SBC Cannon

Production information

Type

Portable artillery

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) and Tourist (SS1 & SS3))
45 cannonballs (SS3 Easy)

Damage

500 (uncharged)
750 (fully charged)

Rate of fire

Variable

Recoil
Low-medium

Accuracy	Range
High	Medium-long

Usage

Used by

"Woohoo, let's go bowling!"

―Sam Stone^[src]

The SBC Cannon (Cannon in Serious Sam's Bogus Detour and Serious Sam: The Random Encounter) is a type of portable artillery that was reverse engineered from weapons used by Mental's techno-magical artillery. It is a deadly weapon capable of mowing down many weak opponents in a row. Like the XM214-A Minigun, is one of Serious Sam's trademark weapons.

OverviewEdit

The SBC Cannon is a special weapon designed to fire very heavy rounds at a high speed, providing an excellent penetration effect. Its firing mechanism and barrel were not designed by human scientists, but reverse-engineered from powerful techno-magical weapons used by Mental's artillery

As the cannonballs fired by the cannon have great piercing capabilities, this makes the weapon very useful for taking down very powerful enemies with a single cannonball and multiple weaker enemies when they are lined up. Despite the cannonballs containing uranium, military experts claim that the lead casing used on the cannonballs completely eliminates potential hazards for the operator caused by the uranium filling. These uranium caused hazards to the target are not held important, considering the purpose of the device.

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 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 rapid succession.

TacticsEdit

Serious Sam 1Edit

An uncharged shot will instantly kill almost any of 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) 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 a few shots (a few more to kill a Highlander's Bride however).
Its piercing abilities make it a fantastic choice when dealing with excessive amounts of Sirian Werebulls and Cucurbito the Pumpkin, 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 2Edit

The cannon is effective 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 too.

Serious Sam 3: BFEEdit

An uncharged shot will instantly kill almost any of weaker enemies and so is particularly effective against large numbers of Sirian Werebulls or Kleer skeletons as a last resort.
A fully charged shot will virtually kill any enemy in the game in one shot but bosses and is useful in quickly disposing off highly threatening enemies such as Major Bio-mechanoids or Scrapjacks from a great range.
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 cannonball's rarity 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, Kleer Skeletons, Juvenile Antaresian Spiders, and large numbers of Beheaded Rocketeers and Cloned Soldiers, as they commonly line up behind each other.
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 scenesEdit

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 achievementsEdit

Serious Sam HD: The First EncounterEdit

	Cannon Expert
	Pierce 10 enemies with a single Cannonball.

Serious Sam HD: The Second EncounterEdit

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

	Bone Crusher
	Kill 300 Kleers with the Cannon.

Serious Sam FusionEdit

	I love my Cannon
	Kill 100 Enemies with the Cannon.

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

TriviaEdit

In 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'.