Vulnerable Ghosts (イジケモンスター Izikemonsuta) refers to the form that Ghosts take when a Pac-Person eats a Power Pellet. This state is also known as Blue Ghosts, Scared Ghosts, Frightened Ghosts, Dark Ghosts, Scaredys, TURN-TO-BLUE, or IZIKE.
Appearance[]
Vulnerable Ghosts have a blue body color with either white or peach dot eyes and zig-zag mouths. Other media depicts them as indigo or purple, such as the Hannah-Barbera cartoon, and the Championship Edition games add on to this by giving them white eyes and cyan mouths. They are usually seen with either blue or orange gloves, but recent media, such as Pac-Man Museum + and Pac-Man World Re-Pac, depicts them with stubby arms.
Information[]
While the ghost is blue, Pac-Man is able to eat them, in which case their eyes will pop out; they will regenerate after entering the Ghost Home in the center of the Maze.
The blue effect will wear off rather quickly, and will start to flash white when it is about to. In the original arcade Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man, the ghost will flash between white and blue states exactly nine times; this is shortened to four times on later levels, and eventually the effect wears off entirely. This is different in some home console ports (like the NES version of Pac-Man, where it flashes sixteen times).
Eating ghosts will award the player points. These are the scores earned by eating ghosts in succession:
- 1 in succession - 200 points.
- 2 in succession - 400 points.
- 3 in succession - 800 points.
- 4 in succession - 1600 points.
In some later Pac-Man titles where more ghosts can appear at once, these scores can also be earned:
- 5 in succession - 3200 points.
- 6+ in succession - 7650 points.
The rather random-seeming score of 7650 is actually a Japanese "Goroawase" wordplay on Namco (7=na, 6=mu, 5=ko, forming "Namuko").
Trivia[]
- The Vulnerable Ghosts’ Japanese name, “Izike” (or “Ijike”), is derived from “Ijikeru” (いじける); a term for someone who has become fearful, or become the opposite of what they were before.
- Some games, such as the World games, play the eyeball sound effect when ghosts are blue instead of the actual vulnerable sound. This was corrected in Pac-Man World Re-Pac.
- In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, four Mr. Game and Watches represent this form for a spirit battle. They tend to stay away from the player, referencing how the Ghosts tend to keep their distance from a Pac-Person who eats Power Pellets near them. This is a timed battle, referencing how ghosts will revert to their aggressive forms after a while.
- Getting 3,200 points by eating ghosts was first in Pac-Man Plus by eating a prize that appears below the Ghost House and eating all 4 ghosts.
- When the ghosts are planning to free Spooky again in Pac-Man World 2 and Chomp-Chomp eats a Power Pellet, Pinky's makeup gets removed when turning blue. The makeup is kept at the end of Pac-Man World 3 though, when Pac-Man eats a Power Pellet.
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