SBC Cannon

SS1
SSA
SS2
SSHD
SS3
SS:TGE
SS:DD:XXL
SSBD
SS4

Production information

Type

Portable artillery weapon

Affiliation

Earth Defense Force

Technical specifications

Ammunition type

HP uranium-filled cannonballs

Maximum ammunition

30 cannonballs (Normal, Hard, Serious (SS3), Mental and all difficulties (SS2)
60 cannonballs (Easy (SS1 & SSCR), Tourist (SS1, SS:XB, SSHD, SS3, SSVR, SS3VR:BFE & SSCR) Serious (SSHD & SSVR)
45 cannonballs (SS3 & SS3VR:BFE Easy)

Damage

500 (uncharged)
750 (fully charged)

Rate of fire

Variable

Projectile speed
Fast, depending on charge

Recoil
Low-medium (SS3, SSVR:TLH & SS3VR:BFE)

Accuracy	Range
High	Medium to far

Usage

Made by

Unknown (reverse-engineered by EDF scientists)

Used by

Any playable character
EDf soldiers
Mental's artillery
Raahloom, the Imposing Prototype (original version)
Sam Stone

Counterparts

Game information

Designed by

Admir Elezović (all games except for SSA, SS:NE, SS:TRE, SS:TGE, SS:DD:XXL & SSBD

"Woohoo, let's go bowling!"

―Sam Stone^[src]

The SBC Cannon, or just Cannon, is a portable artillery weapon that is capable of mowing down many weak opponents in a row, or dealing heavy damage to tougher enemies. Like the XM214-A Minigun, the cannon is one of Serious Sam's trademark weapons.

Overview[edit | edit source]

The cannon is a marvel of modern weaponry that was originally reverse-engineered by scientist Professor Gottlieb Kiesel from technomagical ordnance captured from the enemy. The original design has since been adapted and improved, rendering the cannon one of the most powerful infantry weapons available. Balanced to perfection, the cannon’s barrel fires extraordinarily heavy uranium-filled projectiles at high speed, providing excellent penetration and easily smashing through several hostile units in a row.

Rumors persist that the uranium-filled cannonballs can be hazardous to the operator, but Professor Kiesel claims that the effect on the average life expectancy of an Earth Defense Force soldier should be negligible.

As the cannonballs have great piercing capabilities, this makes the cannon very useful for taking down powerful enemies with a single cannonball and multiple weaker enemies when they are lined up. The cannon can attain various levels of power and speed depending on how long it is charged. Low power shots are still capable of piercing through multiple enemies, and dealing heavy damage to stronger ones.

Raahloom, the boss of the Jewel of the Nile DLC, uses a much larger and more modified version of this weapon. The cannonballs fired from his cannon are much larger in comparison to the balls fired by Sam's cannon. Raahloom's cannon can also fire up to five or six balls in succession.

In Serious Sam: Double D: XXL, it is a bit weaker than in other games, but it is still effective. A Gunstack combination of the cannon with other strong weapon upgrades can kill even the strongest enemies with ease.

Occurrence[edit | edit source]

As the cannon is such a powerful weapon, it is usually obtained in the later levels in the Serious Sam games for balancing reasons.

In Serious Sam: The First Encounter, the cannon is obtained in Alley of the Sphinxes, but can be found earler in Metropolis as a secret. In Serious Sam: The Second Encounter, the cannon appears in The City of the Gods, Courtyards of Gilgamesh and The Grand Cathedral. In also appears as a secret in The Elephant Atrium and Land of the Damned.

In Serious Sam: Double D: XXL, the cannon appears as an upgrade for the 12 Gauge Shotgun.

In Serious Sam 3: BFE and Serious Sam 3 VR: BFE, the cannon is normally acquired in The Power of the Underworld, but can be found much earlier as a secret in Under the Iron Cloud. It later appears for the final time in The Guardian of Time. In Jewel of the Nile, it can be found as a secret in Together Forever.

Tactics[edit | edit source]

Serious Sam 1[edit | edit source]

An uncharged shot will instantly kill almost any of the weaker enemies and so is particularly effective against Sirian Werebulls or Kleer Skeletons as a last resort.
A fully charged shot will virtually kill any enemy in the game in one shot (except for large Lava Golems and the Highlander Aludran Reptiloid variants) but bosses and is useful in quickly disposing off highly threatening enemies such as Major Bio-mechanoids or Fiendian Reptiloid Demons from a great range.
The cannon can be used to dispose of Highlander Aludran Reptiloids with high speed and low risk as it takes only four shots (a few more to kill a Highlander's Bride however). With Serious Damage active though, the player can take down a Highlander's Bride with only three or four cannonballs.
Its piercing abilities make it a fantastic choice when dealing with excessive amounts of Sirian Werebulls and Cucurbitos, as they commonly line up behind each other.
A cannonball loses some of its speed when hitting the ground in the first game. Due to this, it is recommended to aim slightly upwards.
When aiming at stronger enemies, it is useful to make sure that a few weaker enemies also get in the cannonball's path. This reduces weapon switching and saves ammunition.

Serious Sam 2[edit | edit source]

The cannon is an effective weapon against The General, including the large and monster variants, as fully charged shots are needed to inflict major damage towards it. Enemies such as the T-Mech and Albino Cyclops can be gotten rid of as well.
It is the most effective weapon against the big Spider Mechanoid.

Serious Sam 3: BFE[edit | edit source]

The cannon can be used to kill a Witch-Bride of Achriman in one shot, though this may be considered a waste of cannonballs for several Witch-Brides, considering the rarity of ammunition for the cannon throughout the campaign. In The Guardian of Time, however, cannonball ammo is rather plentiful.
Its piercing abilities make it a fantastic choice when dealing with excessive amounts of Sirian Werebulls, Kleers, Juvenile Antaresian Spiders and large numbers of Beheaded Rocketeers and Cloned Soldiers.
When aiming at stronger enemies, it is useful to make sure that a few weaker enemies also get in the cannonball's path. This reduces weapon switching and saves ammunition.

Behind the scenes[edit | edit source]

Back in the early Alpha phases of Serious Sam 1, Sam was supposed to light the cannon's fuse with a torch, then the cannon would charge and shoot out a really powerful cannonball. Files of the early cannon exist in the leaked Serious Sam Evaluation Publisher build, even though the cannon wasn't usable in the build because it wasn't yet finished, although you can pick it up as well as its ammo but you couldn’t select it.
Alternate ammo for the cannon called the nukeball existed at one time. According to its code, it would essentially be a more powerful version of the regular cannonball fired by the cannon. Since the regular cannonball is already ridiculously powerful when charged up, it was probably removed for redundancy.
Its texture is in the final game's files and is an alternate skin for the regular cannonball model. Although in Test 1 it was supposed to be the regular cannon ammo and the cannon's ammo icon was supposed to be like the model (not 1 cannonball), there were supposed to be 3 cannonballs on the ammo HUD icon.

Related achievements[edit | edit source]

Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter[edit | edit source]

	Cannon Expert
	Pierce 10 enemies with a single Cannonball.

Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter[edit | edit source]

	Balls of Steel
	Find all 3 Cannons in Teotihuacan - The City of the Gods.

	Bone Crusher
	Kill 300 Kleers with the Cannon.

Serious Sam VR: The First Encounter[edit | edit source]

	I love my Cannon
	Kill 100 Enemies with the Cannon.

	Cannon Expert
	Pierce at least 10 enemies with a single cannonball.

Serious Sam VR: The Second Encounter[edit | edit source]

	Mine's bigger than yours
	Destroy an enemy cannon with your own cannon.

	Crunchy
	Kill 100 Kleers with the Cannon.

Serious Sam Fusion[edit | edit source]

	Cannon Expert
	Pierce at least 10 enemies with a single cannonball.

	I love my Cannon
	Kill 100 Enemies with the Cannon.

	Mine's bigger than yours
	Destroy an enemy cannon with your own cannon.

	Crunchy
	Kill 100 Kleers with the Cannon.

Trivia[edit | edit source]

In the top-down bullet hell shooter Enter The Gungeon, you can find a weapon called the Serious Cannon, which is a direct reference to this weapon.
The weapon's three initials stand for 'Seriously Big Cannon'.

Bugs/glitches[edit | edit source]

If a Cucurbito's corpse is gibbed with the cannon in Serious Sam HD or Serious Sam VR, their death sound can be heard despite having been killed already.