Gapsa is a recurring projectile featured in the Contra series. In most cases, it is a small napalm-shaped enemy grenade that is either thrown from the background by an unseen enemy or fired by larger enemy forces.

Appearances

Contra

In its initial appearance, Gapsa grenades are lobbed from the background in rows of two or three by an unseen enemy in the Snow Field. Assuming these are thrown by an infantry unit, these particular enemies are impossible to kill, so the player is left with no other option than to dodge these exploding projectiles. When a Gapsa grenade lands, it produces a harmful wide explosion.

The Gapsa resembles more a capsule than a standard grenade, possibly following a design of alien origin.

Super C

These exploding projectiles tossed from offscreen reappear in Super C, the NES conversion of Super Contra, even though they don't appear in the original arcade version of the game. They are thrown from one and up to three grenades in a row. Normal Grenade Throwers also appear in this game, making it the only instance in the series where both variants appear.

Unlike their futuristic look from the previous game, the Gapsa grenade now has a classic stick hand design (similar to the German stielhandgranate), being identical to those thrown by Grenade Throwers.

C: The Contra Adventure

Gapsa appear as silver bullets with red stripes fired from the Grenade gun weapon. These bullets fired by the player fly in a small straightforward arc and then bounce on floors until they hit a wall or object, creating a large explosion when doing so. The bullet's explosion is harmless to the player character that fired the Gapsa.

Another type of Gapsa capsule is fired from the Crush Gun. This one has a red body with silver edges.

Contra: Shattered Soldier

There are two Gapsa designs in this title, both being far different from previous counterparts but still recognizable:

• The first type are projectiles fired from a certain Mortar Soldier or from various powerful enemies such as the Garth Base and the Defense Wall, always in an arc-like motion and display a small afterimage trail behind them. When it hits a surface, a large fiery explosion lingers for a second. Although these projectiles flash red-and-blue, they can be eliminated using any weapon, not just the Fire Whip.
• A second type is exclusive to the Train. A large turret fires off metallic Gapsa that lands and then creates a minor explosion. These Gapsa are metallic with two lights at their ends. The Gapsa itself is safe to touch but both the turret and explosion are deadly.

Hard Corps: Uprising

Red glowing explosive capsules are fired by the Celestial Imperator high into the air and then fall down in an arc-like fashion. Both the explosive itself and the explosion it emits upon contact are harmful.

Contra: Rogue Corps

A large Balloon-Type Fiend fires off multiple slowly rotating red capsules with a red trail that, like classic Gapsa, arc around until they land on solid ground, where they remain for a few seconds before exploding. Only the explosion of the Gapsa is lethal.

Gallery

Screenshots

Sprites and models

Artworks

Trivia

• A Gapsa appears during a parody of Contra in Robot Chicken. In this appearance, a Ledder tosses one in plain sight at "Blue Pants", who then grabs the tossed Gapsa and jokes about it being a "message in a bottle" before it explodes in his hand, taking out his last life.
  • Gapsas cannot actually be held in any game, although there are a few instances and characters in the series who can toss grenades.

See also

• Gardegura - Another recurring type of projectile that sometimes behaves like a grenade.
• Grenade Thrower
• Hand Grenade - A grenade weapon usable by the player.