Raiden III / RayStorm Boss name references...

[ST Dragon]

I’ve heard some time ago, that the names of the Bosses in Raiden III are the ones of biblical demons / powerful entities & the names used in RayStorm were those of the enemies of the Roman Empire.

If this is true and what are the exact names used in these two games?

It’s interesting as I have the Euro PAL version of RayStorm, but I’ve seen no related references in the manual.
I haven’t played Raiden III yet, so where does the info in these two games come from?

What other shooters share similar epic Boss names?

Thanks in advance.

[Skyknight]

{sigh} I gave the Raiden III bosses the names of Goetic demons myself--it wasn't Moss's doing.

On the other hand, your information on Raystorm is definitely correct. The names are as follows...

St. 1: Pendragon
St. 2: Vercingetorix
St. 3: Zenobia
St. 4: Hannibal
St. 5: Genseric
St. 6: Alaric
St. 7: Spartacus, then Yggdrasil (a reference to the Norse belief system of the Gothic tribes, whose leaders included Genseric of the Vandals and Alaric of the Visigoths)

If you must know, these are the names I cooked up for the Raiden III bosses (UNOFFICIALLY; remember that!).

St. 1: Belial
St. 2: Volac
St. 3: Forneus
St. 4: Astaroth
St. 5: Decarabia
St. 6: Crocell
St. 7: Beleth (provisional)

It's sort of a hobby of mine. I even came up with Goetic names for the Shienryu bosses...

St. 1: Stolas
St. 2: Vapula
St. 3: Vepar
St. 4: Zagan, then Agares
St. 5: Andromalius
St. 6: Paimon
St. 7: Decarabia
St. 8: Agares, then Barbatos

[ST Dragon]

Hey, those names which you made-up, are pretty cool!
Perfectly suited for Raiden III. They would also be ideal in a more dark-themed shooter like Ikaruga.

Do these names appear in the Bible by the way?
And what does "Goetic" mean?

By the way, who are Pendragon & Yggdrasil and at what point of Roman history do they appear?

Thanks in advance.

[Skyknight]

Ars Goetia (lit. "howling arts") is simply the art of conjuring and binding infernal spirits to do your will. Although, except for a few that actually seem to be good-willed (e.g. Orobas, who neither deceives his conjurer, nor will allow him to be tempted by any), I don't see why you'd WANT anything to do with them...

Anyway, I've now allocated Goetian names to all of the bosses from the Raiden series (yes, I changed some of the names I chose for the Raiden III bosses)...

RAIDEN

1. Bifrons Twin
2. Raüm
3. Agares
4. Aim
5. Leraje
6. Sabnock Twin
7. Oriax
8. Purson

RAIDEN II

1. Furfur Twin
2. Stolas (mid-boss: Vassago Twin)
3. Vepar
4. Dantalion
5. Phenex
6. Andromalius
7. Buné
8. Paimon

RAIDEN III

1. Andrealphus Twin
2. Naberius
3. Forneus
4. Astaroth
5. Decarabia
6. Glasya-Labolas
7. Beleth

[doctorx0079]

Ars Goetia (lit. "howling arts") is simply the art of conjuring and binding infernal spirits to do your will. Although, except for a few that actually seem to be good-willed (e.g. Orobas, who neither deceives his conjurer, nor will allow him to be tempted by any), I don't see why you'd WANT anything to do with them...

Anyway, I've now allocated Goetian names to all of the bosses from the Raiden series (yes, I changed some of the names I chose for the Raiden III bosses)...

RAIDEN

1. Bifrons Twin
2. Raüm
3. Agares
4. Aim
5. Leraje
6. Sabnock Twin
7. Oriax
8. Purson

RAIDEN II

1. Furfur Twin
2. Stolas (mid-boss: Vassago Twin)
3. Vepar
4. Dantalion
5. Phenex
6. Andromalius
7. Buné
8. Paimon

RAIDEN III

1. Andrealphus Twin
2. Naberius
3. Forneus
4. Astaroth
5. Decarabia
6. Glasya-Labolas
7. Beleth

The names sound Latin, Greek or Hebrew in origin.

e.g. Naberius sounds Latin.
Paimon sounds Greek.
Beleth sounds Hebrew (like the Angels in Evangelion).

Don't the bosses in Raiden I already have semi-official names from the manuals? I only have the PS1 version which doesn't list them.

[doctorx0079]

By the way, who are Pendragon & Yggdrasil and at what point of Roman history do they appear?

Thanks in advance.

Pendragon was part of the name of Uther Pendragon, the father of King Arthur. Wikipedia says Pendragon comes from the Welsh word bendragon which means "dragon's head".

Yggdrasil is a Norse word. From Wikipedia again, Yggdrasil in Norse mythology is the World Tree, a great ash tree connecting the nine worlds together. You might notice references to it in other games like Xenogears and Faxanadu.

If these names appear in Roman history it would probably be when Romans invaded Britain or Scandinavia respectively.

[Skyknight]

There are some British legends which credit Uther Pendragon with having a part in driving off the Romans from Wales. Perhaps more sketchy is one of the tales of King Arthur, where he routs Emperor Lucius and would have added the Italian Peninsula to the British Empire, if not for Mordred choosing that time to usurp the throne.

Yggdrasil, it seems, was named with the Nordic belief system of the Goths in mind. This is kind of ironic, though, since I seem to remember that many of the Gothic tribes were actually Arian Christians (I'm not sure about the Visigoths, but definitely the Vandals). This is why Genseric could raid Rome with a relatively clean conscience--the Romans were vile Athanasian blasphemous scum (although he DID respect the Pope's plea to not raze/sack Rome after it surrendered. He robbed it, yes, but the people, farms, and buildings tended to survive).

And it's no surprise about what the Goetian names sound like, when you consider the culture from which Ars Goetia arose. Astaroth is, of course, a corruption of Ishtar. Some Goetian texts call Naberius "Cerberus" instead (although the texts vary as to whether he manifests as a raven or the famous three-headed hound). Bifrons was another name for Janus. Orobas seems to come from the Roman incense orobias. And so on. I picked the names on account of how the specific demons were supposed to manifest. Some examples...

Andrealphus: He manifests as a peacock. I immediately thought of the huge gatling guns on the bosses, and how they could be thought of as like a peacock tail's eyespots.
Leraje: An archer clad in green. The bow, here, is the boss's "wings".
Andromalius: A man carrying a great serpent. The serpent would be the massive cannon that swings around.
Dantalion: He's supposed to bear MANY countenances, seemingly of all men and women. Think of the cannons the boss summons as being analogous to all those faces...

You can fish up a reference to several Goetian lists here: http://www.deliriumsrealm.com/

[Neon]

Raiden 3's getting released in the states on april 17th. is this old news? couldn't be arsed to search, I gotta leave in a minute

[szycag]

Raiden 3's getting released in the states on april 17th. is this old news? couldn't be arsed to search, I gotta leave in a minute

For the most part, one of the Raiden III threads at least has been following the US release date, as well as the topic in #shmups IRC chat

My names for the Raiden III bosses (WOOOOOOOOO)

St. 1: Milli Vanilli
St. 2: Salt N Pepa
St. 3: Parliament Shmupadelic
St. 4: Jerkface
St. 5: Galactus Devourer of Credits
St. 6: Crotchmaster
St. 7: NO GOOD SON OF A BITCH GOD WHAT A CHEAP SHOT (provisional)

[JBC]

St. 1: Milli Vanilli
St. 2: Salt N Pepa
St. 3: Parliament Shmupadelic
St. 4: Jerkface
St. 5: Galactus Devourer of Credits
St. 6: Crotchmaster
St. 7: NO GOOD SON OF A BITCH GOD WHAT A CHEAP SHOT (provisional)

I dig em'. I will forever remember those two wuss tanks as Milli and Vanilli from this day forward.

[Zaarock]

Raiden 3's getting released in the states on april 17th. is this old news? couldn't be arsed to search, I gotta leave in a minute

For the most part, one of the Raiden III threads at least has been following the US release date, as well as the topic in #shmups IRC chat

My names for the Raiden III bosses (WOOOOOOOOO)

St. 1: Milli Vanilli
St. 2: Salt N Pepa
St. 3: Parliament Shmupadelic
St. 4: Jerkface
St. 5: Galactus Devourer of Credits
St. 6: Crotchmaster
St. 7: NO GOOD SON OF A BITCH GOD WHAT A CHEAP SHOT (provisional)

Heh, i found the stage 5 boss to be the 3rd or even second easiest boss in the game. Its primary shot doesent go near the middle and the only thing you actually need to worry about are the highspeed bullets which are rare anyway.

[Carmen]

Where do you get the names for the RayStorm bosses ... they're not in game are they?

I doubt the RayCrisis bosses are named after anything signifigant (Sem-Frey, Pro-tor, and, ahem, Sem-Slut), but are they too?

[Skyknight]

Going ahead with personal names for Raiden IV bosses...

1. Alloces
2. Vapula
3. Focalor
4. Murmur Twin

More to come as Moss unveils them...

[ST Dragon]

By the way, any chance Raiden IV will be ported to the PS-2 or PS-3?