Support Animals are animal-like characters introduced in the Blaster Master Zero trilogy. While broadly resembling biological animals in a throwback to Fred's role as a runaway pet in the original Blaster Master, they are actually recon drones created by the people of Planet Sophia to help Metal Attacker crews combat the Mutants. Support Animals are made to blend in with the assigned planet's wildlife and ecosystem, though it's unclear if the camouflage is installed during initial manufacture or aboard its assigned Metal Attacker en route to a target planet. Each Support Animal is further modified to feature ancillary abilities not already covered by its Metal Attacker, or its pilot and Support Droid.
Fred
For info go to Fred's page.
Fred is based on an Earth frog, and features a mostly froglike body with a larger, tadpole-like tail. Actual frogs are stated by Inti Creates in side media and tweets to have gone extinct by Jason Frudnick's time, leading to Fred being described as a "Mysterious Animal" in-universe instead. Originally featuring a green exterior, Fred's skin turns gray as the series goes on for unknown reasons.
Abilities and Characteristics
- Warp Hole: Fred is capable of generating and traveling through wormholes of moderate size. In the intro cinematic of Blaster Master Zero, Fred's escape from captivity as Jason's pet culminates in him going through such a hole but leaving a trail that leads Jason to SOPHIA III. From Blaster Master Zero 2 onward, this becomes a gameplay feature, allowing quick return to the Metal Attacker in Side-Scrolling Mode, and marking completion of each Top-Down Mode segment with a wormhole to quickly return to Side-Scrolling Mode.
- Not Actually Amphibious: Despite his skin having a good approximation of an amphibian's properties, Fred cannot safely submerge in water due to the risk of exposing his mechanical innards. Artwork to commemorate 110,000 downloads of Blaster Master Zero on the BMZ Official Site depicts Fred piloting the submersible exo-suit "E-7ka", created by Jason to resolve the duality of Fred's exuberance for and vulnerability to water; it ultimately does not factor into subsequent games.
Tappy
Tappy is based on a dragonfly, and supports the Kuebiko team.
Abilities
- Flying
- Bamboo Dragonfly Mode
- Triple Mode
Yacopu
Yacopu is based on a rabbit, and supports the Eir team. It is furthermore a reference to the playable character of Sunsoft's Trip World.
Abilities
- Pharmacology: Yacopu is capable of ingesting plants, herbs, and other matter on Planet Stranga (including items grown inside Kanna's flowerpot head), and rapidly spitting back out usable medicines and other chemical compounds.
Mr. Mug
Mr. Mug is based on a bear, and supports the Atom team. Taking on more cues from a teddy bear than a wild bear, it is commonly found as a handheld companion of Tesset.
Abilities
- Punching Attack: Mr. Mug can deliver a punch capable of damaging other Metal Attackers.
Jao
Jao is Leibniz's Support Animal that is based off of a winged serpent. Its capabilities are unknown, as so far it is only depicted on the cover of the Blaster Master Zero 3 Original Soundtrack.
| Characters | |
|---|---|
| Protagonists | Earthlings: Jason · Roddy · Elfie · Alex Sophians: Kane · Jennifer · Eve · Eva Extraterrestrials: Gonbei · Tae · Kanna · Kenwood · Stein · Tesset |
| Antagonists | Plutonium Boss · Underworld Lord · Lightning Beings · Kaiser · Leibniz See Also: Bosses |
| Sophia | Sophia 3rd · 4th · J-7 · S.O.P.H.I.A. · Zero · Gaia See Also: Metal Attackers |
| Pets | Fred · Plutarch · Tappy · Jao · Yacopu · Mr. Mug See Also: Support Animal |
| Guest Characters | Gunvolt · Ekoro · Shantae · Shovel Knight · Copen · Empress |