The Third Moon

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Strider (2014)

The Third Moon (ザ・サードムーン) is a recurring setting in the series, serving as Grandmaster Meio's artificial satellite base and the final stage in the original Strider Arcade game and its two sequels.

Models

Strider

The Third Moon, in the distant sky

The Third Moon is a giant space station that serves as Grandmaster Meio's main base and the center of power for his dictatorship. Built with the most advanced technology and resources found on Earth, it's an almost impregnable fortress high above the sky.

Grandmaster Meio watches over the Earth from this giant station, while conducting experiments to satiate his ambitions, such as sending the dinosaurs he created (and later Lago) into the Amazon to turn a tribe of Amazoness into devote followers. With the creation and installation of an Anti-Gravity Device, however, Meio devised the diabolical "Third Moon Plan": by moving the station out of orbit in a way it'd erradiate all life on Earth, it'd be free for him to repopulate with his own lifeforms.

Hiryu invades and destroys the Third Moon during the last step in his mission to assasinate Grandmaster Meio, shortly after discovering about the "Third Moon Plan".

Strider 2

Modern Third Moon

A new, modern take of the original Third Moon, presumedly built by Light Sword Cypher as the main enemy headquarters. Grandmaster Meio appears to spent all his time within the station, conducting experiments. Its most notable addition is the "New Life Development Section", a massive laboratory where Meio conducts genetic research on his human lifeforms, which are seen in tubes lining up the walls of the whole section. These turn out to be most of the human enemies Hiryu has faced thus far.

Unlike the original, however, this Third Moon appears to have less importance in Meio's grand schemes after the creation of Caduceus, his means to travel the galaxy (his "path to the stars", as he calls it), and his decision to destroy Earth and leave for another planet.

Infiltrating through the Third Moon's spaceport, Hiryu damages the station from the inside, including destroying its Gravity Core. During the final battle, the Third Moon sustains enough damage to finally explode violently.

Strider (2014)

The Third Moon Base is a mysterious space station that appeared orbiting around Earth at the same time as the Grandmaster. The station serves as his true residence and is pivotal in Meio's plan to kill off all living beings on Earth, planning to use its giant Gravitron to influence Earth's atmosphere and produce several cataclysmic events on its surface..

Although described as a space station large enough to be visible from the planet's surface, there are only several large pieces of scrap metal and a set of Gravitrons floating in orbit when Hiryu arrives at its location. In either case, the area serves as the final battleground where Hiryu fights Meio's true form, Meio Prime.

Other Appearances

The Third Moon as seen in the intro

Namco × Capcom

The Third Moon also appears between Chapter 20 and 22 in the crossover game Namco × Capcom. Several characters are transported through time and space into the Third Moon, just as Hiryu infiltrates it to carry out Meio's assassination. Split in groups, the playable characters face off against Tong Pooh and Shtrom in an Anti-Gravity Corridor (反重力通路) in Chapter 20, Druk and MegaMan Juno in the Entrance (エントランス) in Chapter 21 and Hien in the Unified Earth Control Section (地球包括管制セクション) in Chapter 22. Near the end of the chapter, Solo appears and reveals that Meio has decided to set the Third Moon into self-destruct in an attempt to kill everyone inside it. The group, joined by Hiryu, finally escape the exploding station aboard Roll Caskett's Flutter.

The Third Moon is also briefly seen (and destroyed) during the game's animated intro.

Marvel vs. Capcom
In Hiryu's home stage, "Neo St. Petersburg", the silhouette of the Third Moon can be seen standing in front of the actual moon in the upper part of the stage (requires a Super Jump to see). This image is possibly inspired by the early artwork from the Arcade game seen at the beginning of this article.