History VideoGame / ContraOperationGaluga

** Dr. Drake takes a lot of cues from his counterpart Dr. Geo Mandrake in ''VideoGame/HardCorpsUprising'' incarnation; both have some friendship with Bill/Bahamut, [[spoiler:and both incarnations of him happen to have a daughter each]].

* SequelHook: [[spoiler:Lucia is missing along with the Lemris following her HeroicSacrifice. All efforts to search for Lucia and the Lemris have already begun. Meanwhile, Bradley transforms into a werewolf and is spied upon by Sheena and Browny. And with the Lemris missing, the gravity shield is offline, thus allowing the Zagard Empire to invade and setting the stage for the Alien Wars. Also, Lucia is revealed to be Dr. Drake's daughter, indicating that he's Dr. Geo Mandrake from ''Hard Corps''.]]

* MythologyGag: The Probotectors. Aside from the obvious part about them being nods to the censored European versions of the earlier games, they also have their own "names"; the blue one is designated [="M4D-0G"=] and the red one is [="SC0RP1."=] These are nods to the US Manual-given codenames of Bill (Mad Dog) and Lance (Scorpion) in the original game.

* ImmuneToMindControl: Bradley is the only Red Falcon mook who's not a glorified meat puppet, [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere who's constantly trying (and failing) to get out of Galuga]] upon being freed. [[spoiler:As it turns it, it's due to experiments conducted on him, which by the end transform him [[CanonCharacterAllAlong into a familiar gunslinging werewolf]].]]

* InterserviceRivalry: The GX Army and Contra rival each other on who's the best of the best in the Federation's military.

* MercyKill: [[spoiler:After it's revealed that Varanis, leader of Red Falcon, had captured and turned the GX Army into glorified meat puppets, Stanley Ironside considers killing his former comrades a mercy.]]

* YouDontLookLikeYou: Shadow Beast Kimkoh has a design that looks drastically different from its usual self, now appearing more like a scorpionoid alien whose tail opens up to show the unsettling human face.

* MythologyGag: The Probotectors. Aside from the obvious part about them being nods to the censored European versions of the earlier games, they also have their own "names"; the blue one is designated "M4D-0G" and the red one is "SC0RP1." These are nods to the US Manual-given codenames of Bill (Mad Dog) and Lance (Scorpion) in the original game.

--> '''Bill Rizer''': I could [[VideoGame/{{Gradius}} shoot the core?]][[labelnote:note (spoilers)]]Referring to the Lemris that Varanis [[TakingYouWithMe overloaded to spite Contra]][[/labelnote]]
--> '''Everyone''': NO!

* GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere: [[spoiler:Just when you thought the game would be over after killing Varanis, a giant alien (heavily implied to be the series' recurring alien boss Gava) suddenly appears out of nowhere and devours Varanis' ship with you still inside, [[WombLevel forcing you to fight your way through the alien's intestines]] before eventually reaching the heart and finally fighting the alien's head and brain as the FinalBoss.]]

** Racking up a cumulative 40,000 Contra Coins earns the "[[VideoGame/{{Sunsetriders}} Bury Me with my Money]]" achievement.

* GreaterScopeVillain: [[spoiler:The Zagard Empire at large, with Red Falcon and Varanis serving as TheHeavy. The game ends with the Zagards beginning to launch a full-scale invasion of Earth.]]

* GreaterScopeVillain: [[spoiler:The Zagard Empire at large, with Red Falcon and Varanis serving as TheHeavy. The game ends with the beginning to launch a full-scale invasion of Earth.]]

** Dying or losing a life will cause the 'death sound effect' from the first ''Contra'' and ''Super C'' (NES version) to play.