This article contains spoilers. Read at your own risk!
The King Scorpion is the first boss that appears in I Hate Running Backwards. He serves as the boss of A King's Tail, the first environment of the game.
The King Scorpion has two attack phases: a strafing run, where he will fire from his chainguns whilst strafing left or right, and a burrowing phase, where he will dig a hole underground and give chase to the player while attempting to sting them.
During the strafing phase, the King Scorpion will return to the bottom-center part of the screen and narrow the distance between the two lines of fire, then stop firing, and fire an acid projectile in front of him. On Hardcore mode, the King Scorpion can move on to his second phase immediately.
In the second phase, the King Scorpion will dig a hole and go underground. While underground, the King Scorpion will give chase, and if it manages to get right underneath the player, will use its tail to sting them. Additionally, during this phase, a horde of Antaresian Spiders will come to the King Scorpion's aid and attack the player. This stream of Spiders end as soon as the second phase is over. The King Scorpion will then return to the middle-bottom of the screen and start over from the first phase.
On Hardcore mode, the King Scorpion has four miniguns instead of two, making for an extra wide stream of bullets. He also fires three acid projectiles instead of one, in a triangular pattern.
Tactics[]
When the King Scorpion begins his strafing run, stay between his stream of bullets, moving along his strafing path. Should the player find themselves too close to the bullets and in need of exiting the stream - the bullets he fires can be deflected with a hammer. The acid projectile, however, cannot be deflected.
Avoiding the King Scorpion during its strafing phase is an easy task for fast characters such as Dancing Denzell. Lo Wang's melee dash also works perfectly for avoiding the King, should he come too close to the player.
Use a rifle or an automatic weapon for repelling the spiders when the King Scorpion is underground.
Related achievements[]
I Hate Running Backwards[]
Kingslayer
20
Kill King Scorpion
Overkill
20
Kill King Scorpion before he burrows
Against Some Odds
10
Kill King Scorpion while two curses are active
Precious Ammo
10
Get to King Scorpion using only the hammer
Trivia[]
King Scorpion's in-game description states that he was so popular that a movie was named after him, though his name was spelt wrong by switching the words around. This is a reference to The Scorpion King, a spin-off of the The Mummy franchise.
During development, "The Scorpion King" was also the original name for this boss, but the two words were switched around due to potential copyright concerns.
King Scorpion can be heard using a mix of sounds used by both the Arachnoids and the Adult Arachnoid.
This article contains spoilers. Read at your own risk!
