The Cerberus is a Lesser Demon introduced as a pair of bosses in its namesake level 0-5: CERBERUS, and is the second Demon-class enemy that the player encounters in ULTRAKILL.

Cerberi are large humanoid statue-like, featureless creatures holding a glowing yellow orb resembling an apple. Inactive Cerebri sit on stones looking into their orbs in a pondering position. Some Ceberi vary in appearance and size in certain areas, such as in their debut as the Guardians of Hell in 0-5: CERBERUS. Cerberi in 2-3: SHEER HEART ATTACK hold blue orbs, while Cerberi in 1-4: CLAIR DE LUNE and the layer of Violence hold white orbs. Other inactive Cerberi may be missing orbs entirely, such as the one in 0-S: SOMETHING WICKED.

Behavior

Cerberi slowly advance towards the player while not attacking and become visibly damaged after losing 50% of their health.

When a Cerberus is killed, all other Cerberi currently active will become enraged, gaining an attack and movement speed increase.
An already enraged Cerberus cannot be enraged a second time.

Attacks

Energy Orb
The Cerberus will perform a winding-up motion and hurl an Energy Orb at the player, dealing 20 damage and causing an explosion.
They will not use this attack if the player is too close.

The orb can be deflected and parried but doing so is often difficult due to its high speed.

Dash
While in close range, the Cerberus will dash at the player, dealing 25 damage and a hefty amount of knockback.
It cannot dash off ledges or into pits unless enraged. This attack cannot be parried.

Shortly before initiating the charge, Cerberi can instantly change the direction they are facing to try and predict the player’s movement.

Stomp
The Cerberus will stomp the ground with its right leg when close to the player, causing a shockwave that deals 25 damage.
This attack cannot be parried.

Strategy

Cerberi tend to spawn either alone or in groups of 2-3. They are not particularly dangerous when not enraged, however, they can still be quite troubling to deal with due to their sizable health pool.

The S.R.S. Cannon's Cannonballs are the most effective projectile to use against Cerberi as they have a damage increase against them, being able to instantly kill them if the cannonball is fully charged before being punched with the Feedbacker right after hitting a Cerberus. Rockets also have a damage increase against Cerberi and, combined with Projectile Boosts can tear down a Cerberus in seconds. Point blank Shotgun swaps combined with Knuckleblaster punches are a great way to deal damage to Cerberi and also regain generous amounts of blood if needed.

Dodging Cerberi is a trivial task; they cannot use any attack other than their Energy Orb if the player is far enough away, and their Energy Orb can be innaccurate, so simply sliding around a Cerberus suffices to avoid taking damage from them.

In a pinch, parrying the apple is a risky but viable course of action if one is confident in their timing.

Difficulty Changes

Brutal

Dashes twice in a row, with the second dash being indicated by a blue flash.
Sends out a second, smaller shockwave immediately after the first when stomping.

Terminal Entry

Cerberus

TYPE: Lesser Demon

DATA:
Although they do not resemble the mythological three-headed dog, this name was chosen due to their nature as protectors of Hell. However, it’s not yet known why some stay dormant despite provocation.

Despite the fact that keeping an energy orb stable takes a considerable amount of focus and effort, they seem to always keep one in hand, most likely as a display of their power to scare off intruders.

STRATEGY:
- Due to remaining entirely stationary until awoken, they move quite slowly, so engagement distance is easy to control.

- They're quite adept at ranged combat by throwing their orb, but in order to avoid damaging themselves, they will not initiate a throw while their target is close, which can be used to manipulate their behavior, though once a throw has started, it cannot be stopped.

- Due to the extreme concentration of their energy orbs, thrown ones explode on physical impact, so staying close to surfaces such the^[sic] floor or any walls will make avoiding ranged attacks more difficult.

Media

CERBERUS
General
Class	Lesser Demon
Health	80 (0-5 Boss 1); 40 (0-5 Boss 2); 44 (7-1 Secret); 22 (Common)
Weight	Heavy (Grounded)
Rank	3
Locational Damage
Head (200%)	;
Limbs (150%)	;
Conditional Modifiers
Flammable	;
Airshot	;
Splatters	;
Magnet Pull	;
Damage Type Modifiers
	Cannonballs: 200%; Rockets: 150%;
Radiance Multipliers
Health	1.5x
Damage	1.5x
Speed	1.35x / *1.15x
Appearances
	0-5 1-2, 1-3; 2-1, 2-2; 3-1 4-1, 4-2, 4-3; 5-1, 5-2, 5-3; 6-1 7-1, 7-2, 7-3, 7-S 0-E, 1-E P-2; The Cyber Grind
Cyber Grind Data

Icon

Gameplay Demonstrations

A Cerberus stomping.
A Cerberus throwing a projectile.
A Cerberus charging.
A Cerberus in an enraged state.

Concept Art & Renders

Original model.
An inactive Cerberus Statue.
Concept Art by Francis Xie.

Audio

Stomp Windup
Orb Throw Windup
Charge Windup
Death

Trivia

In the game's files, the Cerberus' mesh is called "Andre". The mesh is reused from a previous project of Hakita's called Untraceable,^[1] and Andre is so named because the statue held an apple, and "Andre's apple" sounds like "Untraceable".^[2]
The design and pose of the Cerberus is based on the sculpture The Thinker by Auguste Rodin.
The Cerberus statues in 0-3: DOUBLE DOWN in the first Swordsmachine arena are the only destructible ones in the game.
The largest non-enemy Cerberi in the game can be found in 4-S:CLASH OF THE BRANDICOOT as a pair before entering the pyramid, and 7-2: LIGHT UP THE NIGHT. All three about five times the size of a normal Cerberus. The 4-S variants use the old model prior to the ULTRA_REVAMP update, while the 7-2 variant holds an apple without any Hell Energy or light around it, obscuring it in the dark.