Retrograde

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**Retrograde** is the first area accessed from The Split by following the middle path. It is an irradiated city overgrown with plants and the mass of flesh known as Mother. Judging by the state of the city, it's possible that it was used as a test site for the bombs manufactured in the Machine before the end of the world. In the background of Retrograde levels debris can be seen floating steadily up into the sky. Retrograde's downwards secrets, some of which are flooded, contain a lot more Mother than the main levels.

Retrograde's main path consists of 15 levels. Main levels contain 15 regular tumors.

Retrograde contains 9 secret levels, in which 5 mega tumors and 1 cartridge (Rubble Bobble) can be collected. One of the secret levels is used by two different secret paths.

Getting through Retrograde leads Ash to The Machine.

## Enemies

Retrograde contains 4 enemy types:

* Irises - slimy creatures that mimic the behavior of tracking single-shot turrets, tracking Ash's movement with a slight delay and spitting out relatively slow-moving projectiles at even intervals, as long as they can see Ash. Touching the projectiles or the iris itself will kill Ash.
* Mother - a mass of flesh covering most of Retrograde. When Ash gets close enough, Mother begins to expand in his direction, following Ash indefinitely as long as he is in range. If Ash gets far enough away, Mother will start retracting to its original position. Touching the flesh will kill Ash.
* Slags - spiky slug-like creatures first seen in Arid Flats, which slowly crawl from side to side. Touching a slag kills Ash.
* Kukos - spiky floating balls who also first appear in Arid Flats. They only show up in one level of Retrograde.

## Secret entrances

* Retrograde 2 (downwards secret) - 1 mega tumor. Accessed by jumping down into the hole on the left side of the spiky pit.
* Retrograde 5 (upwards secret) - 1 mega tumor. Accessed by climbing up into a hole in the ceiling.
* Retrograde 9 (downwards secret) - 1 mega tumor. Accessed by breaking the pillar of breakable blocks below the crumbling blocks.
* Retrograde 12 (downwards secret) - 1 cartridge. Accessed by jumping into the hole to the left of Mother.
* Retrograde 13 (downwards secret) - 1 mega tumor. Accessed by jumping on the second single block above the sea of Mother and making it sink, then walking to the left. Same method is used to gather the regular tumor.
* Retrograde 15 (downwards secret) - 1 mega tumor, 1 key, 1 NPC. Accessed by unlocking the gate with a key.

## Characters

Retrograde has 2 NPCs. Click on "Open" to see their dialogue.

**Skeleton in Retrograde 1:**

```
did you know
if you
squish down

and jump

you can kinda
slide through
those areas

over there

. . .

your bones may
get stuck on
the sharp parts

but at least
you've accomplished
something

look at you . . .
lord of sliding
into tight spaces

pitiful
```

**Ascender blob in the secret under Retrograde 15:**

```
wanna know
a secret?

i find meaning
in
the absurd

like what if there
is a reason why
you look that way

what if there is
a deep reasoning for
everything around us?

like what if this
is some code being
laid out for us

and all we need
to do is open
our eyes a bit more

to see it
for what
it is . . .

like what if i'm
upside down
for a reason!

what if it helps me
see this world
for what it really is!?

. . .
```

## Trivia

* The music theme for Retrograde is a remix of Johannes Brahms's Hungarian Dance.
* In real life, Retrograde can mean various things: moving backwards or reverting to an inferior form.
	+ The name may also be a reference to the 'retro' style games played on collectable Cartridges.
* Edmund stated that the original idea behind Retrograde was to make it a place in which time moves backwards. That concept wasn't necessarily implemented fully, but the theme is there to an extent.
* Retrograde is the first area in which Ash encounters Mother. Mother, as stated by Edmund, is the "mother nature, the core, what remains of us all and comes back to reclaim what's left. The Mother is the bringer and taker of life."
* The ascender blob in this area is the only ascender located in a downwards secret. This is intentional, because the blob himself is also hanging upside-down on the ceiling.

## Gallery

### Gallery of Retrograde's main levels

* Retrograde 1
* Retrograde 2
* Retrograde 3
* Retrograde 4
* Retrograde 5
* Retrograde 6
* Retrograde 7
* Retrograde 8
* Retrograde 9
* Retrograde 10
* Retrograde 11
* Retrograde 12
* Retrograde 13
* Retrograde 14
* Retrograde 15

### Gallery of Retrograde's secret levels

* Retrograde 2 down
* Retrograde 5 up
* Retrograde 9 down
* Retrograde 12 down 1
* Retrograde 12 down 2
* Retrograde 12 down 3
* Retrograde 15 down 1
* Retrograde 15 down 2
* Retrograde 15 down 3

## Individual level pages

Links to individual level pages

* Retrograde 1
* Retrograde 2
* Retrograde 3
* Retrograde 4
* Retrograde 5
* Retrograde 6
* Retrograde 7
* Retrograde 8
* Retrograde 9
* Retrograde 10
* Retrograde 11
* Retrograde 12
* Retrograde 13
* Retrograde 14
* Retrograde 15

## See also

* The Split - a hub area which comes before Retrograde.
* The Machine - the area which comes after Retrograde.