|
Lord British (in Japanese: ロードブリティッシュ) made its debut in Salamander/Life Force. It is controlled by Player 2. It is the second ship in the Gradius series which is controlled by the Player. Lord British has other names which are Lord. B or Road British, the latter as a result of romanization. It has red streaks intead of blue steaks and has a different shape than Vic Viper. It is in the shape of a Jet.
History
Salamander/Life Force
Somewhere away from the planet Gradius, another benevolent planet called Latis was at a state of beauty with sparkling blue oceans. But for years an ancient prophecy going back thousands of years spelling potential doom has haunted its inhabitants: that light-years away, a giant dragon born from the sea of flames (an unnamed star) would consume the planet into external darkness. That prophecy seemingly came true when the Bacterian Empire under the guise of the Salamander Army invaded the planet and overwhelmed the Latis Army. By introducing Latis' prophecy and perspective, Lord British starfighter is to be given more presence story-wise in spite of Vic Viper appearinng as the first player position.
Unwilling to go quietly into the night Lord British, a prince of Planet Latis who is ardent believer of noblesse oblige, volunteered to go to war with Latis' latest state-of-the-art starfighter called LS-379G. So fresh was this fighter completed that it not only has not been tested, but it also didn't have a codename typically given to fighter planes at the time of Salamander invasion. Latis' military launched an all-out attack on Salamander forces, only to suffer a disastrous debacle in which most of Latis' forces were eradicated. Only LS-379G piloted by ace Lord British, managed to escape the massacre. Refusing to give up, Lord British contacted Gradius Empire who had extensive experience in defeating Bacterians, and Gradius military agrees to aid LS-379G. With the help of Vic Viper, the prince of Latis once more took charge of the war and flew LS-379G straight into the heart of the enemy's mother star alongside the Gradius Empire's Vic Viper.
After strings of brutal battles and victories, both starfighters tracked down and destroyed numerous enemy commanders including the Brain Golem, Tetran, and Death, before locating and destroying the Zelos Force. In doing so, both the Vic Viper and Lord British save planet Latis from an inpending doom, and drive back the Bacterians. After the war, LS-379G was rechristened with the name of its pilot to honor his heroism and the bond between Gradius Empire and Planet Latis became strong.
Solar Assault
In the year 6852, that is twelve years after events of Gradius III, a mysterious mobile fortress suddenly appears and moves toward Planet Gradius. Ominously, stars and planets standing in the mobile fortress' path inexplicably vanished, as if those planets and stars warped into another dimension. Once again Planet Gradius is in peril, and the Vic Viper alongside Lord British and the new starfighter Alpinia were summoned to investigate this matter and if necessary, destroy an unknown approaching enemy. With an updated set of weapons, Lord British and the other fighters set out to check the incoming foe and after waging series of dangerous dogfights in various environments, the Fighters discovered the mobile fortress and managed to find an opening during the thick of combat. Once inside the fortress Lord British, Vic Viper and Alpinia plowed through waves after waves of enemy onslaughts until the trio starfighters eventually made it to the Core that controls the fortress and destroyed the core, bringing the planetary threat to an end.
Gradius Gaiden
Sometime between the events of Gradius III and Gradius IV, the Gradius Empire got into a confrontation with the Bacterians again. Unlike previous encounters however, the Bacterians used more advanced technology, making them much more prepared for an assault against Gradius. To counter this however, the Gradius Empire deploys not only the Vic Viper to stop the evil empire, but also the Lord British, as well as to newly released fighters called the Jade Knight and the Falchion β; each of the four fighters has their strengths and their weaknesses, making them useful for different approaches to stop the imminent invasion. All four crafts travel across familiar and unfamiliar worlds, where they all encounter and defeat various Bacterian troops. Afterwards, they locate the source in the Black Nebula and destroy it whilst narrowly escaping destruction, bringing an end to the Bacterians once more.
Specification
| Wingspan | 13.5 m (Gradius Gaiden) 60 ft (Solar Assault) |
| Length | 20.24 m (Gradius Gaiden) 82.6 ft (Solar Assault) |
| Height | 5.47 m (Gradius Gaiden) 27.3 ft (Solar Assault) |
| Weight | 7.3 t |
| Crew | 1 |
| Maximum Speed | 5.60c |
| Drive | RA-3 Antimatter Engine x1 |
Weapons
Lord British has a virtually identical weapon arsenal to the Vic Viper in Salamander/Life Force, however in Gradius Gaiden, its weapon set is unique, as it uses a weapon set accustomed to destroying multiple Bacterians at once in exchanged for inferior firepower and a slower fire rate.
- Impluse Rail Gun - a standard, semi-automatic laser bolt that can take out smaller Bacterians easily.
- 2-Way Missile - fires two missiles that can climb surfaces until it hits an enemy or an obstacle such as the environment. If it comes in contact with a hatch, it will destroy it instantly.
- Laser - debuting in Salamander, fires a long stream of laser with penetrating capabilities. Very strong, little lag and high stopping power makes this a very deadly weapon of choice. With assistance of Options, Laser shows its true devastating versatility.
- Cyclone Laser - fires a beam with a spiral effect that behaves just like the standard Laser. It is thicker than its normal counterpart in Gradius.
- Ripple - fires a ring-shaped pulse that is much wider than the Laser, but lacks the ability to penetrate enemies.
- Disruptor - a unique laser only available to Lord British in Gradius Gaiden, when fired, it creates a pulse-like ring similar to the normal Ripple Laser, but reaching the length of the screen, destroying almost anything that gets trapped in the laser's path, it however has a much slower fire rate than the ripple laser, leaving the spacecraft vulnerable for a short time after it is fired.
- Options - creates an orange, orb-like satellite that follows behind the Jade Knight's trail that increases the firepower of the craft by one unit, but does not provide shielding protection; up to four can be obtained at maximum.
- Barrier - creates a shield that protects the Lord British by various means, depending on the type of shield the pilot sets up, it will be one of the following:
- Shield - creates one hexagonal gear (two in Gradius Gaiden) that protects Lord British from the front for a significant number of hits, but leaves the other sides exposed.
- Force Field - creates a shield that covers the entire craft, but only protects it for about half as many hits as the normal shield.
- Vertical Guard - a new type of shield introduced in Gradius Gaiden, it grants Lord British protection from the top and bottom of the craft, but can only absorb two hits. It also grants the ability to negate collision with terrain.
- Limit - creates a spherical shield around the craft, granting it temporary invincibility or a few seconds. This shield also allows the craft to past through terrain.
Trivia
- In the North American and European versions of Salamander/Life Force, the craft is erroneously referred to as "Road British" due to romanization.
- Lord British from Gradius Gaiden had launched from Planet Gradius. It is unknown whether Gradius Empire imported some Lord British starfighters from its ally Planet Latis.
Navigation
 | ||
|
Vic Viper | Lord British | Jade Knight | Falchion β | Blue & Red Thunder | Metalion | Vixen | Super Cobra | TMF-01 Flintlock | D-117B Axelay | ||