Fleas

An enemy character in the Centipede video game series that drops vertically down the screen, leaving a trail of mushrooms.

Action

Games

1992–2006

Years

Platforms

$16.05

Ø CIB

-6.6%

24M change

About

In the Centipede franchise, Fleas are hazardous pests that descend rapidly down the playfield when the mushroom count in the player's area falls below a certain threshold. As they fall, they spawn new mushrooms, cluttering the player's movement zone and requiring multiple shots to destroy. They appear across various entries and ports of the series, including the 1992, 1995, 1998, and 1999 releases.

Originating as a key mechanical obstacle in the early golden age of arcade gaming, these pests evolved alongside the Arcade Classic franchise across multiple console generations. In the Game Boy release Centipede (1992), the sprite design was adapted for handheld monochrome screens, maintaining the fast-paced threat level of the original 1980 arcade design. This portable iteration was further refined in the compilation Arcade Classic 2: Centipede and Millipede (1995) for the Super Game Boy, which introduced enhanced color palettes.

The transition to 3D gameplay in the late 1990s reimagined the enemy's aesthetic and behavior. In the 3D remake Centipede (1998) for the PlayStation and PC, as well as its subsequent Dreamcast release Centipede (1999), they were rendered as fully polygonal insectoid threats, adapting their vertical drop mechanics into a three-dimensional space.

The legacy of these franchise-specific pests extended into thematic crossovers and references within other titles of the era, including Ant Bully (2000) and the schoolyard action-adventure Bully (2006), where retro-inspired arcade cabinets pay homage to the classic gameplay dynamics established by the series.