Guard (boss)

The guard is a boss that guards the door of every boss stage in Virtual Boy Wario Land. It is a small robot armed with both projectile and melee weapons, and attacks Wario in different ways. Its main attack is by trying to jump on him with its spiked head. After it lands, it leaves its weak spot exposed, and Wario can jump on it. Once he does this twice, the guard becomes a jump transporter and Wario can access the boss door.

First encounter
The first encounter of the guard is seen in Stage 4. After flashing its eyes, the guard begins to attack by repeatedly propelling itself in the air and falling upside down. This has been described as a "dive-bombing attack". Wario is then able to jump on the underside and inflict damage on the guard. However if Wario is standing underneath as the guard falls, he will be harmed by its spikes.

After hitting the guard twice, it will be defeated and the player is granted access to the door of Dinosaur Fish.

The dive bombing attack is seen in all other encounters with the guard, along with an additional attack which is unique to that encounter.

Second encounter
The guard in Stage 8 first matches up to Wario's height. It then attacks with a missile that travels in a straight line across the screen. After launching three missiles, the guard will start to dive-bomb, giving a chance for Wario to strike its underside. The guard then returns to launching missiles until it's hit a second time. Defeating it will grant access to the door of Sand Fish.

There are two pools of quicksand on either side of the battle area. The guard will never dive-bomb near the quicksand area, even if Wario is standing close to its edge.

Third encounter
The third guard is seen in Stage 12. As soon as Wario approaches, it begins releasing jets of flames which quickly move horizontally across the screen, harming Wario if he comes into contact with them. Once three rounds of flames have been shot, the guard will dive-bomb once, before attacking with flames again. When the guard is defeated, it will grant access to the door of Tank and Operator.

Fourth encounter
The final encounter of the guard takes place in Stage 14, the final stage of the game. As Wario approaches the guard, it releases a missile proportional to Wario's height. Unlike the missile seen previously in the guard's second encounter, this missile will home in on Wario at high speed, and continually stops at every wall, flip around and re-launch in Wario's direction until it hits him. The missile can be destroyed by hitting it or with the flames of Sea Dragon Wario or King Dragon Wario.

Only one missile can be seen on the screen at once. The guard will continually dive-bomb, launching more missiles as the previous ones are destroyed. Defeating the guard will give Wario access to the door of the Demon Head, the final boss of the game.

Trivia
During all encounters, if Wario is underneath the guard as it falls to the ground, both he and the guard will be harmed. Using this method, it is possible to win while only striking the guard's underside once (as using this method twice will cause Wario to lose a life).