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General

Dang! DEPLOY IT NOW!
97 Commander

The Gorgon was a powerful space weapon created in the weapons labs on Macbeth and utilised by the Venomian space fleets charged with the task of protecting the Area 6 defense zone, acting as Venom's final resort in desperate measures to protect the Androssian homeworld from invasion.

Appearance[]

Gorgon was a specialized war machine of great power with the appearance of a massive disk-shaped machine with three long metal tentacles and a small, vulnerable core in the center. The core reflected its shield's status. At full power, it was blue. With shields slightly weakened, it turned yellow, and when shields were low, it was red. When its shields were depleted, its core would blink red and yellow erratically, indicating vulnerable status. The hard outer shell was capable of opening up in three sections like flower petals, revealing three bonded "energy balls" and what appeared to be metal teeth along the inside of each petal.

Armaments[]

Gorgon had a vast array of weapons and defenses. Its thick armor was impenetrable to all attacks, its three tentacles could stretch out several hundred meters to swipe at nearby ships, a payload of Rock Gunners at its disposal, it could fire a multitude of heat-seeking missiles behind itself. Its most powerful weapon however was its giant hyper-laser, which fired out from its center in a brilliant rainbow-colored beam (or simply pure red in Star fox 64 3D) capable of tearing up the whole layer of a planet's crust; repeated bursts could penetrate into a planet's core to destroy it. Gorgon was also equipped with a Dimension Transport System that enabled it to phase in and out of reality, which was also something that scientists, up to that point, thought was impossible.

History[]

Because the area of space separating Venom from Sector Z and Macbeth was the most convenient atmospheric re-entry point from which to strike at Andross's home base, the legendary battle station Gorgon was specially tasked to control this area of space. It was equipped with a matter-displacement device, which allowed it to teleport in and out of position, something Cornerian scientists had deemed impossible until then.

Two of the most powerful and intelligent of Andross's followers had been promoted to positions of leadership in Andross's military machine, and were given command of a space fleet consisting of thirty-one Umbra-class Defense Stations, seven Harlock-class Frigates, twelve Zeram-class Cruisers, five Ninjin Missiles, and the Gorgon battle station and were always accompanied by fleets of support craft. Andross dispatched these key lieutenants to protect the most effective attack point to strike at Andross's palace, explaining the heavy defences. The units were distributed into three defensive lines to prevent the infiltration of Venom airspace. Cornerian forces simply did not have the strength to punch through these defenses, but a small, quick team like Star Fox might have had a chance.

After Fox McCloud and his team broke through the final line of defense in Area 6, the Area 6 Commander deployed the Gorgon in a final desperate attempt to destroy the four Cornerian freedom fighting mercenaries. The battle lasted long and hard, but Fox managed to bring down the giant weapon's shield down and, after overloading its core with laser fire, damaged it beyond repair. The critically damaged space station was sent hurtling and spiraling backward from the final attack to its core, and expired soon after in a gigantic explosion. Its destruction crushed the final hopes that Venom would remain uninvaded. Gorgon's failure would also be a prelude to Andross's impending defeat and death at the hands of the same person who destroyed it: Fox McCloud.

Gallery[]

Comparable[]

StarFox 1993
Gorgon's ability to phase in and out of reality was also shared by the Phantron in the original Star Fox, which shares a similar purpose in that it provides the last line of defense before Venom.

Star Fox 64 logo
Much like Gorgon, Goras is also a creation as a result of Andross's experimentation, and is also a boss that comes equipped with multiple useful arms that emit powerful attacks, and also serve as required objectives to destroy in order to expose the boss's vulnerable central weakness. The two bosses even share the first three letters G-O-R their name. Although it is debatable whether or not Gorgon was a biomechanical creation or a full machine, while Goras was confirmed to have once been a living organism.

Assault logo

When Pigma is infected by Aparoidedation and fused with a space station, he strongly resembles Gorgon, having similar offensive and defensive patterns.

Gorgon may have also inspired the characteristics used by the Venomian Stealth Bombers in that they are teleporting war machines that produce a light that slip gives their position.

Star-fox-zero
In "Zero", Venom has been completely mechanised after Andross's empire was created and strongly resembles Gorgon. When travelling to Venom's current location, the planet disappears as the teleportation process begins, akin to Gorgon's teleportation method. This makes sense, as a teleportation device comparable to the Dimension Transporter plays an important role in the game's plot and also in the game's promotional anime.

The Gorgon's physical appearance, combined with its massive core-laser make it resemble the Death Star from the Star Wars franchise. Gorgon's boss role subtitle in the 3DS version helps add towards the Death Star's likeness which describes Gorgon as the "Ultimate Space Weapon".

  • Its names in both the Japanese version and its alternate name on the official site, "Death Ball," and "Planet Killer" in the guide are direct references to the Death Star.

The Etymology of Gorgon is named after the gorgons, vicious female monsters from Greek mythology that resembled ugly women with snakes for hair. It is said that one who looked upon a gorgon would be instantly turned to stone. Medusa is probably the most recognizable and well-know of the three gorgon sisters. The Gorgon machine could be named so because of the resemblance of its tentacle-arms to Medusa's famous snake-hair.

Theory[]

  • The Gorgon may have possibly been piloted by the Area 6 commander. Another theory is that it was actually automated and/or not piloted by the commander, due to the fact that he says "Dang! DEPLOY IT NOW!" shortly before the Gorgon battle. The fact that neither he or his subordinate Caiman say anything during or after the battle should also be noted as well.

Names in Other Languages[]

Language Name
Japanese Death Ball (デス・ボール, Desu Bōru)

(最終宇宙兵器 Final Space Weapon)

References[]

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