The Balloon is a recurring enemy in the Castlevania series. It is a floating plant that holds and scatters countless poisonous spores.
Description[]
Balloons are bizarre plants that resemble jellyfishes. They contain countless poisonous spores inside which are dispersed when struck. These enemies are sometimes referred to as "Balloon Pods" or "Spook Spores".
Appearances[]
Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse[]
First appearance of these enemies in the series, where they are referred to as "Spook Spores".
Two types of Spook Spores exist in this game, those that float through the air carried by the wind, and those that remain stationary on the ground and release their spores when approached. Due to the absence of elemental damage in this game, released spores don't yet display any type of poisonous trait and instead they only inflict normal damage when touched.
They appear in both forms in later installments, although the airborne variety may remain hovering in place depending on the game.
Castlevania Chronicles[]
In this game, Balloons are actual rubber helium balloons and not plants. They come out from the small chests in the Floating Corridor that comprise that section's layout. After Simon Belmont passes one of these chests as he makes his way up and the latter reaches the bottom of the screen, five small and multicolored Balloons are released from it, which then start to slowly float upward and disperse around, covering a wide area.
Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance[]
Apart from both the airborne and stationary variants, a third and more advanced variant called the Big Balloon appears in this game. It is considerably larger and remains floating stationary in the rooms it inhabits. When struck, it bursts and lets out three regular Balloons that float in place; as these are gathered, they potentially can be struck all at once by the player and release a large amount of poisonous spores that will then rain all over the vicinity, posing a considerable threat of poisoning the player. Fortunately, released spores can easily be dealt with by wiggling the whip and hitting them as they drop. Furthermore, due to all the enemies in total it is comprised of, a Big Balloon can be used to quickly level up (to around Level 20) by repeatedly destroying it and its offspring.
Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia[]
In this game, floating Balloons are able to release individual spores in random directions as they float about without first requiring to burst. When struck by the player, they'll release a large quantity of spores in all directions that will then rain down, similarly to most other games they also appear in; however, the spores are not poisonous this time around.
Enemy Data[]
| Enemy Data: Balloon | |||||
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| Image | Name - Game Description |
Statistics | Items | Location | Notes |
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| ' | Atk:  2, 2/3 (spores, before/after block 8) |
3. Forest |
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| ' | HP: 1 Exp: 0 |
6. Floating Corridor |
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| Holds countless poison seeds. | Level: 29 HP: 3 Exp: 88 |
Anti-Chapel, Reverse Caverns |
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| ' | Weak: Wind Level: 14 HP: 12 Exp: 55 |
Common Drop: $5 Rare Drop: $25 |
Castle A: Sky Walkway |
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| A plant that scatters poisonous spores. | Strong: Strike, Light Weak: Slash, Thunder HP: 45 Exp: 40 Skill Pt: 1 Atk: 38 |
Somnus Reef (Hard Mode), Tristis Pass |
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| ' | HP: 175 Exp: ~260 |
Drop: Ice Cream, Hamburger; Meal Ticket Steal: ~85C |
Long Library |
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Item Data[]
| Item Data: Balloon | ||||||||
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| Image | Name - Game Type - Users Description |
Attributes / Consume | Statistics / Sell | Found | Notes | |||
| With sprinkles | HP +50 Sell: 2S 40C |
Buy: 4S Find: Underground Caverns Drop: Cave Troll, Schmoo, Salome, Imp, Balloon Pod, Flea Armor, Blade Master, Skull Lord, Harpy, Black Crow |
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| Half-pounder | HP + 25% Sell: 1S 20C |
Find: Royal Chapel Drop: Nova Skeleton, Dodo Bird, Bitterfly, Salem Witch, Gremlin, Cave Troll, Schmoo, Salome, Imp, Balloon Pod, Flea Armor, Blade Master, Skull Lord, Harpy, Black Crow, Winged Guard, Yorick, Werewolf, Flea Rider |
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| Mystery food ticket | Sell: 6S |
Buy: 10S |
Effect: Drops a random food (items above) item block on the board. Limitations: Only usable in combat. | |||||
Notes[]
- In concept art in the Castlevania Anniversary Collection, this enemy is described as a "Mushroom Bomb" that explodes and releases spores when the player approaches.
Gallery[]
See also[]
- Big Balloon
- Forneus - A self-propelled jellyfish-like creature –similar to a Balloon– that doesn't contain spores.
- Moldy Corpse
- Myconid
- Plants
- Punaguchi