Introducing: Bal-Bas-Beta
Monday, February 6, 2012 at 8:12PM
Sirlin in Fantasy Strike Shadows Characters

Bal-Bas-Beta, or BBB for short, is a clockwork automation--a robot of sorts.

Max Geiger built BBB and imbued him with sentience and personality. (The previous B-B-Alpha didn't work out so well.) Although Geiger is well-known for his skill with clockwork parts as well as his knowledge of science and engineering, the creation of BBB raised suspicions in Flagstone because it seemed a bit too advanced. Did Geiger get help from someone? Or from another time period? There are rumors he has communicated with an ancient lost race that had incredibly advanced technology, though most believe that stories of the Vortoss are just stories. (There are also stories that they are a playable faction in the upcoming non-collectable, yes-customizable card game.)

In any case, General Onimaru saw the clockwork man and immediately recognized its military potential. He ordered the production of an entire army of clockwork soldiers. Unfortunately, producing clockwork soldiers requires significant resources so Quince began scouring the Pandalands, Murkwood, the Golden Plains, and other regions for gold, silver, other minerals, lumber, and so on. Geiger suddenly left Flagstone, though his work was continued by Flagstone's new head of R&D, Dr. Beverly "Nova" Villanova.

While BBB is a friendly and inquisitive being, the mass-produced clockwork soliders that came after him lack his charm. BBB hopes to reunite with Geiger someday.

In a fighting game, BBB is a defensive character designed to keep opponents away. He pokes them with extendable arms and fists which he can retract with chains. In Flash Duel, he is also happy at long range:

Rocket Punch means that at a range of 5 (for example), he can attack with a 5 *or* a 4. Most characters would only be able to attack with a 5 in that case.

He has Rocket Punch in Puzzle Strike, too:

In Puzzle Strike, it lets him sneak in a small crash (of just a 1-gem) whenever you would crash at him or attack him with a red chip. His other chips (Upgrade and Cog Engine) allow him access to more expensive chips. That means he can trade up his chips for more better ones, and he also gets a money boost to buy a bit more expensive chips in the first place.

Next time we'll cover Master Menelker, also known as Deathstrike Dragon.

Article originally appeared on Sirlin.Net (http://oldsite.sirlin.net/).
See website for complete article licensing information.