Caterblaster

Caterblasters (カッターブラスター) are a fictional species of creatures contained within The Drillimation Series. First appearing in the 1989 game Mr. Driller G, these butterfly-like enemies freely roam around stages and attack the player if they see them.

Caterblasters attack the player by shooting projectiles from its antennae and wings. Even if the player manages to shoot off its wings, they can continue their onslaught on the ground. They are often hard to kill due to their intense attack patterns, and because of this, this enemy has received a very well reception.

Lucky Star
"Pretty much every forest I've gone into is infested with caterblasters! These gigantic, butterfly-like monsters that jump off the trees and attack you."

- Soujirou Izumi, to Susumu

In the Lucky Star anime, Tsukasa is highly afraid of these, although four of the Lucky Stars can shoot them down easily. When Tsukasa went inside a forest in Kyoto during their trip in Pandora's Box, she was attacked by a swarm of caterblasters while feeding deer.

Mr. Driller series
"I think putting all those caterblasters in was a mistake. This was why the spell card system was implemented into future Mr. Driller games."

- Susumu Takajima, describing them

Caterblasters first appeared in the 1989 platforming game Mr. Driller G. Takajima created them as a way to expand the diversity of enemies in Drillimation games. Despite being found only in forests, caterblasters are encountered in nearly every outdoor location and can often swarm the player if there are more than one.

Lucky Star series
Caterblasters first appeared in the Lucky Star games since Super Lucky Star 4. Like usual, they attack using their wings and antennae.

Angry German Kid series
"Caterblaster flies so high, flyin'!"

- Konata Izumi

Caterblasters made their first appearance in the Angry German Kid series starting with Angry German Kid Returns. In the game, they have the same behavior as in past Drillimation games. However, if the player encounters Konata Izumi at a village, she'll sing a short song about them. Critics criticized the song, calling it "cheesy" and "vexatious over its confusing layout".

Driller Engine Grand Prix series
An unlockable kart resembling one appears in the 2003 racing game Driller Engine Grand Prix 2x2 as Eguri's signature kart, and again in the 2014 game Driller Engine Grand Prix 8 as the Caterbluggy.

Reception
Mr. Driller G was attacked by some critics, stating that they are considered to be one of the most annoying enemies in The Drillimation Series. IGN stated that they make one of the most annoying sound effects of the Driller Engine 2 Era while trying to get from point A to point B. Due to their annoyance, an extremely popular cheat code for the PC, SNES, and Genesis versions were made to solely remove them from the game. Future games had spell cards that can instantly wipe them out within a short range.

According to Urban Dictionary, the definition for the caterblaster explains that it is one of the most annoying enemies in The Drillimation Series, and how it still haunts their dreams.