Balrog

Balrog (バルログ Barurogu) is an assistant to the Doctor whose job is to destroy soldiers. Cursed by the Demon Crown, he works with Misery to accomplish the Crown Holder's goals. When entering a location, he often calls out "Huzzah!" (in the Aeon Genesis translation) or "Oh Yeaaah!" (in the Nicalis translation) to signal his arrival.
== Appearance ==
Balrog is rectangular-shaped and coloured grey with vertical orange stripes. He has rectangular legs, orange arms that fit into slots on the side of his body and large, round eyes. The design for Balrog was originally based off of a bar of soap.[NC US] Cave Story - Developer's Voice - YouTube
In various battles against Balrog, he is shown to have small, white wings that allow him to fly temporarily. His wings appear orange in the best ending.
== History ==
=== Pre-game ===
Balrog's origins are not revealed in-game, although he was revealed to be under the curse of the Demon Crown at the present time Cave Story takes place.
=== In-game ===
Aside from the loading titlescreen, Balrog makes his first appearance in Cave Story in the Shack, when he and Misery confront Quote and Toroko.
=== Post-game ===
When Quote defeats Ballos in the Blood Stained Sanctuary, he is freed from the curse of the Demon Crown. As the walls in Ballos' throne room close in on Quote and Curly, Balrog manages to enter the Blood Stained Sanctuary and rescue them. As they ride on him, he offers to take them anywhere they wish. Curly asks to be brought to a place with a nice view, to which Balrog requests to come along, and Curly agrees.
In the Normal ending, Balrog appears in a cutscene of the credits in the Labyrinth clinic, assisting for the care of injured Gaudis. He is replaced by Puu Black in the Best ending.
== Boss fights ==
The player fights Balrog four times in Cave Story. In all forms except the third, Balrog is capable of holding Quote in his grip if he happens to cross Balrog's path. This causes Quote to take some damage and be thrust outwards from Balrog's position. He cannot grip Quote in the third fight because he is in frog form then.
=== First Fight ===
The first fight against Balrog is optional. After Toroko is taken to the Doctor by Misery in the Shack, Balrog is left with the task of dealing with Quote. Seeing Quote's weapon, he asks Quote if he plans to use his weapon against him. The player is then given a yes/no prompt; choosing "yes" initiates a boss battle against Balrog (whose defeat yields five energy crystals), while "no" causes him to leave the Shack.
Balrog has 60 HP in his first fight. Inside the Shack, he will run towards Quote, making a small hop along the way. Once he has crossed to one side, he will turn and run to the other side, making a small hop once more. There is a single block above the ground that Quote can jump onto, but Balrog cannot. Staying on this block prevents Balrog from getting to Quote, and still doesn't prevents Quote from landing hits with the Polar Star.
When Balrog is defeated, he exits the Shack by jumping through the ceiling, exclaiming "Just you wait!" in the Aeon Genesis translation or "I'll remember this!" in the Nicalis translation.
=== Second Fight ===
Balrog confronts Quote in the Power Supply Room after receiving orders from the Doctor to destroy him. Similar to the battle in the Shack, Balrog moves from one end of the Power Supply Room to the other; this time, he reveals a pair of wings that allow him to fly for a brief period of time. When he lands on one end of the room, he sends out a stream of white orbs that move in Quote's direction. The player can destroy the orbs by shooting at them with any weapon.
Once Balrog's health is near complete depletion, he stops flying and begins to leap around the level as he did in his first form. Only when the player defeats him will he wonder "What ARE you?" and leap out of the Power Supply Room through the ceiling.
=== Third Fight (Balfrog) ===
Balrog intercepts Misery and Quote's meeting at the Gum room to warn Misery that Quote's strength may outmatch those of a Mimiga's. Misery then transforms him into a large frog, reminding him that it is his responsibility to deal with soldiers such as Quote. The battle with Balrog (labelled in the credits as "Balfrog") commences once Misery leaves the room.
In this fight, Balfrog makes proportionally smaller leaps than in his previous form, but still makes his way from one end of the room to the other, dropping small frogs into the room. When he reaches the end of either side or when Quote jumps behind his back, he turns, leans forward and opens his mouth, sending out several red projectiles that move towards Quote. This is the only form of Balfrog that is susceptible to weapon attacks.
When Balfrog sustains 300 HP worth of damage, he will turn back into Balrog, and exit the Gum room without saying anything to Quote.
=== Fourth Fight ===
The player fights Balrog for the final time in the Boulder Chamber as Quote and Curly Brace are pushing on a boulder to advance farther into the Labyrinth. When Balrog intercepts, preparing to destroy them for attempting to escape, Curly interprets his presence as an offer of assistance. Balrog starts to seemingly help, but then knocks Curly out while angrily asking if they were even listening to him in the first place.
During the battle, Balrog jumps and fires several missiles in midair. He then walks to the other end of the Boulder Chamber and fires missiles from the other side. The missiles can be shot at for energy crystals and hearts, but subtract health and experience if they hit Quote. The player's goal is to hit Balrog until his meter is depleted from 500 HP. For the duration of the battle, Curly is unconscious and cannot help.
Once the player defeats Balrog, he helps move the boulder, allowing Quote and Curly to continue into the Labyrinth.
== Relationships ==
* Misery - Balrog is labelled "Misery's punching bag" in the second ending credits. He obediently listens to Misery's commands, confronting Quote several times in an attempt to destroy him.
* Jenka - Balrog first arrives in the storehouse, where he reveals to the player that he already knows Jenka from previous events, and calls her "auntie" (which implies that he may be a son or creation of Ballos). He comes to collect the storehouse key, which Jenka possesses, for the Doctor. After Jenka refuses, Balrog interprets this as a sign of betrayal and later collects it by force.
* Doctor - Although Balrog is cursed by the Crown and must therefore serve the Doctor, he never speaks directly to him. Rather, it is Misery who gives Balrog the Doctor's commands. The only scene where the Doctor and Balrog are present on the same screen is in the Sand Zone storehouse, where he stops Toroko from escaping. It is Misery who instructs Balrog to feed Toroko the flower, which in turn fulfills the Doctor's suggestion.
== Trivia ==
* Balrog's cry of "Oh Yeah!" as he breaks through walls or ceilings may be a reference to the Kool-Aid Man, who utters the same catchphrase when breaking through walls.
* Though stated by Pixel that Balrog is intended to resemble a bar of soap, he is thought by others to be a lunchbox, a toaster, or even a flat-screen TV. He could even be the equivalent of a golem.
* Balrog shares his name with a powerful monster from the Lord of the Rings and Vega from the Street Fighter series.
* Balrog appeared as a boss and NPC in the Nintendo Switch platformer game Umihara Kawase Fresh!, another game published by Nicalis. He was updated into the game along with Curly Brace in version 1.0.2 on July 9, 2019, coinciding with the international release. He is the boss of quest 07, which is Curly's seventh and final quest.
* Balrog's Halloween costume is based on Frankenstein's Monster, the creation of Victor Frankenstein from the 1818 novel.
* In the GOG version of Cave Story+, in that version's game files there is concept art for Crystal Crisis, in which Balrog was going to be a playable character at one point in development. But was ultimately cut from the Roster.Cave Story/Cave Story+ - The Cutting Room Floor (tcrf.net) - 
Prerelease:Crystal Crisis (Windows) - The Cutting Room Floor (tcrf.net) - 
Category:Bosses
Category:Allies