"Lance traps visitors to Wonderworld within their own hearts, to create monsters out of negativity."
Lance is the main antagonist of Balan Wonderworld. He also appears in the novel, Balan Wonderworld ~Maestro of Mystery, Theatre of Wonders~.
Appearance[]
Regular Form - Lance is a tall, thin figure with elf-like pointy ears and black, tendril like hair with rainbow markings (Negati patterns/markings) around each one. He also has similar eight looking tendrils protruding from his back, but it's possible that he can produce as many as he'd like. He wears a dark violet tight-fitting jumpsuit with a long-sleeved purple sweater. He also wears rusted gold low-heeled shoes. A pair of white masks resembling the ones Negati often wear are located on his hips, and he has frayed black and pink cuffs. His forehead is covered with pink markings with the center marking resembling a heart. He has thick black eye shadow and a white lower face with a single black marked tear under his left eye, as well as three dots going alongside the same eye. Lance has blue eyes and yellow sclera, and usually is shown frowning. His legs also have a similar rainbow pattern to the tendrils coming from his back.
True Form (In-Game) - However, this is not his true form. His true form, which is revealed at the end of his boss fight, is mostly the same as his false form, except that his outfit is mostly white with blue, silver and pink hues. Instead of tendril-like hair, Lance now has pure white waist length hair and no tendrils protruding from his back. He still has blue eyes, but he now lacks yellow sclera instead having white sclera. He also lacks his false form's pointy ears instead either having human-like ears that are hidden by his hair, or no ears at all. He also no longer has the Negati-like masks by his hips. It can be assumed that this is what he looked like while he still went by the name "Balan", before he was corrupted by negativity.
True Form (Novel) - The novel version of his true form bears a few differences to his in-game version. Rather than a diamond symbol on the end of his white sweater, he bears the same gold marking that his false form does. The cuffs are more frayed and are black and pink rather than gold and bluish purple, much like his false form's cuffs. He also has gold lining along his hips and legs. His shoes are also completely purple, rather than bluish purple and magenta. It appears that this form may be a mixture of his true and false forms. This makes sense, due to it being a disguise he wore over his corrupted form when he had control over Wonderworld. Lance wanted to make himself appear as he used to, to appear friendlier, but parts of his negativity still shined through.
Shadow - This form of Lance is only seen in his boss battle when he gathers the strength of the wisp-like Negati (whose masks resemble the 4 mid-bosses). He appears to be more monster-like and less humanoid. He has a eyeless dragon-like head with four horns, along with 2 tentacle horns akin to a ram's found on each of the side of his head. On the back of his head, he has the tendril-like hair of his regular form. He has 12 purple gems which are split into 6 on each side and can summon a laser if together. His body is of a torso with 2 gold lines on each of his side, it then goes into a lighter purple belt-like part, which then goes into numerous tentacles. On top of him, there is a golden halo-like object which can connect the gems into forming a laser. There are two elaborate arch-like golden objects floating behind him as well. Four skull-like white spiky heads with a purple orb on each of them surround him. His hands are detached from the body and resemble his regular form's hands.
Biography[]
While he doesn't appear in the game's intro, he is seen in every chapter summoning enemies and blocking paths to prevent Emma Cole and Leo Craig from progressing. In Chapter 1's Boss Act's cutscene, Lance Appears, we see him corrupt Jose Gallard's heart (although the cutscene doesn't have unique variants for the other inhabitants in-game, it does explain how the other Inhabitants were corrupted from the very beginning).
In the last level of the game, depending on which character you chose to play as, Balan asks Leo or Emma if they are ready to trust in their friends, before leaving them to fight Lance. Several Negati appear along with Lance. He tells Leo/Emma, "Be gone!" A flashback plays showing their past strife before Lance challenges them to a battle. After defeating him once, he starts to lose it, combining with his Negati minions and transforming into his Shadow form, but thankfully Leo/Emma's friends arrive and help them stop Lance. After defeating him again, he is restored to his true positive form. Leo/Emma are surprised to find that he was corrupted by negativity a long time ago, resulting in his false, negative form which he assumed for the majority of the game. However, before he could do anything, several Negati appear and drag him back into negativity. His fate is currently unknown.
Powers and Abilities[]
Lance has many abilities related to negativity and the Negati. Both in-game and in the novel, we can see that Lance can corrupt an inhabitant by touching them. In game it was with one of the tendrils from his back, and in the novel he does it by touching a finger to their forehead, so we can assume that this power works through touch. This makes the inhabitant turn into a Nega Boss. He can also summon Negati with a snap of his fingers.
In Balan's Bout, he fights Balan and is easily defeated if the player taps the button in a quick time event with the right timing. He also has abilities similar to Balan's, where we see him summon a bright pink orb of negativity (rather than Balan's yellow orbs of positivity) and throw it at Balan. He can also create dark portals he can travel through, appearing seemingly out of nowhere. More of his abilities can be seen in his boss fight.
Boss Battle Info[]
After collecting 110 Gold Balan Statues, and defeating all of Balan Wonderworld's Nega Bosses, you can fight Lance in a boss battle. Note: His boss fight does not offer any Costume Cubes/Crystals and Keys, though Costumes are provided by the Inhabitants during Phase 3. If you lose during the boss fight, you'll have to start again back at Phase 1.
Phase 1: One of Lance's attacks is splitting into five. The player can attack the real one as the copies charge at the player in a random order. Lance will also shoot 18 blasts at the player, locking onto their current position. These blasts leave behind poison areas (possibly of negativity) that can hurt you if touched. Lance will then summon Negati (First Guraguras, then Bangbangs when he has been hit two times already) before sending in a tentacle from underneath the player and then appearing top of it to make it spin around, this tentacle can also harm nearby Negati. The player can take the opportunity to strike him again while this happens. If you lose all of your Costumes, Lance with end the boss fight by unleashing a big energy ball. (You'll be taken back to the Isle of Tims.)
Tip: The Costume, Jolt Tiger, is recommended, as it can attack Lance without having to jump and avoid the other copies.
Phase 2: Lance battles the player in his giant beast form. He slams his fists into the ground, creating two shock waves that the player jumps over. After this, he charges up a beam that engulfs the entire battlefield, ending the fight. (You can skip to the ending cutscene by simply walking off the area until you have no available Costumes, and/or purposely letting yourself get hit.) This is also the shortest of the three Phases, and serves as a transitional phase to the third phase, in where the Inhabitants will give you their representive Costumes.
Phase 3: Lance will do three (or techically four) rounds of attacks utilizing the representive Costumes given to you by the Inhabitants. You'll have to destory 3/4 of all of his cores.
For his first attack, Lance will slam one of his fists into the ground to create shock waves. The player has to avoid the shockwaves and hands and reach to a core on the left. All Costumes (Aero Acrobat, Air Cat, and Dusk Butterfly) are able to jump over the shockwaves and attack the core.
For his second attack, Lance will fire flames from his hands. One of the flames has a mask (resembling a Negati's) and can be hit to destroy another core. Alternatively, quickly run up to Lance's core and shoot at it with either Water Blaster or Quad Cannon. Invisible Man is also provided for attacking Lance.
For his third attack, Lance will make some of the battlefield disappear (PSA Warning: In the un-patched version of Balan Wonderworld, while Lance does this, white flashing can occur, which can be trigger epilepsy for those with it). After which, he will summon slidestreams usable by either Dynamic Dolphin or Inky Blaster. Alternatively, the player can use Frost Fairy to reach and attack the core.
If you have not gotten a chance to attack one of the previous cores, Lance will do a fourth attack in where he will launch giant tornadoes, which the player can deflect by using either Tornado Wolf or Guardian Bird. Happy Blaster is not needed in this round.
When 3/4 cores are destroyed, you'll move onto the final part of the phase, in where Lance fires a laser (the same one as the second phase's). Only this time, he moves it to where the player is, leaving trails that can hurt you behind. Quickly avoid the laser and trail, or quickly change Costumes and back.
After this, Lance's last core is destroyed and he collapses onto the stage. (Note: If the player is in contact as Lance collapses, you will be sent back to the Isle of Tims, even if you have other Costumes on you). The player can walk across the beast's tentacles, over to its head, attacking its core and ending the fight. (Note: The time to hit its core is limited. If you fail to make it in time, the stage explodes and you'll be sent back to the Isle of Tims.) Make sure you are wearing a costume that can jump during this period, if you do not have a Costume that can jump, you'll have to start over.
To climb on to him, go to his left tentacle, go on his back, and jump on to the core.
If you lose all the Costumes you currently have (or presumably if you do not destroy 3/4 of all cores), Lance will use a laser to make poison areas, the player character is then downed, and you'll be taken back to the Isle of Tims. (The lasers are the same as the lasers used when you almost beat him and collapses.)
Trivia[]
- In the novel, "Balan Wonderworld ~Maestro of Mystery, Theatre of Wonders~", it is revealed that Lance is more than 3000 years old.
- It is also revealed in the novel that Lance originally was the true maestro of Wonderworld, who originally went by "Balan". However, he soon grew too attached to humans and their negativity, and became Lance. In order to restore the balance, he created Balan as a positive force. However, a recent translation reveals that the Japanese version of the novel states that it was Wonderworld itself that created Balan upon Lance's corruption rather than Lance himself. Which translation is more accurate is unknown.
- The novel states that Lance is "the product of all chaos and war since civilization's birth". Considering his true origins, whether or not this is true is unknown.
- While Lance does not have much in-game dialogue, in the novel we see that Lance speaks in rhyme much like how Balan does. It is unknown if this is due to his former status as Wonderworld's maestro, or if all beings from Wonderworld speak in rhyme.
- Balan and Lance may represent the comedy and tragedy masks of theatre, Lance representing tragedy.
- If you combine both Balan and Lance's names together, you get the word "Balance", which they are named after. They share the "lan" syllable in their names. (Ba (Lan) ce)
- Both Balan and Lance's names could count as wordplay, similar to Wormsworth and Worville Wright.
- On rare occasions, Lance will appear in Balan's Bout.
- Lance's Boss Act is considerably more difficult compared to the other Nega Boss, even compared to later Nega Boss fights such as against Hooverton or Inkabelle. This is due to it having three parts, and no Costumes being available other than any costume you bring in until the third phase, or the 3 Costumes given to you from each 3 inhabitants in the third phase (unlike the two costume cubes and keys that respawn when you don't have the costume seen in other boss fights.)
- A future update/patch lowering the difficulty of his boss fight is unknown, though it may be needed to adjust difficulty.
- When the Inhabitants give you their Costumes and if you either beat Lance, or fail to hit Lance's 3 cores, you can get the select Costumes from the Inhabitants, and can be put in the closet.
- If playing Local Co-op Mode, the 2nd player will get the following Costumes from the inhabitants in Phase 3:
- You can not exit his boss fight by going to the Isle of Tims, but you can exit by going to the title screen. No progress is loss due to the game saving before the boss fight.
Quotes[]
- "Be Gone!" - Lance's first (and only) words in-game.
- "Well now, what ails my poor chum? You're crouched here all alone, looking rather glum." - Lance speaking to Leo/Streetbeat, also his first words in the novel.
- "You may not believe it’s true, but I only ever loved all of you." - Lance's words before he begins to fade after the battle with Leo in the novel.
- "That's what I said, too. But it was too late for me, and it's too late for you." - Lance warning Balan of the latter's fate of being corrupted by negativity, also Lance's last words in the novel.
Gallery[]
