Perilous Piers

"The Fish Federation and the Crustacean Nation are victorious once again!"

—Perilous Piers, Death Screen

**Perilous Piers** is a run n' gun level from *Cuphead*. It can be found on the far right hand side of Inkwell Isle Three, just before reaching High Seas Hi-Jinx!. You unlock it by defeating Captain Brineybeard in Shootin N' Lootin. Once you beat Perilous Piers, you unlock Mausoleum III, Porkrind's Emporium, Murine Corps, and an NPC named Silverworth.

## Sections

* A stone pier that extends out toward the sea
* Wooden platforms and posts in the middle of the sea
* An auto-scrolling section with the only platform being an octopus. Rocks are the obstacles here.

## Enemies

 Larnacle the Barnacle | Barnacles that will shoot three spiky plates out of their mouth and slowly float down.
 Urban Urchin | Sea Urchins that scurry from left to right on small platforms. They are sometimes green and sometimes blue.
 Crabby Clawster | Crabs with platforms on top of them. They can't be killed. They will change direction when they bump into a wall or each other. Their claws can be parried.
 Kaptain Krustacean | A lobster that swims left and right across the screen. He will occasionally shoot a lightning bolt from his claws. He can be temporarily knocked out but he will come back again.
 Bubble Star | Starfish in bubbles that float up from under the stage. These starfishes are yellow, but occasionally, they're pink and can be parried. These starfishes only have one to two teeth, and it seems that the ones with two teeth are more aggressive, and the ones with one tooth are more playful.
 Shy Shrimp | Shrimp that fly at an arc towards the player. Some can be parried and they can be easily dispatched. They only appear during the octopus sequence.
 The Octopus | Octopus serves as the player's ride to the end of the level. You must parry the jewel on its head in order for it to shoot cannonballs at rocks that'll block your path. It swims faster across the pier when being shot at.

## Strategy

Starting from a strictly horizontal plane, randomly spawning flying fish enter from the left and right sides of the screen, with pink variants that can be parried every so often. Two hits from a pea shooter are enough to pop them. Two barnacles who shoot projectiles in threes, two arching left and right and one straight up and at varying heights dependent on the vertical position of the player, sit on a plane relative to the player and on a box a short hops distance from the ground. These require a fully charged shot to kill.

From the box, there are urchins with small black feet running around on a descending staircase. A coin hovers above the first incline that requires a dash or parry to acquire. Be wary to random flying fish and a third barnacle at the penultimate step. Massive (invincible) crabs with platforms on their backs walk an elongated straight of land, which is also populated by urchins. Around midway through, a coin is floating at a height which requires the help of a crab or parry. Again, watch for flying fish.

Flying fish cease at the end of the boardwalk and the beginning of the pier. Now, precarious jumps are required lest the player fall into the water for one damage. On the first pier an urchin is walking (it might be best to kill him to prevent hassle from an impending threat). Now, Captain Krustacean, a massive lobster with beard, will backstroke toward the player. Either jump over or smoke-grenade through him. Upon reaching the end of his backstroke, he fires a lighting bolt that heads toward the location that the player was standing beforehand. Only after taking two charged shots worth of damage will Captain Krustacean submerge into the sea again. Beware: he will return upon entering new sections of the area. Further, starfish (some can be parried) float upward from the bottom of the screen.

At the end of the first pier lies a buoy topped with a signal light that can be parried; you must parry it to get the coin above. To its right, another barnacle. Using a box suspended by a crane, left of the barnacle, may prove advantageous for dealing with volleys from the aforementioned barnacle and Captain Krustacean. Next, another box is suspended to bridge the piers. A pink starfish will float up in front of another buoy, prime for building Super on the way to a lone post.

Now reaching the boat, The Zillian, Captain Krustacean will leave for good. Check inside the interior for the fourth coin. On top, a final urchin scurries.

Platforms in the form of an octopus holding flotsam driftwood require a dash to reach. They will sink after landing. At the end lies an octopus, impaled by an anchor and topped with a pink gem that can be parried. To get it moving, parry the gem and the octopus will shoot a cannon ball to destroy the rock. An oyster will begin firing slow moving projectiles in the shape of pearls, one at the apex of Cuphead's jump height and another level with the player's standing position. Tiny shrimp begin to hurl toward the player from the right side of the screen at 45-degree angles; use the eight-shot or homing shot to kill them efficiently, and watch for pink ones. Most importantly, be sure to continue parrying the pink gem or the octopus will sink! Further, it is best to parry the gem to dodge the oyster's low-flying energy pearls. The final coin will appear just before the end of the level. A well timed parry from either a tentacle or the anchor is required.

After an exasperating amount of time, the octopus reaches land. Jump to it and you win.

## Trivia

* There is a glitch where if you die the Perilous Pearl Shooters will still appear in the background.
* This is the only nautical Run n' Gun level in the game.
* The enemies of this level may have been inspired by the unused boss level The Airship because of the similar animals used as the bosses and their minions. However, none of the animations and behavior are actually reused.

### Inspirations and similarities

* In the background during the octopus sequence, there is a hotel that has a sign that says "Iwerks". This is a reference to American Animator, Ub Iwerks, co-creator of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, Mickey Mouse, and Flip the Frog.
* The billboard advertising "Tyrus Gardens" is a shoutout to Tyrus Wong, the lead background artist for Disney's *Bambi*.
* Likewise, there is also a building that has a sign that says "Moldenhauer", a reference to the last names of the creators of Cuphead, Chad and Jared Moldenhauer.
* Acme Shipping is named after the brand Wile Coyote uses to catch the Roadrunner in his cartoons.