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The Octopus[1] (also known as the Large Invader in most instruction guides) is one of the three classic invaders from the first game.

Appearance[]

The Octopus has a wide, dome-shaped body with two wide eyes, a mouth, and two appendages. Its sprite is 8 pixels high and 12 pixels wide, making it the easiest character to hit.

Before being translated to pixels, its original design was revealed to look like a blobby, four-armed octopus by Tomohiro Nishikado for the game's 40th Anniversary. Like the other classic invaders, its appearance differs from game to game, though modern versions are practically always pixelated.

Octopus concept art (website) 3d octopus

Gameplay[]

Like the other two classic enemies, it shoots a laser downward and moves from left to right and back again coming down. One hit from the cannon will kill it. Traditionally, it scores the player 10 points.

First with Space Invaders Part II, leaving no invaders save for a single Octopus will result in the lone invader leaving behind a trail. Shooting it results in a 1000-point "rainbow" bonus, named after the trail it leaves behind. This also appears in Space Invaders Extreme.

Name[]

Its name was featured in Puzzle and Dragons, Groove Coaster, and various promotional material.

Trivia[]

  • The Octopus was the first invader to be designed, inspired by the octopus-like Martians from The War of the Worlds. This informed the decision to base the other two original invaders off of aquatic species.

References[]

  1. SPACE INVADERS | Character secrets
  2. "Space Invaders" Celebrates 40 Years of Planetary Conquest in Roppongi
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