The Squad Leader (飛行隊長, see Notes) is a minor boss character from Strider 2, appearing as the first mid-boss battle in the fourth stage.
Information[]
The Squad Leader is the head of the aerial force escorting the Flying Battleship Balrog. He wears the same uniform and prosthetics as the Balrog's Infantry units, colored green and gold respectively to indicate his higher ranking, and uses a gold-colored Dual Linear Gun as his main weapon.
The Squad Leader is found commanding the Balrog's escort flying a personal, silver airship. After Hiryu plows through the Flying Tortoises around the area, the leader signals every ship to clear off and confronts Hiryu directly. Easily killed, Hiryu then takes his airship and flies straight into the Balrog's tail.
The battle starts with Hiryu standing in a Flying Tortoise a screen away from the Squad Leader's airship. The Squad Leader acts identical to the Balrog's Infantry, shooting Hiryu while he's afar and using the stungun if Hiryu jumps into his ship and comes near him. He can be easily killed by jumping into his ship and attacking him constantly, as he has no means to defend himself or fight back Hiryu's barrage of slashes.
Design Notes[]
This enemy is known as Hikōtaichō (roughly, Air Force Leader) in Japan, which was a naval aviation position used in the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service. The Hikōtaichō served as commander of all flight personnel within an air force, and was a position normally held by a Lieutenant Commander.