Emperor

Main series
(Sega AM1's universe)

Emperor - Type-α
Basic information
Featured in	The House of the Dead 2 The House of the Dead III (flashback)
Encounters	Chapter 6
Weapon	Orbs, arm-sword, duplicates of the destroyed bosses
Protection	Orbs, transparent gelatinous/water-like malleable substance.
Weak point
Unknown to G's file, Emperor's weak point is its spinning red heart-like organ.

I am... I am... I am the one who rules over nature. I will destroy... and hate mankind. I am the Emperor!

The Emperor to James Taylor and Gary Stewart.

Type-α, codenamed "Emperor" (エンペラー, Enperā), was a crystalline entity with shape-shifting powers. It was created by Caleb Goldman to protect nature from humanity. It is the final boss of The House of the Dead 2.

Emperor's metallic orb projectiles could transform into many forms, including other bosses. Its weak point was its spinning red heart-like organ.

Appearance

Emperor is a levitating, horned transluescent humanoid. It is surrounded by orbs, which revolve at high speed to block attacks. The orbs are launched as projectiles, and can morph into two forms: a lance-like blade on Emperor's right arm; or clones of prior bosses (Zeal from Judgment, Hierophant, the blue serpent from the Tower, and Strength).

At low health, Emperor turns invisible, leaving behind its heart-like organ while slowly flying about; the orbs revolve faster, damaging players if they get too near.

History

Creation

After Dr. Curien's death in the 1998 Curien Mansion Incident, his research was taken by his financier Caleb Goldman. Goldman produced a new line of biologically-engineered creatures to decimate humanity, whose actions he believed threatened nature. With his new plan, Emperor would be the new "ruler" of the Earth.

2000 incident

Main article: The House of the Dead 2

On February 26th, 2000, Goldman staged an outbreak in a large, unnamed city. While AMS agents neutralized the threat, he oversaw the Emperor's development in his headquarters. Agents James Taylor and Gary Stewart confronted Goldman, who awakened Emperor.

After James and Gary killed the creature, Goldman cryptically warned that a "successor" would come. He then committed suicide by throwing himself off the roof of his building.

Gameplay

Overview

Emperor is an aerial boss surrounded by rapidly-spinning orbs, which perform three functions: protecting Emperor's weak point (the orb in its chest); flying at the player as projectiles; and morphing into previously defeated bosses. When using its orbs, however, Emperor is susceptible to damage as it is no longer being protected by them. A good player can successfully deflect Emperor's attacks and take advantage of chances to shoot his weak point whenever it is exposed. Most of the creature's attacks are random, making the fight unpredictable.

Phases

1. Emperor flies to a random location before performing one of three random attacks:
   • Emperor launches several orbs at the player, one-by-one.
   • Emperor causes several orbs to materialize in random spots; once all appear, they home in on the player's position.
   • Emperor's orbs transform its arm into a sword/lance to slash players.
2. After sustaining enough damage, Emperor flies to a random location as its orbs morph into one of four previously defeated bosses:
   • Judgment: Zeal, the small winged imp-like creature from this boss, bobs left and right as it flies directly at the player. Shooting Zeal once ends the phase.
   • Hierophant: Hierophant leaps into the air to impale the players with its trident; shooting its heart stops the attack. Unlike the actual boss, the orb Hierophant has no opening and closing ribcage, thus its heart is always exposed.
   • Tower: A serpent lunges forward for a bite attack.
   • Strength: The chainsaw-wielding juggernaut stands briefly before performing an overhead chainsaw attack. His head must be hit multiple times in order to stop the attack.
3. At low health, Emperor's body becomes nothing more than its weak point surrounded by orbs. The creature will fly about the environment before colliding with the player. Shooting Emperor's weak point enough times will make the creature change course, delaying the attack.

Strategies

• During the orb projectile attacks in the first phase, it is possible to score multiple hits on Emperor's weak point. However, the player risks losing a life from failing to stop the orbs in time.

Other appearances

The Pinball of the Dead

Emperor makes an appearance as the final boss in The Pinball of the Dead. During battle, Emperor will use a combination of four moves, three of which are based on the moves it uses in The House of the Dead 2.

The first move that Emperor uses is that it sends two orbs at the player in order to block the player's pinball. Although it performs this move at close-range, it is easy to avoid. The next move that Emperor uses is that it will send many orbs at the player.

The amount of orbs that Emperor sends out will fill the screen, but there is a space between each of them. The third move that Emperor will use transforms its arms into swords, followed by Emperor slashing in a cross pattern. This move will knock the player's pinball back at the player. The final move that Emperor uses causes it to transform one of its arms into a giant shield, which prevents it from getting any damage.

Trivia

• Wheel of Fate's theme from The House of the Dead III is a remix of Emperor's theme.
• Old concept art from The House of the Dead shows Magician as a transparent, jester-like creature similar to Emperor's own appearence. It id assumed that they were originally to be one being, but the idea was scrapped.
• In the Sega/Namco light gun game Vampire Night, the vampire Diane uses a water pillar attack which is similar to Emperor's orb attack and Auguste uses attacks of previous bosses which is similar to Emperor's orbs morphing to clones of prior bosses.
• In The Typing of the Dead, after Emperor's heath gets in between 1/2 and 1/4, Emperor attacks you and you have to type what the game thinks is the honest answer.
• In The House of the Dead III in the Genome Ward, a picture of Emperor can be seen hanging up on the wall.

Gallery

The House of the Dead 2

Official artwork

Emperor's official artwork for the Dreamcast release of The House of the Dead 2.

Data

Emperor weak point entry in G's file.

Emperor artwork for Boss Mode.

The Emperor alongside all other bosses in Boss Mode.

Emperor appearing on the cover of a Japanese game guide for The House of the Dead 2.

Screenshots

Goldman overseeing Emperor's development.

Emperor's awakening

Emperor close-up.

Emperor upon attacking the player

Emperor's two character models from English of the Dead

The House of the Dead III

Screenshots

Emperor as seen in The House of the Dead III's opening sequence.

The Pinball of the Dead

Screenshots

Emperor in The Pinball of the Dead.