Cave Box

''This page is about the enemy. You may be looking for the species.''

The Cave Box is an enemy in the Red Ball 4 series. It is the 6th type of enemy found, definitely the most dangerous, and is exclusive to Episode 5.

Appearance
The Cave Box is a grey rounded square, it has red eyes, a wide mouth with pointy teeth and 12 spikes around it; when a Cave Box has spotted the player, it will turn red and snarl for a few seconds before it bursts.

Behavior
Aside from basic movement, the Cave Box has the ability to accelerate and explode when it spots the player (in any direction), ejecting all of its spikes in the process; however, unlike other boxes, Cave Boxes track and chase the player after spotting it, making them a lot harder to dodge.

It cannot be hit from any side due to it being protected by its spikes, and touching it will result in both the player taking 1 damage and the Cave Box exploding.

Strategy
Due to Cave Boxes having spikes around them, the only ways to kill it is either by letting it blow up, or smashing it with an object.

When getting its attention, the player should go to a spot that cannot be reached by neither the box itself, nor its spikes; doing otherwise risks the player getting killed by the spikes, as each one does 1 damage (compared to the 3 hearts of the player) and their numbers make them mostly fatal.

Spikes
Spikes are hazardous, pointy objects that Cave Boxes use as part of their burst attack. They do 1 damage to the player every time it touches one, and once ejected by a Cave Box, they last in the level for 2 seconds, and disappear right after.

Spikes are fairly bouncy and roll quite well, meaning that they can cover a large area after their origin box dies, increasing its threat level.

Trivia

 * The Cave Box is the only non-boss enemy that can track the player.
 * Cave Boxes, along with Space Boxes, are the only non-boss enemies that have a ranged attack.
 * They are also one of the few enemies that die at the moment they attack.
 * The Cave Box is arguably the most dangerous non-boss enemy, as its attack greatly limits the player's mobility, and can easily be lethal for an uncautious player, especially in tight spaces.
 * The Cave Box is the non-boss enemy that changes the most between states (contrary to other boxes, that generally only change their face)
 * He, along with Boom Box and Space/Moon Box, are the only boxes that kills themselves in any attack.
 * Out of the two, the Space Box can only die if he counters a player, two laser attacks for him to die.
 * Their idle walk speed is the fastest of the enemies.
 * The charging speed is on par with Ram Boxes and Boom Boxes, though.