Emperor Geardo

Geardo is the the emperor of the Naga Empire. Near the beginning of the game, he sends his machines soldiers to take over Garuda, even though he and his empire were believed to be extinct.

The official website states that he was once fully human, but as he grew older, he realized that he wouldn't be able to protect and rule over his beloved empire forever, so he began slowly replacing his body parts with mechanical versions of them, so that he could live forever.

## Appearance

Geardo is very tall for a human. He wears a long black robe and a black cape.

His fingers, forearms and the edges of his face are covered by golden metal. His only exposed skin seems to be on his face and hands, which have a strange pale gray color. On his cheeks, he has marks that look like gills. His eyes seem to be two white lights, hidden behind a golden mask.

On his forehead, he wears a large golden plate with a purple gem in its center and the symbol of the Naga Empire embossed below. Behind this grow two long appendages that look like tentacles with electric plugs at their ends.

## Personality

Geardo is cold-hearted and haughty.

He is strangely obsessed with sea creatures, and has been since childhood. So most of his machine soldiers are modeled after sea creatures.

## Abilities

Geardo can attack by generating electrical discs, or by summoning a big machine gun out of nowhere. He can control the tentacle plug things attached to his head as if they were part of his body. They can suck air like a vacuum cleaner, and he can also use them to grab things.

He moves by hovering rather than walking. He also has the ability to regenerate.

## Backstory (Spoilers!)

Under Geardo's rule, the Naga Empire became a polluted, barren wasteland. Gaerdo had his physical body fused with machines, apparently in an attempt to survive the pollution. But that wasn't sufficient, and the Naga Empire was on the edge of extinction.

As Garuda was, unlike Naga, fertile and unpolluted, Geardo decided to invade it. He was planning to use the Key of Time to fix Garuda's position above Naga. On the day Garuda floated above Naga, Geardo launched the invasion, sending his machines soldiers to attack the floating land.

Geardo's plans were thwarted by his daughter Cecilia, who took the Key of Time away. Garuda eventually floated out of Naga's reach before the invasion could succeed. Moreover, only half of the Key of Time was retrieved, presumably from Cecilia's body.

However, Geardo had a backup plan. He gave a mission to the R-Series units (except Rodea): 1000 years in the future, when Garuda would float above Naga again, the R-Series would have to go there and retrieve the other half of the Key of Time, which was in Rodea's possession. Then, they would use the full Key to open the R-Gate, connecting the future to the past, so that Geardo would be able to take over Garuda in a 1000 years.

It is believed that the Naga Empire went extinct shortly after that.

## In-game events (Spoilers!)

1000 years after Naga's failed invasion, soon after Rodea is reactivated, a giant hologram of Geardo, generated by the Chronos Towers, appears above Garuda to announce a new invasion.

Later, the R-Gate is opened according to plan. Rodea crosses it to go back in time, but fails to save Cecilia again. Geardo shows up and mocks him, calling him a defective product, then he retreats to his throne room inside the Naga fortress. He keeps teasing Rodea as Rodea makes his way through the fortress.

Rodea eventually reaches the throne room and confront Geardo. After a fight, Geardo is defeated. He somehow ends up in a new, huge mechanical body. He feels remorse about causing Cecilia's death, and mistaking Ion for Cecilia, he wants her to stay with him. Rodea defeats him again, this time permanently.

## Battle

**This bit contains spoilers from Chapter 24 onward!**

Geardo is fought twice in the game, as a middle boss in Chapter 24 and (under a new form) as the final boss, in Chapter 25.

**Battle I (Chapter 24)**

(Wii U & 3DS version)

Geardo will rise from his throne, and move toward the center of the room, with a purple shield, similar to the shields of the R-Series; however, attacking this shield does nothing, forcing you to wait for an opening.

His first attack consists of creating six electrical charges in a cube formation around you; keep jumping and moving in one direction to avoid this.

Next, he will use the two plugs attached to his head as a vacuum to suck you towards him; to avoid this, right after he stops the electrical attack, begin moving backwards, toward the wall of the circular throne room, and continue running away until he stops the attack. Due to the room's geometry, you can sometimes get stuck on the objects sticking up from the floor, making this attack easier to evade.

His last attack before he cycles around and begins again is to summon an enormous, floating machine gun. There will be a short, in-game cutscene of him summoning it every time the attack begins, giving you time to jump around and avoid it. He will continue shooting at you for about seven seconds, before dropping his shield, recharging his energy, and giving you a chance to attack. Repeat until he's defeated.

**Battle II / Final boss (Chapter 25)**

(Wii U & 3DS version)

You will begin on a platform in the middle of an infinite acid pool, surrounded by giant mechanical tentacles. There are other platforms and towers around you, so that you can land on them. Three of the tentacles are standing straight up, and have red buttons on them. These red parts are the things you need to attack.

Start by jumping into the air, and turning to the right. There should be a tower and the closest tentacle in this direction, so fly toward it, and then destroy the red bit on the end of the tentacle. The red buttons will sometimes take more than one hit to destroy, so make sure you have plenty of flight energy. The remaining two tentacles will be to your left.

After destroying these tentacles, a small cutscene will show Rodea being pulled into one of the enormous smokestacks on top of Geardo's back. Once inside the smokestack, there will be more red buttons. Make sure to destroy them all, and you'll be shot back out to your starting position as the smokestack explodes.

This time, Geardo will try to electrocute the towers, but he will only do so to towers you are aiming towards, so to avoid being hit, fly to a tower at normal speed, and after he's done electrocuting it, boost-attack towards it, and land to regain flight energy.

Destroy the red bits on the tentacles and inside the next smokestack, and the third phase will start. Along with zapping the towers, Geardo will now fire a laser, which creates a shockwave that can be avoided by flying high enough.

After destroying the buttons again, the final phase will start. You will automatically activate a checkpoint, and begin flying towards Geardo. There are energy cubes every few hundred meters, so it shouldn't be too hard to keep your flying energy up. During this phase, Geardo will go all out with his final attack, a large pink laser. Just before firing, one of the four lights on his chest will blink, showing where he is about to fire. If you are in the way, simply air-dodge (Left, Right, or Up on the Left Stick + Y) to evade, and then head toward the next target. After about 30 seconds, you will see an attackable target appear on the giant red button on Geardo's chest. Boost attack it to end the battle.

## Trivia

* The official Rodea the Sky Soldier website and the Wii U/3DS versions of the game mention that the Naga Empire was facing an energy crisis, and that Geardo invaded Garuda for its Graviton energy. This is never mentioned in the Wii version of the game.
* The official website also mentions that Geardo was once a kind and loving father.
* Geardo bears striking resemblance to Solidus Snake from the Metal Gear Solid series, in both design and role in the story. Both are father figures of the main character who have used technology to enhance their bodies, and both fight their son at the end of their respective games.
* According to Rodea during a secret conversation in Chapter 22, Geardo's childhood nickname was "Manolin", because of his obsession with the sea. Ion then notes that the name sounds familiar, and wonders if she read it in a book. This is a reference to The Old Man and the Sea, in which a character named Manolin is taught to fish at the age of five by an old fisherman named Santiago, and falls in love with fishing.

## Quotes

* "Holes make everything lighter!"
* "You cannot endure this!"
* "Just a mere prototype"
* "I gave up my own daughter... to fulfill my dreams"
* "CECILIAAAAAA!"