character. Since its creation, the Vic Viper has appeared in every Gradius title to date, alongside many of its spin-off games, as well as making cameos in a number of other Konami-developed video games, with some instances making it playable. Several different remodels and design changes for the ship would be made throughout the series.

The Vic Viper is shown as a starship manufactured by the Gradius Empire to take down the Bacterian organic army, who plan to destroy the planet Gradius. The ship can collect small flashing canisters known as "Power Capsules" to upgrade its abilities, including a faster movement speed, ground-seeking missiles, a shield to protect itself from enemy fire, and small orange orbs known as "Options" that follow it around the screen. A number of similar ships based on the Vic Viper's design would be made for later games in the series, notably the Lord British. The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) release of the original Gradius refers to the ship as the "Warp Rattler".

Creation
In 1985, Konami was in the midst of developing a shoot-em-up title to rival Namco's arcade game Xevious, which was an astounding success for the company, prompting other developers to cash-in on the craze. Intended as a sequel to Konami's earlier arcade game Scramble (1981), aptly titled Scramble 2, it would soon become a separate game entirely early in development stages. The player's starship was designed by Konami game artist Nakamura Kengo, who also designed the game's enemies and stage layouts. The basis was inspired by the likes of the Millennium Falcon, notably the two large prongs.