Ballom

Ballom

Hit Points: Normal: 1 Quest: 3 Speed: Normal Pattern: Feigned Ignorance Score: 100 800 ('93, World) 300 (Saturn) Debut: Bomber Man

Ballom (バロム, baromu) is the oldest enemy character in the Bomberman franchise. It first appeared as the only type of enemy character in the original Bomber Man, in which it was unnamed. It is a balloon-like monster. It appears commonly as the first enemy to be encountered, and always has the simplest pattern.

Evolution

Bomber Man

Order of the faces.

The balloon-shaped enemy moves in half-tile increments. It cycles through four different facial expressions, changing its movements accordingly. When its body is red, it becomes aggressive and will actively seek the player character; while it is pink, its movements are more erratic. It can pass over bombs. One explosion will destroy it.

In an interview with Hudson Soft executive Takahashi Meijin, he described them as "balloon-shaped ghosts".

In the English release of the game, this enemy is known as a Floater, but it is nameless in the original Japanese version.

Bomberman (NES)

In the NES title, the character is first given the name "Ballom" as well as its orange balloon appearance. It moves slowly but can change directions abruptly, especially when Bomberman is nearby, and yields a static 100 points on destruction. In later versions of this game, such as in Bomberman Party Edition and the Famicom Mini/Classic NES Series port, it is made to be less erratic.

Further Appearances

	Game	Description
	Bomberman	Starting in Bomberman for the PCE and continuing in Bomberman II and Bomberman for the Nintendo DS, Ballom moves slowly, turning only when it collides with a solid obstacle. It has one HP and yields 100 points on defeat.
	Bomberman '93	Ballom exhibits similar behaviour to its PCE incarnation, but when Bomberman gets close, it will actively pursue him for about 8 seconds. It has 1 HP and yields 800 points on defeat.
	Saturn Bomberman	Appearing pink this time, Ballom moves slowly, only turning when it collides with an obstacle. It has 1 HP and yields 300 points on defeat. It only appears on Floor 7 of the Master Game.
	Bomberman World	Ballom appears as an enemy in the Challenge Game. It moves very slowly and can turn randomly when it enters an intersection. It has 1 HP and yields 800 points on defeat.
	Bomberman Quest	Ballom is the first enemy character encountered in the game. It moves slowly, approaching bombs. It drops a Fire Up when defeated. Dialogue U.S. Can you feel the breeze? Doesn't it feel nice? Right--now don't you go anywhere--just stay right there! JPN かーぜが　ふわふわー きーそちいーねー いま　きみをつかまえるから すこし　じっとしてろよ FR EST-CE QUE TU SENS LA BRISE ? C'EST AGRÉABLE. OK. TU NE VAS NULLE PART. NE BOUGE PLUS !
	Bomberman MAX, 2	Ballom moves aimlessly, randomly turning or reversing directions at intersections. It retains this behaviour in Bomberman MAX 2, but moves much more slowly.
	Bomberman Land	Ballom appears as a normal enemy character in the Bomber Game Houses as well as the Special Game Mode.
	Tournament, Jetters: The Legendary Bomberman	Ballom moves slowly, only turning or reversing its direction if it collides with an obstacle. It has 1 HP. It retains this appearance and behaviour in the later game 'Bomberman Jetters: The Legendary Bomberman.
	Bomberman: Bakufuu Sentai Bombermen	Ballom moves slowly, occasionally turning at intersections. It has 1 HP and yields 100 points.
	Bomberman Portable	Ballom appears in the unlockable Classic Game. It has 1 HP and yields 100 points.
	Super Bomberman	Ballom moves slowly, turning randomly at intersections and yields 100 points.
	Bomberman	Ballom turns randomly at intersections and yields 100 points.
	Bomberman RPG	Ballom has 10 HP and 2 ATK, and slowly approaches Bomberman.

Panic Bomber

Ballom's AI pattern.

Ballom consistently appears as the first enemy character to be faced in Panic Bomber games. It is the weakest opponent, dropping coloured Bombers slowly. In Panic Bomber W, it rotates and moves its pieces into a dropping position, then waits until the piece has naturally moved down two rows before dropping it, while in the Virtual Boy release, it only waits until the piece has moved one row. As a warm-up battle, it is designed to be beatable without the use of advanced tactics or chaining. However, because its movements are slow, it can drag the battle out a little by increasing the time it takes for Burned Bombers to appear on its field.

Both Super Bomberman Panic Bomber W and Panic Bomber for the Virtual Boy state that Ballom likes sugar water.

In Bomberman Panic Bomber for the PCE, Ballom is voiced by Mizue Otsuka.

Super Bomberman R

A promotional flyer for pet Balloms.

In Super Bomberman R, Balloms have been redesigned, appearing as upside-down balloon-like creatures with two legs. They are intelligent life-forms that can transform through absorption, and are capable of absorbing emotions. They are also capable of absorbing other Balloms.

Balloms are faced as enemies during Buggler's invasion, but are later sold as pets on Planet Bomber. Because the Ballom distributor, Smuggler, is reserving his stock of Balloms in order to create demand and drive up his prices, the ensuing frustration of the citizenship is absorbed by all the Balloms, causing them to riot. Once the Bomberman Brothers make their way through the crowd and fell the Marbled Ballom, a large number of Balloms are sent scattering through the air, calming the populace and thereby calming the Balloms.

	Name	World	Description
	Ballom? バロム, baromu	1, 2	Only turns after colliding with an obstacle, including other enemy characters.
	Plain Ballom (Ribbon)? バロムプレーン・リボン, baromu purēn ribon	3, 4, 7	Behaves similarly to the ordinary Ballom, but if it lines up with a character who is within 3 squares, it will immediately turn and move toward that character without delay. It will not turn if the character is standing atop a bomb. It also appears as a bullet as part of the Marbled Ballom's homing and counter attacks.
	Plain Ballom (Devil)? バロムプレーン・デビル, baromu purēn debiru	5	It seems to behave identically to the Ribbon variety. It can only be found roaming on Planet Scrapheap. It also appears as a bullet as part of the Marbled Ballom's spread shot attack.
	Plain Ballom (Yellow)? バロムプレーン・イエロー, baromu purēn ierō	7	Behaves similarly to the ordinary Ballom, but it has a random chance to turn left or right when it lands on a square in an intersection. When turning, it does not pause. If it lines up with a bomb within 3 squares, it will immediately turn to avoid it.
	Plain Ballom (Green)? バロムプレーン・グリーン, baromu purēn gurīn	7	Its behaviour is identical to that of the Yellow variety except that it does not actively avoid bombs.
	Getter Ballom (Hedgehog)? バロムゲッター・ヘッジホッグ, baromu gettā hejjihoggu	7	At regular intervals, or when it lines up with a character within 3 squares, it will perform a dash in a straight line until it reaches an obstacle. It must stop and rotate to face the character when it dashes on sight, and can reverse its direction to do so. It pauses after hitting an obstacle.
	Getter Ballom (Spike)? バロムゲッター・スパイク, baromu gettā supaiku	7	Its behaviour seems to be identical to that of the Hedgehog variety, but it only spawns from Mother Ballom (Charm).
	Hopper Ballom (Bunny)? バロムホッパー・バニー, baromu hoppā banī	7	Periodically, it will hop 2 squares in a random direction. If there is an impassable block, such as an outer wall, it will only hop one tile. Any bomb it lands upon will detonate. Because it must move onto another tile before hopping, it cannot hop if it is trapped on a single square.
	Hopper Ballom (Orange)? バロムホッパー・オレンジ, baromu hoppā oranji	7	Its behaviour is identical to that of the Bunny variety, but it hops much more frequently, sometimes immediately after landing or taking a single step. It can still hop when it is trapped on a single square. It only spawns from Mother Ballom (Charm).
	Mother Ballom (Charm)? バロムマザー・チャーム, baromu mazā chāmu	7	Behaves similarly to the ordinary Ballom, but it has a random chance to turn left or right when it lands on a square in an intersection. When turning, it does not pause. Upon destruction, it releases one Getter Ballom (Spike) and one Hopper Ballom (Orange) onto adjacent squares.
	Mother Ballom (Fat)? バロムマザー・ファット, baromu mazā fatto	7	Behaves similarly to the ordinary Ballom, but it has a random chance to turn left or right when it lands on a square in an intersection. When turning, it does not pause. When it lines up with a bomb within 3 squares, it will immediately turn and move toward the bomb, stopping and standing next to it until it detonates. Upon destruction, it releases one Rapid Ballom (Green) and one Hopper Ballom (Orange) onto adjacent squares.
	Rapid Ballom (Green)? バロムラピッド・グリーン, baromu rapiddo gurīn	7	Behaves similarly to the ordinary Ballom, but it has a random chance to turn left or right when it lands on a square in an intersection. When turning, it does not pause. Periodically, it will warp to a random square nearby. It is invulnerable while warping. Because it must move onto another tile before warping, it cannot warp if it is trapped on a single square. It only spawns from Mother Ballom (Fat).
	Rapid Ballom (Blue)? バロムラピッド・ブルー, baromu rapiddo burū	7	Its behaviour seems to be identical to that of the Green variety.

All Ballom types are also unlockable accessories in the Balloon, Pet Ballom 1, and Pet Ballom 2 accessory sets.

Cameos

• Ballom appears as one of the enemy tiles in Bomberman Chains.

Gallery

• 

  Ballom's in-game graphic in Panic Bomber.

• 

  Ballom's in-game graphic in Super Bomberman Panic Bomber W.