“ | YOU HAVE BEEN DESTROYED. | „ |
~ The Boss during "Annihilate", and its only line in the entire game. |
The Boss is the main antagonist of the musical bullet-hell game Just Shapes & Beats.
Biography[]
The Boss first appears in "Long Live the New Fresh", after attempting to destroy The Player and accidentally hitting themselves with their own fists and disappearing. The Boss later appears during the paradise cutscene, disguised as a tall, all gray, and possibly dead creature inside a cave, attracting the protagonist and the Big Square to revive it with a Triangle. However, when they get close, they impale the triangle, and reveal themselves. Then they chase after the Big Square and the protagonist, corrupting the land and its inhabitants wherever it goes, before punching out the large white tree in the area. After seeing the opportune chance, it slams the tree back in during the song "New Game", but upside down, thus creating a huge, red tower. Immediately after doing this, it swallows an odd residue leaking from one of the triangles formerly making up the tree, becoming its second form, and then resuming attacking the protagonist. After this, the sailboat is restored, allowing the player to head to the Volcano Area, formerly a mountain that was corrupted by one of the triangles.
After the player clears the Volcano Area, they ride the sailboat to the east, where the Boss has built a massive factory that uses another triangle to corrupt the remaining denizens of the land. Infiltrating the factory, the player frees the helicopter that helps them travel deeper into the structure; unfortunately, they are too late to stop the triangle from corrupting The large square with hands that has been seen throughout the game. The player survives against the Big square's attacks until they are able to overcome the corruption, enabling the player to purify the second triangle.
With the help of their three allies, the player opens the way to the villain's tower, where the circle confronts them alongside its remaining minions. After an exciting battle during "Final Boss", the player seemingly triumphs once more, claiming the Boss's crown and the final triangle. But, out of nowhere, the Boss appears and blows them off the tower. As the player climbs back up, the Boss absorbs the final triangle completely, rapidly mutating into a monstrous final form that destroys the player in the song "Annihilate". The player tries to revive, only for the Boss to smash them into pieces.
The player's allies mourn, but the other two triangles react, prompting the large square to use them on the player's remains. The triangles' power revives the player in an invincible new form (starting the song "Till It's Over") that can attack the final boss directly, destroying it and forcing it to relinquish the final triangle. Reunited and purified, the three triangles undo the damage wrought upon the land, restoring everything to normal. The Boss later appears in the credits, grabbing a pair of headphones and playing at a DJ stand, celebrating with his enemies, possibly ending his evil ways.
The Lost Chapter[]
Taking place after the events of "Long Live The New Fresh", the Boss is imprisoned within a circular cell after the player collects its piece of the tree. In the level, after the player and the larger cube rescue a group of three birds trapped in a cage, the cage falls and breaks onto a platform with large pink crystals underneath. The platform gives way and the crystals fall onto the cell containing the Boss, breaking it and allowing the Boss to break free. It lets out a roar of fury as it rapidly climbs the mine towards the player.
With the help of the birds, the player is carried to the top of the mine while avoiding the Boss's lasers. Upon reaching the top, the larger cube tries to cut a spider web holding up multiple crystals. Once the Boss reaches the top, it lets out a furious roar. This awoke a nearby spider, who quickly cut the web to drop the crystals on the Boss and crush it, putting it in the same position it was in when it was disguised in the Paradise Cutscene.
Appearance[]
In its first form, the Boss has a circular body, with one eye, cat ears, and fangs. It also has two long spiked arms with circles on its palms resembling paws. The second form changes its face, so it has two eyes and a constant cheeky grin on it. This can also change its face into a cannon that can shoot lasers or spiked balls. Its final form has two stages to it, first starting off as an unsightly eyeless, mouthless thing that drips some sort of deadly liquid from where its eyes were. Its arms have also transformed into handless strands that trap the player and house centipede-like monsters. Then, it transforms again, gaining a spiked head with fangs.
Personality[]
Due to the lack of dialogue in the game, the Boss' personality is unknown, but it seems to be a manipulative trickster (attacking the player through a disguise), and brutish (trying to use its fists to destroy the Big square). It also seems to like playing guitar, and keeps wanting to transform to become more powerful.
Gallery[]
Images[]
Videos[]
Trivia[]
- The most common fan nickname given to the Boss is "Blixer", although what the name means is unknown.
- Another fan nickname is "Fresh", taken from the first song the Boss is featured in 'Long Live the New Fresh'.
- Despite resembling a demon, the Boss is actually supposed to resemble a cat, as confirmed by the concept designer of the game.
- The Boss is the only boss in Just Shapes and Beats that appears in more than one level.
- Although the inner area of the circle that makes up the Boss resembles harmless space that the player can move in, the player will still be damaged if they go into this space.