Armored Guard (unused variants)

This article describes scrapped enemy concepts related to the Armored Guard enemy set from Strider 2. All these enemies were intended to appear in the "fortress stage", Fortress Wahnen.

Morning Star Guard

Morning Star Guard

The Morning Star Guard (モーニングスター兵) is a scrapped armored guard which closely resembles the basic, axe-wielding type. This soldier type is tall and bulky, wears a similar armor with a long cape and fights with a similar polearm, a large morning star. He is seen holding a morning star with both hands, with a second one resting on his back.

It can be assumed they'd have also performed similarly to the axe guards, swinging their morning star at Hiryu whenever he approached.

Mysterious Cannon Guard

Mysterious Cannon Guard

The Mysterious Cannon Guard (謎の大砲兵) is a scrapped armored soldier and predecessor to the Armored Gunner. Much like the enemy in the final game, the Mysterious Cannon Guard is a short and stout guard clad in full armor, and includes a flowing cape and a large cannon in front of him, held with both hands. The big, old-school cannon is also chained to the armor's shoulder area.

He'd have attacked by shooting cannonballs in quick succession at Hiryu.

Musasabi Guard

Musasabi Guard

The Musasabi Guard (ムササビ兵, "musasabi" being the name of the Japanese giant flying squirrel) is an unique scrapped model of Armored Guard. This enemy is tall and slender with long arms, wearing a styled armor equipped with a large jet booster on his back and a set of bat-like membrane wings under his arms. His main weapon is a punch dagger equipped under his right wrist.

As seen in concept art, the Musasabi Guard would have attacked by propelling himself forward with his jet booster, attacking Hiryu from the air by flying or gliding similarly to his namesake.

Snake Guard

Snake Guard

The Snake Guard (蛇兵) is an unique scrapped model of Armored Guard. This soldier has a long, serpentine lower half instead of legs, an armored body with a visored helmet, and fights with a shield and long spear. Its unknown how they'd have behaved against Hiryu.

Although not confirmed, it is possible this enemy was intended to assist the Aluminium Hydra during the boss battle, given his serpentine appearance; if true, it was simply replaced with the Light Armored Guard in the final game.

See also

• Iron Ball the Great: A scrapped enemy wearing armor similar to the Armored Guards, but seemingly intended to be the leader of a different group of enemies.