Ugh-Zan III

This article contains spoilers. Read at your own risk!

SS:TFE
SS:XB
SSHD:TFE
SS:TRE
IHRB

Ugh-Zan III

Biographical information

Alias

The Vicious Warlock

Homeworld

Unknown

Status

Deceased

Died

1358 BC
Great Pyramid of Giza, Giza, Egypt

Functions / Belongings

Rank / Occupation

General/Great Admiral of Mental's army
Servant of Mental and his Horde

Attacks / weapons

Fireball and lava bomb (20)
Laser and electric beam (10)
Rocket (50 direct impact, 0-50 splash damage)
Stomp (500)

Abilities

Immense strength and endurance
Massive size
Conjuring fireballs
Skilled magical powers
Regeneration

Physical description

Species

Warlock Giant

Gender

Male

Height

330 ft (100.5 m standing)

Eye color

Yellow

Chronological and political information

Era

Affiliation

Mental's Horde

Game information

Health

40,000

Point value

1,000,000

Entity name

UghZan

"Oh, you're a big'un ain't ya?"

―Sam Stone^[src]

Ugh-Zan III, also known as The Vicious Warlock, was one of Mental's generals, ranking as Great Admiral in his army. He had served Mental for millions of years and was one of his most trusted servants. He serves as the main antagonist of Serious Sam: The First Encounter (including the Xbox port and HD and VR remakes), Serious Sam: The Random Encounter and I Hate Running Backwards, and is fought as the final boss in all his appearances.

Biography[]

Ugh-Zan III was the third incarnation of the vicious Ugh-Zan dynasty, the last of a mighty and powerful species called the Warlock Giants who were feared throughout the universe.^[1] As large as a mountain, armed well enough to confront an intergalactic cruiser, and endowed with unseen magical powers and the ability to regenerate, Ugh-Zan III was one of the most dangerous creatures in the universe.^[1]

During the events of Serious Sam: The First Encounter, Ugh-Zan III was sent to Earth by Mental to supervise the final assault on the human race and as part of a last-ditch effort to prevent Serious Sam from boarding the SSS Centerprice.^[2]

Appearances[]

Serious Sam: The First Encounter[]

Ugh-Zan appears — Ugh-Zan III appears to stop Sam.

Ugh-Zan III is first seen emerging from the large arena that Sam was in after decimating massive hordes of Mental's forces. He proceeds to go on a rampage, smashing nearby buildings into rubble as he makes his way towards Sam. At the same time, as Sam advances to the Great Pyramid, Mental sends some of his forces along to stop Sam. Ugh-Zan is able to catch up with Sam as he makes his way to the pyramid. Once Sam makes it to the entrance, Ugh-Zan begins attacking him with his weapons. Sam is able to hold him off for a while (despite not being able to damage him) until the pyramid doors open.^[3] As Sam has no weapons strong enough to defeat this monster, he is forced to retreat inside, and the SSS Centerprice's boarding sequence begins.

Sam is transported to the center of the pyramid inside a big arena, and Ugh-Zan manages to track him down by climbing up the pyramid and into the boarding area.^[3] Then, a big fight between Sam and Ugh-Zan begins. Now equipped with more guns than before, Ugh-Zan does everything in his power to kill Sam. But thanks to some quick thinking and the jump pads scattered around the arena, Sam is able to lure Ugh-Zan right beneath the SSS Centerprice. Having activated the spaceship's powerful beam (after jumping through all four hoops), Ugh-Zan is seriously wounded by the beam, depleting a large portion of his health. Sam uses this opportunitiy to unleash all of his firepower at Ugh-Zan and finally kill him.^[3]

Once Ugh-Zan has been defeated, Sam boards the SSS Centerprice and departs to the planet Sirius.

Serious Sam: The Second Encounter[]

Ugh-Zan III is seen in the game's opening intro, depicting the events of The First Encounter and just after Sam kills him using the SSS Centerprice's powerful laser beam.

Ugh-Zan also appears as an Easter Egg in the two of the game's secrets. The first secret he appears in is the "Egypt secret" in the level Tower of Babel. The player can access a movie studio of The First Encounter, showcasing a miniaturized version on The Great Pyramid, and miniature versions of Sam, Ugh-Zan, and some of Mental's forces. Killing Ugh-Zan will cause a Super Armor to spawn.

The second secret Ugh-Zan appears in is the "embryo museum" in the final level of the game, The Grand Cathedral, featuring two clones of Ugh-Zan encased in massive vats with green liquid.

Serious Sam: The Random Encounter[]

Ugh-Zan III first appears in level 3-1 when Sam and his comrades exit the temple, expecting to find his master Mental instead. As they approach the pyramid, Ugh-Zan III shows up behind them and gives chase, only stopping after they cross a lake. Sam and his teammates go up the stairs of the pyramid and discover that its top is a spaceship. After activating four switches, Ugh-Zan III once again appears in the middle of the level and forces the heroes to confront him as the final boss. In battle, only his massive hoof is visible stomping towards the heroes, though he doesn't actually possess any attacks of his own. Instead the true battle is against the legions of minions that constantly spawn, meaning that Sam and his teammates have to defeat Ugh-Zan quickly before they are completely overrun.

His defeat causes Ugh-Zan to engulf the ship in a massive explosion, the three heroes jumping out as the flames burst out behind them. The game then abruptly ends and unlocks Endless Mode.

I Hate Running Backwards[]

After his death in the events of The First Encounter, Ugh-Zan was combined with the remains of Hugo and transformed into a gigantic mech. In the plot, he had been sent to the future to stop Sam and his friends in fighting Mental and his forces. Ugh-Zan's mind was uploaded to the new mechanized body and he could also transfer it to the tank module that was stored inside his body as a last defense mode.

Tactics[]

Serious Sam: The First Encounter[]

For obvious reasons, the player should not get close to Ugh-Zan. His stomp is only survivable on Easy and Tourist difficulties, as the player can have up to 300 health and armor and Ugh-Zan's stomp will only deal 250 and 125 damage there, respectively.
In the classic version of the game, his rockets, lava bombs and fireballs are destructible, so the player should try to shoot them if they can't dodge them. In the HD version however, they can be shot down with bullets or other projectiles like rockets.
Try to avoid the laser beams by sidestepping, and the lava bombs by changing direction, since they use the same targeting system as the Lava Golem's lava rocks. The electricity gun has a wider spread in Serious Sam HD and Serious Sam VR than it does in the classic version of the game.
The SBC Cannon is definitely the most viable weapon to use against him, followed by the XL2 Lasergun, MK III Grenade Launcher and XPML21 Rocket Launcher. The XM214-A Minigun can be decent, but the player needs to make sure they have enough ammunition. In Serious Sam HD, the minigun does not consume as much ammo and now deals 20 damage per hit, making it more useful.
Take note that the first time the laser beam fires upon Ugh-Zan (from the SSS Centerprice) will have a slight delay, as the ship's gates have to open.

I Hate Running Backwards[]

For tips on how to defeat this boss, visit the Ugh-Zan page on the I Hate Running Backwards wiki.

Player model[]

In Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter and the Serious Sam Fusion version of Serious Sam 3: BFE, Ugh-Zan III is a playable multiplayer character if one either pre-ordered SSHD: TSE or obtained the Serious Eight DLC. This version of Ugh-Zan III has been scaled down to be as large as Sam and does not have any of his larger counterpart's abilities. Being Ugh-Zan III is merely a cosmetic change, as he now also has Sam's voice and will use the default player gibs upon getting gibbed (i.e. by being blown up by a Major Bio-mechanoid's rockets on higher difficulties or by being killed with a Double Barrel Coach Gun and having all 14 pellets connect).

Powers and abilities[]

Immense Size: A recurring trait seen in the Ugh-Zan dynasty, Ugh-Zan stood at over 300 meters tall, making him the second tallest member of the Warlock Giants after Ugh-Zan VI. Thanks to his massive size, Ugh-Zan was able to quickly catch up with Sam, who was forced to retreat into the Great Pyramid upon encountering him. Due to his size, Ugh-Zan could deliver a fatal blow to an opponent by stomping on them with one of his hooves, which would result in instant death.^[3]
Incredible Durability and Endurance: Ugh-Zan was incredibly durable and able to resist Sam's weapons to a certain extent. Pretty much all of the weapon's in Sam's arsenal (except for the SBC Cannon) would barely leave a scratch on him. In fact, Ugh-Zan was so tough that Sam was forced to use the SSS Centerprice's powerful energy beam on him in order to deplete a large portion of his health and temporarily stun him.^[3]
Weapons: Ugh-Zan III was equipped with four weapons. These powerful weapons, combined with Ugh-Zan's ability to launch homing fireballs from his mouth, made him an extremely dangerous and formidable opponent.^[3] His weapons were far more superior than the other weapons seen being used by the troops in Mental's army, and fired projectiles that were both hard to shoot down and difficult to dodge. His four weapons included a rocket launcher, beam gun, laser gun, and lava rocks gun.^[1] As Ugh-Zan had four arms, he used this to his advantage and was able to use each weapon proficiently during his fight with Sam.
Regeneration: One of Ugh-Zan's most noteworthy powers was his ability to regenerate. He was able to regain a large amount of his health if he had taken sufficient damage. He only regenerated when he had about 5% health left (when the life bar turns red and is nearly empty).
Magic: Ugh-Zan was proficient in the use of magic, though he wasn't as talented with the skill unlike other servants in Mental's army, such as Mordekai the Summoner. Using magic, Ugh-Zan was able to conjure fireballs from his mouth. These fireballs had tracking capabilities and would home in on the target. They were relatively weak, though, and could be shot down mid-air with small-arms fire or projectiles such as rockets.

Appearance[]

Appearance-wise, Ugh-Zan III was a colossal beast standing approximately 100 meters tall. He had four arms and two large feet that consisted of cloven hooves that were reminsicent of the hooves found in cattle. He also had two curved horns protruding from his head, similar to that of a Khnum. He had two glowing yellow eyes and a pair of sharp teeth that were long enough to protrude from his jaws (in the HD rendition, his teeth have been made smaller than the classic version).

In Serious Sam HD, Ugh-Zan III has been given a newer, higher definition look with more details and textures, especially for his eyes and face.

Ugh-Zan was equipped with a chest strap (or a pauldron) on his left shoulder, and he had a loincloth wrapped around his torso.

Unlike his father, Ugh-Zan IV, Ugh-Zan III did not have any cybernetic parts or a bio-mechanical quadruped base for his legs. Ugh-Zan was unusually fast for his size, as was able to catch up easily with Sam while he was running away from him.

Behind the scenes[]

Early versions (from 1998–1999) of Ugh-Zan had him holding a minigun and a shield, though another model shows a fire rod in his left hand instead of a shield.
Ugh-Zan was supposed to have 3 heads: his current head, a goat head, and a skull head. These heads can be found as Ugh-Zan's icon in the Test 1 editor.
Two Ugh-Zans can be seen in the original trailer of Serious Sam 2 in the final level, however, in the PC version, they became replaced with the Mental Institution. However, their idle roars can still be heard in the background if the music settings are lowered.

Related achievements[]

Serious Sam VR: The First Encounter[]

Hey! That's Cheating!

Trigger Ugh-Zan's regeneration on The Great Pyramid.

Serious Sam Fusion[]

Hey! That's cheating!

Trigger Ugh-Zan's regeneration on The Great Pyramid.

I Hate Running Backwards[]

Terminator	10

Kill Ugh-Zan

Double Tap	10

Kill the second form of Ugh-Zan

Survivor	50

Kill Ugh-Zan without taking any damage

Trivia[]

Unlike many other Serious Sam 1 enemies, Ugh-Zan III's NETRICSA entry is immediately given as soon as he appears.
- Curiously enough, if he is placed into a custom map and then killed with the "kill all" cheat, his NETRICSA entry is not given. This is because his entity parameters file does not have a NETRICSA entry assigned to it.
Ugh-Zan III is mentioned by NETRICSA in Serious Sam 3: BFE, where it is stated that Ugh-Zan IV is his biological father due to a time-traveling accident.^[4]
Ugh-Zan III makes a taunting laugh if he succeeds in killing Sam. He is one of the few enemies to laugh at the player when they die. Another enemy that does this is the Scrapjack.
A miniature version of Ugh-Zan appears in the Serious Sam: The Second Encounter level, Tower of Babel in the "Egypt secret". Shooting him awards the player with a Super Armor.
In the PC version of The First Encounter, Ugh-Zan has no fingers, while in the Xbox version of the game he does.
Ugh-Zan's Xbox version made a cameo appearance in the anime Hayate No Gotoku (Hayate the Combat Butler), although his model was heavily modified; he lacks his lower two arms, his shoulder armor, and chest strap, and he sports new horn models.^[5]
In Serious Sam: Xbox, when Ugh-Zan III is killed, the game plays a cutscene of him dying, unlike in other versions where the player is still in control of Sam and can move around as Ugh-Zan III dies and disappears.
In Serious Sam HD, similarly to other big enemies, Ugh-Zan III's default model size is actually small and is increased to a larger size in the model stretch section of his entity parameters file.