Underworld Lord

Underworld Lord
Blaster Master Zero artwork
Location	Area 8
Reward	None
Pause Trick	No
Weakness	None

“	The lord of all mutants awaits you in the deepest part of the Mutant's Inner-Body Area. It possesses high level intelligence not found in any other mutants, and its strength and combat abilities are second to none amongst mutants.”
	— Underworld Lord Description • Blaster Master Zero website

“The Galaxy Master” Underworld Lord (Goez in the Japanese version) is a boss in Blaster Master Zero, appearing as the mutant boss of Area 8.

Physical Appearance

The Underworld Lord resembles a knight. He wears red armor, with notable features including a helmet with long yellow horns, shoulder pauldrons each with a curved spike, and upward pointed toes. In Blaster Master Zero 3, Goez-R has the same body structure as the Underworld Lord, except it has less armor, is colored green, and its head resembles a GX680.

General Information

The Underworld Lord, also referred to in-universe as the Mutant Lord, is the pseudo final boss of the Blaster Master portion of the game, appearing as the mutant boss of the Mutant’s Inner Body Area. He serves as the main antagonist of said portion of the game, being directly responsible for the mutant threat on Earth. Defeating him results in him transforming into the true final boss of the Blaster Master segment, the Multidimensional Overlord.

Attacks

The Underworld Lord starts in the middle of the arena. He only attacks using a plasma whip. After positioning himself relative to the player, he holds his arm up before flinging his whip forward, which can be aimed up to 45° to his left or right. The Underworld Lord is also capable of facing each of the four cardinal directions, allowing him to attack at all angles.

Strategy

“	In any case, it looks like I have the upper hand in mobility. I'm gonna have to keep moving while not getting too far away from it and seize my chances to attack when they appear!”
	— Jason • Blaster Master Zero

It is advised that the player stays close to the Underworld Lord instead of at a distance. The Underworld Lord can easily catch the player at a distance due to lower angular velocity relative to his position. By staying up close, the player can more easily dodge out of the way of his whip; the Underworld Lord also generally backs away from the player if they are too close instead of activating his whip.

As the battle serves the player more at close range than at long range, any long range benefits from various Gun types are negligible. As such, Gun types that excel in close range, either due to range limitations, such as Blaster, Diffusion, Auto, or Flame; or due to higher rate of fire, such as Long Range and Striker; are no longer hindered by some of their weaknesses.

The best strategy to use involves placing down a Turret to distract the Underworld Lord so that Jason can more safely deal damage to him. Remote Blast and Ignition Bombs can also be used to speed up the fight, however, the player may wish the reserve these for the oncoming fight against the Multidimensional Overlord. Of the Gun types that have limited range, Flame is the best option, followed by Diffusion, Blaster, and Auto; Auto is not recommended due to its lacking damage output, even when up close to maximize accuracy. Of the Gun types that have limited projectiles that can be be mitigated when used in close range, Striker is the better option of the two; Long Range still works well, though, doing better than any of the Gun types with limited range.

Using Wave, Jason is able to stun the Underworld Lord in addition to distracting him with a Turret. Wave does not suffer from any of the weaknesses that the other Gun types have, but this does not intrinsically make it a better option. As far as time efficiency in this battle, Wave serves as a middle ground between the Gun types with limited projectiles and the Gun types with limited range.

Penetrator, while not benefiting in the same way most of the other Gun types do due to its unlimited range and ability to penetrate enemies while only being allowed to have two projectiles on screen at a time, is still a decent option, being better than Auto, and can be better than Blaster when using careful positioning to make its projectiles have minimal time on screen.

Reflect is a useless Gun type against the Underworld Lord, as he has no projectiles.

Using Striker is the best option; Striker’s high damage output at close range and use of a Turret as a decoy can make quick work of the Underworld Lord, defeating him in less than 6 seconds.

Destroyer Mode

The Underworld Lord is immune to all Gun types, meaning it can only be damaged by Sub-weapons. Jason should use a Turret to distract it, then use up all of his Ignition Bombs, followed by Grenades. Remote Blast can also be used, but as previously stated, it may be preferable to reserve it for the Multidimensional Overlord.

Damage (Blaster Master Zero)

The following list shows how many shots it takes from each Gun and Sub-weapon type to defeat Underworld Lord. Stun means Underworld Lord will be unable to act for a brief period of time; weapons can only stun every so often in order to prevent the boss from being stun-locked. Weak means Underworld Lord will take twice as much damage from the Gun than usual; in-game, they flash red, and are also stunned, when this occurs.

Underworld Lord takes only standard damage from Jason's Sub-weapons, which normally deal double damage to bosses.

• Blaster: 150
• Long Range: 75
• Penetrator: 75
• Diffusion: 75* (farthest); 25* (closest)
• Auto: 375*
• Reflect: No effect
• Striker: 38
• Flame: 188 (direct only); 150 ticks (burning only)
• Wave: 300* ** (stun) (single shots); 100** (stun) (triple shots)
• Grenade Bomb: [10 = 40% HP removed]
• Ignition Bomb: [10 = ~53.3% HP removed]
• Turret: 75 (bullets); 19 (explosion)
• Remote Blast: [15 rockets = 50% HP removed]

*Value assumed based on presumed damage of attack and health of boss

**Gun attack deals 1/2 damage to this boss

Other Appearances

MetaFight/Blaster Master

The Underworld Lord appears as the second mutant boss of Area 8.

He is the main antagonist of MetaFight, where he is named Goez. He is the leader of the Invem Dark Star Cluster, and is responsible for invading the planet Sophia the 3rd, which is the setting of the game.

The Underworld Lord’s role is never explained in Blaster Master, as the instruction manual makes the Plutonium Boss out to be the main antagonist, possibly because he appears on the game’s boxart. The Underworld Lord’s only mention in the manual is the portion depicting almost all of the game’s Mutant Bosses, where he is referred to as the “Master Boss” and being the most powerful of all. There is also no backstory regarding a planetary invasion, as the main plotline involves Jason chasing after Fred, his pet frog; the mutants are a result of radioactive waste, and are not part of an affiliated army of sorts.

The Underworld Lord always faces downward. He can move rather quickly on his feet, allowing him to approach Jason and damage him either by contact or by lashing his whip out at him. Standing to the side of the Underworld Lord and using Grenades is the best strategy; however, the player will need to move out of the way and attack from his other side in order to prevent being cornered or whipped.

Blaster Master Zero 3

Jason is initially forced to fight three clones of the Underworld Lord, referred to as Goez-R, simultaneously during his initial escape from the Sophia Force Base; after this initial encounter, he will then begin to encounter individual Goez-R enemies while traversing super-dimensional space. Like their predecessor, these clones side-step frequently and can deploy a plasma whip; unlike their predecessor, they also have access to a bullet-storm attack, but are now vulnerable to being stunned by the Reflex Striker Blast Counter.

Trivia

• One of Blaster Master Zero's Eve chats (which can be initiated in Area 5 after acquiring Wall Climb) speculates that the game's Mutant Lord is most likely a survivor from an ancient battle who is targeting SOPHIA III due to its resemblance to an aircraft used by Eve's people against the mutants in that battle.

Gallery

Blaster Master

Blaster Master Zero