This article is about the Bomber skill that appears in most Lemmings games. If you are looking for the Bomber skill from Lemmings 2: The Tribes, see Bomber (Lemmings 2).
Bomber (known as Exploder in Lemmings 2: The Tribes, and in the original PC demo) is a skill that can be given to a lemming. It is the third of the eight skills available in Lemmings, as well as the Classic Tribe in Lemmings 2. When this skill is given to a lemming, a countdown appears above its head and it continues what it was doing for five seconds before it stops, yells "Oh No!", begins to vibrate and explodes, creating a hole in the ground. In Lemmings, if the lemming is falling when the countdown expires, it will explode straight away except for the Atari Lynx; otherwise, it will stop for a moment before exploding. In the 2006 remake, a falling bomber will stop in midair to go through the full animation. This is the only non-permanent skill that can be assigned to a lemming who is not on the ground.
In 3D Lemmings, the countdown is approximately twice as fast. When a Bomber's countdown expires, he closes his eyes, and inflates his cheeks and his body before blowing up.
In some versions of Lemmings, including Windows 95 and the 2006 remake, a bomber will cause any other lemming walking into it to turn around while it is holding its head, similar to a blocker. In Lemmings Revolution, bombers can be stopped from exploding if given a new non-permanent skill, such as basher, while they're holding their head.
In Lemmings: The Puzzle Adventure for mobile devices, bombers are the only way to remove staircases left by builders, and can in fact only be used for that purpose. Due to the tile-based nature of that game, a walker going into a tile with the bomb order will automatically become a blocker to start the countdown. If the command was given in error, the bomber can be rescued by reverting it to a walker before the countdown ends. Both of these actions cost no energy.
Knockback exploders[]
In Lemmings 2, outside of the Classic tribe, exploders will create a knockback explosion that sends all other lemmings within a small radius flying, and stuns them temporarily. In addition, these exploders will detonate as soon as their countdown expires, regardless of whether or not they are falling. In L++, knockback exploders and regular bombers are available as separate skills.
Trivia[]
- The title for Oh No! More Lemmings may have been a reference to a lemming saying "oh no!" before exploding.
- In some fan-made engines, like SuperLemmini and NeoLemmix, the countdown is removed from the bomber. In these, the lemming will explode immediately after having the skill assigned to it.
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