Phantom Bomber

Phantom Bomber (formerly known as Brain Bomber) is a member of the Five Dastardly Bombers and is a recurring villain in the Bomberman series.
As one of the more sinister bombers in the group, he is the team's technician, engineer, and all-around genius. Phantom Bomber wears a cloak and has the symbol of a crown on his helmet; in Super Bomberman R, the crown is removed. He is shorter than the other characters (though, he is almost the same height as Plasma Bomber), and is sometimes seen floating above the group.
He is a Bomber-Cyborg, a being given the ability to plant bombs like Bombermen. Although Plasma Bomber was revealed to be the leader of the Dastardly Bombers in early games, Phantom Bomber more clearly took on that role in Bomberman Tournament. That position didn't last, though, as Plasma took the mantle of leader officially in Super Bomberman R, which is revealed because of Phantom's cruelty and heartlessness to his team and of his selfishness and uncaringness for the concern of his own goals in Bomberman Tournament.
==Biography==
At some point in the past, the Five Dastardly Bombers attacked Phantarion, but they were driven away by the planet's army and a special soldier, Max. Max and Brain Bomber battled, leaving Max badly wounded - to the point of cybernetic repair - and the Dastardly Bombers were forced to retreat.
===Super Bomberman 2===
In Super Bomberman 2, Brain Bomber and the other Dastardly Bombers captured the original Bomberman, but Bomberman breaks free in their ship. He is extremely weak, with only one bomb and minimalistic blast radius, even though he has the power of the Remote Bomb. He makes up for this in piloting a large Bomberman robot later, but is defeated. Brain Bomber fell to Earth alongside the wreckage of his ship.
===Super Bomberman 3===
He returned in Super Bomberman 3, revived by Professor Bagura, his master. Brain Bomber controls Pyramid in the Bomber Nebula. He fights with two boss monsters, the Ponchos, but is defeated again. He later returns to battle in the combined mecha at the end of the game, but is bested again and is left inside Bagura's exploding Battleship.
===Bomberman B-Daman===
In Bomberman B-Daman, Phantom Bomber appears as one of the living targets on some of the game boards, along with the 3 other male characters of the Five Dastardly Bombers.
===Bomberman Tournament===
In Bomberman Tournament, Brain Bomber returns to Phantarion with the old plot, revised so that it would have ensured his victory had Bomberman not shown up. Events played out as they had the first time, only the Dastardly Bombers were more prepared, stealing the four medals and sealing the Phantarion army in Fairy Palace."We managed to escape and removed the medals to keep them from following us to the desert, but they were already there and took the 4 medals. That's why we came to Fairy Palace... just like so many years ago... But they were there, too... In the end, we were stuck here while they are free!" - Fairy Palace soldier in Bomberman Tournament Max returned, but was rendered unconscious by Plasma Bomber and brainwashed by Brain Bomber to do his bidding. Brain Bomber took over the planet and made Max work on a massive mecha known only as the Ultimate Weapon. White Bomberman showed up at a warped and corrupted version of Fantasy and fought Max, helping him recover from his puppet state. Together, Max and Bomberman defeated a powered-up Brain Bomber and destroyed the Ultimate Weapon, forcing the Dastardly Bombers to retreat.
===Super Bomberman R===
Before the events of Super Bomberman R, the five ended up as deactivated on Planet Scrapheap. Evil Emperor Buggler (Bagura) revived them to conquer the five planets of the Starry Sky Solar System in his name. The Bomberman Bros. (White and Black along with Blue, Red, Yellow, Green, Pink and Aqua) set out to stop the expansion of the Buggler Army's intergalactic conquest and liberate the invaded planets.
Brain Bomber, renamed Phantom Bomber, is encountered on World 3: Planet Brainwave. He introduces himself when White trips the electronic lock's alert system, and merely watches the siblings' progress through his traps and mazes with interest. Soon, when Yellow touches something that prevents White from sneaking into the central system, Phantom Bomber reappears and gives a confident speech of how he wanted to see the siblings' looks of fear and utter despair, until he notices that Blue isn't paying attention. Pink told Blue that she thinks he's mad at him. Flustered after Blue says he always dozes off when people drone on, Phantom Bomber initiates his on-foot battle. After being blown clear, he utilizes his robot, Mystic Hatter. Afterwards, cyberspace starts to collapse in on itself and is in danger of taking everyone along with it, so White nervously reattempts the electronic lock. Phantom Bomber laughs and boldly claims that not even the most powerful supercomputer in the universe can stop it now. Meanwhile, Green nudges in and insinuates that White was planning on buying Blue one of the Ultra-Luxury Soft-Sleep Pillows from Kaboomingdale's or black hole-level sound absorbing Ultra-Powered Earplugs. Snapping out of his lethargy for a few precious moments, Blue takes a quick look and successfully dials the combination, saving the entire planet and leaving Phantom Bomber utterly flabbergasted and humiliated.
Later, Emperor Buggler is chased to an artificial Black Hole which threatens to engulf the solar system and eventually the whole universe. He summons the Five Dastardly Bombers to form Great Gattaida, which is defeated by the Bomberman Bros. As a last resort, Buggler uses his own power to grow into Ultimate Buggler. The Five Dastardly Bombers finally regained their senses after Great Gattaida was destroyed and voluntarily give their strength to the Bomberman Bros., defeating Buggler for now. Afterwards, the formerly Dastardly Bombers peacefully resumed their previous lives, again on good terms with the people of Planet Bomber.
In the credits of the game, the picture shows Phantom Bomber is at the library with Black studying together.
===Super Bomberman R 2===
In Super Bomberman R 2, Phantom Bomber returns as a playable character in the Battle Mode of the game. He is absent during the whole Story Mode of the game, but he however, makes a minor appearance during the ending credits, where he can be seen along the other Dastardly Bombers and Bomberman Bros, repairing the damages on Planet Bomber.
==Personality==
Phantom Bomber is the technical intelligence and sinister schemer of the group. In Super Bomberman 2, his base is factory-like, with platforms moving along among multiple levels. In Bomberman Tournament, he works on a large robot called the Ultimate Weapon. He seems to be a cruel, selfish, uncaring and heartless leader when in charge, and is only concerned with his own goals."Coldhearted, he uses terror to control both friend and foe!" - Man from Omega in Bomberman Tournament It was because of him that Max was wounded to the point of cybernetic repair. In Super Bomberman R, he's fond of brain-teasing logic puzzles and it is said his intellect exceeds even that of Buggler's, but is easily annoyed when lazy and sleeping people don't listen to him and his knowledge is unmatched to that of Blue's.
==Boss Fights==
Unlike the other Dastardly Bombers, Phantom Bomber is only fought face-to-face on three separate occasions.
===Super Bomberman 2===
In Super Bomberman 2, Phantom Bomber is directly fought in his first battle. He actively pursues Bomberman unless bombs are nearby, at which point he will focus on hiding from potential explosions until the danger is gone. His stats are as follows:Super Bomberman 2 Hudson Soft Guidebook, pg. 45
*HP - 3
*Bombs - 1
*Fire - 1
*Speed - Fast
*Weapon - Remote Control Bomb
===Bomberman Tournament===
Both Bomberman and Max fight together to bring down Phantom Bomber in the final stage of the game. This time, Phantom Bomber is much more powerful. He begins the battle by shielding himself and throwing three Rubber Bombs, each with a Fire range of nine. Afterwards, he flies to the center of the top row and begins to fly from side to side. Four target locks appear on the ground, moving around aimlessly at different speeds. Lightning will then strike the targets; each strike separates into four small lightning bolts on impact, which each move quickly in separate directions until colliding with an obstacle. The lightning will harm Bomberman on impact, but can be blocked with bombs. This attack may be used one to three times before Phantom Bomber lands on the ground in the top-center position of the map. He then walks around aimlessly before stopping, shielding himself, and throwing three more Rubber Bombs. The pattern then repeats.
Phantom Bomber himself will harm Bomberman on collision. He takes twelve hits to defeat. Because he always lands in the same spot, the recommended strategy is to place bombs near that position before he lands, so that he will be hit.Bomberman Story Official Guide Book, pg. 85
*HP - 12
*Bombs - 3
*Fire - 9
*Weapons - Rubber Bomb, Lightning
===Super Bomberman R===
Phantom Bomber solely relies on Phantom Bombs and his robotic tentacles as part of both the Power Glove (when the Grand Prix special abilities are enabled, but cannot utilize the Bomb Kick). In Super Bomberman R, Phantom Bomber only has 1 heart point.
==Powers==
*Custom Remote Bomb - These are specially designed Remote Bombs that only Phantom Bomber has. Unfortunately, he only had minimum bomb and fire capacity when these were in use.
*Heat Seeking Missiles - While in the combined mecha in Super Bomberman 3, Phantom Bomber will fire two short streams of missiles, which will slowly turn in the direction of White or Black for a while.
*Phantom Bomb - Used in Super Bomberman R, this bomb looks real, but is actually a dud. Phantom Bomber uses it with his normal bombs to throw the player off.
*Upgraded Powers - In Bomberman Tournament, Phantom Bomber gains several new abilities:
:* Levitation - Phantom Bomber flies from side to side.
:* Lightning Strikes - Radars appear and move about, then bolts of lightning strike and spread in four directions.
:* Shield - Phantom Bomber creates a small shield to protect him while he attacks on the ground.
:* Rubber Bombs - Phantom Bomber throws Rubber Bombs all around.
*Phantom Bomber also retains the same general abilities that the other Dastardly Bombers have, such as becoming a ball of light. However, it is revealed that he is unable to fuse with Charaboms, since he is the only member of the Five Dastardly Bombers not to do so.
==Boss Forms==
*Bomber Robo - A giant Bomberman mecha seen in Super Bomberman 2.
*Ponchos - Two cactus bosses controlled by Phantom Bomber.
*Gattaida - The combined mecha faced at the end of Super Bomberman 3.
*Mystic Hatter - The giant magician-themed robot he uses in Super Bomberman R.
*Great Gattaida - The gigantic combined mecha faced at the end of Super Bomberman R.
==Trivia==
*Phantom Bomber is one of two Dastardly Bombers to be seen at the start of their respective level in Super Bomberman R, as he greets Bomberman's crew at the start of the Planet Brainwave stage; Plasma Bomber attacks Bomberman's crew at the start of his stage on Planet Scrapheap. Unlike Plasma Bomber, Phantom Bomber is only seen fully at the end of his level (including the boss fight against him and his Mystic Hatter and the cutscenes between them), and his body is in silhouette at the start of his level.
**Coincidentally, they both led the five Dastardly Bombers. Phantom Bomber was the former leader, but was demoted due to his callousness, at which point Plasma Bomber was promoted.
*According to the manga in the Japanese Super Bomberman 2 Hudson Official Guide Book, he's credited with inventing the remote-controlled bombs."Brain Bomber - The genius scientist who developed the remote control bomb" - Super Bomberman 2 Hudson Official Guide Book, pg.7
*Phantom Bomber's color scheme, like the rest of the crew, often changes - his helmet, suit, gloves and shoes are purple or grey (and the antenna is the opposite), his eyes are yellow or violet, the lens of his eyepiece is blue or green, and in Super Bomberman 2, he has no sleeves or pants.
*Phantom Bomber's design appears to be a reference to the "Phantom of the Opera". This is likely the reason his name was changed.
*Phantom Bomber's upgraded abilities in Bomberman Tournament greatly resemble the abilities of Bagura. He's also the only Dastardly Bomber to not transform in the game.
*He is rather similar to Shockwave of the Transformers universe, as both are purple, robotic beings with one natural eye and a penchant for logic.
*Phantom Bomber makes a cameo appearance as flashback in the Battle Mode of Saturn Bomberman Fight!! after winning a certain number of times with Golem Bomber.
==Gallery==
Brain.png|Brain Bomber in Super Bomberman 2
Brain 2.png|Brain Bomber as seen in Bomberman Tournament
Brain Scene.png|Scene with Brain Bomber from Bomberman Tournament
16603016 1343059642383888 9083734559956981689 n.jpg|Phantom Bomber's Super Bomberman R Profile Card
IMG 0698.PNG|Super Bomberman R credits image.
C62Mz6JU8AAHQsI.jpg
BrainBomber.jpg|Brain/Phantom Bomber
Phantom Bomber Concept Art.png|Concept Art of Phantom Bomber (Note: Phantom Bomber's arms and robo tentacles are hidden inside his cloak)
SBR2 - Phantom Bomber - 01.jpg|As seen on Super Bomberman R 2 promotional artwork
==References==
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