Gogmagog

Gogmagog
Personal Status
Aliases	Drunken Skeleton
Katakana	ゴグマゴグ
Race	Giant Undead Fiend
Status	Destroyed
Professional Status
Affiliation	Volf's Lycanthrope Fiend tribe
Behind the Scenes
Appearances	Ninja Gaiden II

Gogmagog (ゴグマゴグ, Gogmagog^?) is a boss in Ninja Gaiden II, appearing in Chapter 6, and in Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 Plus, and Ninja Gaiden II: Black, appearing in Chapter 7.

Description

An undead monstrosity animated by an unknown force, similarly to the Bone Dragon from Ninja Gaiden, this behemoth features additional glowing eyed bestial skulls on its shoulders and crotch. A flaming red orb is enclosed in its ribcage, serving as the core that keeps the skeleton alive. The shackles around its wrists and ankles suggest it was imprisoned in the depths of Volf's castle.

Story

In pursuit of the Greater Fiend Elizébet, who plundered the Demon Statue from the Hayabusa Village to revive her evil deity, the Archfiend ^{Chapter 2: The Castle of the Dragon}, Ryu Hayabusa arrives in the Aqua Capital of Venice, where she resurrected the Ruler of Storms Volf and his Lycanthrope Fiend tribe. ^{Chapter 5: The Aqua Capital} Using the canals running through the city, the Dragon Ninja infiltrates the Berserker's giant gothic castle. Traversing the cave system below his lair, Ryu finds himself face to face with a skeletal colossus awakened from underneath a massive pile of bones. As the Hayabusa Ninja extinguishes Gogmagog's blazing core, the skeleton crumbles to ruin, destroying the barricade blocking the access to the castle. ^{(Chapter 6: The Lycanthropes' Castle)}

Techniques

• Bone Eater: grabs the bones at its feet and rains them above itself to eat them. Unblockable. Avoid staying in front of it.
• Spin Attack: twists around 360 degrees, hitting three times. Each attack Guard Breaks.
• Fist Slam: may be followed by either a slam with the other arm and then back to the first, or another slam with the same arm and then another with a delay inbetween, or by the Spin Attack.
• Knuckle Swipe: often followed by a second with the other arm.
• Left-Hand Throw: grabs Hayabusa at its feet, drops bones upon his head, crushes him and tosses him away.
• Right-Hand Throw: grabs Hayabusa at its feet, puts him between its fangs and start smashing its own head against the cave wall. Must be escaped.
• Bone Kick: rears its foot back and kicks the bones on the ground like a large projectile. Unblockable.

Strategy

Focus on circling around it at a distance waiting for its Bone Eater move. At range, the only attack the boss has is the Bone Kick. As soon as you see Gogmagog raise its arms into the air, close distance and get behind it aiming to strike either an ankle or its tail with combos like the Lv3 Falcon's Talons' Wings of the Vermillion Bird (Quick, Quick, Forward Quick, Strong, Strong, Strong, Strong Attack) or the Lv3 Kusari-gama's Immense Tragedy (Strong, Strong, Strong, Strong, Strong, Strong Attack). Dash and jump away as the string ends and repeat the process until you deal enough damage to knock the boss out of balance. At this point, use aerial combos like the aforementioned Wings of the Vermillion Bird, the Kusari-gama's jumping Strong, Quick, Strong Attack or the Lunar Staff's Izuna Drop (Quick, Forward Strong, Quick, Quick, Quick, Strong Attack) against the orb in its chest.

On the Path of the Mentor and of the Master Ninja difficulty levels, this Mid-Boss Battle features an unending swarm of Vile Skeletons, so equip The Art of the Wind Blades Lv3 Ninpo and limit your combo to three-attack strings such as the Falcon's Talons' Quick, Quick, Strong Attack, the previously noted Kusari-gama's jumping Strong, Quick, Strong Attack, or the Lunar Staff's Gleaming Shadow (Quick, Quick, Strong Attack). Always be ready to cast your magical ability when surrounded and absorb the leftover Essence orbs into an Lv2 Lunar Staff's Heavenly Shadow (↻ Hold Strong Attack, Release with Full Essence).

In Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 Plus, and Ninja Gaiden II: Black, Gogmagog won't receive supporting minions on any difficulty level.

Etymology

The name Gogmagog derives from a legendary giant inhabitating Cornwall, in south west England. The name appears to be a corruption of Cawr-Madog, meaning "The giant warrior Madog".

Trivia

• Credited in Ninja Gaiden II Cast as the "Drunken Skeleton", performed by director Tomonobu Itagaki himself.

• There is no Save Point available within the cave system after defeating this boss, as you can't backtrack to the water ruins. Dying before reaching the castle means you have to fight Gogmagog again.

• In Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 Plus, and Ninja Gaiden II: Black, due to a bug in The Art of the Inferno's manual aiming, it's best to fire it point-blank at its core while the boss is down.

• It appears to be based on the skeleton of the extinct Megatherium, a species of giant ground sloth.
  

• The boss is depicted as swinging iron balls bounded to its handcuffs in its concept art. A similar design will later appear as the boss "Onryoki" in Team Ninja's game Nioh.

Gallery

Official Concept Art