Simondo Belmont

Simondo Belmont is a secret miniboss fought in Contra: Hard Corps, a run-and-gun game developed and published by Konami for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis.
==Description==
In Stage 3 of Contra: Hard Corps, Junkyard, right before entering the room to fight Noiman Cascade, if instead of continuing forward the player jumps and climbs up the wall, they'll find the Mysterious Character, who will ask them if they want to fight in the arena. If the player answers "Yes", they'll enter a boss arena where they'll have to fight three minibosses, one after another and without taking any breaks between encounters: Simondo Belmont, the Psycho Mother and Huge Face.
Simondo Belmont appears as an android carrying what appears to be a guitar case on his back with a smiley face sticker on it (appearing frowny or neutral face due to sprite limitations). His overall design is based on famous Japanese vocalist Masato Shimon, who is known for his contributions to various anime and live action series (a tokusatsu). What appears to be Simondo's hair is stylized as a big afro, wears big headphones with antennas, uses rounded sunglasses, and bell-bottomed pants. His right arm can extend into a chain whip, complete with a Morning Star-like tip, similar to the Vampire Killer.
At the beginning of the encounter, Simondo will come out of the door on the right and destroy a candle, which drops a taiyaki (a fish-shaped cake); he'll pick it up as if it was a sub-weapon and use it as such during the battle. In-battle, he will walk back and forth throughout the arena and alternate between aerial chain whip strikes and his grounded taiyaki sub-weapon throw.
About halfway through the battle, Simondo's head will blow up, although he'll keep on fighting. When defeated, his headless body will spew out a fountain of taiyaki before exploding. Defeating him earns the player with 5,048 points. It is unclear what this number may represent (if anything), as it is one of the few score rewards that does not end in a multiple of 10.
==Attacks==
*Jumping chain shoot: Simondo will perform a jump and try to hit them with his chain arm. The chain's length may harm a player standing on the ground. Simondo always starts the battle with this opening attack.
*Taiyaki throw: Simondo will stand in place, take out a taiyaki and throw it, which will then come back to him (similar to the Cross sub-weapon from Castlevania). This attack only works on the ground, and he waits until the taiyaki returns to him before returning to movement.
==Gallery==
Simondo Belmont - 01.png|Simondo Belmont from Contra: Hard Corps.
Masato Shimon - 01.jpg|Masato Shimon was the inspiration for Simondo Belmont.
Simondo Belmont - Vampire Survivors - 01.png|Simondo Belmont from Vampire Survivors: Operation Guns.
==Trivia==
*Simondo Belmont resembles Simon Belmont from the Castlevania series.
*The taiyaki dropped from the candle is a reference to the sub-weapons generally acquired by destroying candles in the Castlevania series. In this case, the taiyaki would represent the Cross and behaves the same way. When Simondo Belmont obtains it, it gives a "blinking effect" to the character; this effect was used in classic titles (and variations of it in more recent ones) when acquiring a power-up upgrade to the whip. Simondo will then use the taiyaki as a throwing weapon during the battle.
*Simondo's theme, "SIMON 1994RD", is a remix of the iconic "Vampire Killer" theme from Castlevania.
*When defeated, taiyakis will shoot out of Simondo's body making a similar sound to the remaining Hearts counter from the classic Castlevania games.
*As Simondo blows up, his "guitar case" is revealed to be some sort of bag for hockey sticks.
*Simondo is a parody of Masato Shimon. He recorded the song "Oyoge! Taiyaki-kun", which may explain why he uses taiyakis as his trademark weapon.
*The first whip skeletons that appeared in a Konami game (Getsu Fūma Den, 1987) were also originally called "Shimon" (a pun on "Simon" and which translates as "The Gates of Death"), that would explain why:
*#Simondo uses a whip as his main weapon.
*#He was inspired by Masato Shimon.
*#The name "Shimon" was chosen to name the character.
*Simondo makes a special guest appearance as a playable character in the Vampire Survivors Contra themed DLC, Operation Guns.
==External links==
*Simondo Belmont at the Contra Wiki
*Simondo Belmont at the Vampire Survivors Wiki
Category:Mechanical Bosses
Category:Contra series